Hello all! my deepest apologies for such a long wait for the new chapter, my internet has been acting up and I ended up having no computer for almost a month. also the writers block, a fanfic writers worst enemy. Anyway, I am halfway through the next chapter now, but i find myself at somewhat of a difficult stage in the writing, which i must ask the opinions of the readers. should i:
A) Keep this as solely Harry/Fleur or:
B) Make it Harry/Fleur/Hermione?
My idea's have somewhat gone different ways and my mind keeps thinking of adding Hermione to the mix, as i think it would work the best, but i would like opinions from you, the readers.
and so, without further stalling, the newest chapter of Triwizard Tournament: Take Two... Finding Dates and Talent Revealed
This chapter is brought to you by the people who brought you such inventions as the Glass Hammer, the Inflatable Dartboard and the Nuclear Mousetrap. enjoy
"You need to teach me some of the magic you used in the First Task Harry," whispered Hermione excitedly, as she and Harry sat in the library, finishing up their Transfiguration essays.
"I'd be happy to Mione, but you know it's not that hard really, but it takes a hell of a lot of magical energy," Harry whispered back, keeping his voice quiet as Madam Pince, the hawk-eyed librarian walked past, her eyes narrowed at the youths, as though whispering was too loud.
"I know that, but Harry, you really shouldn't hold back so much in class," replied Hermione, gaining a surprised look from her friend. "Don't give me that look Harry; I've known that you were holding back in classes for years now. Why do you think I bother Ron much more about his performance than yours?" she inquired, making Harry smile. She truly was a genius, and one of the only people to have ever picked up on that fact.
"Hehe, found out. Sorry I hid it from you Mione, it was kind of a survival instinct from primary school," he explained, getting a confused look from her. "I used to mess up my grades when I was younger, because every time I got better than my cousin, my uncle would lock me in the cupboard under the stairs without dinner, and sometimes without breakfast the next day," he explained to her, the confusion turning to horror and a hint of anger.
"They locked you in a cupboard?" she almost shouted, gaining a very stern glare from the librarian. "How long has this been going on Harry?" she said in a much quieter voice, concern leaking into her words.
"Since I was four, which is when they made me start working in the garden, cooking breakfast, cooking dinner, vacuuming, mopping the floors and just about every other chore in the house," said Harry quietly, getting another shocked look from his friend. "The cupboard they used to lock me in was actually where I slept," he added. Hermione looked halfway between tears and erupting with anger.
"They made you sleep in cupboard and have been making you do all those chores since you were four?" she whispered incredulously, imagining what Harry must have gone through.
"Yeah, they weren't the nicest of people to grow up with," said Harry offhandedly. He was over it by now, since he had lived through it once already. Besides, with any luck, he would be able to live elsewhere by the end of the year. His thoughts were cut off by Hermione hugging him tightly, almost suffocating him in the process.
"Oh Harry! I'm so sorry you had to live with those horrible people!" Hermione whispered, almost in tears, while Harry started to turn blue from oxygen deprivation.
"Mione… oxygen… need… oxygen!" wheezed Harry, which in turn made Hermione turn red from embarrassment and promptly squeaked and let go of him.
"Sorry," she mumbled, hiding behind a book. Harry laughed and flicked her forehead his finger.
"Don't mumble, it's unbecoming of a lady," he teased, causing Hermione to roll her eyes at him, though she was smiling at him.
The pair left the library soon after, heading to Transfiguration. True to his word, Harry decided to let loose his real magical ability during classes from now on, successfully turning his guinea fowl into a guinea pig on the first try, astounding Professor McGonagall and earning Gryffindor 10 points. She had given him several inanimate objects to work on transfiguring them, while she assisted the rest of the class, while Hermione watched proudly as Harry transfigured each of them in turn, changing a teacup into a chair, a feather into a wind chime and a scrap of parchment into a small silver needle. The progress had left McGonagall shell-shocked, the class bewildered and Hermione mildly surprised, though her pride in her friend was far outweighing the surprise.
"Harry, that's amazing! I can't believe you were hiding this!" she whispered excitedly to a bashful Harry.
"Indeed Mr Potter, it is quite remarkable," agreed McGonagall, walking up to the desk and looking at the pile of transfigured objects with a small smile on her face. "I see you've been taking your studying more serious lately. 20 points to Gryffindor," she said, getting a grin from Harry in response. She lifted the wind chime to her eyes, noticing the fine markings on the edges, and that the Hogwarts crest was emblazoned there as well, while the chair had carved symbols across its surface and had the mark of Gryffindor etched onto the backrest. To be able to mark a transfigured item with such fine detail was considered proof of Transfiguration Mastery. She would surely have to keep an eye on such a promising talent.
"It's almost like having James Potter in my class again," thought McGonagall with a brief smile as she walked over to help Neville, who had somehow caused his guinea fowl to develop frog's legs.
"That's nothing Hermione, check this out," said Harry excitedly, like a child in a sweet shop. Pulling over a scrap of parchment, Harry began to draw a complex circle on it in ink. By now, most of the class was watching, while McGonagall was mentally writing a note in her head to Dumbledore, asking for certain books to be given to the young Potter heir, who seemed to have stopped hiding his talent. Harry finished the array, revealing a complex circle with a pentagram and three unusual symbols inside it. Harry laid the parchment on the ground and placed a spare ink bottle inside the array. Finally, Harry placed his hands on the parchment, causing the circle to begin to glow brightly. The students were shocked, as the glass also glowed brightly and began to twist, changing shape as it did. When the light died down, the glass ink bottle had become a delicate glass otter. The class was in awe at the magic display, while McGonagall's eyebrows had shot into her hairline.
"Wow Harry! You learned Alchemy?" said Hermione in awe, gazing at the otter in amazement.
"Yeah, still working on it, but I can do some basic transmutation," he replied, picking up the glass otter carefully, and handing it to Hermione. "But I can't do roses very well, so you'll have to make do with that," he finished cheekily, causing Hermione to smile and blush prettily. Harry noticed that Ron was looking somewhat irritated at this and sighed. He had known for a while that Ron had jealousy issues, but had hoped they could resolve them. After the war, he and Hermione had gotten married and had settled down to raise a family, though Hermione was less than happy with her husband, who quite the same was as he always had been and was less than adequate in many aspects of life. Ron had always been in the belief that Muggles and, by extension, Muggleborn's way of life was inferior to wizards, and therefore believed that doing things the magical way was always the best way. Draco Malfoy had always been a bigot, but what Harry and Hermione hadn't realised was that Ron was just as much one, though he wasn't offensive, but was under the impression that Muggles were meant to be educated by wizards. What Ron had never thought of was that Muggles outnumbered the magical world more than 100 to 1. Also, while magic made lives easier, Magical Britain was set back at least 50 years from the modern day. Muggles were in fact smarted than their wizard counterparts, as they did without magic and got along fine. Wizards believed that if a painting didn't move or speak then it had no use in life, and similarly believed that they were superior to Muggles in every way. What Wizards refused to believe was that they could not win if ever the modern world found out about them. After all, a gun can be shot multiple times in a second, while the killing curse cannot, and a speeding bullet has not yet been transfigured. With Ron's frame of mind however, he and Hermione seldom went a day without arguing how they would raise a child. While Hermione wanted her child to go through primary school, Ron believed that it was unnecessary and a waste of time. This caused his sleeping on the couch; after Hermione pointed out that she went to a Muggle school.
After class, McGonagall announced the Yule Ball, just as Harry remembered, before proceeding to ask him to stay back after class.
"Potter, the champions and their partners traditionally open the Yule Ball. You're going to need to find a partner by Christmas," she said. Harry grinned.
"All taken care of Professor, actually I heard Professor Karkaroff talking about it, so I already have a date," replied Harry, still grinning at the stunned look on the Transfiguration teacher's face.
"Oh… well, in that case I guess you need to learn how to dance Mr Potter, so as not to disappoint your partner," she said, getting over her shock. "Also, well done on your performance in class today, but it seems quite odd that your performance and theory work would suddenly shoot up so suddenly," she said, giving him a suspicious look. "Not that your marks were bad before, by any reckoning, but the spell work you did today carried the craft of a master. Care to explain why you've been holding back in my classes before now?" she finished, knowing she was right from the look of shock in his eyes. Harry sighed, knowing his jig was up. Although he hadn't learned the alchemy until he was 20, he had been holding back in class ever since had first started at Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry if I disappointed you Professor, I've been used to having to hide my grades since before Hogwarts, since my aunt and uncle… they didn't like me getting better marks than my cousin," finished Harry somewhat lamely, though McGonagall saw what he meant. Her expression softened, though inside her mind, she was raging about the Dursleys. She had always protested Harry being sent to live with them, ever since she had spied their son kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets. At the age of 1 no less!
"Harry, I want you to know that you can always come to me if you have any problems," she replied in an unusually informal way. "I am your head of house after all," she said, smiling at him, which he returned. "Now, since I can clearly see that your Transfiguration is higher than fourth year, and I suspect that it goes above fifth year as well, I'd like to give you a test in the next class, to determine at what level you are at," she explained to him, gaining a confused look, though he understood what it meant from his previous life. "You wouldn't be allowed to try for a Mastery of Transfiguration until you can display above seventh year knowledge of Transfiguration, so this test will show me where you are at, in terms of your Transfiguration skill. You'll be placed at any of the Hogwarts years, or one of the three levels above, Understanding, Advanced or Mastery. To attain one of the latter three ranks, you will have to sit the Ministry's test, which you may choose to take if you can prove you have post seventh year knowledge of Transfiguration. Is that all clear?" she explained, looking to Harry, who nodded.
"Yup, loud and clear Professor," said Harry, as he grabbed his bag.
"Alright then, thank you for your time Mr Potter. Now off with you," she said, shooing him out of the class, though she felt in high spirits.
"If you could see your son now James, he might even get better than you in Transfiguration," she said to herself, smiling as she summoned all the essays to her desk and packed everything away with a flick of her wand.
Harry wandered down the hallway, vaguely aware of Ron and Hermione arguing about something. He could tell that it was Ron's chronic 'foot in mouth' illness; the guy just didn't get the old adage 'when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging'. The scoreboard he had conjured was out of space now, as Hermione had scored over 30 against Ron's 2, so he Vanished the board and was looking for something to amuse himself or possibly escape the conversation, when he noticed Malfoy and some Slytherin's pestering a third year girl. Figuring he could help her out and make a fool out of Malfoy at the same time, Harry quietly detached himself from the arguing pair, and made his way up behind Malfoy, who had snatched the girl's wand out of her hand and mocking her as she started to cry.
"What's wrong Mudblood? Have you learned to respect your betters yet?" taunted Malfoy, as his fellow Slytherin's guffawed stupidly.
"Really Malfoy, do you know any other insults than that? My god, you're actually an embarrassment to stupid people," said Harry lightly, plucking the girl's wand from behind Malfoy, causing the boy to spin around.
"Potter!" spat Malfoy, his sneer increasing tenfold. "I wonder how many girls will reject you for the ball before you give up and ask your Mudblood friend," he sneered.
"Considering you thought I was going to fail within 10 minutes of the First Task and I completed it within that time frame, I think I'll do perfectly fine, ferret face," said Harry cheerfully, angering the Malfoy heir. "But which one of your butt buddies are you taking to the ball Malfoy?" asked Harry, grinning at Malfoy's confusion.
"Butt buddy?" asked Malfoy suspiciously, while the girl he had been pestering giggled quietly. She must have at least one Muggle parent to have known what Harry meant.
"Yeah, I mean everybody knows that you, Crabbe and Goyle have a 'special' relationship, so we figured two of you would be going together," said Harry innocently. Getting the implications, Malfoy began to turn red in anger. "Soooo, Malfoy… do you give or take?" asked Harry mischievously, not being able to resist getting one more in.
"I AM NOT GAY POTTER! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" screamed Malfoy, now completely red with anger, as passing students erupted into laughter at the scene, while Harry gave a theatrical bow. Malfoy attempted to pull out his wand while Harry's back was turned, but Harry was prepared and shot a bright yellow spell at him, causing Malfoy to tumble backwards onto the ground, taking aforementioned 'butt buddies' along with him. Malfoy pulled himself up off the ground, glaring at Harry.
"WHEN MY FATHER HEARS ABOUT THIS –"Malfoy started, but stopped when he noticed Harry's wand pointed right between his eyes.
"Of course, the classics again Malfoy. Can't stick up for yourself, so you run and hide behind daddy and call people the same thing over and over, that's so like you Malfoy," whispered Harry, his voice completely serious this time. It was actually scaring the Malfoy scion, though everybody else couldn't hear what they were saying. "My father is dead, but I don't need him to put you six feet under, and yours won't stop me either, so I'd think carefully about how you go about your education these next few years, because if you keep testing me, one day you'll find yourself lost in the Forbidden Forest very close to the Acromantula colony. I hear they love the taste of ferrets," Harry whispered dangerously, causing Malfoy to gulp.
"What's going on here?" asked a silky voice. Harry turned and saw Snape sweeping towards them. Most of the students left in a bit of a hurry, leaving just Malfoy, Harry and the third year.
"P-p-professor Snape sir, Malfoy was calling me n-n-names and stole my w-w-wand, and Harry was just h-h-helping me," stuttered the third year girl, her voice shaky because she had been crying. Snape looked at the girl briefly, and at Malfoy, but kept his gaze on Harry the longest. Harry couldn't tell what the man was thinking, but he had been different since Harry had shouted at him in his mind. Finally Snape spoke.
"Very well, it seems that the evidence is against you Mr Malfoy. 10 points from Slytherin and a detention with Mr Filch," said Snape in a monotone, turning to Harry as Malfoy stared open mouthed at his head of house. "10 points to Gryffindor for helping another student Mr Potter, and I would like to speak to you at some point, perhaps before the commencement of the Second Task," said Snape finally, sweeping away, Malfoy with him, leaving a shell-shocked Harry. Despite the impossible happening to him on a weekly basis, even Harry could not believe that Snape had awarded points to a Gryffindor, much less him of all people! Then he remembered the third year girl.
"Sorry about Malfoy, he can be a prat, I know," said Harry kindly, smiling at the girl as he handed her back her wand. The girl blushed cutely, thanking Harry profusely. Taking the time to study her, he realised that this same girl had asked him to the ball in the original timeline, but he had declined, and not in a very polite way, due to shock. She was a Hufflepuff, very cute with long, curly dark brown hair, standing at about '5, 3' and wearing her uniform. Harry was also relieved to see that she wasn't wearing a 'Support Cedric Diggory' badge.
"Thank you for helping me out with Snape as well, I thought I was gonna end up in detention again," said Harry gratefully, making the girl smile.
"I should be thanking you Harry. They cornered me and were making fun of me, because I'm a Half-Blood, and I couldn't do anything because they had my wand," she started, sniffling a little at the end. Harry conjured a handkerchief for the girl, in Hufflepuff colours of course, waiting for her to finish.
"I'm sorry about that, I'm Madison Conbolt," she said, smiling at Harry, still blushing a bit.
"I'm Harry Potter, nice to meet you Madison," said Harry, smiling back at the girl.
"Umm, I know that you don't really know me, but would you go to the Yule Ball with me?" she asked quickly, her sentence coming out a bit jumbled, as her face heated up. Harry gave her a sad smile.
"I'm sorry Madison, but I'm already going with somebody," said Harry, feeling awful as he saw her tearing up again.
"That's okay, I figured you would already be going with someone," she said quietly, about to turn away, before Harry put his hand on her shoulder and turned her back to face him.
"I can't take you, but my friend might be able to. He still needs a date, and I'm sure he'd like to go with somebody as cute as you," said Harry, grinning as she blushed from being called cute by Harry.
"Would that be alright?" she asked in a small voice, though Harry could hear the hope in it.
"Of course it will be, I can take you to see him now if you like?" asked Harry. Getting a nod from Madison, Harry took her hand and led her up the marble staircase towards the Gryffindor Common Room. On the way, he spied Neville heading towards the library, so he changed courses and took off towards the library as well. He saw Neville approaching the entry, so he asked Madison to wait outside for a second, oblivious to her elation at having Harry hold her hand.
"Hey, Nev!" shouted Harry, catching Neville just before he entered the library.
"Hey Harry, how are you? I was just about to make a start on this Transfiguration work, you know how hopeless I am at it," said Neville, ever enthusiastic as always.
"Don't worry about it Neville, besides, you're ace at Herbology, and don't think I haven't noticed how good you've been getting at DADA," said Harry encouragingly, causing Neville to flush with embarrassed pleasure.
"That's only because you've been helping me with the work, even though you've been preparing for the tournament," replied Neville, though pleased with the encouragement.
"Friends help each other out mate. Speaking of which, you need a partner for the ball right?" asked Harry, to which Neville nodded glumly. "Well, it just so happens I know a very cute young lady who you might be able to ask," said Harry slyly.
"Really Harry? That would be great. Can you introduce me please? I'd really rather ask myself than ask you to do it," said Neville, grateful for Harry's help.
"Of course I can, in fact, she's right over there," said Harry, finding Neville's expression to be quite hysterical. "Hey Madison, would you come over here and say hello?" said Harry loudly, beckoning to the girl, who made her way over timidly.
"Neville Longbottom, meet Miss Madison Conbolt, Hufflepuff, third year, and in need for a date to the ball, though I'm wondering why boys aren't queuing up to ask her," introduced Harry, making Madison blush in embarrassment and pleasure. "Madison Conbolt, meet Neville Longbottom, best in our year at Herbology, a nicer bloke you couldn't find, and he also makes a top notch Pavlova," said Harry, causing Neville to give him a strange, but amused look and Madison to giggle at him.
"It's nice to meet you Madison," said Neville timidly, bowing to her slightly. Madison smiled, losing some of her nervousness, as the nervous teen smiled weakly back at her.
"Umm, w-w-would you go to the Y-y-Yule ball with me?" asked Neville, stuttering a little bit. Madison smiled and blushed prettily.
"Yes Neville, I will," she said, smiling at him as he smiled back, feeling very relieved.
"Great! Glad that worked out, because if it didn't, I would have looked a tad stupid, wouldn't I?" exclaimed Harry, grinning at the two embarrassed teens. "I'm meeting my date at the Entrance Hall on the night at 7:30, so if you want I can bring Neville down with me and we'll meet you there," said Harry, getting nods all round.
"Thanks for everything Harry, and thanks again for helping me with Malfoy," said Madison, turning red as she hugged him and he hugged her back.
"Not a problem, but I'll be expecting to steal you from Neville at some point during the night for a dance," said Harry, causing the girl to almost swoon. Madison left soon after, and Harry went with Neville into the library to help him with Transfiguration.
"Harry, thanks again for helping me with the homework and for asking Madison to the ball," said Neville as they left the library, heading for dinner.
"Not a problem Neville, I'm glad you got such a cute girl for your date and that you got in early," said Harry honestly. "Although, I think you should send a letter home to your grandmother and ask to get a new wand. Because you're using your father's wand and not one that's attuned to your magic, it might be a major reason to why your spells don't work as well as they should. Your wand work is flawless, but its not attuned to you," said Harry, causing Neville to become depressed.
"I don't think Gran will let me, she wants me to grow up like my parents, and using dad's wand is one way she thinks," said Neville gloomily. Recently, through studying together, Neville helping Harry with Herbology and Harry helping Neville with DADA, Neville had told Harry about his parents, which had surprised Harry, as he hadn't confided in him last time.
"Trust me, I think she'll see. And I'll write to her too, maybe she'll listen if we both write.
"Thanks Harry, you're a good friend," said Neville, smiling at Harry.
"What are friends for?" said Harry rhetorically, clapping Neville on the shoulder as they sat down to dinner.
"Hey Harry," said Alicia Spinnet, sitting across from him.
"Hey Alicia, what's up?" replied Harry.
"We're holding dance classes for Gryffindor's for the ball, would you be interested?" she asked, carefully balancing a slice of steak and kidney pie on her fork as she carried it towards her plate.
"Yeah, sounds good to me. Might bring Neville too, and Ron if he finds himself a date," said Harry, spooning potato's onto his plate. He had noticed that Ron and Hermione were still arguing, and Hermione had just stood up and was making her way to their part of the table, looking irritated.
"Great, the girls will love it, getting to dance with you," replied Alicia, grinning at her teammate's expense.
"I feel used," said Harry in a small, sad voice, before poking his tongue out at Alicia, who laughed.
"Oh by the way, keep an eye on Malfoy, he tried to curse me before, but I got him first and set a time delay spell on him, should activate in 3 minutes exactly," said Harry quietly, getting incredulous looks from Alicia and Neville.
"Oh no, Fred and George have tainted my innocent little brother's soul," said Alicia in mock horror.
"Wait, what did you say Alicia?" asked Harry, catching the 'little brother' comment. Alicia went red with embarrassment, but was saved from answering when the twins sat down on either side of Alicia.
"You say our names, we shall appear," announced Fred, grinning across at them.
"Did somebody say Hermione's name, cause she's coming this way too, and she looks like she's going to murder somebody," added George, as Hermione sat down next to Harry.
"Ugh, one of these days I'm going to murder your brother," groaned Hermione, as she grabbed some food.
"That bad?" asked Harry sympathetically, patting her on the back.
"Oh, don't even get me started on how my idea's on House Elves is stupid, or how I should get a life like him! He plays chess and supports the Chudley Cannons almost religiously, if that's life I'd rather not have one!" she said angrily, making Fred and George snort.
"Yes, well our dear brother doesn't seem to realise," started Fred.
"That the Cannons aren't so much a team, more a joke gone wrong," finished George.
"Tell you what Hermione, look over at Malfoy, he's just leaving the Hall, and my spell will activate in ten seconds," said Harry, grinning at her.
"Oh Harrikins, what mischief have you been up to?" asked George, grinning as well.
"Well, you see its-"Harry was interrupted by a shrill cry of shock and surprise. Harry, Hermione, Neville, Alicia and the twins, along with most everybody in the Hall looked over at the Slytherin table. It only took one look for them to start laughing, with most of the school following suit. The twins had fallen off their seats laughing hard, Alicia was lying on the table laughing hysterically, Neville was clutching Harry's shoulder for support as he cackled, and even Hermione was giggling like mad, as Harry observed his handiwork with a wicked grin. For Draco Malfoy was sliding around the Great Hall, between the houses tables, wheels attached to his shoes as he flailed wildly, falling flat on his face.
"H-h-h-harry, how did y-y-you do that?" asked Hermione between giggles, as the house tables fell into hysterics.
"Hit him with a time delayed jinx that was set to start when he stood up after dinner, and best of all, it activates at random times and lasts for four days," explained Harry, as those around him burst into a fresh round of laughter. Fred and George managed to crawl across the ground to Harry and began hailing him.
"HE IS THE MESSIAH!" they chanted, thoroughly entertaining the crowd and watching Muggleborns, who knew where the quote came from. Fred and George loved pranking and comedy of all kinds, and refused to limit it simply to the magical kind, and knew all about Monty Python. The laughing group started making their way out of the Hall, amidst gales of laughter at the Malfoy heir.
"HE'S NOT THE MESSIAH! HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, unable to help himself as he walked past them to survey Malfoy's problem. This of course set them off again, and they could barely crawl through the doors, along with a number of other students, who were all clutching their sides.
"POTTER!" screamed Malfoy, just before he fell again, this time his face landing in a bowl of mashed potato. The big group of students fell out of the doors, clutching their sides laughing, helping each other up as they headed back to their dormitories. Harry caught Fleur's eye, as she picked herself off the floor, still cracking up laughing. She grinned back at him as she left towards the Beauxbatons coach. As Harry and a bunch of Gryffindors made their way up to the common room, with various members of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw patting him on the back and applauding him, Harry couldn't help but wonder one thing.
"Professor Flitwick has seen Monty Python?"
And on that note, another chapter finished! hope you all enjoyed it, and again my deepest apologies for such a long wait. i am working my best on a new chapter, but i would like any thoughts on my idea to add Hermione into the pairing. i only suggest this because i like Hermione as a character and i think she would work well in the pairing. also, i don't want her to end up with Ron, if theres two things i never forgave J.K for, its those two ending up together, and her killing off Sirius.
Please review or they'll break my legs... or my self-esteem will be crushed, whichever comes first really :P