It was with somber expressions that the contents of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry descended to breakfast on the morning of March first. Less than a week ago, Fleur Delacour of Beaxbatons Academy of Magic fell victim to the Giant Squid during the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament.
Fleur was 17 years old.
The Tournament had been temporarily put on hold due to her death. It would resume once her memorial was finished, although the Champions had already received their scores. Cedric and Viktor both scored a 5 from each judge. They had only completed the task halfway, as Harry had saved their person. And as of Harry, the debate on his scores were heated. Karkaroff thought personally that Harry clearly over stepped the rules in an attempt to pursue his own glory. A still grieving Madame Maxime was no help to the debate, although she did on occasion defend Harry. Ludo Bagman and Dumbledore were his staunch supporters, with the former the most outspoken. In the end, Mr. Crouch decided that Harry simply did not know any better, and that they should have explained the task more clearly.
Karkaroff could not help but agree that they had been a little vague, but to his fury, Harry received a perfect score.
Everyone wore mellow robes of black to their first meal of the day. The memorial would begin at 9, and no normal classes were taking place. The Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Magic Creatures had decided not to take care the Giant Squid. No one was surprised, it had been an accident after all, and along with that it was a rare and deeply magical creature. Of course, being as long as a Quidditch Pitch aids one in avoiding destruction.
Fleur's parents and relatives had come in from France, and grief marred the beautiful and striking face of her mother. Monsieur Delacour was a plump, very kind looking man who himself told the entire school that he blamed no one, saying in a thick french accent 'What 'as 'appened, 'as 'appened, but it does not lessen our grief any less.'
The entire school shuffled out once they were finished with breakfast, heading towards the rim of the Black Lake. A circular podium of white marble was surrounded by hundreds of chairs, already being filled. There were no sounds as the witches and wizards took seat, awaiting the start of the service.
The day was beautiful, a clear blue harmonized with bursts of birdsong. It was at odds with the rather depressing atmosphere shrouding everyone.
Dumbledore himself rose to the podium, and looked around calmly before beginning to speak.
"Nobility of spirit. Personal grace. Great beauty and charm. All these words symbolize traits that existed within the young Fleur Marie Delacour."
Her mother sobbed quietly in the front, while her other daughter clung tightly to her father's robes. Cho squeezed Harry's hand as they looked on.
"Though she may be gone, the qualities that made her up live on in each of you, if you choose to accept and live by them. Born to Pierre and Aurore Delacour, it was apparent at an early age that she possessed great potential. Unusually gifted and heartbreakingly beautiful, she excelled within Madame Beauxbatons Academy of Magic."
He bowed his head once to the tearful Headmistress.
"Though I have known her only a short while, it saddens me that she had to leave us. Only the world knows why, but I am confident that she is in a better place. After all, to those who lived with honor, to those of great minds, to those of strong hearts, death is nothing more than the next great adventure. And I do not doubt for a second that this magnificent young witch was all of these. Many of those who loved her wish to speak, to share their memories of her with you, so that you may take part in the wonder of life that was Miss Fleur Delacour, Champion of Beauxbatons."
Monsieur Delacour stood up then, gently prying Fleur's sister Gabriella off of his fine black robes. He walked to the podium with a sad, but brave air around him. His magically enhanced voice resonated through everyone, ear, mind and soul. His speech was short, but powerful.
"My daughtair was a wonderful young woman. It seems zat she was too good for our world, too pure. My 'eart still aches when I zink about what I 'ave lost, but it appears zat zis was to be, and 'oo am I to fight it. You were lent to us for a short time, to add light to our lives. So bright you shone, so dark my world is now. We will mizz you," he finished simply.
He left the stage, walking with slow, deliberate steps until he reached his seat. Madame Delacour hugged him tightly, but his sad eyes held a level of calmness and serenity that impressed Harry.
Madame Maxime ascended to the podium, and, towering over the others, began to speak.
"I remembair when I first saw ze young Delacour. Even zen, she was impresseeve, zo young and full of life." she chuckled wetly "'Owever, it was not my preevilige to be able to watch her grow up and become ze beautiful woman she would 'ave become." She heaved a great sigh here, and, after recounting the first time she had met Fleur, sat down.
Ludo Bagman too rose to speak, and his typically boisterous voice was very serious, his eyebrows furrowed. "Fleur was... Unlike anyone I had ever met before. And at my age, I've been around," he tried to joke. No one laughed. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he continued "I watched her closely, Triwizard judge you know, and I saw it immediately that she was very talented. Fabulous wand work, I couldn't have done half of it. However even the best of us... Sometimes things... Maybe we..." He took a deep breathe, collecting his thoughts "My very deepest condolences to her family. We... we tried to prevent these sort of things but..." he trailed off, his forehead pinched and troubled and he left to walk back to his seat, his steps devoid of their usual bounce. Harry was surprised by how sincere the former Quidditch Star seemed.
Many others rose to speak, most with accents. Harry hadn't known Fleur very well, but the fond stories and heartfelt sorrow touched him, and he felt several tears drip down his cheeks. He pulled Cho tighter to him, trying to fill the hollow in his chest. She buried her face in his shoulder to hide her own tears.
After the last speaker, a portly Frenchman with a cherry red nose, Harry felt as though he had known Fleur his entire life. Far from worsening his feelings, it actually helped him reach a state of closure by feeling as though now that he knew her, he could better honor her memory.
Her death increased his already burning desire to win the tournament, and he saw his look of resolve mirrored on the faces of Viktor Krum and Cedric Diggory. It was as though a portion of her fire had entered each of them.
The service was finally over, and Dumbledore once more took the center. He spoke very formally, perhaps due to the grimness of his message, "In light of the fact that there is no... body. May each of you take a flower? When you have one, please, find a spot around the lake."
Two burly wizards entered with uniform steps, bearing a casket. When they opened it, wonderful smells assaulted the noses of those gathered. Hundreds, maybe thousands of flowers were within, freshly picked and vibrant with color and life. Forming a line, the procession each selected a single bloom. Harry's was a white rose, Cho's a a scarlet, star shaped blossom that he had no name for.
They slowly walked towards one of the few sandy spots on the shore, one they had used for a picnic before. That time was so much happier than the melancholy events of the day.
"Are you all situated?" came the voice of the Headmaster, "You are? Then we may proceed. I shall ask you to breathe a prayer, a wish, something for Fleur, onto her namesake."
I hope you're in a better place, thought Harry intently as he stared at the rose cupped in his palms. He looked to his girlfriend, her hands were clasped together, her head bowed, and he felt a rush of fierce protectiveness for her.
Dumbledore's loud, magically suffused voice still came across as a whisper. "Gently lay your flowers into the water."
Multitudes of glowing blossoms were slowly washed away in the current. It was a powerful sight for Harry, and a film of tears obscured his eyes once more. "Goodbye, Fleur Marie Delacour. You will be missed, may you find love and happiness, wherever you are."
So concluded the memorial of the Beauxbatons Champion. So the young witch was laid to rest, along with her dreams and aspirations. So they said good bye.
It took a week to get things back on track for a group of people still reeling from an unexpected death.
On the seventh night after the funeral however, Dumbledore and a slightly shrunken Bagman announced the resumption of the Triwizard Tournament. The third and final task would be an 'obstacle course, of sorts' taking place on the 24th of June.
He had just a little under 5 months to prepare, but then again, so did the other champions. Even worse, they had 3 more years of magical training then he did. Scrambling for help, he'd sent out Owl's to all of the adult wizards he knew. Of course, that brought the total to around three, Sirius, Lupin, and Ron's father.
Their responses to him were overwhelming, lists of dangerous creatures and defenses against them. Charms paired with counter charms, jinxes with counter jinxes, and hexes with counter spells. It was everything he wanted, and more. There were even books with moving pictures, showcasing wild beasts attacking wizards who put up successful defenses... as well as failed ones.
Harry could only hope there wouldn't be a manticore; a wizard had never beaten one in recorded memory.
It was hard for him to admit, but Cho was taking this loads better than he was. Sure, she was shaken, but whereas Harry grew incredibly nervous whenever he thought about it, Cho was able to rationally confront it. She'd already begun planning a basic timeline for his training, and even Hermione was impressed at the results. Although, he noticed distastefully, she'd added 'Homework Time' sections. Harry figured those could be filled with Ron's chess games.
"I had a lot of practice last year," Cho modestly shrugged off their compliments. "Roger hated making schedules, and since I was the new girl, well..." Harry's nostrils flared slightly. So Davies made Cho do his work, did he? Well, he'd found a particularly promising jinx for making everything you carried twice as heavy, maybe then they'd see if Roger could work.
"But, where are we going to practice?" asked Hermione.
"We?" said Harry skeptically. "Don't be thick mate," responded Ron, "you're not getting ready alone."
"Really Harry," giggled Cho, "that was a given. But Hermione's right, we need a space to practice."
"Oh well that's the easy part. There's loads of unused classrooms."
"What if someone comes?" said his girlfriend nervously. "Prefects," muttered Ron, and Harry repressed a smile.
He winked at the Ravenclaw "I still have some secrets. But don't worry," he finished nonchalantly, "I'll tell you everything later."
She smiled widely at him, and he blushed. Ron gagged in the corner, and Samantha, who'd just sat down, kicked him under the table.
"Bloody git," she whispered under her breathe. "Banshee," he muttered back, wincing when her foot struck his shin for the second time.
Harry and Hermione laughed at their antics, but when he looked to Cho her gaze was surprised, albeit pleasantly so.
"What-?" he began to ask, but she shushed him with a swift kiss, whispering in his ear that she'd tell him later.
"They what?!" he yelled after dinner an hour later, when, now alone, Cho had told him what she noticed. She kept nodding, "Yes, yes they like each other, I can tell. Girl's intuition," she tapped her forehead with a slender forefinger.
"B-but," Harry spluttered "Ron can't. I mean, Hermione!"
"What about Hermione?" said Cho matter of factly "She's with Krum now."
"It's... It's... It's just wrong!" For so long now he'd always thought that his two best friends would be together, but to have his theory suddenly disapproved was such a big shock that his mind instantly rejected it. He ran his hand through his hair in an agitated sort of manner.
"Calm down Harry, calm down," she enveloped him in a hug, "It doesn't mean they'll never be together. Just not now."
He nodded slowly. Now that he'd gotten past the initial surprise, it really didn't seem to be that big of a deal. As long as they're happy he supposed.
"So what was it you were going to tell me earlier?" asked Cho interestedly. "Mmm, what?" asked Harry; she was idly stroking his hair and he was finding it hard to concentrate. She rolled her eyes, "Remember? Great Hall? Secrets? Right before my epiphany."
"Oh right!" exclaimed Harry, suddenly remembering. "Well, maybe you'd fancy sitting down first."
"Okay..." they found a secluded alcove. Cho sat down on a bench, patting the space next to her with a confused expression.
"Alright, don't do anything until you've heard the whole story? This is... this is big."
She promised, taking one of his hands in both of her own.
"Well," he began "remember Professor Lupin, last year?" She bobbed her head, "I liked him."
"And you know that he was a werewolf, right?" She bobbed her head once more, wondering where this was going.
"Good. Because that's where all of this starts. With Remus becoming a werewolf." he almost smiled, he'd started the tale in the exact same way that his former Professor had, more than half a year ago. Cho listened with growing amazement as the story unfolded. Remus' best friends, the things they had done for him, she marveled at it. It typically took 10 years of intensive study in becoming an Animagus. They'd managed it in 3.
Harry then started to describe the events which had taken place at the end of last year, starting with Scabber's sudden reappearance in Hagrid's House. She hugged him close when he told her the truth about Pettigrew and his parents. By they time he had gotten to the part where he had conjured his Patronus, the hand she held was being tightly squeezed. The grip relaxed somewhat when he finished, and she snuggled into him with a thinking expression on her pretty face.
He waited apprehensively for her response. Would she think him crazy? That he was lying? Or worse, would it too much for her, so much so that she had to end it?
"But, I don't see what that has to do with us not getting caught in empty classrooms," she finally said. His relief was so great that he had to laugh for a second.
Cho could only watch in bewilderment when he pulled out a ratty looking piece of parchment. He tapped it with his wand saying, instead of a spell "I solemnly swear that I, am up to no good."
Black lines erupted onto the paper from the wand's point of contact. They ran this way and that, and yet more lines split off. After several seconds, the process was done with words in an elegant, flowing script at the top.
"Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present The Marauders Map"
"I don't under..." Cho trailed off when she finally saw what this was. "Wicked," she whispered under her breathe. It was a perfect replication of Hogwarts, but even more amazing were the labeled dots. "Wait!" she said suddenly, "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, aren't they-?" "My father and his friends?" finished Harry with a grin. "Yep."
Amazing, she thought, somehow they had managed to put Hogwarts, an unplottable, powerful and ancient magical location onto a map. What's more, they had laid bare the castle's secrets, with more secret passageways than she would have imagined. It must have taken ages to make this, and she couldn't even begin to think what kind of effort had gone into making a spell that showed the people's location.
She examined the map for some time, but Harry's grin caught her eye. "So, what do you think of my Godfather?" he laughed. "Convicted killer, armed fugitive that he is."
"He seems like a lovely man," she responded in civil tones, all the while fighting to keep her voice steady. Harry's smile widened, he saw right through her.
"But," continued Cho in tones that made him very nervous "you still have to find out about my father. And you already know about my brothers."
She watched with satisfaction when his face paled. "Good for you," she said, laughing while she stroked his hand.
He ran his other hand through his hair, pondering. "Do I want to find out about him?"
Cho merely shrugged, an innocent look in her eyes.
Harry was about to tickle it out of her, but then he saw the time. "Bloody hell, we have to go."
She was about to shrug it off, but then she saw it too and her eyes widened. They took off, fingers still interlocked. Still, she couldn't repress a giggle when he went in the opposite direction from Ravenclaw Tower. It looks like even Harry had some secrets he needed to learn.
"Come on Harry, concentrate!" yelled Ron as Harry tried to transfigure a table into smoke. It was slow work for the moment, as he had just learned the charm. The area that he was pointing at had floated away, but even though it was spreading along the edges, the progress was painstakingly slow. It was only after copious amounts of practice that one could hope to instantaneously change an object into smoke.
"You can do it Harry," he heard Cho murmur to herself from the side, and her desire for his success lit a fire in his mind. He focused every ounce of his willpower on changing that table; it sped up rapidly, the top of it was completely gone, it licked down the table legs and- the rest of the table floated away in black coils.
Hermione was the first one who spoke, "Harry, that was..."
"Amazing, bloody amazing," spoke Ron hoarsely.
Harry started to speak, "But I- oof!"
"Harry that was brilliant!" gushed Cho, her arms were wrapped tightly around him. "I- can't- breathe." he laughed.
"Cho," came the dry warning voice of Samantha, "It's the tournament that's supposed to kill him. Not the girlfriend."
She briefly let go of Harry to glare at her best friend while Ron and Hermione collapsed on the sidelines.
It had surprised Harry (not to mention everyone else) how rapidly he had advanced. He'd mastered defensive spell work, powerful hexes, jinxes and curses, and even some of the more advanced forms of Transfiguration. All of them were sure to help with the final task.
Reading the books sent to him had taught Harry a surprising thing; straightforward attacks were the worst way to go about it.
He'd read of famous duels that were won with well used counters, the Headmaster himself had beaten the Dark Wizard Grindelwald when he'd attempted to crush Dumbledore with a rock. Responding by redirecting the Earth magic in the spell to turn Grindelwald into a tree, he won the duel. Harry was even more surprised at how ofter Professor Flitwick seemed to crop up. He'd once heard that in his youth, the Charms teacher was a talented dueler, but the man had nearly beat Dumbledore himself in an exhibition match for Merlin's sake!
Ron was scrambling to keep up with Harry, being his dueling partner, but after the first month or so he was so outclassed that Samantha had to team up with him in order to even pose a challenge to Harry (Hermione was reluctant and he staunchly refused to point a wand at Cho).
Hermione finally recovered, "Alright, one more time Harry," she said briskly. Cho gave him a quick kiss on the lips before gliding over to the sidelines.
Harry closed his eyes, focusing. He pointed his wand at another table, and concentrated, eyebrows in a V. "Extricus!"' he commanded, instantly the table was gone. Its shape remained, but it was now composed of dark smoke, which began coiling away at the edges. After several seconds, the clouds of gray floated out of the window.
Everyone was in shock. He'd been progressing well, extraordinarily so, but so much that he could accomplish in several hours what took some months? Ron and Hermione's mouth hung open, and even Samantha seemed at a loss for words.
Cho's gaze was something else entirely. Growing up among people who hated him at worst and disliked him at best had deprived Harry of many things. So much so that he almost didn't recognize the expression on his girlfriend's face.
But when he did, suddenly nothing else mattered. It didn't matter that in someone in the school was out to get him, it didn't matter that in little over a month he'd be competing in the most dangerous competition known to wizard kind. It didn't matter because the expression lighting up Cho's face; was pride.
Author's Note: Ah, this was a pretty hard chapter to write... I can tell there'll be a lot of critiques already :P but that's alright. I'm thinking the next chapter should be pretty good though. I'm way better at writing battle scenes than gooey mushy ones haha. Next chapter will be the Third Task, the conclusion of Harry's 4th year and Cho's 5th. Expect it to be up by this weekend. Thanks guys, read and review remember! Although obviously you're already reading x)- sasansan