Chapter Six: Between Pain and Pleasure
Hogwarts was simply big. Not so much in size - of three great schools of the Wizarding World, she was the smallest, but every foot of her had more history in it than in any other. Partly because she was the first true school of magic, open to everyone who wished to learn. Partly because so many great people began their path to greatness from here - some from the library, some the pitch, or the potions lab. Great scholars, sportsmen, alchemists, politicians and artists of Magic Britain and not only it, all made their first steps, be them their first flying lessons, potions, connections or learnt incantations, right there in this majestic castle. The school's history went back for more than a thousand years and would go for at least another thousand forward. Many had tried to sabotage her, disrupt her, destroy her, but nobody had ever succeeded.
Harry introduced this huge world to Fleur, revealing the whole new universe in the universe. He often shared his own opinion when it was appropriate to add some colours and spices into this stream of rather dry historical facts of Hogwarts. But every stream started somewhere and ended somewhere - the time had come for Harry to change topics, though it surely wasn't a problem for him.
"... You can see why it's called Black if you look closely at the water. Nobody knows why it's dark and nobody will ever find out probably. One thing I'm very sure about is that my ancestors loved to state the most obvious."
She covered her mouth, throwing her head a little bit back, and laughed. Her melodious, like ringing of tiny bells, laugh made a strange feeling tickle his chest from inside. It could be described in a single word. The word so incomprehensible for any rationalist yet so simple for any wizard or witch. Magic. The fact her tender skin and lustrous blond hair were illuminating subtly in the half-light of evening, blue eyes were sparkling in amusement, just intensified his impression. .
"Merlin, she is perfect.." he though "thank you, for creating such beauty"
She was very different from what he thought of her when he had seen her for the first time. He had thought he was arrogant - she was shy, he'd thought she didn't have a lot in her skull - she had. Alas, everything very enjoyable was way too short. Otherwise it wouldn't be so memorable. They needed to go - the night had sneaked closely imperceptibly without the pair noticing it until the last moment. If the night was an opponent, Alastor surely would appear suddenly, shouting his favourite CONSTANT VIGILANCE reminder.
Harry slowly conducted Fleur to the Beauxbaton's Carriages which hadn't changed at all - same gold-trimmed snowy-white wood, same abraxans - oh wait! - the gigantic flying horses weren't harnessed to the carriages: they freely fed on the stacks of oat that were put by somebody (probably by Hagrid) nearby. They paid the closing pair of student a little to no attention. The said pair had stopped in front of the golden steps which led to the entrance of the carriage which the champion of Beauxbatons and her Headmistress.
"Well, I hope I haven't bored you to the death.." Potter said, scratching his nape nervously.
"What are you waiting for?" voice in his head suspiciously similar to one of Weasley twins' told him. "Kiss her, kiss her, you idiot!"
The quarter-veela stood there, smiling at the young man brightly. She slowly reduced the distance between them, and kissed his cheek, standing on her tiptoes.
"Don't you think I would be dead then while some auror would escort you to the remand? Have nice dreams, Harry Potter.." she whispered in his ear. These simple words made him shiver as if the temperature fell by thirty degrees at once.
The sound of the carriage door shutting snapped him out of his trance as if somebody slapped him in the face. Hard. He felt like he forgot something.
"But what? And what time is it?" he asked himself, frustrated.
'Tempus'
The silvery numbers appeared in the air in front of him. It was 8.12 pm.
He was late!
Harry ran as fast as his feet and magic allowed him. He made every passer byes freak out resembling a black haired lightning.
He was so dead!
Albus Dumbledore was humming a tune airily. He conjured a tea set on his table and a comfortable chair in front of it with a slight wave of his long white wand. Magic surely was making the life of the old man so much easier.
"Only if my another wand still worked too.." he thought, looking down. "With all its wonders, magic can't cure some of the most simple things."
Fawkes, being in his adult phase, perched on his right shoulder, and joined his master, thrilling a melody.
"You, my friend, are truly lucky to never get old and weak permanently." Albus said, petting his fiery familiar.
The bird thrilled affirmatively.
"And you also left your conscience where you were born from"
The bird thrilled affirmatively, again.
The entrance door opened suddenly, revealing the green-eyed latecomer, who was also the old wizard's apprentice. His black hair was a mess. The sweat that was dripping from his forehead was only adding to his image.
"Sorry, Albus - I'm late.." Harry said heavily, being out of breath.
"It's all right, my boy. Why are you still standing? Have a seat - there is no truth in feet." Dumbledore replied, pointing at the conjured chair. "Tea, lemon sherbet?"
"Yes, please.. Thank you" Harry had accepted a hot cup with steaming liquid and snatched one sweet from the bowl on the table.
"How is the young lady I've seen you with recently?" Albus asked, his blue eyes full of kindness.
"Fleur? So much different from what I thought about her before today."
"First impressions tend to be wrong, Harry. Never categorize people just by your first thoughts. Only when you don't have the luxury of time you need to be quick in it." Albus mentored the young wizard. "And we, Time magi, have plenty of it, don't we?" the famous twinkle appeared in his eyes again.
"What about the other two - young Mses. Greengrass and Weasley. Have you forgotten them already, my boy? It's not good to just discard other excellent variants."
"No I haven't. I just try to deal with one at a time, Albus." Harry said, with his own mischievous twinkle in eyes.
"Very wise of you, Harry." the old wizard approved. "Now, to the more serious matters - the First Task is closing and you need to be fully prepared. It's no good for my apprentice to be burnt to the death."
"Salamanders?" Harry guessed.
Dumbledore shook his head.
"Dragons?"
Dumbledore nodded.
"I am sure you can handle yourself well against a dragon, but I don't want the poor creature to suffer without any serious reason. Do be gentle with it."
"Of course, Albus." Harry agreed. "Is this all?"
"Yes, Harry."
"Have a great night"
"You too, my boy, you too.." Albus bid farewell absent-mindedly, returning to his thoughts about Merlin knows what.
Pain is a weapon.
'Sectumsempra'
The violet light appeared on the tip of her wand, glowing in the darkness of the night Forbidden Forest. She placed the wand over her head, gripping it with both hands tightly as if it was a broadsword.
One.
A hundreds years old tree was cut to the roots.
Two.
Some passing-by deer was decapitated with a harsh slash, its still convulsing heart pumping hot crimson red arterial blood out of its body.
Three.
A two meters deep furrow in earth was plowed into existence.
Four.
Everything in thirty feet radius from her, be it a tree or a rock, whatever or whoever, was severed with a giant invisible sword.
Crimson eyes darkened, a slight self-satisfied smirk appeared on the beautiful face.
"Magic of Numbers indeed.." Ginny whispered.
Five thousands three hundreds eighty two square feet in total, seven connected rooms with twelve feet high ceiling - the whole house in you trunk!
The Dream Trunk! Today's Special offer - order it now and get a free goblin-made ward as a gift!
Alastor Moody wasn't one of those people who could be persuaded easily, be it to buy something or whatever, but when he saw this advertisement in the Daily Prophet he just couldn't resist. And there wasn't even a day when he regretted buying this magic wonder for the hefty nine hundreds ninety nine galleons nine sickles and nine knuts price. He used the last room (which was also the smallest) for interrogation.
A simple wooden chair with a lot of pointy splinters for extra comfort, a few shelves with muggle construction tools - hammers, screwdrivers and (ahh, his favourite) pliers were only a few of them. A lone dim magic light was hovering under the ceiling right over the stool. A fifty gallons thick glass vessel, enforced by magic, full of concentrated sulfuric acid for the extra special treatment. The whole room was sound-isolated, both with ward and muggle sound isolation materials - just in case.
And it was very smart of him to spend so much time on sound-proofing - people tend to shout loud when you spill concentrated sulfuric acid on their bare feet.
His current guest was sorted by Alastor as one worthy of the extra special treatment (TEST). Poor man - people would think. If they just knew who he was, they would put him themselves into the said vessel instead.
Barty Crouch Jr. hadn't experienced TEST yet, but time was in plenty. Any exercise is bad without a good warm-up before it.
'Crucio'
Barty convulsed under the pain-inflicting curse. He felt as if thousands of fiery needles were digging under his skin, boiling his blood, tearing him apart.
Still, he wasn't one of the most trusted servants of his Lord for nothing. His iron will was helping him to not shout.
The pain had stopped. He heard heavy footsteps. Somebody grabbed his head by the hair, pulling it backwards so the light beamed right into his eyes.
"How do you feel, Barty?" a familiar voice asked him. The voice's owner was obviously mocking the "poor man".
Crouch Jr. spat blood on the stone floor of the room instead of answering.
"Now now, there is no need to dirty my room with your filthy death eater blood. Evanesco." The mix of blood and spit was vanished with a simple spell.
"Tell me, my dear friend, why did you attack me?"
"Sometimes I wonder why the first war had lasted for so long if even the members of the old fool's close circle are so stupid and can't see the obvious.." Crouch answered quietly, looking defiantly in the eyes of his torturer. "I wanted to kill you, stupid auror dog."
An almost sincere laugher filled the room, reverberating in Barty's head.
"And I always wonder why all the death eaters think they're smarter than me." Alastor said his both eyes, huge electric blue and normal brown, set on the man he interrogated. "Now, I ask you again - why did you attack me?"
"Go to hell.."
"Oh, I will one day, but not before you for sure." Alastor said. He conjured a glass vial and transfused the thick liquid from the vessel that stood in the far right corner. He cast a bubble head charm on himself and on the "Interrogated" - there was no need for the shit's death, at least for now. He vanished both Barty's shoes and turned his eyes to the face of now shoeless man. "Haven't any right answers come to the front of your mind?"
Barty looked indifferently at the glass vial in Moody's hand. He hadn't even noticed that there was a charm on his head or that his feet were now bare.
"Truth Serum? By its colour I can say now for sure that you aren't just stupid, you also lack any skill in the alchemy!"
A huge predatory smile almost split Alastor's head in half.
"It's actually a modification of the Truth Serum, my friend. Effectiveness was tripled, although there are plenty of new "side effects", so to speak." Moody played along. He slowly poured it on Barty's feet.
Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) chars the organic matter in contact with it.. - a piece of text from muggle chemistry book flashed in grizzled auror's mind.
Then, the screaming begun...
Fleur Delacour was currently lying in her bed.
Naked.
It was her silly habit, actually. She loved the way her bare skin was contacting with the silk of her bedclothes. A slight cool breeze was coming out of the room's half-opened window, caressing her body gently. All in all, it was a picture for which any teenage (and not so teenage, too) guy would kill to watch first-hand.
She was thinking about the most recent events that had happened in her life. Leaving France with her fellow classmates and their Headmistress, the welcoming feast, new friends, being chosen by the Goblet..
Harry...
He was younger, yet he was very mature, and these emerald eyes! And he could shrug off her allure - a great feat which showed his strong will. She knew he wasn't naturally resistant to it. He somehow was managing to overcome it - not once she had radiated her allure on him, but he hadn't even once changed in his face.
Was it love?
It wasn't for sure.
Yet.
"Harry, I've chosen this day" which was Saturday, morning "and this particular time because there is not so much time left, and I wish that you will complete the task unscathed. I want you to perfect this technique in 5 days counting from today. It was created by Gellert Grindelwald. To show it, I must ask Fawkes to transfer us to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest." Dumbledore said and extended his hand to Harry, who took it. Fawkes quickly perched on the old man's shoulder and moved them to their destination with a fiery flash.
Once they appeared outside, Albus continued his lecture.
"As usual, my boy, I must ask you to not reveal this secret to everyone you meet. But of course you should understand it by now."
Harry made a magical oath again.
"I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that I will never reveal the magical technique Albus Wulfric Bryan Dumbledore will show in the next hour to anyone but my future apprentice, if I ever wish to have one, so mote it be."
"So mote it be" Dumbledore repeated. A bright flash of blue was a good enough verification for the pair so the older man continued.
"The Spell Barrage - it's a technique which allows its practician to cast tens of the same spell's replicas in a matter of few seconds by overpowering." He pointed his wand at the trees behind him.
'Divido Raptim'
Right before Harry's eyes the true show of raw magic power was happening - an almost stream line of cleaving charms left the wand of his mentor. The old wizard began slowly moving his hand to the right, cutting literally everything he pointed his wand at. When, after about fifteen seconds, he chose to stop there was a picture of total mayhem in the front.
"Now I want you to ask me some questions, my boy" Albus said, looking a bit tired, his breath a bit quicker than usual.
"What's the point if you've taught me the Time magic?" Harry asked, his left eyebrow lifting up in question.
"Sometimes you don't have much time, Harry. Other times there are there are a lot of opponents that you need to fight at the same time.." Dumbledore answered. "Most of the time, it's less power-consuming than changing the time flow. Every element of the barrage - by that I mean, every spell it includes - is weaker than a single cast one by about half, it's twice cheaper also."
"So how is it done?" Harry asked.
"When you cast a single spell you put in it a portion of your magic, perform required moves - these are needed, but what's the most vital is the intent. Intent shapes you power into some form and lets it happen."
"I think I understand it now, Albus."
"Do it then." The old man said, gesturing for Potter to continue.
'Divido Raptim'
A powerful cleaving charm was shot out from his wand, halving the tree in fifteen meters in the front. Yet it hadn't been a barrage.
"Don't think about just one spell, my boy, shape you intent into a continuous line, not a segment."
'Divido Raptim'
This time, it was completely different an almost solid stream of charms came out of his wand. Harry could feel the wand in his hand becoming fiery hot, overheating. He stopped after a few seconds, though he did cut in half several trees. He completely lost his breath, feeling the tiredness crushing on his shoulders instantly.
"Very good, my boy. I think it's enough for today. I want you to practice it not just until the First Task, but for the whole year."
"I will, Albus." Harry said and turned around, starting walking towards the castle, his dorms, shower. Yes, he needed a nice good cold shower right now..
"Oh, and Harry!" Dumbledore shouted to the young man who already was twenty feet away from him.
Harry turned around.
"I must confess, it's a great way to overcome dragon's magic resistance. Maybe the best" His mentor said with a knowing smile.
The protege returned the smile back, nodding his head.
"Who's the boss?"
"I am the boss."
"Who's the boss?"
"I am the boss."
Severus stood in front of the tall mirror he had in his office, speaking slowly with himself.
He smiled to himself.
Well, he thought it was a smile. In fact it was more like a bloodthirsty grin than a smile.
There was a knocking on the door.
'Tempus' 5 pm - Harry Potter came to his office to be taught the Mind Arts.
He straightened his robes up with a simple spell.
"Enter."
Indeed it was the Potter Jr.
"Good evening, professor Snape."
"Hello, Harry, have a seat." Snape said, sitting himself on the armchair in front of the fireplace and gesturing for the young man to occupy the opposite one. Harry did just that. "You will begin learning the Advanced Legilimency techniques. Learn well and you will be able to enter into the mind of your opponent without a wand. You will be able to control the minds of the weaklings even..."
Daphne Greengrass knew she would lose Harry if she wouldn't do something the sooner the better. She was sitting on her bed in Slytherin's fourth year girls dorm, curtains closed and a privacy ward cast on them. First this Weasly bitch, now this French.. Who? yes, bitch. Her odds were becoming less and less with every second. She wasn't a veela - she was a scion of a Noble House, which meant a lot. She wasn't ugly the last time she checked herself in the mirror too, quite the opposite - she didn't need some silly aura to make every straight young man in Hogwarts drool.
She was Daphne Greengrass and she would be damned if she didn't find out what was this something.
Let us return a bit back in the time for a moment. To the day when Harry went with Fleur to show her Hogwarts' grounds.
Hermione watched as the pair walked away from them. She was happy for her friend and wished him only well. If there was someone who should be happy, it was Harry.
"Ekskyuze me." Someone behind her said with heavy Slavic accent.
She turned around to see Viktor Krum, not the less, in front of her.
She gave him a polite smile, although she was a bit cautious about him.
"Yes?"
He smiled back. Actually, when he smiled he was much more attractive.
"My name iz Viktor, what iz yours?"
"Hermione, it is nice to meet you, Viktor." She said.
"Ven I first arrived here I never sout zere vood be such a beautiful girl. Viz brain in her skull too." Now that was a strange way to compliment her, but she had to give him a score for his courage.
"You have a book-bag with you, let me carry it and let's go to ze Library and study togezer." That should be interesting.
Although his words could be interpreted as rude, they weren't in truth. And he was sweet in his own way and a true gentleman - moving off a chair for her first and only then sitting himself and all that.
Time had passed quickly for the two - Hermione hadn't even noticed it was late until Madam Pince shooed them out unceremoniously.
"I really vood like to study viz you some time again, Germion." Oh well, she could afford allowing one single person to call her "Germion".
"Me too, Viktor, bye."
"Let me conduct you to your dorm's first."
She gave him her most brilliant smile.
Such a gentleman!
If some facts were different, Ronald Billius Weasly would be teasing one Luna Lovegood. But you can dream of "what if?" forever yet facts were facts. You couldn't just take an eraser and wipe them out.
Here he was, kissing his blonde girlfriend which for sure wanted him to suffocate. Though he didn't want to complain even by a bit. They continued snogging for some half an hour when suddenly she grabbed his crotch possessively and began unbuttoning his white shirt (simple yet clean and ideally straightened) - actually she began tearing it.
Now that was something new!
...
Hell, what was that spell..?
AN: Ta-Da! I know it's small update, but I don't have much time until tomorrow. See you in a few days! And REVIEW! AAAAARGHHH! REVIEW!