AN: Here's chapter 3… I'm writing chapter 6, off and on, as I war with a muse with a severe Fleur fixation. I'm going to try to get one of these up a week until I run out of written stuff, at least.
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Dancing With Myself
Chapter 3: London Town A-Go-Go
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Harriet counter signed the contract and Harry stowed it away in his pockets as he pulled out his wand. "Alright, we need to make an impression. Maybe if we scare them a bit, they'll back off?" he asked with a grin.
"Yes, Master," she chirped, rocking on her heels as she watched him. He just rolled his eyes and waved his wand in her direction, causing her hair to straighten and a number of black tattoos to appear on her skin. Freed from its natural curl, her deep red mane reached down to the middle of her thighs and seemed to float after her like wisps of crimson flame.
"Going for the dark apprentice look," he noted as he transfigured her robes to a deep crimson with an embroidered edge of black runes. He turned his wand on himself and turned his own garb into ebon robes with red trim, much like hers. A quick transfiguration produced a white half-mask for him to complete the ensemble.
"Ready to go- oh, wait. Almost forgot. You know that Snape and Dumbledore can read thoughts, right?" The look on Harriet's face showed that she clearly hadn't known and was putting together all of the times they must have used it on her. "Well, now that you're free of Voldemort's shadow, you'll be able to learn the counter to that, but in the meantime, I have a solution." He again raised his wand and incanted "Occlude" as he waved it over her head, leaving it wreathed in a corona of white light that faded over the next few seconds.
"It's only a temporary barrier, and not that strong of one, but it'll keep even a direct assault out for a few seconds and warn me of what's going on. And just because I love them so much, I'm going to include a special gift," he said with a mischievous grin that caused Harriet to grin back. Again, he swished his wand and incanted "Faux Memoria" as he waved it about her head. "Anyone looking into your mind is going to have a little… surprise."
"Surprise? What'd you do?" Harriet asked, eager to take part in this little bit of revenge. "Is it nasty? Will their heads explode?"
Harry laughed. "No, down girl." Harriet stuck her tongue out at him but calmed a bit. "I just put a false memory construct in place and loaded it with something particularly nasty for them to get a look at. I blame Luna."
"What is it, then?" Harriet asked, and Harry made a mental note to help her a bit more with the thirst for revenge she'd apparently taken on since she'd eaten that piece of Voldemort. Conversely, eating the fragment of Voldemort may have just freed her to express her bloodlust.
"Well, Luna had a… prolific imagination. She used to write short stories all the time, and one of them involved Snivellous being… friendly by a rather amorous dragon. She even drew pictures. The pictures moved," Harry said with a shudder.
Harriet looked at him in confusion, turned a little green, and then started laughing. "So, if Snape's the one who… he'll see… or if it's Dumbledore…bwahahaha."
Harry grinned and decided he'd give Harriet a little of the treatment, too. "You know that back in my world, he hated me because I look so much like Dad. He had a hard on for Mum… and… you know, I bet the reason he was always so mean to you is that he wanted you to keep your distance. Secretly he wanted to grab you and-ouch. Fair enough."
Harriet, who looked on the edge of being sick stomped on his other foot for good measure. "That's so disgusting… but… the way he used to look at me…" With that, she bolted to the nearest restroom and was heartily sick. Harry chucked to himself for a bit and cast a mouth cleaning charm on her when she got back. "Thanks… that's still gross…"
"Well, how about we kill him later. Together. It can be a bonding experience," Harry offered, only half joking.
"Aw, but I didn't get you anything," she said with a weak grin. "I guess we can't kill him unless he does something illegal, though. I don't want us to get in trouble. Maybe we could just castrate him or something."
"Well, he was the one who told Voldemort the prophecy that caused him to come after our folks. That's got to count for something," Harry said, growing more serious.
Harriet sobered, as well, and nodded. "Let's just concentrate on fulfilling the tournament's contract and keeping together. There will be plenty of time for revenge once we've gotten more time to train. I already feel like I'm twice the witch I was, but it's not enough."
Harry nodded in return. "The only one that worries me is Dumbledore. I'll have our escape route in place, so remember what I told you about the portkeys and stick close to me when you can. I'm probably a little bit stronger than the old man, but he's mastered skills I've only just begun to explore. Voldemort was in the same situation, and while he never lost to Dumbledore, he never won, either."
A few minutes later, the pair Apparated to Hogwarts, to the clearing where they'd met. Harry put up a few quick wards around the area and made a portkey out of distinctive stone before chanting the spell that would give them a rather spectacular entrance to the Great Hall.
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The student population in the Great Hall for lunch was quite tense. Harriet Potter, the Girl Who Lived, had been missing for most of a month and rumors were running rampant. Many thought she'd been so ashamed of cheating to get into the tournament that she'd run away, killed herself, or maybe both. Others thought she'd been kidnapped by some left over follower of the last Dark Lord. There were other theories with fewer proponents, but all of them had one thing in common. They were wrong.
Well, except for the Luna's ideas. Hers were just plain weird, but since no one could prove that Harriet hadn't decided to take a vacation where horrible accidents would befall her foes and she would gain a wide variety of new powers, it was just a good a theory as any of the others. And it was wrong. At least, in the current reality.
As Professor Sprout was walking over to Cedric to alert him to the fact that he needed to get down to the stadium, the massive doors to the hall suddenly flew open, slamming against the walls with a pair of resounding bangs. The wind that had done the deed continued on into the hall, whipping hair, robes, and napkins around furiously. Finally, a great amount of particulate was blown about by the wind in a mini-tornado in the middle of the hall, between the staff table and the student tables. The particulate matter soon formed into two hazy shapes and then, just as suddenly, the wind stopped.
Standing in place of the tornado were two imposing figures. Though neither of them was of overly large physical dimensions, both radiated power on a level rarely seen, even from Dumbledore himself. The taller of the two stood, menacingly, in black robes with scarlet trim and a red mask across the left side of his face, leaving the right side bare but somewhat obscured by the shadows of his hooded cloak. The other, smaller figure had her hood thrown back to reveal pale white skin, dark black tattoos, and a ferocious mane of crimson hair.
For two full heartbeats, no one in the hall spoke and then the girl stepped forward and said, "Your fourth champion returns."
As the words left her mouth, the students in the hall made the sudden connection between this sleek young woman and the gawky girl that had vanished the month before. The uproar was deafening and the pair of Aurors stationed in the hall of the safety of the Ministry employees at the staff table went for their wands. They, along with everyone else, paused as Dumbledore let off a cannon blast from his wand and rose, anger clear on his face.
"Silence!" he said in a tone of voice, that while soft, still carried through the entire room over the chatter. He was obeyed almost immediately. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded, turning to face the newly arrived duo.
Harry placed his hand on Harriet's shoulder and stepped around her. "I am merely returning my apprentice for the first part of your tournament. Once she is done, we will depart again. If a binding contract had not been forced upon her, we would not be here at all. I would encourage you to have those two behind you stand down, as I do not appreciate having wands pointed at me, especially in so amateurish a manner."
The two Aurors who had been trying to line up their wands without being noticed by their target froze, embarrassed and more than a little nervous. Both were under fourty, which meant they'd probably seen little action during the last war and the cloaked figure before them radiated experience and confidence.
"Those men are Aurors and are well within their rights to have wands drawn on someone appearing as you have," Dumbledore said evenly, his eyes locking with Harry's. "Now, who are you?"
As Dumbledore spoke, Harry could feel a subtle Legilimency probe and fed it the memory he wanted Dumbledore to see. The older wizard maintained his composure well, but looked a little green. "I am this girl's guardian and master, just as she is my ward and apprentice. As she has withdrawn from your school, I don't think you need to know more."
The murmuring among the students started again and Dumbledore had to use his voice trick to quiet it again. "Harriet cannot withdraw from Hogwarts. She has not passed her O.W.L.s."
"You would be right, if she were still a citizen of wizarding Britain. However, as I am legally a citizen of the United Colonies of North America, and have legally adopted her, I think you will find that her withdrawl is perfectly legal. It is your Ministry, after all, that still holds the laws requiring that citizens of the "rebellious colonies" be stricken of their British citizenship. Also legal is the Master-Apprentice bond which we hold. If you wish to challenge that, the court in Boston would be happy to hear your arguments, but unless you plan to deport us, that is not a matter for the here and now." Harry gave the headmaster a cold smile. "And before you ask, my adoption is perfectly legal. That horrible Muggle you made her guardian sold her to me for a few thousand galleons. Tell me, did you require that he beat her every day until she was eleven, or was it worded more as a strong suggestion?"
Again, Dumbledore was forced to silence the hall, but Harry just seized the chance the chance to strike again. "I am also well aware of the prophecy that states that only Harriet may slay Voldemort when he returns. I am sure that something can be negotiated for that service, and I assure you that her rates will be more than reasonable."
The uproar started again, and behind him, he felt Harriet's fist bunch in his cloak. The girl was shaking, but a glance back showed that she was fighting hard against laughter. There was little Dumbledore could do to refute his charges in front of so many witnesses. Fortunately, the sounding of a loud gong saved him the trouble. The deputy headmistress cautiously approached the two.
"Ms. Potter, we must be down to the stadium. You must prepare for your task. Your… master may accompany you that far, but may not enter the competitor's tent."
With that, the two of them swept out of the hall behind the strict transfiguration professor and left the great hall. The other champions were not far behind as their handlers realized that the designated time was upon them.
Outside in the open air, the turmoil in the great hall seemed a distant memory. Harry left Harriet to walk beside the professor and instead contented himself with taking in a vista he had not seen in many years, aside from on the way into the castle a few moments before.
"Professor," Harriet asked after a while, "Did you know what kind of people the head-I mean, that man left me with?"
McGonagall stiffened and broke stride, bringing her two escortees up short. "I… I may have suspected," she admitted.
"Yet you did nothing," Harriet said, her voice thick with sadness. "Do you know what he was doing to me? Do you know that he was setting me up to accept death in the process of bringing down Voldemort? That he intentionally put me in a place so that I would be abused until dying didn't seem so bad?"
The color drained from the older woman's face, but she turned and started walking again. "Ms. Potter… Harriet… I am sorry. I suppose I trusted the Headmaster a little too much… I never imagined…" From the waver in her voice toward the end, Harry knew that she stopped talking to stop herself from breaking down.
Harry placed a comforting hand on Harriet's shoulder, which turned into a hug when they reached the competitor's tent.
"Good luck. You're strong enough to do this," Harry said to her and gave her a peck on the forehead. "We'll go to a warm beach somewhere after you're done for a few days of relaxation."
Harriet nodded and stepped back, disappearing into the tent without another word. Minerva McGonagall looked after her former student with an expression of pure sorrow until Harry put a hand on her shoulder, as well. She jumped at the contact and he withdrew the hand. "Sorry about that," he mumbled. "Harriet's hurting a lot right now. She has been fine since she came to me, but I think that being back here has rubbed her emotions raw again. Would you mind showing me to where I can watch the proceedings? I assure you that her performance will be spectacular."
The professor nodded her head and lead him toward the stands, apparently in no hurry to get back to whatever duties she had for the day. "How did you meet Harriet?" she asked at long last.
"I happened across her down near the edge of the forest around the school. She was a sobbing wreck after her housemates ostracized her over the tournament. I heard her story, offered to take her on, and did some investigations of my own. I come from a home very much like hers, and I think I understand her needs very well."
Minerva seemed to relax a little, though she was still wary. "I'm sorry, it's just that you looked for all the world like a dark wizard when you appeared in the Great Hall like that. The mask doesn't help."
Harry chuckled. "Well, we wanted us to make an entrance. The robes, tattoos, and her hair are all just for effect. I'm no more a dark wizard than I am a light wizard. Harriet said that Voldemort told her there is no such thing as light or dark, only power. He was right, after a fashion, but woefully misguided."
The tension returned as Harry declared himself to be no light wizard and became palpable when he said Voldemort's name. Harry decided he needed to press on. "Even light magic may be used for evil, after all. Dumbledore is as light as they come and he still placed a defenseless little girl with those horrible people. There may not be much meaning to light or dark, but there is a difference between good and evil. I am a good wizard, at my core, and I think that Harriet is much like me in that. She has… after-effects from her first encounter with your little Dark Lord that make her prone to negative emotions over positive. I am working with her to control them, but it will not be a fast process."
That seemed to mollify her somewhat and she sat silently for a few moments before returning to her duties, leaving Harry to wait for the start of the task. He cast a notice-me-not charm on his position, putting enough power to keep anyone short of Dumbledore from piercing it and generally found himself bored as he waited for the match to start.
When it finally did, Harry found himself quite interested in how the other three competitors performed. He knew the results, in general terms, of their efforts, but it was quite amusing watching the actual action. Before too long, it was Harriet's turn and he stood up to get a better view.
His female counterpart stepped from the tent and strode toward the chained Hungarian Horntail with barely a moment's hesitation. She'd gotten comfortable with the Smallsnouts, but those were significantly less menacing creatures. Seeing its challenger approach, the dragon rose up on her haunches and spread her wings, blocking Harry's view and no doubt casting the most of the arena in shadow.
He experienced a moment of worry, but it passed as soon as it started when he heard Harriet's magically enhanced voice hissing in something similar to Parseltongue, but requiring much more power to speak.
"Halt!" Harriet cried, and the dragon did just that. "I am Harriet Potter, and I seek a boon of you, great serpent matron."
"An apeling with the power to speak the tongue of dragons? That is an oddity. I will humor your request, apeling. What do you wish and what do you offer?" the dragon asked in reply, its hissing voice sounding almost amused.
"Amongst your clutch, these fools have placed a false egg. It is not as yours, and serves only to disgrace your nest. Give unto me the false egg and I will offer you meat far more palatable than my own," Harriet answered with a firm voice, much to Harry's pride. He'd learned this little trick from Voldemort's memories and it'd taken ages to figure out the trick. Once he did, it was a simple matter to show Harriet how to channel an excessive amount of power into her ability to speak Parseltongue while giving it a mental tweak or two. Dragons weren't snakes, but they had an ancestor or two in common.
"Very well," the dragon said, lowering her head to nuzzle at her nest, inspecting each egg with a mother's nose. It took her a while to find the false egg, as it had been charmed to give it the proper scent, but she did. "This egg is not one of mine."
"Accio deer!" Harriet cried in a normal voice, waving her wand in the general direction of the forbidden forest. Harry had left the slain deer near to their escape clearing, and it soon soared into the stadium. It'd taken him almost an hour to convince her not to summon Draco instead. Wordlessly, Harriet guided it to the dragon who eagerly moved to devour it. As it finished its approach, Harriet cast a Flame Freezing Charm on herself to guard against betrayal and seized the moment to grab her egg. Prize in hand, she retreated from the arena.
The cheering for her performance was halfhearted, at best. Even though Harriet had done the best job with her dragon by far, but she'd used an ability that many considered dark to do so. Harry muttered an invisibility charm and moved down to the area where Harriet was waiting for her scores to be read and moved in beside her.
"Good job," he mumbled in her ear as he hugged her from behind. She started momentarily but then leaned back against him, pulling his invisible arms tighter around her.
As they waited, Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, and Moody came up to congratulate her. Harriet blushed a little but otherwise looked pleased with the praise. Harry took a moment to silently switch the contents of Moody's flask with a flask of hemlock tea he'd brought along for just that occasion. Flitwick and McGonagall both refrained from mentioning Harry, which suited him fine. Moody didn't really speak much, seemingly more interested in his surroundings. Harry knew that his invisibility charm was probably not good enough to fool the real Moody, but Crouch didn't have anywhere near the same level of experience with the magical eye and probably couldn't pierce Harry's spell.
The little gathering broke up as Hermione and Ron sheepishly approached Harriet. For her part, Harriet's face hardened and her eyes narrowed. "What do you two want?" she growled out.
"We just wanted to, you know, apologize." Ron managed, not quite able to make eye contact.
"For what, exactly? For being an insufferable prat?"
"No, Harriet," Hermione broke in, taking over, "We're sorry we didn't believe you about the, you know. I knew the tournament was dangerous, but I thought this one might have more safeguards and… well… I didn't realize it could still be deadly to you. Someone must have put you into it to get you hurt."
Harriet's glare didn't lessen. "I like how you refuse to take my word for it but suddenly believe it when it's so obvious that a blind house elf could see it. Shows a great degree of trust in a friend, doesn't it?" The way she ground out the word 'friend' made the both of them wince.
"We're sorry!" Ron exclaimed. "Just, you know, say its okay and come back to Hogwarts with us. No one's going to talk bad about you from now on."
"No."
"No? You can't say no!" Ron replied.
"I just did. No, I don't forgive you. No, I'm not coming back to Hogwarts. Aside from the tournament, I'm done with this bloody country. When I'm bored with watching Voldemort slaughter you morons, I might come back and take care of him. Or I might not."
Their conversation was cut off as the scores were sent up. Harriet came in just behind Krum which caused her to take a rather angry breath. She'd completed the task perfectly, but apparently her methods were being punished.
Harry let his charm drop and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here. This game is obviously rigged," he added loudly as he steered the fuming girl out of the stadium and toward the Hogwarts gate. Just past the edge of the stadium, they ran across something that Harry had been hoping not to see but expecting.
"Hold it right there, whoever you are. You're under arrest for kidnapping," the Auror in the lead ground out, his wand pointed straight for Harry's heart.
Harry sighed and patted Harriet on the shoulder. "Only half a dozen of them, huh? Did Dumbledore talk you into this or did those two pea brains in the Great Hall come up with it on their own? Alright, Harriet, time for a practical lesson. What do you do when half a dozen Aurors decide that they're going to arrest you on false charges and put you into a prison system where trials are a luxury?"
"Umm… I don't know… surrender? Run away?" Harriet asked, a little too eager to make her innocent act believable.
"No, you just have to take care of them. Now, your assignment is to keep from getting hurt," he said and gave her a last pat on the shoulder before drawing his wand and diving to the side in one smooth, practiced motion. One of the Aurors threw a quick stunner at where he'd been standing and Harriet had to drop to her knees to avoid it. The Auror in charge wasted precious seconds by shouting out "Don't hit the girl!" just before he was nailed with one of Harry's curses.
"Now, some people use stunners," Harry was saying as he dropped his second Auror with the same spell as he approached his opponents in a zig-zag run. A third almost got him with a cutting curse, but he dodged it and kicked the man's wand out of his hand as he dove past. Harry threw a blasting hex at the wand in mid air, causing it to explode in splinters, leaving the man defenseless for the followup hex. "I prefer using paralysis spells. The counter for paralysis spells takes power comparable to the power of the spell itself, unlike a stunner. It's hard for their allies to revive them."
The other three Aurors seemed to realize that Harry was not to be messed with and coordinated their attacks to give each other covering fire and keep up a steady stream of cutting, blasting, and stunning spells. Harry flicked his wand and the three fallen Aurors flew into the paths of the incoming spells. The look of horror on their faces as they realized they'd just injured their comrades faded as the now bloodied bodies hurtled toward them, each one impacting one of the standing Aurors.
Harry swished his wand one more time and five fallen wands flew to his hand. "It's a grave insult to destroy someone's wand, but not actually illegal. You shouldn't do that, unless they've really pissed you off," he said as the five captured wands burst into flames. He incapacitated the other Aurors and summoned their leader to him. The man's terrified eyes were the only part of him that could move as Harry stared him in the eye. "Just so you know, I was being nice today. Next time, I start killing people."
With that, he poked the man in the chest with one finger, sending his frozen form toppling over. "Come on, Harriet," he said, taking her hand. Within a few moments, they were half a world away from Hogwarts once more.