Chapter Twelve:
I was walking Harry back to Gryffindor Tower when he stopped me. "You really think someone is hoping I'll be killed during the tournament?"
I looked at him regretfully and put my hands on top of his shoulders. "Yes, Harry. Why else would someone tamper with the choosing of the Champions? I've been thinking about how it worked out, and the culprit did it in such a way that you had to be chosen. Meaning that they must have submitted your name under a false school. There was no way for you not to be chosen, Harry. If the person just wanted to see if you'd be chosen, they'd have submitted you under Hogwarts. No, this person knew exactly what they were doing, and they wouldn't have gone to all that trouble if they didn't have a purpose."
He looked toward me with sorrow hidden in his emerald eyes. It seems that the whole world is out to get him. I hugged him to me again. "I promise you, Harry. I will do everything I can to help you."
When I pulled back he was smiling weakly. "You and your friends reacted in the exact same way. When my name was called the room was completely silent until the three of them stood up simultaneously and started ranting about how the Goblet was fixed to endanger me. When Dumbledore quieted them and asked me to move to the back room, they grabbed me and promised me they'd get me through this." He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Thank you, Bella. It means a lot to know that I'll have an ally through all this."
"Of course, Harry. You can count on The Skirts. We'll take care of everything." I loped my arm through his and continued walking toward his tower.
"The Skirts?" He questioned.
I smiled sheepishly at him. "Yeah, my friends and I are a bit notorious at Salem. We're always getting into mischief. During our second year our group was christened the Scheming Skirts by our classmates. The name kind of stuck with us."
He just laughed and shook his head. A few moments later we made it to his portrait hole and said our goodbyes.
The next few weeks were tense around Hogwarts. It seems that all of Harry's friends, other than Hermione and Neville, turned against him. During these weeks Harry spent a lot of time with my friends and I and they had become just as protective over Harry as me. We've been actively trying to keep him away from the students whose main goal seems to be taunting Harry.
One morning we were sitting at breakfast when a boy I'd learned was Seamus Finnigan walked by sneering at Harry. "Well if it isn't the famous Harry Potter gracing us with his presence? What's going on Harry, did you come down to eat with us so you could get a photo op eating breakfast will all the nobody students at your school? Need something for your next interview?" He laughed making the button on his robes change from supporting Cedric to a picture of Harry under the words, "Potter Stinks!"
I'd had enough. This was getting out of hand, and I could no longer control my temper. I was no longer that innocent 11-year-old who never lost her composure. Ever since I found out I was a Black and started having memories of my past, my fuse became noticeably shorter. I stood up quickly knocking my bench backwards and slammed my hands down on the table, glaring at Seamus. All conversations ceased as everyone's attention turned to me and Seamus.
I sneered back at him in my most sarcastic voice, "What's the matter, Seamus? Are you jealous that Harry is so famous? I mean, how wonderful it must be, right? I have an idea, why don't we resurrect Voldemort and have him kill your parents! Then you can see how wonderful it is to be famous like Harry Potter!"
The room was completely silent as I stood up and looked around me. Everyone was staring at me in complete shock, except The Skirts, of course. They were smiling. Even the staff was left glued to their seats, completely speechless. What? Is everyone afraid to say it out loud? Not me, people!
I was standing in the middle of the aisle turning around in circles to take in the gaping faces surrounding me. I was really on a roll now, and I started screaming to the people in the Hall. "What? You people should be ashamed of yourselves! You cheer when Harry's had to sacrifice his parents in order for your tormentor to be defeated, but he's not good enough to support when someone is obviously trying to kill him? You people don't ever stop to consider that the events that led to him vanquishing 'He who must not be named' destroyed his life!" I said the stupid way these cowards address Voldemort in a mock eerie voice. "And then when someone is obviously trying to harm him by putting his name in the Goblet you people just turn your back on him! When he needs you the most you desert him!"
"And you!" I turned toward Ron and pointed at him. "You're supposed to be his best friend! Merlin, you are doing a piss poor job of it, Ronald! Harry could be killed! How will you feel if something happens to him because he was forced into a competition for which he is not qualified and the last few weeks, when you should have been HELPING him, you've done nothing but treat him like a pariah? For Merlin's sake even the bloody Hufflepuffs have turned against Harry! Aren't you people supposed to be loyal? Helga is probably rolling over in her grave! As is Godric! The only members of his house who aren't too cowardly to stick by their friend when everyone is against him are Hermione and Neville! The rest of you are a mockery to your own House!" I yelled accusingly.
The verbal diarrhea was really spewing out of my mouth at this point, and I don't know if I'd have been able to stop myself if I hadn't heard the booming voice of Professor Dumbledore. "SILENCE!"
I turned, fuming, to the doors of the Great Hall where Dumbledore had entered. "In my office immediately, Miss Swan!"
I didn't even respond; I just stomped past him towards his office. The gargoyles stepped aside without a password, and I waited for Dumbledore in his office.
A few minutes passed, but I hadn't calmed down one iota. I was still livid. These people are ridiculous! Harry! He is one of the bravest, most loyal people I know and they are treating him so poorly. I can feel the anger coursing through my veins. How dare they?
The door burst open and Professor Dumbledore entered with Sandy in tow. "That outburst was completely unacceptable, Miss Swan!" Dumbledore seemed upset. Yeah, you're not the only one.
"I'm not sorry, Professor, I feel that the way the students have bullied Harry these past few weeks is unacceptable. I cannot just stand idly by while you allow your students to torment him. He doesn't deserve that treatment!" Yeah, I would have sooo been sorted into Gryffindor.
He seemed surprised and taken aback by my response. He was just about to respond when Sandy pulled me aside. "One moment, Headmaster. I need to have a word with my student."
He nodded his head in agreement and she pulled me to the corner of the office. She placed a Muffliato around us. "What on Earth was that all about, Bella? These outbursts are not like you. Now, I'm not completely naïve. I know you have your ways of getting back at those you feel treat people unjustly. You're usually a bit more subtle about it, though. I never thought I'd see the day where you screamed at a room full of students and professors." I couldn't decipher the look in her eyes. It was admonishing, sure, but I think she may have been a bit proud that I stood up for Harry.
I glanced toward Dumbledore and noticed that he was watching us keenly. I narrowed my eyes at him and threw up a charm to block lip reading. I then turned back to Sandy and tried to explain myself. "I'm sorry if I've disappointed you, Professor. But you know about my past. You also know that I believe my father to be innocent." She nodded at this. I think I had her pretty much swayed when I showed her the picture we found of Peter. It completely backed up everything we'd told her. "Well, I've known Harry Potter since he was born, Professor. I've also known his parents since I was born. They were my godparents. I have memories of them all." She gasped in shock at that.
"He was my very first friend. He's my god brother. Professor, our pasts are so intertwined. We've both suffered so much from the unfortunate events of our shared past. I feel this unbreakable connection to him. I am so desperate to tell him who I am. To tell him Sirius is innocent. To make him see that I understand his pain. I was thinking of doing just that until his name was spit from that infernal Goblet. But now, I don't know how he'll react to the news, or if he'll even believe me. I don't want to tell him anything that might distract his focus from the tournament or cause him to refuse my help. I will protect him, Professor. Be it in the tournament tasks or when his entire school turns against him. I will always be on his side." I was suddenly tired. Getting so worked up is exhausting.
Sandy looked at me with undisguised tenderness in her face as her hand cupped my cheek. "I am so proud of you, Bella. I don't necessarily agree with the way that you handled that situation, but you stood up for your friend, your family. You and your friends are sticking by him when he has no one else. Harry is lucky to have you girls. I'm not sure what Dumbledore is going to say, though, Bella. If he asks you to stay in the plane when not competing for tasks, you won't be able to assist Harry."
I panicked when she said this, and looked up at her with wide eyes. "You don't think he'd do that, do you?"
"I'm not sure," she mused. "He's already warned you once about being rude."
"He said I wasn't to be rude to the guests in his castle. His students are not guests." I reasoned.
Sandy just laughed and shook her head, "Please don't say that to him, Bella. Apologize. Sincerely."
I smirked at her, "Yes, ma'am" I reluctantly agreed.
When we turned back to Professor Dumbledore he was smiling at us. Er, why?
"I have thought about everything you said, Miss Swan, and I've realized that you are absolutely correct. The students at my school have been verbally abusing Harry since the Goblet produced his name. While I don't approve of the method you chose to silence his tormentors, I am most pleased that Harry has such a passionate and talented witch willing to stand up for him, and stick by his side throughout this process. He will need it." Sandy and I stared at him with our mouths gaping open. Dumbledore just chuckled. "Now, I will ask that you refrain from such a public display in the future. Other than that, you are free to go." His eyes twinkled madly as he smiled mischievously at me.
I allowed a full blown smile to overtake my features and thanked the Headmaster for his understanding. I assured him I'd try to keep my verbal tirades to more private venues in the future. He chuckled at that and I went on my way.
As I stepped out from between the gargoyles I was instantly engulfed in a massive hug. "Thank you, Bella! No one has ever stood up for me like that before!" The Skirts were standing a few feet away smiling at us.
I pulled away from Harry and smiled at him fondly. "Well, get used to it, Harry. I have my father's temper, and I am firmly planted on your side. Always. If someone wants to mess with you they're going to have to deal with me."
He smiled appreciatively and we turned to Harley when she began speaking. "Hey, Neville wanted to show me some plants down at the lake. You guys want to join us?"
I looked to Harry and he nodded his agreement. The five of us then made our way down to the Black Lake where Neville was standing in the shallow water looking at various water plants.
"That was a brilliant speech, Bella! And thanks for saying that I was one of the only two courageous Gryffindors!" He smiled toothily at me, clearly enjoying his mention in my tirade.
I laughed at his enthusiasm and bowed deeply. "Any time, Sir Longbottom." His grin got even wider as he turned his attention to Harley who had rolled up her pants and was wading her way toward him.
I felt a pang of sadness at the sight of him, and I lowered my eyes to my lap. He didn't desert Harry because he understands, too. His parents were driven mad by prolonged Cruciatus. It was my cousin, Bellatrix, who sent them to the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungos. I looked back up to Neville happily showing Harley the different plant life native to the Black Lake, and realized just how brave he truly is. Gryffindor through and through.
Harry was looking through a book about aquatic plant life native to the region when Hermione, Ron and Ginny approached us. Ron glared at me menacingly. He's still not courageous enough to swallow his pride, I see.
Hermione approached with some dodgy chain of evidence ending with Hagrid wanting to see Harry that night. Harry tried to give her a message for Ron, and the conversation ended with Hermione claiming that she wasn't an owl before storming of with Ginny in tow. Ron then narrowed his eyes at us and stormed off after them. I rolled my eyes at their immature display. "He'll get over himself eventually, Harry. Just make sure he understands what a giant prat he's been when he does."
He laughed and asked me if I'd go with him to meet Hagrid. He had a feeling it had something to do with the tournament. I agreed and we made plans to meet later than night outside his common room.
When he stepped out of the portrait hole that night he immediately threw and invisibility cloak around us. "Where'd you get this? It's awesome!"
He smirked at me. "It was my dad's."
Ah, no wonder Jamie, Daddy, Remy and Peter were able to get away with so much when they were younger. They could get around this place unseen.
When we got closer to Hagrid's hut Harry stepped out of the cloak and asked me to stay close to his side. I placed a silencing spell over my feet and obliged. The girls were in their animal forms just inside the forest. They were going to stay out of our sight, but keep an eye on us and our surroundings as we ventured into the forest. We had already gone exploring the forest, and knew where all the dangers lie.
Harry knocked on Hagrid's door and he emerged wearing a hideous brown suit with a giant red and yellow Zinnia attached to his lapel. He asked Harry to follow him and Harry eyed him curiously. "Hagrid? Did you comb your hair?" Harry asked astonished.
"I did. You should probably think of doing so yerself, there Harry."
Harry was undeterred. "What's with the flower?"
"Never mind that, Harry." We heard a noise in the distance and Hagrid quickly looked back to Harry. "Get under yer cloak, Harry, quickly."
Hagrid turned around to the noise and I quickly threw the cloak around us both. Hagrid ended up meeting with Madame Maxine, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons. They shared a romantic greeting and Harry and I looked at each other in horror. He then led her toward an area of the forest that was brightly lit with a lot of loud crashes and other noises. Maxine gasped a "Ils sont magnifiques!"
Harry and I struggled to see what had the two giants so fascinated. Oh. Merlin's. Saggy. Balls. They're not magnificent, Maxine. They're Dragons! We're going to have to deal with dragons? I looked over at Harry and the horror on his face broke my heart. He was not equipped to deal with dragons!
I mentally went through the best ways to get past a dragon, as I was sure that's what we'd have to do. They couldn't possibly want us to hurt them. I immediately thought of a spell that The Skirts and I invented in our fifth year. I don't think I'll be able to teach him the spell in two days, though!
Harry is a talented wizard, but most of his talents lie in DADA. He can hold his own alright in other classes, but he's not extraordinary in any capacity. I don't mean that in a mean way, it's just reality. He's an excellent dueler, above and beyond. From what I've heard he can create a fully corporeal Patronus. That is unheard of for someone his age. Like I said, he outshines most in DADA. That will not help him against a dragon, though.
I nudged Harry and told him to talk to Hagrid now that Maxine had stepped away to get a closer look. "Dragons, Hagrid? That's the first task? Are they mental?"
Hagrid looked down at Harry like he'd forgotten he was even there. "Oh, Harry! Don't worry! I'm sure you'll do fine. I wanted you to have some time to prepare, though."
Harry shook his head and walked back toward me as Hagrid went to join Maxine. I threw the cloak back over him and we walked back toward the castle. When we approached the Gryffindor portrait he took the cloak off and cast Muffliato over us.
"I'm doomed. No way I can fight a dragon." He's such a pessimist.
"It's going to be difficult, Harry, but I'll figure something out. Go get some sleep and meet me in the library after your last class."
I was in the library with the girls the next afternoon when Harry and Hermione approached. "I told Mione about the task. She wants to help."
I smiled at the bushy haired witch. "Of course. So, me and the girls have been talking about what the actual task will entail."
Sammie continued, "We don't think you'll actually be fighting the dragon, Harry. We think you'll have to get past it. They wouldn't set up a task where you'd have to actually harm a dragon."
Harley picked up for Sammie, "Yeah, so we've been thinking of your greatest strengths. You know, what could help you against a dragon. We've heard that you are they Gryffindor seeker and a phenomenal flyer."
Harry's cheeks turned pink, "Well, I'm decent, sure, but they aren't going to allow me my broom."
Nicole scoffed. "No Harry, but you're a wizard. They will allow you a wand. All you have to do is summon your broom to you and fly past the dragon. We think it's your best bet."
Harry looked to me, "Like you did with my glasses at the World Cup?" I smiled and nodded.
Hermione perked up at our solution. "That's brilliant. You'll definitely be able to get past the dragon if you have your Firebolt, Harry!"
Sammie looked to Hermione and Harry. "Are you guys familiar with the Room of Requirement, or Come-and-Go room as some call it?"
Harry shook his head no, and Hermione responded, "I've read about it in Hogwarts: A History, but I've never known anyone who's actually found it."
The girls and I smirked at them and I continued. "We found it. We started looking for it practically the moment we arrived. It's a terribly convenient room. We can set it up to a practice room for you to learn the spell, Harry."
He nodded with a grin as we all stood up. "Hey, can we take a detour down to the courtyard before making our way to Room of Requirement?"
"Sure, Harry." Harley responded.
We made our way outside and Harry started looking around for something. He seemed to find was he was looking for and started walking determinately toward a bench with a few students lounging around. We followed a few paces behind as he approached Cedric. When he reached the bench the students all looked anywhere but at Harry. It was awkward. "Can I speak to you a minute, Cedric?"
Cedric got up off the bench and put his hands up in surrender. "Look Harry, I never supported the buttons, or the bullying." I snorted audibly. Yeah, you didn't do anything to discourage it, either.
Cedric glanced at me and then followed Harry a few feet away from the group. He was telling Cedric something, and I watched the shock cross Cedric's face before he spoke. I could read the word "Dragons" on his lips. Harry was telling him the first task. My heart swelled with love and pride for my god brother. It didn't matter that Cedric did nothing to discourage the hateful behavior Harry endured. He wanted the game to be fair, and for Cedric to be as prepared as the rest of us. He really is such a good person.
After Harry's conversation with Cedric, we started making our way to the Room of Requirement. We were stopped by my idiot cousin. "Hello Potty, your little Mudblood friend looking to make more of a fool of herself by raving like a lunatic some more?"
Harry went to respond, but I stopped him. Draco Malfoy is soooo not worth the energy, and the word Mudblood didn't really carry the same hurt to Americans as it did to the Europeans who've fought such a long history of prejudice. I knew that Harley and Sammie didn't care.
The Slytherins were the only group unaffected by my words in the Great Hall. Not that that was too surprising. They were the only ones who still wore those obnoxious buttons. Draco was still wearing his proudly, the git. The rest of the school kept a wide berth, no one brave enough to be the first to apologize and abandon their stance.
When Draco saw that his Mudblood comment wasn't getting a reaction he continued, "You know, my father and I have a bet about you. I don't think you'll last ten minutes in this tournament. He disagrees. He doesn't think you'll last five."
I left this one up to Harry's discretion, and he decided to respond. "I don't give a damn about what your father thinks, Malfoy! He's vile and cruel...and you're just pathetic."
We all turned and walked in the other direction when we heard Professor Moody shout, "That will teach you to try and curse someone when their back is turned, you coward!" We all spun around to find a small white ferret in the place where Draco was just standing. Moody started tossing him in the air with his wand to the delight of all the students outside of Draco's little gang of idiots.
We continued on our way to the RoR after Professor McGonagall walked by and admonished Moody for using transfiguration as a punishment, demanding that he return the student to their normal form at once. We were still laughing when we reached the seventh floor corridor in front of the patch of wall opposite the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy attempting to teach trolls ballet.
Nicole walked back in forth in front of the wall three times and suddenly a door appeared out of the wall. Both Harry and Hermione were very impressed. We walked in to find a massive room. It was about the size of four football fields. It was a replica of the grounds of Hogwarts, size wise. The side of the room we were standing in had a few props to show us that we were at the Quidditch stands. This is where we thought the event would take place. On the other end of the room was Harry's mock bedroom. There were even walls with a window. The room also provided a Firebolt that we could place in various locations in throughout the space. We were going to start off summoning from short distances and then make sure he'd be able to summon something from the distance of the field to his bedroom.
"Okay, Harry," I started. "The incantation for the summoning charm is 'Accio.' You'll say the incantation followed by the item being summonsed. This is the wand movement."
After trying it multiple times with advice from the five girls helping him, Harry was able to summon the broom. After we were confident he could successfully use the spell while he could see the object we put the Firebolt in the mock bedroom that was the same distance he'd need to cover in the competition.
It didn't take him long to master summoning an object that he couldn't see, and we all left the RoR feeling confident that Harry would be able to get through the first task. I was also hoping that I went before Harry so that I could make sure that no fire touched Harry. He could evade the dragon and I could control the fire.
We soon found ourselves in the Champion's tent waiting for the first task to begin. Every Champion knew what was coming and we were all nervous. No matter how prepared you are, dragons are no joke. I think Hermione was even more anxious than Harry. She sneaked in and launched herself at him, hugging him fiercely. Unfortunately at that very moment Rita Skeeter stormed in the tent and shot a picture of their embrace. That will undoubtedly be in the paper tomorrow. She was kicked out by Krum, of all people.
He was actually a really cool person. He was quiet, and maybe a bit thick in the head, but he wasn't malicious. He has never said an unkind word to Harry, and I appreciate that. The other Champion's hadn't, either. I wasn't too thrilled with Cedric, but I was getting over it.
Dumbledore came in and explained that we would be facing a dragon. Shocker. Apparently the dragon had been given an egg to protect and we were charged with retrieving the egg from the dragon's nest. Piece of cake, right? I internally scoffed.
Barty Crouch held out a pouch to Fleur and asked her to pick one. She reached her hand in and pulled out the Welsh Green. This continued down the line. Krum pulled the Chinese Fireball, I pulled the Hebridean Black (how lovely that we share a name), Cedric pulled the Sweedish Short-Snout leaving the Harry the blasted Horntail.
He looked up to me in a panic. He'd been left with the most aggressive of all dragons. Honestly, could Harry not catch a single break? At least this will allow me to go before him, as my dragon was the second to last and Harry's was last. I approached Harry with confidence. Now was not the time to doubt himself. "Don't worry about it, Harry. You can get past the Horntail just as easy as the others. Just remember the incantation and concentrate on your task. I'll make sure you don't get burnt up." I grinned at him. He knew that I could easily control fire.
When my name was called I walked confidently to the tent exit. I shot Harry a good luck and went out to face my fate. Immediately upon exiting the tent I was hidden behind a giant boulder. Neither the dragon nor spectators could see me. I immediately used a spell that the girls and I invented. We used it back home to allow ourselves to be in multiple places at once. It allowed us to always have an alibi if we were doing something for which we knew we'd be immediately suspected. We could duplicate ourselves multiple times and control each of our copies. We could even have our copies speak. Sometimes we'd send them to class for us.
So, as I stood behind the boulder I made ten copies of myself. I then disillusioned myself so that I'd be invisible. If you looked closely you'd be able to see a slight shimmer when I moved, but with so many of me running around I didn't think anyone would notice me. I sent my copies sprinting out from behind the boulder and kept a close eye on the frantic dragon. I kept my other selves running around evading her advances while I crept toward the nest. When I made it there I made a duplicate of the egg and disillusioned the real one.
I took it with me and exited the floor of the arena. I then made my way up the stands to where the officials were sitting and took the seat next to Professor Dumbledore. I took the disillusionment charm off myself and the egg and asked Dumbledore how the Salem Champion was doing. He didn't take his eyes off the field as he responded. "She seems to be holding her own but, she isn't making a break for the egg, which is the point of the task."
I internally snickered. "You mean this egg, Professor." I held it up in his face and cancelled all my duplicates.
The entire booth turned my way and they all looked at me in complete shock. The students were looking around in confusion until Barty walked over to me pulled me up to stand next to him. I don't think he liked that I not only pulled one over on the dragon, but on the officials as well. I found it quite entertaining myself.
"The Salem Champion has captured the egg!" The entire stadium looked toward the nest where the duplicate egg was now vanished, and then back up to the officials stadium where I was standing next to Mr. Crouch. The stands roared with laughter and started cheering. Thank you, Thank you. I'll be here all week.
The officials dismissed me, and after Sandy congratulated me on my performance I made my way to the Gryffindor stands where the Skirts were waiting for me. They all had mirth dancing in their eyes as they hugged and congratulated me.
"That was the best thing I've ever seen, Bella!" Nicole praised.
"Yeah, the look on Crouch's face when he realized you'd sneaked up to the stands was priceless!" Harley agreed.
"You had everyone confused, Bella. No one except us knew to look for your shimmer. It was brilliant!" Sammie continued.
"Thank you, ladies. You know I couldn't have done it without you. That charm was invented by all of us. Now, let's see how Harry fares." The dragon keepers had just managed to remove my dragon and replace her with Harry's so he should be coming out any moment.
I watched in rapt concentration as the curtain moved telling us that Harry had made his way out of the tent. A few seconds later his Firebolt was whizzing through the air disappearing behind the boulder. Then Harry was suddenly zooming out from his hiding place much to the displeasure of the Horntail. The dragon started flapping its wings wildly and spewing fire in Harry's direction. I kept the fire a few feet from Harry at all times.
Unfortunately, after a few minutes of failing to stop Harry the dragon broke free of his leash and started flying after Harry! Oh no! Harry flew away from the pitch with the angry dragon hot on his trail. This is a disaster! How can I keep the fire away from him if I can't see them? If anything happens to Harry I am going to kill Ludo Bagman for forcing Harry to compete. Then I'm going to find the person who put his name in and kill them, too. Maybe they'll give me my father's old cell. It will have been worth it, though.
I was pulled from my dark thoughts by Harry flying back into the pitch and retrieving the egg, no Horntail in sight. Everyone cheered except the Slytherins. I even noticed Ron cheering his lungs out. The officials announced the end of the first task. I won first, Krum second, Harry third, Cedric fourth and Fleur fifth. It was explained that the egg contained the clue to our next task, and we'd be unable to complete it if we didn't solve the egg.
We met Harry at the base of the official's stadium and we walked back to the castle together. "You did brilliant, Harry! I was so nervous when that stupid dragon broke free and started chasing you around the sky! I was afraid he'd get you with his flames and I wouldn't be able to stop them. You didn't need my help, though. Harry, seriously! You were amazing!" I praised him exuberantly.
He blushed a brilliant shade of red and muttered his thanks. On the way up to the castle, all the little shits who'd treated Harry like dirt were back to seeing him as a hero. Fickle little prats. We were almost to the Gryffindor Tower when Ron timidly approached.
"Hey, mate. After watching the first task, I reckon you'd be mental to enter your name into the Goblet."
I rolled my eyes and Harry responded. "Took you long enough."
He looked down ashamedly and apologized. "I know. I'm sorry. I realized that I was being a right foul git after Bella's speech at breakfast the other day. I just didn't know how to make it better. I tried, you know, by suggesting that Hagrid show you the dragons. I knew they were here because of my brother, Charlie. He's one of the dragon keepers."
I looked to Harry and could see that Ron was already forgiven. "Alright, Ron. I forgive you. Just don't act like that again."
Ron looked up and smiled. "Thanks, mate. They're throwing a party for you in the common room. It should be good."
Ron turned around and started walking toward the portrait hole. Harry turned toward me and the girls. "Aren't you guys coming?"
I answered for us. "I don't think so, Harry. You need to re-bond with your house. I think we should give them a chance to make up for their behavior without taking any of the attention on ourselves."
"What? No, it's okay! I want you guys to come."
Harley understood that I wanted to give him some time to spend with his school mates. He would need them when we left at the end of the year. They needed this time. "It's okay, Harry. We'll meet up with you tomorrow. We're all really tired from preparing for the first task anyway. I know I'm ready to crash."
Sammie, Nicole and I nodded our agreement. Harry looked at us seriously before relenting. "Alright, then. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Thank you all so much for your help," he said sincerely.
We all grinned. "No problem, Harry," we all chorused.
We made our way back to our rooms and fell into our beds, exhausted. We weren't lying when we said we were ready to crash. We were all asleep within minutes.
We slept in the next morning and didn't leave the room until around 11:30. We made our way down to the Great Hall and saw a sleepy Hermione, Ron and Harry. We sat down across from them and each started preparing our coffee after exchanging greetings.
"How was your celebration, Harry?" Sammie asked.
"It was fun." He grinned. "I may have consumed too many sweets and few too many bottles of Butterbeer." He grimaced at that.
The four of us giggled at his sour face and started piling food on our plates. "So, did you guys try opening the egg?" Harry asked.
I responded. "No, honestly I haven't thought about it again since yesterday. We need to get on it, though. We got lucky with the dragons. I want to make sure we have enough time to prepare you for the next task. Did you open it?"
His sour face deepened. "Yes, it was very painful. High pitched squeals were all we heard."
Harley perked at this. "High pitched squeals, you say?"
The trio looked up and nodded. Hermione enquired, "Do you have an idea."
"Maybe," was Harley's vague reply. "Let us look into it, and if anything comes of our research, we'll let you know. You should still try to figure out what it might be. My idea is just a shot in the dark. I haven't even heard the egg."
The three younger students nodded their response and turned their attention back to their food. Nicole, Sammie and I looked questioningly at Harley. "Later," she mouthed.
We nodded and finished our lunches. Afterward we parted ways with Harry, opting to go back up to our room to discuss Harley's theory.
"What are you thinking?" Nicole asked while handing Harley the egg.
"I'm thinking it may be Mermish. Mermaids have always fascinated me, and I studied them in depth for my Care of Magical Creatures project last year. Their voices sound like high pitched squeals if you hear them out of water."
"Why couldn't you say that in front of them?" I asked.
"I could have, but like I said, I haven't actually heard the egg, yet. I don't want them to think that I know the answer and decide they no longer need to research anything. I want to make sure they're heads are still in it if this doesn't pan out."
"That makes sense." Nicole agreed. "We don't want them relying on us solely and then not be able to deliver."
We all accepted this logic and turned back to Harley with the egg. She placed a charm over the egg that would cap off the decibel of any noise to a reasonable human level. We all held our breath as she opened it. Sure enough, there was a horrific screech emitting from the egg immediately upon opening. It wasn't too bad, though, as the sound was muted a bit.
We all looked back to Harley and she had a smug grin adorning her features. "Oh yeah, it's definitely Mermish. Let's get this bad boy to the prefect's bathroom. It can only be understood under water."
Katie Bell had shown us the prefect's bathroom on our tour of the school. She gave us the password and told us to feel free to utilize it whenever we wanted. It was an amazing bathroom. The bath tub was practically the size of a swimming pool. We grabbed our swim suits, towels and my school bag and made our way down to the luxurious bathroom.
Upon entering, we each added our favorite scents into the mix and the bathtub quickly filled up with warm water. We got situated and placed bubblehead charms over our faces so that we could breathe under water. We simultaneously sunk below into the warm depths and Harley opened the egg.
Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching ponder this;
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour, the prospect's black,
Too late it's gone, it won't come back.
We all emerged from the surface and exchanged glances. I decided to start the discussion. "So, we'll have to find something under water and we'll only have an hour to do it?"
Harley continued, "That's what it sounds like, but it's not going to be so easy. I imagine it will be in the Black Lake as there is merpeople who live in there. There are all types of dangerous creatures in the depths of the lake, Bella. This is a dangerous task."
I snorted. "Of course it is. It wouldn't be a task it wasn't potentially life threatening."
Nicole brought us back on point. "We need to tell Harry now. We've got to figure out a way for him to survive under water for an hour. There is no way we will be able to teach him the bubblehead charm or human to animal transfiguration in less than two months. It's far too complex, and you need a much vaster knowledge base than Harry has currently."
Nic's right. I got out of the tub and pulled a parchment and quill from my school bag. I quickly penned a note asking Harry to meet us in the prefect bathroom with his swim trunks. I tapped the note and it folded into an airplane. I placed a charm over it so that no one else could open it but Harry. I then opened the door and sent the plane to Harry.
I sunk back into the water to wait for Harry's arrival. Sammie then reminded me that Harry isn't a prefect and might not know where the bathroom is located. Damn, I hadn't thought of that. "If he isn't here in the next 30 minutes I'll go look for him."
I was just about to get out and start my search when the door swung open. Harry walked in the door with his eyes looking at everything but me. That's weird. He removed his robe and sunk down into the water. "Everything okay, Harry?" I asked.
He looked at me nervously. "Er, yeah. Of course. What did you want to show me?"
I narrowed my eyes at him. He's acting very strange. I shrugged it off and looked to Harley to begin her explanation.
Harry's POV:
I was sitting in front of the fire discussing the next task with Hermione and Ron when Dean and Seamus opened the portrait hole. A paper airplane flew in over their heads and landed in my lap.
"Be careful with that, Harry. Seamus tried to grab it and it shocked him." Dean warned.
I grinned. It's probably from Bella. She loves to shock people when they try to touch things that don't belong to them. Fred got a nasty shock when he tried to pick up one of the small stones they'd placed for the transfigurations in their introduction performance.
I picked up the note and unfolded it. It read:
Meet us in the prefect bathroom. Wear your swim trunks.
Okay, how am I supposed to know where to find the prefect bathroom? I asked Hermione and Ron, and they didn't know either. "Why don't you just look them up on the map, Harry?" Hermione suggested.
I felt stupid. Of course that would be the easiest way to find them. The map would even tell me the password.
I ran up to my room and rummaged through my trunk until I found the Marauder's Map.
I opened it and then tapped it with my wand, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
I looked around the map until I saw them. My body completely froze while my heart started beating out of my chest. There in a room on the fifth floor were Nicole Pattinson, Samantha Lautner, Harley Timberlake, and Isabella Black. Sirius' daughter.
A/N:
Big thanks to my reviewers! Termia, Lara, bloody alanna, and vivx-chan! You guys made my day!
So Dun Dun Dun! Harry knows! What will he do? Who will he tell? You'll find out in the next chapter.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and Bella's method for evading the dragon.
Please Please Please let me know what you think!
Thanks for reading!