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Chapter Seven: Home Away From Home
"We're going to live on the train?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Where else did you think you'd live, Potter?" Professor McGonagall said from behind. "…On the ground, or perhaps in a tent? Stop dawdling, and get a move on you two. We have a schedule to keep."
Harry stood there gaping like a fish out of water, but managed to be coherent enough to let McGonagall pass. Ginny finally had to elbow him in the ribs and flash him a pointed look, which prodded him forward.
He snapped out of his stupor long enough to help her move their belongings onto the train, but he was back to gaping the moment he stepped onboard. Even Ginny was affected by the changes – neither of them could stop staring. The interior was completely different from the one they were used to seeing on the trips to and from school.
The coach had been transformed into a miniature library/classroom filled with all the supplies they might need for the next year for their studies. The car was about triple the size of a normal coach and was equipped with everything from potions ingredients to a wide open space for spell work. Further down the car an area was set up like a classroom with sixteen desks arranged in four neat rows, and a large mirror could be seen adorning the back of a bookcase in front of the desks where the teacher might stand, then rows upon rows of bookshelves.
"My quarters are over here," Professor McGonagall said from their left, heading towards the car that was directly behind the engine. Harry and Ginny both looked that way and caught sight of her standing in front of a large wooden door. "Follow the cars that way and you will find your own sleeping quarters marked with your name on a plaque above the threshold. The dining car is at the end of the train and lunch will be at the same time as normal, so please do not be late. I'll need to meet with you in private later today, Harry, to go over your duties and bring you up to speed on certain other issues. In the meantime, I suggest you settle in."
She turned and whispered a password to the door which Harry could not hear. It swung open for her to enter, revealing a glimpse of the room on the other side. Harry managed to catch a quick look at a cosy sitting area with a warm fireplace, soft armchairs, and a heavy wool rug all done in scarlet and gold.
"I hope our rooms are as nice as that," he commented to Ginny when she had gone. "We could just skip the broom cupboards, couldn't we?"
Ginny laughed. "You're incorrigible. But let's go find out, shall we?"
They moved down the line of the cars, passing by the names of the hopeful champions as they passed.
"Nott, Anders, Rockford, Sparks, White, Baker, Tull…" Ginny read off as they passed.
Harry tried not to stare at those who had not closed their doors, but it was difficult not to be curious. From what he could tell, the rooms appeared to be the size of a standard compartment but with a bed and a few other furnishings in place of the usual seats and luggage racks.
"So far it seems as if we're ordered by House," Ginny commented. "These are all the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs."
They had come to an opening. Beyond the threshold was a common room; there was a fireplace complete with a warm fire burning, a smattering of furniture, and some tables for studying. The room was very eclectic and seemed to have characteristics of all four Houses woven into it. Whoever had designed it had obviously tried very hard not to be partial to any particular House.
"I bet the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor sleeping quarters are over there," Harry said, pointing towards the opposite end where there seemed to be more rooms through another opening. There were no doors to separate the sleeping quarters from the common area, and they could see some of the other students from Gryffindor milling about at the other end.
Harry nodded a greeting at Colin Creevey and another Gryffindor boy, Cory Lockwood, as they passed.
"You and Ginny are at the end," Colin said, pointing to the end of the corridor next to another closed door. "That way leads to the dining car."
Harry noticed the other nameplates as he passed – Lovegood, Tanaka, Felds, Creevey, Lockwood, Peltzer, Gunter… then finally Weasley and Potter.
"Here we are," he said, opening his door as Ginny disappeared into her room behind him.
Just as he thought, the rooms were small – but not overly so – containing a single bed, a small study table with a chair, a lamp, a small dresser, and a small wardrobe. Harry levitated his trunk to the corner of the room because there wasn't enough space at the end of the bed. The cramped compartment didn't bother him much – after all, it was better than his old room under the stairs, and it was private. At least here he could stand up and move about some, and he didn't have to share.
The train jerked forward suddenly and began to move. Harry wasn't in the mood to unpack so he went to check on Ginny. She was magically unloading her trunk as he entered without knocking.
"It's a good thing you didn't come in two seconds ago," she said with a touch of humour in her voice, "or you might have caught sight of my unmentionables. I just finished loading my dresser."
He grinned and walked over to give her a tender hug. "Really? I actually wouldn't mind seeing your unmentionables. Especially…" he reached down to peek under her robes and was rewarded with a playful slap.
"You must have mistaken me for Pansy Parkinson," she laughed. "I'm not that kind of girl, Potter."
He raised an eyebrow and she giggled. "Okay, not quite," she amended. "But there'll be no funny business here," she said sternly. "These rooms may be private but there are fourteen other students and one Headmistress who will be watching. If McGonagall catches us together like that she wouldn't hesitate to owl my mother and inform her of what a scarlet woman I am."
"But I like scarlet women," Harry whined, then reddened when she scowled. "I mean," he corrected quickly, "I like you as a scarlet woman… not scarlet women in general."
"Nice save, Harry," she said sarcastically. "And besides, anything you do is news. I don't want to end up on the front page of the Daily Prophet touted as your mistress slash love slave."
Harry gave her is best innocent look. "Why ever not?"
"For starters, my brothers would murder you," she pointed out. "And I'd be joining you in the afterlife once Mum got hold of me."
"Good point," he conceded. He pulled away from her. "Maybe I should leave the door open," he suggested.
She seemed to waver. Then she bit her lip and said, "Maybe next time." In an instant she had pulled him back to her and kissing him passionately.
Harry sighed inwardly, loving life. For a few moments he lost himself in the feelings and sensations flowing through his body. Far too soon he knew it was time to end it before it got out of control. As it was, by the time he pulled away they were both breathing heavily and Harry's heart was pounding wildly.
"This may be harder than I thought," she said, looking at him regretfully through heavily lidded eyes.
"Right," he agreed, attempting to put distance between them. "Maybe I'll just leave you to your unpacking." He backed away towards the door, looking for an escape. Unfortunately, he backed into her desk, almost turned over her lamp, and ended up fumbling around like an idiot.
"See you at lunch," she said weakly with an amused giggle, backing up in the opposite direction. She didn't have far to go since she ended up falling onto the bed, a mistake that didn't help matters in Harry's opinion.
He scrambled out the door finally grateful to be away from temptation, and shut it firmly behind him. Colin and Cory Lockwood were still chatting in the hallway. They had been joined by another girl whose name Harry thought might be Amy or Anna. As he stood staring at the closed door with an idiotic look of longing on his face, all three of them stopped talking and gave him a funny look.
Luna took that very moment to stick her head out of her room. "Harry, are you all right?" she asked with concern, looking him up and down critically.
"Yes," Harry squeaked. He immediately composed himself, clearing his throat noisily. "Yes, Luna. Why do you ask?" he said in a deep, hopefully manly and in control voice.
"Oh, nothing," Luna said loudly. "You just seem to have an abundance of Nurgles surrounding you, that's all."
Harry knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help himself. "Nurgles?" he asked, confused.
"A relative of the Nargle," Luna explained with authority. "They're attracted to the auras of people who are sexually frustrated."
Luna's announcement caused an eruption of laughter from the other three witnesses in the hallway. Harry wanted to sink through the floor or evaporate on the spot.
"Of course," she continued above the gale, "they also like to torment the wayward traveller who has a tendency to suffer from motion sickness. I may have a potion in my trunk that might help…"
"No thanks, Luna," he said through gritted teeth. "I think I'll pass. I'm sure I'll be fine as soon as I've had something to eat, er… I mean some lunch."
The others sniggered but stopped when Harry shot them a warning look. Being the vanquisher of Lord Voldemort had its advantages sometimes, he supposed.
"Well, if you change your mind…" Luna said helpfully, but Harry had already disappeared inside his own room, trying to ignore the fresh peals of laughter that followed his departure.
(break)
He met Ginny for lunch an hour later where he was introduced to the other members of the delegation. Besides the two of them, Luna, Nott, Colin, Cory Lockwood, Lindsay Sparks, and Grant Tull there were eight other delegates. Elizabeth Peltzer – a tall girl with a heart-shaped face, straight dark hair, and startling blue eyes – along with Amie Gunter – a pretty girl with a small oval face, curly blond hair, and glasses that made her look studious – were the last of the five Gryffindors.
It had been Elizabeth who had witnessed his embarrassing moment earlier not Amie, but she didn't say a word about it to Harry's relief, and neither did the other three. Both girls were fairly quiet and polite, but seemed to possess a keen sense of humour. They participated in the banter going on around them and gave back as good as they got. Harry learned that both Colin and Cory had a wicked sense of humour and liked to play practical jokes. He had never been the target of any himself, thank goodness, but Ginny regaled the table with a funny story of something that happened in their third year involving Snape, a switched potions ingredient, and a massive explosion.
Tony Tanaka, the Asian boy that Harry remembered Ginny duelling with some weeks before, was among the three Ravenclaws onboard. Luna and another boy named Jason Felds were the other two. Tony was very serious and always seemed to have a book in his hand. Jason's life goal was to be a healer, and he didn't mind telling anyone who would listen. He was hoping to win the Tournament to help finance his post-Hogwarts studies at St. Mungo's because healer's apprentices made very little money. Jason and his fiancée, Debbie, wanted to get married as soon as they both finished but she hadn't made the cut-off in the duel and had to stay behind.
Harry had already met two of the four Hufflepuffs in the carriage that morning. Lindsay introduced the other two candidates in her House, Barbara White and Manfred Baker. Barbara was small, mousy girl at first glance but Harry knew her looks were deceptive. She had come in fifth in the duel behind Luna and Colin, although she had lost to Nott early on in the competition. Ginny had not had to face her that day, but Harry knew his girlfriend wouldn't have had a problem besting her anyway. The Hufflepuff's main advantage was that she was small and quick, but she didn't seem to have the brains to think on her feet when it came to strategy.
The other Hufflepuff, Manfred Baker, seemed to have a similar personality to Zacharias Smith – only more pompous and conceited. Harry decided early on he didn't care for the boy. Manfred and Nott had struck up a strange friendship right away, which sealed it for Harry. Manfred was fond of attributing his poor standings in the duel to a bum knee he had supposedly gotten while fighting a group of Death Eaters during the war. Harry wasn't going to be the one to point out that his new best friend was the son of one of those Death Eaters – he figured Manfred could figure that one out on his own.
The Slytherins had three representatives – Nott and two girls, Aurora Anders and Lynn Rockford. The girls were both from wealthy pureblood families who had supposedly stayed neutral during the war. Harry knew for a fact that the Anders and Rockford families were Voldemort supporters, but had been too afraid to join his cause. Instead, they had used their wealth to escape the war. He thought he'd heard that the Anders family had moved to America, while the Rockford family had fled to Australia. He'd overheard Ginny and Hermione once saying that Aurora and Lynn had both "partied it up" while on "holiday" and had only managed to complete one year of studies each with private tutors in the two years they had been out. They were both already turned eighteen like Ginny, and were not happy about being back in school. Harry felt sure that Beauxbaton was being viewed by them as another holiday, and he did not feel like either was viable competition for Ginny.
That was the problem – no one seemed viable competition for Ginny, except maybe Nott. Harry had promised he'd stand by Ginny through this thing, and he would. But he couldn't help wishing that someone else would be chosen champion at Beauxbatons. Anyone other than Ginny would be fine by him. As a matter of fact, at the moment he was rooting for Luna to get the job.
Harry met with McGonagall after lunch in her private quarters like she had requested. The first car was roomy enough to include a sitting area/office for the Headmistress and another door led to her bedroom, Harry presumed. The most fascinating object in the room was a long oval full-length mirror that sat in a corner near her desk. Harry stared at it, wondering what the Headmistress was doing with it here in the outer room. She didn't seem the type of person who liked to constantly look at her reflection. The funny thing was the longer Harry stared at it the more certain he was that it wasn't an ordinary mirror. He moved closer and was surprised to not see his reflection at all, but a copy of the Headmistress' Office back at Hogwarts. If he squinted, he could even see Dumbledore's portrait hanging on the wall with the wizened old Headmaster snoozing in its frame.
"It's a Mirror Portal," Professor McGonagall explained, noticing his unusual curiosity with the object. "If the need arises for me to return to Hogwarts on business while I am away, I simply step through it and arrive at my office on the other side."
"That's amazing!" Harry exclaimed, feeling again for what seemed like the thousandth time how little he knew about magic and the magical world. He was still learning new things every day that astounded him.
"Well, it does make things a bit easier," she agreed, sounding amused. "I wouldn't be able to be away this year otherwise."
She settled down into one of the easy chairs and motioned for him to do the same. A wave of her wand produced a serving table with a pot of hot tea, two cups, and a plate of biscuits. She told him to help himself.
"I wanted to see you in private, Harry," she explained as they sipped their hot tea, "because I haven't had time to check in with you these past few months. I promised Professor Dumbledore – both when he was alive and his portrait counterpart – that I would keep an eye on you for him. How have you been getting on after… well, after everything?"
He chewed his biscuit thoughtfully before answering. "I suppose I've been doing just fine," he shrugged. "I have my friends and I have Ginny. That's all I need, really. It's been good to get back to school, although I… I do feel at times that I should be doing more – with the reconstruction effort and all."
She looked at him shrewdly. "You mean by tracking down the renegade Death Eaters, don't you?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that too."
"I want you to remember, Harry, that you have your whole life ahead of you to try and right every wrong," she said kindly. "Don't waste this opportunity you have been given and forget to live your life in the process. Albus wanted you to enjoy being a teenager. You have one year left to do it, and I hope that you follow his advice." She gave him a stern look. "But don't enjoy yourself too much, young man. There are still rules aboard this vessel, and I expect you and Miss Weasley to abide by them."
He gulped and nodded his understanding.
"That brings me to the next issue," she said, drawing out piece of parchment from her pocket. "While we are at Beauxbaton I have decided to appoint you as Head Boy of the delegation. As Hogwarts' representative and the oldest student – not to mention the most accomplished and experienced – I will be placing you in charge during my absences. There will be times when I will have to be away from the delegation to attend to business at home. I expect you to represent our school and country in an appropriate manner. Will you accept the position?"
"Er… okay," he said, feeling slightly dazed by this new responsibility. "What about our lessons?" he asked. "Am I to teach those, too?" Merlin, he hoped not! DADA he could handle, but anything else was too much to expect.
"Oh my, no!" she gasped then chuckled, an action Harry did not find at all comforting. "Starting tomorrow, all lessons will be taught by your regular professors. Didn't you notice the rather large mirror out there?"
Harry nodded. "The one in front of the desks."
"That is a magical two-way mirror," she explained. "It's not a portal like mine, but it does connect you to Hogwarts. Your professors will be in front of their mirror on the Hogwarts end and they can see and hear everything you and your fellow students do or say on your side. The same will be true of you. It will be just like you are sitting in class with them only they won't be able to physically touch you. They can, however, deduct House points and assign detentions, just like usual. When I am not here I expect you to keep order and make certain the students are following the rules." She offered him the parchment. "Here is a list of all rules the students are to follow. Please see that you read them and that a copy is posted for the other students to read as well."
"Yes, Professor," Harry responded, taking the parchment that she offered him. Unrolling it slightly, he noticed that fraternization in the rooms of the opposite sex was number one on the list of no-no's, as was being outside after curfew and stealing snacks from the kitchen. He rolled it up feeling sick, wondering if he'd have the strength to keep any of these rules himself much less make others follow them.
"Any questions?"
"No, Professor."
"Good. This brings us to our final topic – your responsibilities as reigning champion," she said. "First, as former champion and winner of the last Triwizard Tournament, it will be your duty to carry the Triwizard Cup in front of the Hogwarts' delegation and present it to Madame Maxime. This will occur before the Welcoming Feast on October 30th – the day we arrive at Beauxbatons. Just prior to the feast we will be formally introduced as a school to the student population of Beauxbatons Academy," McGonagall told him. She waited for that to sink in before she waved her wand. Harry watched the Triwizard Cup come sailing into her hands from a drawer hidden behind her desk. She handed it to him wordlessly, obviously trying to gage his reaction.
He accepted the cup, looking at it for the first time, really. Everything had happened so fast that night. He and Cedric had agreed to tie and take the cup together. He remembered the feel of it in his hand as it Portkeyed them to the graveyard, then again back to the safety of Hogwarts. That was the last time he had seen it until now.
"I have to actually carry the cup?" he asked, feeling a little funny about that. All eyes would be on him, and it didn't seem right since he didn't feel like he had won anything. It should have been Cedric who had that honour not him, but Cedric was dead.
"Yes, Harry," she said gently. "It's tradition."
He handed it back to her, glad to be rid of it. "All right."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
He nodded. "I don't care for the attention, but if it's tradition I don't suppose I have a choice," he said. "But please… remind whoever needs to know – I tied for first place. Hogwarts had two winners that night, even if it was only for an instant."
She smiled her approval. "I most certainly will, Mr. Potter."
They spent the rest of their meeting discussing his other duties concerning the Tournament which mostly consisted of acting as one of the judges on the panel and being present for photo opportunities. It was mostly just an honorary position without any real responsibilities other than the judging, but Ludo Bagman had done it so Harry supposed he could handle it, too. Besides these responsibilities, his primary job would be as Head Boy of the delegation.
At the end she handed him a shiny Head Boy badge and congratulated him. As she helped him pin it to his robes she said in a rare moment of emotion, "Your parents and Professor Dumbledore would have been very proud, I think."
He looked down at the gleaming badge and somehow knew that she was right. Really, this was for them as much as it was for him. He just hoped he could continue to make everyone proud.