Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 02
By David
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling has that honor.
Author's Notes: These marks [] indicate Japanese spoken. These '' indicate thoughts.
Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 02
'Off and Running'
It was raining hard when Harry got out of bed in his room at the Leaky Cauldron the first of September. He had shown up here two days before having to leave for Hogwarts to get his books and supplies for his fourth year. It had been overcast and gloomy the last two days and today it finally decided to rain. Harry bundled up, as it was cold out. He had breakfast downstairs in the bar and then headed out into the alley after finishing the paper and a mug of coffee. He stopped at Gringotts to get a bit of money and then went off to the shops. There were a number of Aurors out and they were strolling up and down the alley and Harry could tell they were watching things and people very carefully. As Harry went in and out of the shops he met a number of his friends from Hogwarts and they talked for a moment and then moved on. Harry caught up with Hermione in the bookstore, as he knew she would be in here. It had been planned for them to meet in here. Harry took Hermione to lunch at the Wizard's Café. They took a corner booth in the far corner and Harry sat with his back against the wall, as he wanted to see trouble coming if it decided to put in an appearance.
"Are you staying at the Leaky Cauldron?" Hermione asked after putting in their orders for lunch.
"I am," Harry said. "I was there last night."
"Why don't you come and stay with us tonight?" Hermione asked. "We do have room, and King's Cross isn't too far from my house. In fact, you have to pass my house to get there. Mum and Dad won't mind."
Harry thought about that for a moment. "Sure. Why not?"
"Good. Now, have you seen the paper this morning?" Hermione asked.
"How could I miss it? Fudge was grandstanding on the front page again, making a statement that he had a big announcement to make in a few days," Harry said.
"Gee, I wonder what it could be?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
Harry had to smile. "Maybe he wants to tell the world that he can think for himself."
"Bad one Harry," Hermione cringed.
Their food arrived and they dug in. Harry relaxed with a steaming mug of tea after having his pasta plate as Hermione finished off her pastrami sandwich while giving Harry a commentary on the classes they had this year. Harry was content in listening to her as he sipped his tea. He was feeling very contented with his life at the moment.
"So where do you have to go next, Harry?" Hermione asked him.
Harry consulted his list. "I got nearly everything on my list. I do have to go to Madame Malkin's for new robes as I outgrew mine last year."
Hermione dropped her voice. "Will you need help with fixing them up?"
Harry knew what she was referring to. "Possibly. I'm not that good with a needle and thread. I can do sewing spells but I don't want to alert Dumbles that I'm here in town."
Hermione nodded. "Mum taught me how to work the sewing machine so it shouldn't be a problem. I could design some good inside pockets."
"Thanks Hermione. That would be awesome," Harry said. "So, where do we meet your folks?"
"Outside the Leaky Cauldron at two," she replied.
Harry checked his watch. "Coming up on twelve thirty now. Let's go get robes."
Harry paid the bill and then helped Hermione with her coat. Harry glanced around the room as they went to the front door and then out. He used the glass fronts of various stores to see if he was being followed and they hadn't been. They entered Madame Malkin's place to find a number of people in front of them. All of the store people were busy and Harry took a number and sat down in the waiting area as Hermione disappeared into the girl's department. Harry pursued a Quidditch magazine and looked up to see a little boy looking at him. Harry smiled as the kid smiled shyly. Harry wondered if he was starting Hogwarts.
"Starting Hogwarts?" Harry asked the little boy.
"Um… yeah," he said.
Harry nodded. "Very cool. I'm Harry Potter."
The boy joined him on the couch. "I'm Jonathan Parker. I'm going to Hogwarts for the first time. Do you go there?"
Harry smiled. "I do, and it will be my forth year there."
"What can you tell me about Hogwarts?" Jonathan asked, his eyes shining in excitement as he bounced up and down on the couch.
Harry smiled as his memories took him back to his first year there. "Hogwarts is truly a magical place…" Harry began.
Harry watched Jonathan leave the robe shop nearly an hour later as he took his turn at getting measured for robes.
"That was nice of you Harry," Hermione said as she stepped up next to him.
Harry nodded. "I was being honest. Hogwarts is a magical place. You can't ever forget it once you have been there."
"Too true," the lady assisting Harry spoke up. "Be it a day or seven years, once you have seen it you don't forget. I cannot forget the boat ride my first year there."
"The castle lit up so brilliantly," Harry said.
"The sorting," the lady said.
"Seeing the great hall for the first time," Hermione said.
Harry grinned. "The Welcoming Feast."
"Yes, once you have been there you never forget," the lady sighed. "There. That's got you done. I can have them sent out to you at Hogwarts."
"Thank you. Harry Potter, Ravenclaw House," Harry told her.
She looked up. "Is Flitwick still there?"
"He is, and he is an awesome teacher," Harry replied as he stepped down from the stool and signed the paper.
"He was a great teacher," she sighed. "Thank you for coming in."
She took the paper to the counter where Harry paid for the robes and waited for Hermione to get done. They stood outside the Leaky Cauldron to wait for the Grangers. Harry kept a watch for any potential trouble. The Grangers pulled up in their Land Rover at the curb. Harry put Hermione's backpack in the back first and then his. He looked around one last time looking for potential trouble and then got in the back seat.
Harry carried Hermione's pack into the Granger house for her. She led the way up the stairs to her room where Harry left her pack on her bed and then went to the guest room to leave his pack there. He joined them downstairs in the dining room as Dan was unpacking the Chinese take away for the night's dinner.
"We thought you would like something familiar," Dan said to Harry.
Harry grinned. "Thank you. Didn't want you to go to all of that trouble."
"No trouble at all," Emma said as she carried in glasses. "We were in the mood for something different."
Harry examined what was there and liked their choices. They had dinner and talked about the upcoming year. After the dinner was cleared away Dan suggested a few hands of gin rummy. Harry didn't know how to play that one so Hermione coached him the first few games and then Harry caught on to it. They carried on well into the evening until it got late. Hermione decided to call it a night and Harry decided it was a good idea as well. Harry walked Hermione up to her room and gave her a nice goodnight kiss. He felt really good about himself as he headed to bed. He was glad he had connected with Hermione. He had a really good feeling about her. His dreams was filled with her that night, good dreams, happy dreams, the kind of dreams that make for happy thoughts. Harry was up with the birds so to speak and Dan found him out in the backyard working with katana. Dan stood there for a time and watched Harry. He was impressed with Harry's skill. Harry knew that Dan was watching him and he was fine with that. He was bound to find out sooner or later. Harry finished the katas and stood down. Dan handed him a towel to dry off with as Harry had broken a sweat.
"Very nice Harry," Dan said.
"Lots and lots of practice," Harry said.
"Then I know that Hermione is safe with you around her," Dan said. "I'm going to get breakfast started."
Harry headed up to shower and get ready for the day.
They arrived at King's Cross in plenty of time. Hermione and Harry scampered from the car into the station as it was pouring down rain.
"Who turned on the rain?" Harry asked as he shook off the water from his trench coat as Hermione caught her breath.
Before she could say anything, someone bumped into her and she turned to see who it was. It was the Weasley Twins.
"Hey guys," Harry said. "How goes it?"
"It goes," Fred said.
"Our dearest brother Percy is being his most obnoxious self again," George complained as he sighed.
"Strutting around with an inflated chest and ego," Fred growled.
"Acting oh so important," George sat next to Hermione.
"And carrying on with that annoying thing about something big at Hogwarts," Fred cracked his knuckles.
Harry looked up and saw Percy enter the hall to the bathrooms. "Excuse me guys."
Fred moved out and Harry dodged people as he headed for the hall leading to the bathrooms. He was going to confront Percy. Harry headed to the bathrooms and strolled into the men's room to find Percy at one of the urinals at the far wall. Harry stepped up next to Percy.
"Oh hello there, Percy, or is it Mr. Over Inflated Ego?" Harry asked.
Percy turned to Harry. "You need to show respect for your betters."
"I do show respect to those who have earned my respect, and you are definitely not one of them, Percy. What the hell is wrong with you?" Harry growled.
Percy glared at Harry.
"Absolute power corrupts, Percy. There is such a thing as having way too much power and it turning you into something else. Something else for you to chew on. With great power comes great responsibility. We need to use our power responsibly no matter what we do, be it a teacher at Hogwarts, an office worker in the Ministry, or a leader of people. Me, I'm learning how to be a wizard. That puts powerful magic in my hands. If I can't be responsible with it and let it go to my head, then I have no business having magic at my command. So you need to get the hell off your high horse before somebody knocks you off it, and it's a long way to fall. For your information, the big event that's going down at Hogwarts is public knowledge already. It's called the TriWizard's Tournament, three events over the course of a school year. So stop acting like you are Merlin, pull your head out of your smelly ass, and join the rest of us common folk, unless you think you're too good to be one of us," Harry said.
Percy looked like he was ready to spit curses at Harry he was so angry. Harry noticed him fingering his wand.
"Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the dark side. Is that where you want to be?" Harry asked him as he zipped up.
He went to the sink and washed up. He turned back to Percy and nodded.
"You have become something I never want to be, an arrogant, angry, and a hate filled person. I hope you can change before it's too late," Harry said and then left.
Harry returned to the table and rejoined Hermione, Fred, and George. "I don't think I got through to him, guys. Sorry about that."
The twins sighed. "Don't worry about it too much Harry. Percy is a family problem."
"We did get through to Ron," George said to his brother.
"We did," Fred agreed. "I had hoped we could turn Percy back."
Harry sipped his coffee that Hermione got for him from the coffee cart in the station courtyard when she got a cup of tea for herself. "That's entirely up to Percy. He's the only one that can make that decision. I said what I said and he spit on me. Well fine. He's on his own now."
"He's been arguing with Mum and Dad of late," Ginny said as she joined them. "One of the arguments was about Dad moving up at the Ministry to better himself and to make the family look better."
"And you don't agree with that," Harry said.
"No I don't," Ginny said. "It would be nice to have more money, a better house to live in and better clothes, but those things are nothing compared to having a tight knit family who loves and looks out for each other."
"Hear, hear," Fred said.
"Well said, little sister," George nodded.
Harry glanced up at the big clock in the corner just as Molly Weasley was seen heading their way. He checked his watch and nodded.
"Nearly ten thirty. Time we were off," Harry said as Molly reached them.
"Oh good. There you all are. Come on now, we need to get you all to the train," she said as Percy joined them.
He didn't say anything to them and that suited Harry fine. Ginny led the way to the barrier that separated the muggle world from the wizarding world. She was the first through, then Hermione, and then Harry. He could feel the magic tingling on his skin as he passed through the barrier. When he emerged from it Hermione was in front of him and he was seeing the Hogwarts Express once more. The old fashioned look of the station was a definite reminder that he was in another world. He moved out of the way as the rest of the Weasleys arrived, Molly bringing up the rear. Percy refused to look in Harry's direction and he shrugged his shoulders. Percy was not his problem. He did hope that Percy would wake up in time and see what was going on and fix things before it was far too late. Harry greeted friends as the group headed to the train. He spotted Neville leaning out of a window and waved to him. Neville saw Harry and waved back.
"There's Neville," Harry pointed.
"Oh good," Luna Lovegood said from behind them. "He did say he was going to save a compartment for all of us."
Harry and Hermione headed for the train as Molly began giving out instructions to the twins and Ginny before letting them go. The three Weasleys managed to get on the train before it pulled out of the station. Neville came out of the compartment he had saved for everybody and greeted Hermione first, and then everybody else as they walked in. Fred Weasley was the last one in. The train whistle blew just as everyone took seats. The train began to move, and they were off to Hogwarts once more.
The trip to Hogwarts was boring as most train trips go. Draco Malfoy paid his annual visit to them and did his best to insult them as usual but added a new taunt.
"I know something you don't," he said in a singsong voice.
"And what would that be?" Fred grinned. "Pansy get her rabies shots?"
Everybody in the compartment broke up in laughter as Pansy stomped her foot and screeched at them. Draco scowled at them.
"No, I know what's going to happen at Hogwarts this year," he said. "Father told me all about it. The advantage of having a father well connected to the right kind of people in the ministry."
Harry grinned as he turned to the other. "Oh, he means the TriWizard's Tournament."
The look of shock and surprise on Draco's face was priceless. "How did you…?"
"I have friends in places too, old boy," Harry grinned at Draco. "Now kindly muzzle the ugly pug there and put her back on her leash. Butt ugly dogs aren't allowed on the train, Draco."
Fred stood up and closed the door to the compartment in his face. He turned to Harry.
"Well done, old boy!" he crowed as the others laughed.
Fred returned to his seat as Harry reached for the small bag in the overhead luggage rack and brought it down. Harry expanded it and pulled out food as Fred and George set up a table. Harry had gone and gotten food for the trip and now he passed it up to Hermione and she set it on the table. Once everything that Harry had gotten was on the table, everyone picked what they wanted and ate. They continued to trade jokes and insults as the train kept going to Hogwarts. Other people dropped in to say hello or relate a bit of gossip that they heard or to ask about summer vacation. Fred suggested a bit of poker and Harry jumped in with George and Neville. Two other Gryffindors sat in and this time round it was Fred who cleaned up. The voice on the loudspeaker announcing their impending arrival broke things up. Harry elected to keep his trench coat on as it was weatherproofed. He pulled down Hermione's pack and then his. The others in the compartment got ready to get off when the train arrived. It was still pouring down rain when they got off the train. A group of first years were huddled under the canopy as Hagrid gathered them up. Harry hoped they would make it across the lake to the castle without getting too soaked. He got into one of the carriages with Hermione, Neville, and Luna. Ginny, Fred, and George had gotten another one with two Gryffindors and had gone on ahead. His carriage took off once Harry closed the door to it. Nothing was said during the ride to the castle. Harry smiled as he saw the castle all lit up brilliantly as it came into view. Walking into the grand foyer Harry shook his trench coat getting the rainwater off it. He followed the crowd into the great hall and took his usual place at the Ravenclaw table as the others headed off to their tables and places. Harry got a hot cup of tea and it went down nice, and he began to feel warm again. Harry glanced up at the head table and saw everybody there except for one chair that was empty. Harry wondered who was going to take defense this year. He was sure he would find out before long. He pulled off his trench coat and the smaller jacket as he was starting to get warm again. Dumbledore stood up and the hall went quiet as people turned to listen.
"Good evening to you all," Dumbledore smiled. "To the returning students, welcome back. To the new ones, welcome to Hogwarts. I sincerely hope you enjoy the next seven years of your life here. We shall begin with the sorting, so do pay attention to Miss McGonagall. I will make the rest of the announcements after the feast. Miss McGonagall, if you please."
Dumbledore smiled as she brought up the tall three legged stool and placed the Hat on the top of it. Harry leaned forward in anticipation as to what it might do and hoped it wouldn't disappoint.
The Hat certainly did not disappoint. It came to life and moved as it looked around the great hall. It smiled and chuckled, making Dumbledore nervous.
"Well, well, well, another school year. So lend me your ear and I'll sing you my song. I'll try to stay in key," the Hat said and then began to rhyme out his song for the year, getting a group of the students to clap along.
Dumbledore sighed as the great hall applauded the Hat. That one hadn't been too bad. He watched the first years come up one by one to get sorted. He wondered how the students would react to the announcement. Flitwick had to nudge Dumbledore out of his thoughts and he sat up as he noticed the sorting was done. He rose from his seat.
"Ah, you all must forgive my lack of attention. This is what happens to me from time to time as I am constantly thinking about things. To all of the newly sorted first years, I say welcome to your houses. I am sure all of you will do your best to learn all that we have to teach you. And now it is time for the feast," Dumbledore waved his hands in the air and food appeared, "so do enjoy."
Harry glanced at twin boys in front of him that were first years sorted into Ravenclaw. Their eyes had grown big at the sight of the food appearing in front of them. Harry wondered if he should introduce them to the Weasley Twins and then thought better of it. Those two would corrupt a first year in days if given the opportunity. Harry decided to talk to them later as he turned to the feast spread out in front of him.
It didn't take long for all of the food to disappear. Harry listened to the talk going on around him and there was a lot of speculation as to what Dumbledore was going to announce after the desserts were done. Harry was curious as to how Dumbledore would handle all of this. He was sure it wasn't easy to host a tournament on the grounds, especially if it was a year long one. Harry glanced up at the high table a few times and noted how the teachers and staff were talking to each other. Dumbledore appeared to be napping. Harry glanced at Hermione and she was in deep conversation with Neville and the twins. Luna was on his right side and Harry turned to her.
"I believe this year will change a lot of people," she said.
Harry nodded. "I get the feeling that you're right on that one. I hope the changes will be good ones."
"A lot of them will," Luna said. "Play your hand very careful with certain people as they could either help or hurt you."
Harry leaned in close to Luna. "I will, Luna. Thanks for the advice."
Harry turned his attention to the front when Dumbledore rose from his throne. He went to the podium at the front off to the side. The hall grew quiet as Dumbledore stood there.
"Now that we have enjoyed the feast that had been well laid out by the Hogwarts house elves, I do have announcements to make. The first one is a reminder to all to not use magic in the halls between classes. Mr. Filch has a list of banned items posted on the door to his office. The third announcement is that Quidditch has been cancelled for the year…" and he was interrupted by loud boos from the assembly.
Dumbledore let them go for a moment and then held up his hand. The hall went quiet once more.
"The reason that Quidditch has been cancelled for the year is because I have the pleasure of informing you all that Hogwarts will be playing host to a very prestigious tournament that has not been seen for some time. It is called the TriWizard's Tournament," Dumbledore said as the hall broke out in excited chatter. He let that go for a time and then held up his hand once more.
"The TriWizard's Tournament is a contest featuring three events. Each event is to test the young wizard or witch. The winner of the tournament will receive a trophy and one thousand galleons," Dumbledore said as the hall got excited once more.
He waited them out as they chattered about what they would do with the prize money.
"We will be hosting two other schools. They are Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. They shall arrive here in mid October. At that time a champion from each school will be selected. However, due to the danger involved with the tournament an age restriction was agreed to. Only those aged seventeen and older will be allowed to enter," Dumbledore announced.
The reaction was immediate. Shouts of 'foul' and 'rubbish' were heard from all corners of the great hall. The Weasley twins were banging their forks on the table while other people stood and got vocal with their displeasure. Dumbledore let them go on for a few minutes and then called for silence. The great hall eventually settled down.
"This is not me doing this, it is a condition set down by the ICW and the heads of the three schools agreeing to it. I will be drawing an Age Line around the goblet once it is set up to prevent those under seventeen to put their name in. Do not try to trick it," Dumbledore said. "More details will be given out by your heads of house in the weeks ahead. They are well informed as to what is to happen during the tournament. That is all for now."
Harry turned back to the cup of tea in front of him and thought about what had just been revealed. He decided that a trip to the library was in order. He needed more information on the tournament. Harry left the great hall with the Tomlin twins behind him and Harry didn't blame them for wanting to stick close to him, as they didn't know where to go. Harry smiled, as an idea presented it's self to him. He would present it to Professor Flitwick first chance he got.
Harry got his chance when Flitwick arrived in the common room to introduce himself to the new first years.
"An excellent idea, Mr. Potter!" Flitwick beamed. "Include the other first years in on the tour and do three of them as tomorrow is Saturday."
Harry nodded. "Will do sir."
Flitwick then approached the Ravenclaw first years sitting on the couches. They turned their attention to him and Harry Potter.
"Hi, my name is Harry Potter. I'm a fourth year here in Ravenclaw. The gentleman with me is Professor Flitwick, and he has two roles here at Hogwarts. First role is that of the housemaster for Ravenclaw. His second role is teaching the charms class, and he is the absolute best at it. So here's Professor Flitwick," Harry introduced him to the group.
"Thank you Harry," Flitwick beamed. "Now then, welcome to Ravenclaw."
Flitwick spent the next few minutes explaining things and then informing all that he would be available over the weekend. He announced Harry's tours going round the school the next day and that seemed to go over well. Harry headed to his new dorm leaving Flitwick with the first years. He found his pack on his new bed for the year and set about getting set up. He put the trunk at the foot of the bed and it expanded to its normal size. Harry headed to the bathroom that was connected to the fourth year boy's dorm and discovered it was theirs exclusively. That meant Harry had to share it with the other fourth year boys and he didn't mind that. He sat down in one of the easy chairs in front of the fireplace and stared into the fire for a time as he thought about the coming year. He hoped it wasn't one of Dumbledore's tricks to get him.
Down in the great hall the next morning he noted a lot of people discussing the upcoming TriWizard's Tournament. Even the Daily Prophet had something to say about it. Harry read the Fudge announcement on the front page of the morning edition and then turned to the proper page to read the history of the tournament.
"What do you think of it all?" Hermione asked as she sat down in front of Harry.
He folded up the paper and handed it off to someone else. "Not sure. Makes for interesting reading in the paper but something about it all makes me nervous. Something just doesn't feel right about it all."
"I did do some reading about it last night and I want to head to the library and see if I can find books on it," Hermione said as she had a bit of tea.
"That would be cool if you could," Harry said. "The more we know about it the better. I am going to be running a tour round here for the first years today. Want to join me? Your knowledge about the castle would be helpful."
Before Hermione could respond Dumbledore was striding to the lectern off to the side and people turned to listen.
"Good morning all. I hope you are well rested for the day," Dumbledore said. "Just one announcement today, and that is any of the first years wishing to go looking around the castle can do so as Mr. Potter has kindly volunteered to lead tours around the castle so all of you first years won't get lost trying to go to classes starting Monday morning. When do you want to do them, Mr. Potter?"
Harry consulted his watch. It was now coming up on nine thirty. "First one at ten, second one and one, and the last one at four. All first years are welcome, bring something to write on if you want to write directions down."
"Very good Mr. Potter," Dumbledore beamed and then headed back to his chair to enjoy the rest of his breakfast.
Hermione turned to Harry. "I will help you Harry, thanks for asking. I wish someone had done that for us back in our first year."
"One of the reasons why I'm doing it," Harry said. "This should be fun."
And it was fun. Harry made sure they knew where everything was and how to get there. Hermione answered quite a few of the questions they came up with. A few of the teachers were in their classrooms and were more than happy to give them an introduction to the first year lessons. The defense classroom was bare, as the new instructor hadn't showed up yet. Harry wondered who the new defense instructor was going to be and hoped he was up to the job. He hoped the guy would show up at Sunday night's dinner.
They were halfway through the Sunday night dinner when the doors to the great hall opened. Everybody turned to look to see who it was. Harry could see the outline of a man standing there and some kind of cane in his right hand. He moved forward and Harry heard a thunk kind of sound and immediately realized the guy had a fake leg. As the man passed by Harry noted the man's face and wondered what happened to him as the face was scarred and a good part of his nose was missing. Dumbledore by now had risen from his chair to greet the man. The man paused as he passed Harry, and turned his head to look. Harry got to see his face, and it was a mess. He noted the one normal eye and the other appeared to be a fake. The man nodded at Harry and Harry returned the nod. The man moved on. He approached Dumbledore and both men talked to each other for a moment and then he turned around.
"I wish to introduce to all of you Alastor Moody, your new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor," Dumbledore said grandly.
There was a bit of polite applause for the man as he nodded and shuffled off to the open seat. He paused for a moment in front of Snape and glared at him. Snape glared back at him and Harry had a feeling there was history between them. He was sure to find out before long. He turned back to his dinner as the whispers broke out.
"Friendly looking fellow," Roger Davies remarked. "Shouldn't want to get on his bad side."
People up and down the Ravenclaw table agreed. Harry wondered once more just what kind of year this was going to be. Already he was experiencing feelings of danger deep in his soul and hoped that this year wouldn't be a bad one. He decided to go hit the library and see what kind of information he could dig up on this Moody character, unless Hermione was on the case. He turned back to his dinner once more.
Hermione met him out in the hall after dinner. Harry paused to let her catch up to him and she stopped in front of him.
"Library?" she asked.
Harry nodded. "The library. I want to find out who this guy is."
"Good. We have time, and I know just where to go," Hermione said.
They went up to the library and Hermione went straight into the back areas and to a particular shelf. They pulled down a few books and began looking. Harry did find an entry for Alastor Moody in a book called Notable Wizards. It was a brief entry on him with no picture. Harry took note of the year Moody had graduated from Hogwarts and went looking for that particular yearbook. He found it and flipped through the pages until he arrived at Moody's entry. It had a few lines under the picture about what he had been involved in when he had been a student here. The picture showed him to be a smiling young man with his face intact.
"Ooooh. He's cute," Hermione said a moment later as she had come up next to Harry. "The book I have here says he entered the Auror Academy right out of Hogwarts and joined the Auror Teams after training."
Harry smiled. "Interesting career choice. Wonder if he knew my Dad?"
"You can always ask him," Hermione suggested.
"I'll do that," Harry said. "What else do you have there?"
Hermione looked back at the page. "It says that he had quite the career, capturing a lot of the DE's and other criminals. Nothing more than that."
They returned the books to the shelves and then left the library, as it was about to close. Harry walked Hermione to Gryffindor Tower as it was getting late. They paused before the Fat Lady and she smiled at them as Harry turned to Hermione and leaned in for a kiss. She sighed at the sight of young love. The painting opened and she let Hermione in. Harry turned and headed down to Ravenclaw Tower.
Harry studied his class schedule the next morning. It seemed reasonable so he tucked it away and turned back to the Daily Prophet in front of him. There wasn't much in there except for the little blurb on the second page that Hogwarts had gotten started for the year. The front page did carry an article about the TriWizard's Tournament and Harry checked it out. A Rita Skeeter had written it and Harry wondered who she was. He had a feeling he would be finding out very soon. He decided to go back to the library and read the last year's Daily Prophets to get an idea of what kind of articles she wrote. He handed off the paper to somebody else and finished off his breakfast. He stood up and stretched, feeling things go pop.
"Heading to class?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Charms is first this morning," Harry said. "You know Flitwick does a great class and it's a good one to start off the week with."
"I've got transfigurations first," Hermione said. "Then herbology after that."
Harry smiled. "Good. I'll see you there then. Have a good morning."
Charms was a great class as Flitwick showed them something new. Harry watched the wand movements and then tried it and came up just a bit short but by the end of the class had the cheering charm down pat. So did a lot of the others. Flitwick was pleased about that and everybody liked it when he was happy, which meant he wouldn't do homework. Harry headed out onto the grounds and was glad he was wearing boots, as everything was still wet from the recent rains. What he didn't plan on was meeting Malfoy in the grand foyer. The pale blond smirked at Harry. Harry could feel Snape hiding in the shadows. Harry wasn't in the mood to listen to Malfoy so he kept on going.
"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" Malfoy demanded.
"To class," Harry said as he walked out the door. "Got things to do, places to go, and people to see. Have a nice day now, and to you too, Professor Snape."
Snape growled as he came out of the shadows. Harry kept on going until he got to the herbology classroom and found Hermione and Neville discussing plants. Herbology really wasn't Harry's cup of tea, but he did like working with plants. He found a spot next to them and Hermione turned to Harry.
"We're discussing unusual plants," she said to Harry.
"Every plant in here are unusual," Harry stated.
Neville had to smile at that one. "Oh you're very funny, Mr. Potter."
"Why thank you Mr. Longbottom. I do appreciate the kind comments," Harry grinned back at Neville.
Neville had done fairly well at the summer school his dogfather Sirius Black and his honorary uncle Remus Lupin had done during the summer. Both of them had made the various subject fun to do and Harry learned a bit more about potions than he needed to from them.
"So what do you think is going to happen this year?" Neville asked.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Plenty without all of that tournament hoopla following us around. It would be so nice to have a 'normal' year, whatever the hell it is."
"I think the Weasley twins are making book on your year," Neville said. "They always have something up their sleeve. Wonder what it's going to be?"
"I'm sure it will be something good," Neville said. "Their gags are worth coming to school for."
Harry had to agree as the classroom began to fill up. The Weasley twins were always coming up with all kinds of interesting things that did something to an unsuspecting person they were so good at pranking. Pomona Sprout called the class to order.
To Be Continued