Author's Note- Hi guys! I'm back and the real story is just beginning! I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter because I think it's a good chapter really kick off the action and thrill that the Goblet of Fire is known. Hope you guys like it. On to the story!
Chapter 9: As The World Meets
Harriet
Harriet couldn't understand Hermione's hatred for her corset. Harriet had arrived at the Burrow earlier that day. Hermione arrived that afternoon and the pair was going to be sharing a room with Ginny. As the three of them were getting ready for bed that night, Ginny looked over at Harriet and squealed,
"You have a corset?! Oh, it's so pretty." Harriet glanced down at her simple, nude, lace covered corset. It happened to be her favorite one. When Mama noticed that Harriet had, um, developed over the school year, she had insisted on getting custom-made corsets when they visited Paris for a weekend at the end of June.
"Now Harriet, as you are now getting older and your body is changing quite rapidly, it's time for you to get some underclothing." Mama explained as they enter La Rue Magique de Paris, France's version of Diagon Alley. They entered what appeared to be a clothing store on the inside. However, the outside was glamoured so that no one could tell that it was actual a lingerie boutique.
"Bonjour, Madame, Mademoiselle. Comment ça va? Comment est-ce je puis aider vous?" (Hello Madame, Mademoiselle. How are you? How may I help you?) A pretty French woman asked. Mama winked at Harriet and reply back in fluent French. Harriet now really wanted to learn French. Damn, so much to learn.
"Ça va bien. Merci. Ma fille et moi ont besoin des corsets sur mesures. Il est possible que vous aider moi?" (Very well, thank you. My daughter and I want to get custom-made corsets. Will it be possible for you to help me?) The woman smiled happily before she ushered them into the back room. The actual measuring process for the corset was very similar to when Harriet first got measured for her robes all those years ago. Then Harriet tried on many different styles before she decided on getting an earlier 1800s style. They order multiple nude and black ones that would grow as Harriet grew. The woman promised that the multitude of charms she had added into the corset would ensure ease and comfort for Harriet. When Harriet got home and wore her new accessory under her skirt and blouse, she fell in love.
Hermione turned bright red the moment she saw it and looked ready to yell at Harriet for even wearing it. Actually, Hermione did open her mouth and asked in an angry tone,
"What on earth is that?" Ginny looked at Hermione, confused at why Hermione was so upset.
"It's a corset." Harriet answered as she willed her magic to untie the strings.
"Why are you wearing such a restricting piece of clothing, Harry?" Oh no God. Please. No ultra-radical feminism speeches before bed, Hermione.
"Restricting?" Ginny asked, tilting her head to the side. Harriet quickly put on her nightgown before answering,
"Muggle style corset didn't have any of the charms magical ones do. Hermione's talking about how some Victorian muggle woman would completely destroy their bodies by wearing them." Ginny just shook her head at Harriet's answer.
"Silly Muggles. Hermione, it's perfectly fine for Harriet to get to wear one. In fact, Harriet looks fantastic in it." Hermione crossed her arms before asking,
"Well, how can you breathe in that thing?"
"It's actual quite easy. First you suck in air, then you breathe out." Ginny started giggling while Hermione looked unamused.
"Not funny, Harriet."
"There's a plethora of charms on it. I can breathe as easily as I can without it on. It's extra flexible too because Mama insisted that all of them were duelist quality." That peeked Hermione's interest.
"Duelist quality?"
"Yeah. Nearly every witch in the dueling circuit around the world wears some form of a corset. The corsets have charms that deflect minor spells off the witch. The witches can move extremely quickly while wearing them and can even perform acrobatics. It's almost required for a female duelist to have at least one corset in her wardrobe. Quidditch players also wear them. Just ask Katie. All the Gryffindor chaser wear them when they play." Harriet explained calmly. Hell, ask any Fifth year and up from any of the houses to find out just how popular corsets were in the Wizarding World. Even in America, the shop owner had explained, corsets remained at the top of woman's fashion. Hermione looked unconvinced and asked,
"Are you sure you don't want to wear a bra instead?"
"No thank you, Hermione. Come on guys, let's get some rest."
The next morning arrived too early in Harriet's humble opinion. Don't get her wrong, Harriet was a self-proclaimed early bird. But 3:00 am was too early, even for her. However, Mrs. Weasely was very insistent that if Harriet want to have time to bathe before anyone else, she better get up before 3:45 at the latest. This is for Quidditch, Harriet. For the World Cup.
So Harriet found herself in the bathroom, pouring her bath. The Weasely's did have showers, like at Hogwarts, but green slime would come out if you stood under it for too long. Harriet locked the door before she undressed completely and turned so that her back was facing the mirror hanging off the door.
Scars littered her entire back. Some a deep red, others just white lines against her already pale skin. The latest one was from the Hippogriff incident. Harriet couldn't stop the sadness that filled her soul as she turned again to inspect her still growing body. Harriet now stood at 5'1". She was no longer deathly skinny but she still needed to gain more weight. She had developed nicely in her chest area but her hips had gained ugly stretch marks that didn't seem to go away. Harriet wouldn't call herself the most beautiful girl alive but she knew that she was a pretty girl. It was just a shame that she bore more scars on her body that most grown men. She knew that she was damaged and knew that any man who saw her back could never love her truly. Sighing, Harriet pushed her vanity to the side and sunk down into her bath.
Mrs. Weasely was already making breakfast when Harriet finished getting ready. How did she get up and ready before me? You know what, I don't want to know. It was 3:45 now and Mrs. Weasely looked ready to wake the entire house when she saw Harriet enter the kitchen.
"Harriet, dear, how did you sleep? I hope that blast attic ghost didn't wake you too." It did but Harriet didn't want Mrs. Weasely to worry about that.
"I slept great, Mrs. Weasely. And you?"
"Oh, I slept fine until Fred and George decided that testing another one of those blasted candies was a good idea. Harriet, pray that you never have boys when you get older. You'll have gray hair before you're 30."
"I don't think my husband would appreciate that." Harriet joked. Mrs. Weasely laughed before setting down some eggs in front of her.
"Eat, dear, eat. My God, I could snap you like a twig." Harriet just nodded before she chomped down on her breakfast. Mrs. Weasely was like that aunt who was always trying to stuff food down your throat during the holidays. It was better to go along and do what she says than argue.
As Harriet got up to pour herself another cup of coffee, she blushed furiously when she saw William 'Bill' Weasely enter the kitchen.
Her crush on Bill Weasely was completely irrational in her opinion. He was eleven years older than her. Not to mention he was Ron's older brother. And while she didn't have any attraction towards any of the other male Weaselys, at least, she didn't think she did, there was something about him that she liked. Perhaps it was his height. Or voice. Or hair. Oh, dammit all.
"Bill!" Mrs. Weasely exclaimed and pecked her eldest son's cheek. Bill had taken his red hair out of his ponytail today, so it laid nicely on his shoulders. He also took out his fang earring, probably because Mrs. Weasely wouldn't stop harping him about it. Bill wore normal Muggle jeans and button down shirt under his outer robe. He toward over the two petite woman.
"Morning, Mum. Morning, Harriet. How did you guys sleep?"
"Good, now eat Bill. Do those Egyptians Goblins starve you?" The matriarch asked rhetorically as she piled louds of eggs onto his plate.
"Bill," Harriet called out, her blush weakening as her confidence grew. "Would you like a coffee?"
"Please Harriet. Just black though." He smiled at her in thanks. Dammit. Harriet silently cursed as her blush reddened again. Why did he have to be handsome? Stupid crush and stupid hormones. Harriet placed the mug in front of him and returned to her seat.
"Honestly, what's wrong with good, English tea?" Mrs. Weasely grumbled as she looked at the coffee drinkers. Bill smirked at Harriet before answering to his mother in an American accent,
"It ain't strong enough, Ma." Mrs. Weasely light wacked him with her towel before huffing and saying,
"I better get everyone else up. You two keep eating." As the woman marched up the creaking stairs, Bill turned back to Harriet and smiled at her. Why can't I stop blushing?!
"So Harriet, Ron and Ginny tell me you're taking Ancient Runes." He started. Yes, good, a school subject. Yes, that's a good, safe topic.
"Ye- Yes." She stuttered before clearing her throat. Come on, Harriet. You can do this. Regaining her confidence, she replied with more detail.
"It's amazing actually. Professor Vector does a great job at describing the runes. I've never realized how many signs of the magical world were located in plain sight in the Muggle world."
"I know, right?" Bill agreed excitedly. "In the tombs, there are over a thousand different runes that could easily be decode by Muggles if they know what to look for." He took a sip of coffee before asking, "Do you see yourself doing something with runes in your future?"
Wow, that was an unexpected question. Harriet never really thought about the future. Honestly, she was too busy trying to survive every year. At the rate she was going, she didn't think she would survive until her adult hood. But the question caused Harriet to ponder. To imagine a life without Voldemort on her tail. Maybe… Perhaps…
"Well, I don't really know. I've never really thought about it. I think everyone in the World expects me to become an Auror but… Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'll become the DADA teacher and break that curse off with my Ancient Runes skills."
Bill laughed at her joke and she couldn't help but smile. He looked handsome when he laughed. Hell, he looked handsome in general.
"If you do that, I think you'll become the most liked teacher in Hogwarts history. You know, Professor Vector sends the top scores from her class every year to Gringotts." What? "She gave me the heads up. Harriet, you may a future in curse breaking. The Goblins want to see how far you go before they make any offer. And if they do, well, I think Magical Egypt has some pretty nice weather, right?"
Her heart skipped a beat. A life out of England? With no Dark Lord and fighting? A job given to her not because she was the Girl-Who-Lived but because she earned it? It… It…
"It seems too good to be true." She whispered out in disbelief. She was afraid she had insulted Bill but he chuckled softly before lightly grasping the hand that she left on the table. She blushed and looked up at him. He smiled back at her and said,
"I know. Think about it."
"Oh would you look at that, Forge? Look at how cute they are together."
"I don't know, Gred. That would mean that sweet, innocent Harriet Potter would be taken off the market."
"Yes, but that would mean that she would be our cool and awesome sister."
"Very true, oh twin of mine." Harriet eeped and Bill laid back in his chair to glare at the twins. He had let go of her hand to give them the bird.
"Bill!" Fred, or at least she thought he was Fred, faked shock. "How dare you use such a vulgar hand movement?"
"Shield your eyes, Miss Harriet." George covered her eyes with his hands. "Shield your eyes!"
"Good morning, George. Good morning, Fred. Can I have my eyesight back, please?"
"But of course!" They answered in unison. Harriet readjusted her glasses as Fred and George sat on both side of her.
"Where's everyone else?" Bill asked.
"Well, Ronniekins wouldn't wake up so Mum kept whacking him a pillow." Fred started.
"Then Ginny and Hermione started fighting about using the bathroom." George continued.
"While they fought, Charlie snuck into the bathroom."
"So they started banging on the door so that he would hurry up."
"Which woke up Dad and Percy. Percy on his man-period again, by the way." Geeze, watching Fred and George talking about something can give you whiplash.
"How did you two get ready?" Bill asked, confused as how the two messiest people in his family could get cleaned and dressed before everyone else.
"We showered last night." They replied.
"Of course you did." Harriet smirked at Bill's sarcasm before she rose from the table.
"I better go make sure Ginny hasn't killed Hermione yet. I'll be back in a bit."
It was a miracle that they all got ready and out of the house by 5:00. The match started at 12:00 but if you wanted to get a good spot to place your tent, you had to get there by at least 6:00. Charlie was going to Apparate to the Cup with Percy later on and Miss Weasely decided on staying at home. As the boys grumbled about carrying all of the luggage to Stoatshead Hill, Harriet, Bill and Mr. Weasely had a nice discussion about Portkeys.
"What is a Portkey, exactly?"
"It can be anything, my dear. Usually, we use inconspicuous items in order not to attract attention of Muggles. There are about, oh I don't know, 200 different Portkeys in different, hidden places across England. We're using a Ministry made one, which mean why have to be at the Portkey by 5:30 in order to make it to the cup. If we used a homemade Portkey, we would just have to touch it to activate it. Sadly, the Ministry doesn't approve of that when a lot of witches and wizards are going to be traveling to the same place." Mr. Weasely explained.
"You know, Harriet, curse breaking involves shutting down rogue Portkey." Bill hinted.
"You really want me to be a curse breaker, do you?" Harriet teased. She wasn't expecting him to wit back.
"Maybe. Is it working?" Harriet blushed. Before she could answer, Ginny shouted,
"Thar she blows!" And pointed at a boot on a tree stump. A boot?! That's it?
"That's it?" Ron asked. "We walked all the way here for some bloody old boot?"
"Yes, Ronald." Hermione sighed in exasperation.
"Ah, Arthur. Jolly good to see you again, old chum." A voiced called out as Cedric and his father, Mr. Diggory entered the clearing.
"Amos, Cedric. Fancy meeting you here!" Mr. Weasely said as he shook Mr. Diggory hand.
"Hello Harriet, Bill. How are you?" Cedric asked politely. Harriet was about to answer but Mr. Weasely shouted.
"Look at the time! Kids! Circle the Portkey, it goes off in a minute!" They all rushed to the boot. "Now everyone, touch it and don't let go." As Harriet grasped on to one of the laces, she felt a hand lay itself on her shoulder before she felt a pull on her navel. Then it tugged and Harriet was spinning rapidly.
The Portkey spit them out and Harriet landed flat on her bum. Or at least she would have if Bill hadn't have grabbed onto her and pulled her close. Oh Mother of God. Bill, herself, Mr. Weasely, Mr. Diggory and Cedric landed safely on their feet. Poor Fred and George laid at the bottom of the pile with Ron, Hermione and Ginny on top of them.
"Guys!" Shouted George.
"Get off!" Fred continued. Harriet sniffled her laugh but Cedric and Bill didn't even bother to.
"Chop chop, everyone!" Mr. Weasely ordered happily. "Let's get the tent all set up and ready."
The tent was actually pretty cool. The inside had been magically expanded with a kitchen, a bathroom and three bedrooms. Everyone was going to share but it was still cool to see. Unfortunately, the inside of the tent was also covered with dust.
"Dad, you forgot to shake out the tent again? Didn't you?" Bill asked.
"Yes, well. Gentlemen, we have some cleaning to do." The men groaned.
"Ron, Ginny. Will you take Harriet and Hermione and get some water?" Mr. Weasely asked.
"Why do we have to- Ow!" Hermione elbowed Ron.
"Sure Dad. Be back soon." Ginny answered.
"I still don't see why we have to get the water." Ron grumbled. Hermione carried the bucket and replied,
"Because we have to do something. Would you like to be dusting right now?"
"No, but I wanted to go look around and stuff."
"We can do that after we bring back the water." Harriet reasoned. As they walked, Harriet looked to her left and saw a young man, about 18, running quickly away from the arena. She didn't get a good look at him but something told Harriet that she's seen him before.
"Harry, you alright?" Ginny asked quietly as Hermione and Ron continued to bicker.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Mr. Weasely sent them off after they brought back the water. He told them to stay together and to be safe, because there were Muggles camping around here. Unfortunately, Harriet's luck doesn't like to listen to authority. She lost Ron, Hermione and Ginny early on because Ron smelled food. The boy had the nose of a blood hound. Ginny and Hermione had followed him but Harriet got distracted by the sound of a crying child. Harriet couldn't help herself, she had to find that child and help it. Harriet looked around one of the trees and saw a little blond girl sobbing against the oak. She looked around seven with silvery-blond hair and dark blue eyes that cried out a river of tears. The poor, sobbing cherub.
"Mama! Où es tu, Mama?!" (Mama! Where are you, Mama?!) French, the girl was French. It was a good thing Harriet asked her Mama for French lesson after their trip to Paris. Mama had smirked when she asked and said that unless they were in class, the McGonagall women would only be speaking in French with each other. Needless to say, Harriet picked up the basic of French very quickly.
"Excuse-moi. Ça va?" (Excuse me. Are you ok?) Harriet asked softly as she moved in front of the girl. She didn't want to scare the distraught child. The girl sniffled and looked up at Harriet before asking.
"Parlez-vous français?" (Do you speak French?)
"Un peu." (A little.) "Je m'appelle Harriet. Comment vous vous appelez?" (My name's Harriet. What's your name?) The girl wiped her eyes before answering,
"Je m'appelle Gabrielle." (My name's Gabrielle.)
"Où sont votre parents, Gabrielle?" (Where are you parents, Gabrielle)
"Je ne sais pas. Je ne peux pas trouver Fleur soit. Je veux Mama!" (I don't know. I can't find Fleur either. I want Mama!) Harriet held out her arms and the little girl respond by crying into her shoulder. Harriet didn't really understand her need to make sure that the child was ok. Perhaps it was because she suffered so much at this age and she hated to see any child suffer.
"Il est être ça va. Je promets." (It will be okay. I promise.) Harriet held Gabrielle's tiny hand as the pair searched through the campsite for her parents. While Harriet didn't understand everything Gabrielle was saying, they were able to communicate with one another and Gabrielle was smiling happily. It was when they a stand that was selling "Luck of the Irish!" t-shirts when the pair heard a shout,
"Gabrielle!" The duo turned and Gabrielle squealed as an older girl, around 17 years old, came running up to them. Gabrielle sprinted towards the girl, who could very well have been her sister. The two spoke rapid French, too fast for Harriet to pick up. After a few minutes of more tears and kisses, the older girl looked up and smiled at Harriet.
"Ello, I am Fleur Delacour. Thank you pour err- finding ma soeur." The girl's English was slightly broken but it was clear.
"You're welcome. I'm Harriet Potter. Nice to meet you." If the girl recognized her name, she didn't so it.
"You too. Thank you aussi."
"De rien." (You're welcome.)
As Harriet wondered away from the French pair, she started to search for a sea of red hair. Hopefully, she'd find Ron or Ginny and with them, Hermione. In her search, however, she ran into some one.
"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologized and looked up at the boy that she bumped into. He looked around 18, perhaps older. He had dark hair and even darker eyes. His nose reminded Harriet of Professor Snape. In fact, the boy looked around Professor Snape's height too, perhaps a little shorter. He wore what looked like a Bulgarian jersey over Quidditch trousers.
"Da, don't worry." Oh God, he has an accent. What could Harriet say? She was a sucker for accents. It sounded Russian to her but judging by his jersey, he was probably Bulgarian.
"Sorry, again. I'll just be on my way." He looked confused that she was about to leave.
"What is your name?" He asked, his accent causing the 'w' to sound more like a 'v'.
"Harriet. What's yours?"
"Viktor. Will you be at the match?" Why would he ask her that?
"Yes."
"Good." With that, he smiled at her and walked past her. What was with these boys smiling at her. Harriet glanced down at her outfit. It must be the corset.
She finally found Ron, Ginny and Hermione at another "Go Ireland!" stand. Ginny had bought a shamrock bra and Ron looked ready to rip it to shreds. Hermione was trying to pacify the argument.
"You can't wear that bloody thing! Return it!"
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"Yes I can. I'm your bloody brother!"
"Now Ginny, Ron-" They directed their anger at her.
"Stay out of it, Hermione!" Poor Hermione.
"Hey guys." Harriet said. She watched as they all turned to her.
"There you are! Where were you?" Hermione asked with relief.
"You know, just walking around." Harriet shrugged.
Later now, the Weasely party headed into the arena. Waiting at the door was Remus and a black dog. God dammit Sirius! You needed to stay at home! Remus looked apologetic as Padfoot jumped up and licked her face with a plethora of kisses.
"Si- Snuffles! Down boy, down. Yes, I miss you too. I thought you weren't going to bring him, Remus?" Harriet asked her honorary uncle. Remus at least looked sheepish when he answered,
"You'd be surprised how persistent he can be." Harriet watched out of the corner of eye as Bill and Charlie glanced at their father in worry before Mr. Weasely smiled at them and nodded. She knew that Mr. and Mrs. Weasely had informed all of their children, yes even Percy, about Sirius and had them all sworn to secrecy. Harriet just hoped that nothing bad would happen. Of course, she spoke too soon.
Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, was good friends with Mr. Weasely and brought them all to their seats while saying,
"While it is a shame that England didn't make the finals this year, at least Ireland has a chance. Though I highly doubt that Lynch can out fly Krum. Why, I'd say that Bulgaria will win for sure, no?" This peeked Fred and George's interest. When Mr. Weasely was out of hearing range, the pair made a bet with Mr. Bagman. They stated that Krum would catch the Snitch but Ireland would win and if they lost they would lose their life savings. Mr. Bagman agreed and said that if he lost he would pay them what they would have paid him.
"Ludo," Mr. Weasely called after they were all seated. Mr. Bagman turned to Mr. Weasely and Harriet could only just barely hear his whisper.
"Any news about Bertha?" Harriet frozen when she heard that name. The image of a torture woman and the sight of lifeless eyes entered her. Dear God, it was real. It was real. She didn't realize she was shaking until she felt Remus place a hand on her shoulder. He and Sirius, who laid at her feet, gave her worried looks. She faked a smile before stating softly,
"Don't worry, just a chill." They didn't look like they believed her but they dropped the subject nonetheless. The bad feeling grew more in Harriet stomach. She glanced around and spotted Draco's silvery blonde hair. They locked eyes for a second and he nodded to her before turning away. They knew that his parents would be less than amused by their friendship so in public they would be civil to each other. His parents struck a conversation with Barty Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Minister Fudge. Harriet could hear the words "Hogwarts…cup…French…Durmstrang…" before Mr. Bagman stood and casted the Sonorus charm on himself,
"Good Afternoon and Welcome to the Quidditch World Cup! Let's meet the Mascots for Ireland!" Harriet watched as leprechauns came out and tossed fake galleons into the audience. Harriet listened as Hermione explained to Ron and the twins that they gold was fake and would disappear in an hour or so.
"Now Make Noise for The Bulgarian Mascots!" Harriet watched a pretty veelas entered the arena. Tall, beautiful woman danced on field. Harriet watched as many of the men in the arena, even the referee, were affected by their beauty. Percy, the twins and Ron looked ready to climb over the edge if it wasn't for their father and brothers pulling them back in. Even so, Harriet could tell that Bill, Charlie, and even Remus were struggling to fight their charm. Mr. Weasely and, surprising Mr. Malfoy, were unaffected. Harriet knew it was because of the magic in marriage bounds that they had with their wives. Harriet's thought wonder back to when Mama was explaining magical marriages to her back before school ended.
"Harriet, dear, I think it's time for you to understand the difference between marriage in the magical world versus marriage in the muggle world."
"There's a difference?" Mama nodded before pulling off her wedding band from her ring finger. She stared at it with longing.
"When a witch marries a wizard, vows said during the ceremony to solidify the marriage and a contract is prepared beforehand to protect the values of the couple. However, words of love and marriage have powers more strong and ancient than other form of magic. The magic of the newlyweds comes forth and binds the pair together. To death do us part does mean until one passes, the other cannot or will not be unfaithful. The final step to complete a marriage is consummating it." Harriet blushed at that. Mama continued. "The only way to divorce a marriage is to not consummate it, but even that is rare. Thus, my dear, when you find the man you want to marry, do not push for marriage until you are absolutely certain. I remember my husband, I remember our vows and when he passed, the ache that entered my soul and magic made it impossible for me to ever want another man." A moment of silence passed before Harriet asked a tentative question.
"Mama?"
"Yes, Harriet?"
"How can Blaise's mother keep getting married?" Mama laughed before smirking.
"Mrs. Zabini is known for her, shall we say, loose contracts and 'unfortunate' habit of becoming a widow."
"AND HERE'S KRUM!" Mr. Bagman shouted. Harriet was pulled out of her thoughts as she saw the boy she ran into earlier zoom around the arena in his Bulgarian jersey. That's why he looked so familiar. He's Viktor Krum. Harriet blushed once again when she saw Krum look at her in Top Box and winked at her. Yep, it was definitely the corset.
Pretty Woman, Walking Down the Street, Pretty Woman
Severus
"What do you mean you brought Black with you to the bloody cup?! And how the fuck did you lose Miss Potter when you were supposed to get her out of there if anything fucking happened?!" It was rare that Severus raised his voice. When it did happen, the victim had better have written a will. At the moment, Minerva also looked ready to skin Lupin alive. Severus, Minerva and the Headmaster were waiting for Lupin to deliver Miss Potter became from the cup with Lupin floo called and reported about the disaster at the World Cup.
"Now, Severus, let's not get to-" Albus started.
"Shut up, Albus." Minerva growled before she demanded. "Get my daughter in this office this instance, Mr. Lupin and then I want both of your arses here. Now Go!" Lupin yelped before calling out for Miss Potter. Severus pinched the bridge of his nose before Occlumencing, trying to calm his anger before Miss Potter saw it. When she flooed in, Severus quickly looked her over while sending a magic check. She was wearing her nightgown still with her dressing gown over it. She had a scratch on her left cheek and her hair had some twigs but besides that, she was fine.
"Harriet!" Minerva pulled her daughter into her arms before checking her for any wounds. As the two McGonagall women greet each other, Lupin flooed through with Black. Black transformed himself back into his human form before he glared at Severus. Then Black flinched back when he saw the raw, unadulterated fury in Severus' eyes. Calm yourself, Miss Potter is watching.
"Well, Harriet, interesting night?" Albus, read the fucking mood. Miss Potter rolled her eyes before responding,
"You could say that, Sir." Minerva glared that Lupin and Black before swiftly and calmly saying,
"Harriet, I want Severus to escort you back to our quarters. I need to have a talk with your uncles." Severus saw them bow their heads in shame as Miss Potter walked to him. He offered his arm to her and she toke it gracefully. Severus did this for two reasons. One, Miss Potter was still tense from the Death Eater free-for-all that night. And two, he took personal joy in making Black mad.
Black looked ready to protest but the stern and angry glare that Minerva sent him stopped any protest in its track. It was only after they had left Albus' office did Miss Potter speak.
"Why weren't you there?" She didn't say it in an offense way. No, she said it out of pure curiosity. He glanced down at Lily's daughter, unharmed for now but still in great danger. Little did she know that she was the reason why he wasn't there.
"My loyal to the Dark Lord diminished before his downfall. I hold very few connections with any of my past allies and the only ones that I truly cared for are either bribing the Minister or dead." She looked up at him, her emerald eyes absorbed his features. Her grip tightened on his arm, the branded arm. She glanced ahead, her eyes taking in the sunrise flooding the hall.
"I'm glad you're here." She whispered so softly that he stranded to hear. Severus didn't reply. They remained in silence until-
"What's going to happen this year at school?" She asked suddenly. Severus debated with himself about wither he should inform her of the Triward Tournament or not. Knowing her shit luck, she'll be dragged into the mess. Might as well tell her. Just because Minerva can't tell her doesn't mean I can't.
"The Ministry decided that this year would bring in the reveal of the Triward Tournament as a way to boast our economy. Of course, they could do that if they didn't tax us so bloody much." The last sentence was grumbled under his breathe.
"Boast our economy?"
"Indeed. The Triward Tournament is a three-way competition between Hogwarts, the French Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, and the Scandinavian Durmstrang Institute. In the past, it was a great attraction for tourism. Unfortunately, it also has a high death-rate. It was banned for that very reason."
"So instead of doing something to permanently fix the economy, they figure a temporary fix that evolves the possible death of children will work swimmingly. Pardon my French, Professor, but that is the crazy piece of shit I've ever heard." He couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him when he heard her blunt declaration. She continued on.
"And of course it's just a pure coincidence that I'm in school when a dead tournament is resurrected. Coincidence my arse." It's a shame that she's not a Slytherin.
"What are you going to do about it?" Severus asked her. She shrugged as they turned the corner to her quarters.
"Keep my head down and try and stay out of it. But know my luck, something's going to happen. I just know it." They arrived at door. She unwrapped her arm and placed her wand on the door to unlock it. She turned to face him, her head bowed slightly, long black waves framed her face. Miss Potter raised her eyes to meet his, eyes that held both innocence and adult maturity that only her abused home life could have cause. How his eyes looked when he was her age.
"Will you help me, Sir?" Her eyes implored him. He could only stare into the eyes of his lost love.
"Always."
Severus was not happy when he found out about the new DADA professor this year. Not, he was boiling mad. The last thing Severus needed was to have that bat shit crazy, retired Auror breathing down his neck. Mad-Eye Moody was call that for a reason. He was a paranoid, crazy and wanted death to every Death Eater still alive. And while Severus knew that many bought their way to get pardoned, Severus did not. He was Albus' fucking spy for God's sake. Does that matter to Moody? Hell no.
Miss Potter's training had surpassed his expectation and the timeline he had planned. The girl devoured through his Defense and Dueling books almost as quickly as he had when he was her age. He had long since taken off the safe guard whenever they dueled. He hit her with nearly everything the advanced Death Eaters, unfortunately like himself, would have hit her. Of course, he never used the Unforgivables on her and he prayed that would never have to. She dodged spells with the grace of a ballerina and threw them back with the skill of a sorceress. Miss Potter challenged him with every duel. Her duels were never straight forward and routine like most duelists. No, she approached each duel the same way he did. No duel was ever the same and while the use of the same spells may be used, the method at which they were thrown out varied. It was like a game of chess whenever they dueled. Needless to say, Severus enjoyed his duels with Miss Potter.
Not to mention they had also started training with knives and street fighting after school end. Severus knew that most wizards would declare defeat after they lost their wands, especially if they didn't know wandless magic. Thus Severus decided, after persuading Minerva, to teach Miss Potter the most basic weapon in assassination, knife wielding.
"Knives, Sir?" Her wide doe eyes stared at him as he began to throw knife after knife at the targets scattered around the old classroom. Thud. Thud. Thud. Finally, he turned to her. Severus couldn't tell if her face held wonder or fear as she absorbed the fact that he didn't miss the bullseyes with any of his targets.
"You will not be defense if you lose your wand. You, Miss Potter, will not stand idly as wizards take advantage of your predicament. You will move, run, dodge and kill whatever you have to in order to get out. Wizards and witches rely too heavily on their wands and are pathetic when it comes to hand to hand combat. Knife fighting, like sword fighting, had been popular among the wealthy. However, time has rendered them dumb on the art. You will use this to your advantage if it calls for it."
Her eyes hardened and she nodded. At times Severus worried if he was doing the right thing. At times he wanted to ship her as far away from this hellhole or to shield her away from all of the fighting that was yet to come. But even he knew that he couldn't protect her from everything. That didn't mean he wasn't going to teach her. Not by a long shot.
"Sir, are you ok?" Her light voice broke his concentration and he glanced at her. She stood before him, her dress scrapping the ground. While Severus would normally discourage any woman from learning dueling in a dress, Miss Potter used her innocent outfits to hide a plethora of knives under skirts and could silently and wandless transfigure her outfit into trousers if necessary. He rested his novel next to the table and rose from his chair.
Miss Potter had grown rapidly since the previous summer. Severus believed that her use of supplement potions and her rather large magical core may have accelerated her growth too much. She stood taller, probably now one of the tallest girls in her year. Her face had lost a lot of baby fat and her feature lean more towards that of a grown woman than a child. She held herself with more deadly grace and Severus knew that this year many young men would realize that behind her scar and glasses would be a growing beauty.
"Are you prepared for the arrival of the students?" Severus asked her and watched her close her eyes before saying,
"I can feel it, Professor. This year won't end well. I don't like it."
Had it been anyone else, Severus would have pushed aside the prediction with a huff. However, while Miss Potter was most certainly not a seer, her instincts held more variety than any crystal ball. If she worried about something, she had every right to be worried.
"He used the Unforgivables in CLASS!" Minerva shouted as she stormed into the staff room. Severus shot up from his seat, his tea nearly crashing to the ground. He knew exactly who she was talking about the moment she walked in. Sadly, no one less did.
"Who did?" Pomona asked with worry.
"Alastor! That's who!" Minerva ranted. "First he turns Mr. Malfoy into a ferret on the first day, and now he uses all three of those goddam curses on spiders in front of my Gryffindors! With Mr. Longbottom and Harriet in the bloody fucking classroom! Then that man has the gall to cast Imperio on the entire fucking class! That man's going to cause this entire school to be shut down!"
Silence filled the staff room from all the other professors as Filius, Pomona and himself stared at Minerva in disbelief. Mad-Eye couldn't have been that stupid, couldn't he? But to cause this much fury from Minerva only meant that it had to be true. God fucking dammit.
"That man is fucking lucky that Albus gave him permission to do so or else I would have called the Aurors myself, Albus be damned!" Minerva moved over to where the staff kept the emergency Fire Whisky. Hey, you trying teaching as many dunderheads as they did and not want a drink. Really, do try. Minerva took a swig before saying,
"Albus said that Alastor's no longer allowed to conduct class like at but I don't bloody trust it. If it wasn't for this bloody tournament, I would have put up more of a fuss." Minerva didn't trust the Durmstrang Headmaster as much as Severus did but she knew that if Moody stayed, Karakaroff wasn't going to try anything.
"What was Albus thinking?" Filius wondered.
"He said that after the incident at the World Cup that perhaps it would be best if the students knew what the Unforgivable Curses looked like before it was casted on themselves. I understand teaching the NEWTS and Sixth Years. Hell, even the Fifth Years because of their OWLS. But never would I allow it any lower! Especially without warning Harriet and Mr. Longbottom ahead of time!" Minerva took a finally swig before finishing,
"Mark my words, this year's not going to end well. I can feel it in me bones." Her Scottish brogue broke through as the statement sunk through the minds of her colleagues. Not even the end of the first month of school and hell had already broken loss. Great, just great.
October 30 was an awful day in Severus' opinion. The arrival of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang didn't help Severus' growing paranoia. Someone had been stealing from his stores and he didn't bloody know who was doing it. And the bastard was smart enough to take a little of everything so Severus couldn't fucking pin point what type of potion the fucker was going to brew. Miss Potter, while being a bright light of sanity in the craziness of Hogwarts, also held paranoia, perhaps even greater than he did. Halloween held horrid memories for the girl and Albus, with all of his genius, decided that Halloween would be a great day to reveal the champions for each school. Really, Albus, great idea. 1 point to Gryffindor.
"My, my, Viktor Krum is amongst the Durmstrang students." Aurora stated to the left of him as they watched from the staff table. The astronomy Professor and fellow Slytherin inspected the new additions to the Slytherin table. Severus was doing his best not to acknowledge Karakaroff, who looked scared by both Severus' and Mad-Eye's being at Hogwarts.
"What do you think, Severus? Shall there be fighting over who will be the school's champion."
"Don't ask question you already know the answer to." The woman laughed before smirking to him.
"Come now, Severus. Humor me. I rarely ever here when everyone else is." It's true. Aurora slept through most of the day due to her position. It was rare to ever see her, even at dinner.
"Fine. If it's a Pureblood, the Slytherins will only care about the house. Same for if it's a Halfblood. God help us if it's a Muggleborn." She nodded in agreement. While the relationship between Slytherin and all of the houses had improved drastically because of Miss Potter, it would still take time for some of the more radical Purebloods to accept a Muggleborn for the Hogwarts' champion.
After Beauxbatons sat at Ravenclaw, Albus stood and began to explain the rules and limitations for the Triward Tournament. He revealed the Goblet of Fire, which Severus had to admitted, it was a piece of art. Students, of the wizarding maturity age of 17, must drop their names into the Goblet, and the Goblet will choose the worthiest entrants to compete in three dangerous tasks. Albus had set an age line around the cup to prevent younger students from entering but Severus couldn't help but feel that it wouldn't hold.
"Now, the Hogwarts Champion is… Cedric Diggory!" It was Halloween and Albus had begun to announce the Champion. A piece of paper had shot out of the cup and into Albus' hand with the name on it. Hufflepuff erupted in cheers and shouts as Mr. Diggory rose and headed into the antechamber.
"The Beauxbatons Champion is… Fleur Delacour!" Hm, a veela, or at least a part veela rose amongst the see of light blue. The young woman rose and glided to where Mr. Diggory had enter.
"And finally, the Durmstrang Champion is… Viktor Krum!" The Quidditch star looked almost sad that he had been chosen. As if he didn't want the attention. How strange.
Then, Severus noticed something and his blood ran cold. The Goblet should of have gone off. The champions had been chosen. Unless- No! No!
The Goblet spattered out blue flames before spitting out another piece of paper. Minerva turned pale and mouthed a prayer under her breathe as Albus read the final paper.
"Harriet Potter."
Author's Note- Damn, Harriet, your luck sucks. As you guys could see, I interrogated French into this. I have been speaking French for the past 10-15 years. However, I'm not completely fluent in it so any native French speakers who are willing to help me, please do! Also, I have a big question for you guys. Do you think that I should change Harry Potter on the little tab thing that you would use when your filtering stuff to OC? You see, I received another comment say that because Harriet is a "Mary Sue," (which in my opinion, she's not) Harry Potter shouldn't be there. I think a good compromise would be to have both but I wanted your opinion. So please review or PM what you guys think! I love you guys so much! See you soon!
-V.I. Winthrop