Daphne felt much lighter as she left the two Gryffindors. It was the lightest she had felt in years in actuality. With a grin on her face, she moved down the empty corridor.
The grin on her face vanished at the sound of a voice.
"Evening Greengrass. Coming from anything special?" Draco's silky tones came at her from the darkness. Daphne tensed and went to draw her wand.
"Ah ah ahh, I wouldn't try that if I were you. So tell me just what you were doing with Potter and the mudblood."
"What makes you think I would do anything with those Gryffindors?" Daphne had her ice queen persona back on in full force.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Draco suddenly appeared before her face. In the darkness, his albino face seemed to glow. If it wasn't for the situation, it would have been almost amusing. Considering, however, that the blond ponce had managed to sneak up on her it left her feeling rather…disconcerted. "I know you were just chatting with the two. And I don't like it."
"It isn't really any of your business." Daphne sounded far more confident than she felt at that moment.
"Ah, but it is. You see, any Slytherin getting close to Potter is a problem. And problem Slytherin's are dealt with in a most…delicious manner." Here Draco reached up to sniff a piece of Daphne's hair. As he let it fall, he faded from her sight. Daphne was even more haunted when she heard his voice once more. "Remember that, Ms. Greengrass, or your time in Slytherin shall become much…less…pleasant."
Daphne stood stock still for a moment. She would never have imagined that Draco could manage any of that. It did not mean it disgusted her any less, but it did mean she would have to pay very careful attention to the situation.
VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX
Harry suddenly shot straight up in his seat, alerting Hermione to something.
"What's wrong Harry?"
"Shh." After a short pause where Hermione could hear nothing, including Harry's thoughts, she was starting to get impatient. Just as she prepared to let out a frustrated sigh, Harry spoke again. "Hmm, something was wrong."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not sure, but I could feel it. Fear, frustration, terror. Not my own emotions though, and not yours."
"That is…odd." Hermione responded. After a quick check of her watch, she grabbed Harry's hand. "We need to go or we will miss lunch!"
Harry let out a laugh as he followed his wife out of the room.
VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX
Draco let out a laugh as he watched Daphne cautiously make her way down the hall again. He was not in Slytherin for nothing. Sure, he typically confronted Potter in front of others, but his true power in Slytherin came from his cunning. He tossed the invisibility cloak back to Nott.
"Thank you. That will keep her thinking. Perhaps we can use her."
"Use her or USE her?" was Nott's calloused response. Draco snorted in impatience.
"Is that all you think about? If it comes to that, fine, but it would be far better to…let her convince herself that is necessary." Draco looked to those surrounding him. The confused looks on Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle's faces bothered him. The slightly manic look in Pansy's eyes reminded him of his aunt Bellatrix for some reason. That thought sent a shiver down Draco's spine.
"Now for our next step. Here is how we intimidate Potter!"
VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX
It was nearing the end of November and Harry was on his way to breakfast, having avoided people for long enough.
The first thing he noticed was the badges. They were the same as before. They all spoke of supporting Cedric. Harry's eye caught, however, when he saw Daphne wearing one. The blond had been very open to hanging out with him and Hermione at first, doing it whenever she could slip away. As of late, however, there seemed to be some problems and she was avoiding him.
Seeing her wear one of the badges hurt. Harry did not know why, but it did upset him. He tried to hide it, but as soon as their eyes met, the emotion must have shown because Daphne, Ice queen and all, began to tear up herself. Harry saw this and his heart went out to her, yet it hurt.
And it confused him.
Draco seemed to catch all of this and immediately pounced. Potter was out without his little mudblood, so this was the perfect opportunity. Especially after seeing his reaction to Greengrass.
"What do you think of our new badges, Potter? Thought they would work rather well to express the sentiments of the entire school. What do you think? Doesn't everyone look good in them?" Draco's voice cut into Harry's thoughts. In an instant, emotions left Harry's face. He had been concerned about Daphne, but the look in her eyes and the reaction from Draco confirmed it. Daphne did not want this. He offered her a barely visible grin before turning his attention to Draco.
"Indeed, they are lovely. Were you in first, or even perhaps second year, they would truly be masterpieces. Being a fourth year, they are really more of a disappointment." Here Harry paused to look over at Cedric who he noticed was not wearing one of the incriminating badges. "Not that I disagree Cedric, you are the real Hogwarts Champion." Once more Harry turned back to face Draco who seemed lost. "Oh, Draco, are you still here? Ah, still on about the badges I see. Well let me give you a hand with that. See, a much better piece of spell work would be one that revealed certain messages to certain people. For example." Here Harry cast a quick silent spell. The movement and silence drew everyone's attention that it took a moment for them to register the change to Draco's badge.
"Support Draco Malfoy, a real Wizard's Wizard."
"Potter!"
"Oh, don't worry. The professors will only see your message about Cedric. Of course if that isn't good enough, how is this."
Harry case once more, again drawing a gasp from the crowd as he cast silently. The room stared in anticipation, unsure of what would be coming next. When nothing changed, everyone, including Draco, looked on puzzled.
"Oh, I supposed I should explain. I just attached the button to your magical core. As such, it will follow you permanently, or at least until I break the connection. I also added a lovely little charm so that you cannot hide it beneath a cloak. That would happen to include an invisibility cloak. And I added a cute little message for your father so he can hear all about this."
The entire room looked on in shock at what Harry Potter, average fourth year student, was telling them he had magically managed to do with one of Draco's little toys. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, many of them began to attempt to discreetly remove their own. Draco merely gaped, his mouth moving like a fish's. Harry leaned in so only Draco could hear him while discreetly winking at Daphne, who in turn blushed.
"Draco, if you ever threaten someone I care about again, I will remove your magical core. Are we clear?"
Draco suddenly found his voice. "You couldn't do that Potter!" His shout suddenly brought the entire collection of students back into the dispute.
Suddenly Harry was grinning maliciously. "Oh indeed I could and I will!"
"The professors would stop you!"
"Like they are stopping me right now?"
All the students turned to see the professors chatting away at the head table, completely ignoring the situation. Draco turned back to look at the dangerous glint in Harry's eyes.
"How…"
"Don't push me Draco. I shall no longer be kept in check. Touch even one hair on the head of someone I care for," Harry gave a purposeful nod to Daphne and Draco immediately caught on, "And I will ensure you never set foot within a magical establishment again. I shall remove your magical core, not bind it. You will become a muggle, not merely a squib. Do we understand one another?"
The room leaned in tensely, awaiting Draco's response. The young Slytherin nodded, fully cowed in the situation.
Harry proceeded to smile. "Good." Then he suddenly seemed to notice everyone watching him. With a slight grimace he waved his hand, casting a massive obliviate. It would not do for everyone to remember his skill and ability. He would leave it tucked away to insight fear within Malfoy. The boy would recall the show of power whenever he even considered harming Daphne or Hermione.
Harry winked at Daphne as everyone else recovered. She would also remember what happened.
Harry brought down the ward he had cast as he entered and suddenly felt Hermione screaming in his head.
HARRY! WHAT DID YOU DO! I CAN'T GET INTO THE HALL!
Hermione, please calm down. I was dealing with some trash and discovered what has been going on with Daphne.
Oh…What has been going on?
Harry smiled as he sat at his seat and Hermione plopped down beside him. The two continued their mental conversation as they piled food onto their plates.
Well apparently Draco has been playing with her emotions, using, I must admit, some rather cunning tactics. I reminded both her and him who the more powerful is and why he should simply leave her be.
And how did that go?
Rather well, I do believe, but we shall have to see.
Hermione shook her head as she saw Harry's memories of the encounter.
"Only you, Harry Potter."
VXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVX
Harry approached the Champion's Tent. He had already known what the first task would be, but as of yet had not come across a better plan than his previous one. His working knowledge of magic allowed him to understand that Great Dragons could see reason and he could use his parseltongue to speak with them. Sadly, none of the dragons from the task were Great Dragons. Most spell work he knew was designed to kill the Dragons and as these were nesting mothers, Harry did not consider that a true option.
Of course if the Dragon threatened anyone he loved, the no death thing would go right out the window.
Still, trying to outfly a dragon seemed like a silly idea. There was the option of portkeys or summoning the egg, but anti-summoning wards were easy to arrange and the entire school did not allow portkeys. Harry considered transfiguration, spelled sleep, or flat out attacking the Dragon and all had major down sides. Wards would be easiest, but those took hours to set up even basic ones.
So the question became what would Harry do differently.
His thought process was interrupted by first a hug from Hermione as he entered the tent and then a bright flash from a bulb.
Harry groaned before seething in rage. He would not be having neither he nor Hermione going through that again. Faster than thought possible, Harry moved to the camera man, Bozo or some silly name like that, and took his camera. He silently cast a quick spell, damaging the thing from actually taking photos, before handing it back. He noticed Rita approaching and carefully cast a few more spells at her.
While he was still trying to figure it out, this silent, wandless casting he suddenly had was truly working wonders for him.
The spells Harry cast at Rita would cause her to hear people plotting her demise in the background of any conversation, just loud enough to distract her. He also cast a spell, breaking the enchantment on her quick quotes quills, ensuring that Rita did not truly get enough to work with. He then turned to face her sickly sweet smile.
"Hello Ms. Skeeter, how can I help you today?"
Instantly Harry knew the spell had taken. Rita started looking around frantically before turning back to face Harry. She smiled once more, trying to focus as she pulled a quill from her bag. When it failed to react, she pulled another. After the fifth, she gave up and pulled forth a regular quill, preparing to take notes herself.
"Yes Mr. Potter, would you care to comment on today's task?"
"Nope."
Rita once more looked distracted. She shook her head and focused on him again.
"I see. Are you sure? Our audience is looking forward to learning more about the Boy Who Lived!"
"Well then you should find this mythical boy everyone seems to write about. As for me, I am Harry Potter. Thank you."
Without another word, Harry turned his back on the reporter. Hermione, who had stepped back as the older witch approached, snickered as she snuck out of the tent.
Rita looked ready to respond angrily, her face growing red.
However she would have responded was cut off with the entrance of the judges.
"Welcome Champions! Now for the first task!" Ludo Bagman shouted, drawing the attention of the other inhabitants of the tent. They had all been focused on Harry's reactions to Rita and for the moment, seemed…satisfied with it.
Harry heard the roar of a dragon as they four champions approached the judges.
Here we go, he thought.