Disclaimer: view Chapter 01 for that one
Author's Notes: Hello everyone. First I have to say, I am terribly sorry for the lack of updates. RL got in the way again and I simply lacked the energy to do any writing in this fic. Thousands of other plots and ideas have assaulted me instead when my time allowed it. In the meantime I lost my job and finally found a new one but that isn't safe or a definite long term one yet either. Whatever time may be between my updates ... I will continue this fic until the end of my book seven. I hope you enjoy this nonetheless ˆ-ˆ.
On another note, someone one remarkd that I'm starting to be a little one-sided with the teens relationships. They asked to see more of HarryxHermione. I have tried but somehow couldn't really fit it in. I'll try and write take-outs and post them seperately so that everyone can be satisfied. It seems my muses want to focus on CaryaxTom instead.
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˜...˜ Parseltongue
/.../ Telepathy between Harry & Carya (in italics)
' ... ' thoughts
˜°˜°˜ ... ˜°˜°˜ Flashback or changing POV
Chapter 07 - Defence and Weighing the Wands or Neville and Champions
Minerva McGonagall was actually pleased when all her students were on time that day although she had noticed Tom's absence from the meals, she didn't know where he was and therefore asked his closest friends about it.
"Where is Mister Riddle?" McGonagall wanted to know.
"The infirmary, Professor McGonagall," Carya answered, grimacing slightly when a sharp pain shot through her left leg.
The Transfigurations teacher gave her an odd look before accepting the answer and going on with the lesson. They were trying to turn hedgehogs into pincushions and only a few of them really succeeded at that.
These few were the twins, Ginny and Draco but surprisingly the always frightened Neville Longbottom. McGonagall was short in front of accusing him of cheating when she saw that he didn't shiver while she regarded him suspiciously.
Something had certainly changed about the Gryffindor fourth year but what it was no one could tell. She asked him to perform the spell again and he managed it although his telling the professor that he could do it still seemed a bit unsure.
No one caught the glance one of the Slytherins shot towards Neville or Neville watching the Slytherins out of the corner of his eyes. McGonagall did notice though. Something odd was going on here and she was adamant to find out what exactly happened here.
Tom was released later that afternoon and joined his friends in their secret place without being seen. Dumbledore was getting more and more curious as to where the six friends disappeared to. He thought about the 'Chamber of Secrets' at first since three of them knew how to get in but dismissed that thought quickly.
There were too many painful memories connected to the chamber for the friends. He knew that the Potions Master was not exactly nice to these six since Tom had joined their group and he kind of understood that but he would have to talk to his former student about that.
'He has to stop thinking of Tom as if he was what Voldemort is now. The boy is different and that's a good thing too. I wished Severus could see that. Even Minerva is not that hard on him,' Dumbledore thought.
The twins were currently writing their letter to their guardians while the others read something or talked. As soon as Harry and Carya finished writing they called for their ravens and sent the message.
On their way back to their dorms they consulted the Marauder's Map to avoid being caught. But there was something that surprised them quite a bit. Near the headmasters office was an ink dot labelled Bartemius Crouch.
"What's Crouch doing here at this hour? I thought he'd been very busy with the preparations for the Tournament," said Draco deep in thought.
"You're right. The paper's wrote that there was still one hell of a load to arrange to guarantee the visitor's safety or something like that," Ginny threw in.
Carya thought about that as well and stored away that information. She hadn't read the paper while Tom had been ill. Hidden under the three invisibility cloaks the couples safely reached their destinations and went straight to bed.
They knew Snape would probably have a nasty surprise for those he despised in Double Potions the next morning. Because of that knowledge they wanted to be as rested as possible. Draco was very sad though.
He really wished he could tell his godfather about everything but that wasn't an option. The man would just tell Lucius or punish him for changing sides himself. Once again Draco wondered what his godfather might think or do if he found out about his relation to the Potter twins.
It certainly would be a shock for him since he hadn't exactly liked James Potter at all and this extended to his children as well. And what about Draco being a cousin to Harry and Carya? The 'Slytherin Six' had a sense of foreboding before they went to classes the next day.
They would find out that their assumption had been right. Potions was nasty and surprisingly they still managed to finish their assignments successfully and in time. Snape wasn't pleased at all. He just sneered at them and said that the potions were sufficient.
Carya was pretty angry then. She knew their potions were near to perfect and Snape knew that too. They were those who had gotten it right while everyone else had botched their brews. Surprisingly Neville had only ruined the potion on the last few steps but hadn't blown up his cauldron.
Severus didn't seem to notice that but Ginny did. She sometimes felt a very 'non-Slytherin' emotion for the boy. Pity and concern. Neville had always been the clumsy and shy Gryffindor. Every teacher seemed to think that he couldn't get anything right but he showed that he was pretty skilled in performing magic now.
Why didn't he show that before? The redhead told her friends about her observations after classes were over. They too thought that it was very odd. The other boy seemed to have grown a kind of backbone and quite a bit of self-confidence as well.
That was really interesting especially if you regarded his history. Although no one had told the students, the 'Slytherin Six' knew what had happened to Neville's parents through the many books on Dark Arts and Defence against the Dark Arts which Carya and Harry owned.
Something or someone had changed the boy since the beginning of the year and they were definitely going to find out. The following days passed uneventfully. Snape was still a bastard and Neville got better at magic everyday.
No one really seemed to notice since his progress was very small but Carya kept up with him by writing his successful attempts at everything down. What she couldn't see herself was found out by questioning a few Hufflepuffs who had Defence, Charms and History of Magic with the Gryffindor lions.
Sirius and Remus had instantly reacted to their letter and surprised their godchildren with telling them that they'd not tell anyone. Although this was only guaranteed by the two Marauder's if the twins agreed to tell their guardians everything related to Voldemort from their dreams.
And agree they did. Their response was on it's way five minutes after they'd finished reading the letter. On the 25th Dumbledore announced the arrival of their guests from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons.
The students were told that they would be at Hogwarts sometime in the afternoon on October 30th. That very evening Hermione was once again sitting with Harry and the other four while Terence Higgs was sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Cat Williams.
Dumbledore smiled at that. He was proud of his two 'inter-house couples', they had actually overcome the differences between their houses. Although there never had been much animosity between Slytherin and Ravenclaw, they had rather chosen to ignore each other.
The more crucial problems were the Gryffindor-Slytherin relations. He had hoped by placing them in the same classes he would get them to be civil to each other but that had failed. Dumbledore also told them that they weren't accepting other permission forms from now on.
So far seven fifth years from all four houses had received their parents permission. And there were even more students from fourth year who were allowed to participate should they wish to do so.
Their names were Draco Malfoy, Carya and Harry Potter from Slytherin; Terry Boot, Dominic Jackson and Padma Patil from Ravenclaw; Justin Finch-Fletchley and Wayne Hopkins from Hufflepuff; Lavender Brown, Millicent Bulstrode, Parvati Patil and Seamus Finnigan from Gryffindor.
All in all twelve fourth year students had the chance at entering the Tournament. The next four days the students were preparing the school and their magical skills for the arrival of their guests.
Everything had to be perfect and McGonagall reprimanded all those who didn't meet her expectations. Two days later a note hung in the entrance Hall:
Triwizard Tournament
The Delegations From Beauxbatons And
Durmstrang Will Be Arriving At 6 O'clock
On Sunday The 30th Of October. You Are Required
To Be Outside Half An Hour Early --
Students Will Return Their Bags, Books And Stuff
To Their Dormitories And Assemble In Front
Of The Castle To Greet Our Guests Before
The Welcoming Feast.
On the 30th it was finally time. Thankfully it was a Sunday. That meant there were no classes and they took the day to get everything ready. Their guests were expected around dinnertime given or taken an hour.
At half past five the students gathered outside and lined up to greet the visitors when they arrived. For once everyone, even the Slytherin's, wore their proper school uniform. It was a well known fact that the snakes weren't usually wearing it at all.
Only the robe in a few cases and some even the rest but they were the minority. At six p.m. it happened. While the students watched for anything unusual a third year Hufflepuff exclaimed,
"Look, there, above the forest!"
There over the forbidden forest flew a really enormous black shape. At first they couldn't make out what it was but the it became clear that this was a gigantic carriage that was pulled by even larger horses.
It landed in front of the Hogwarts students. Out of it stepped a really tall and massive woman who was greeted warmly by the headmaster. Behind her came about three dozen students. They were all clad in light blue coloured robes.
It was obvious that the robes were of an expensive material by the way it flowed but the pupils were shivering. The clothes were thin and they didn't wear cloaks either. The woman who was clad in black introduced her students to Dumbledore.
They were still waiting for the Durmstrang's though. A few moments later a strange sound could be heard. It soon turned out to come from a gigantic boat that came across the lake. It halted at the shore and what seemed to be their headmaster stalked down the planks.
After him came the group of students. They seemed quite massive at first but that only came from the thick cloaks they were wearing. Dumbledore greeted the other man and the three heads of the schools started going inside.
The other two headmasters were called Igor Karkaroff and Olympe Maxime. Their students followed them and after them went the Hogwarts students. The children sat down at the house-tables and the teachers at the high-table.
The Beauxbatons chose to sit with the Ravenclaws and the Durmstrang's sat with Slytherin. The Gryffindor's were pissed because of that. Slytherin always got the better of them nowadays. Even with Snape harassing the infamous 'Slytherin Six' they still lost more points than ever.
One of the Durmstrang students turned out to be Viktor Krum. Ron was extremely jealous now. Not only had those blasted snakes gotten to know the Irish team, no now they even met the star seeker of Bulgaria personally.
Draco, Harry and Viktor quickly launched into a conversation about Quidditch while Carya, Tom and Ginny talked about the Tournament in general. Cat and Hermione were currently being interviewed by a beautiful girl whose name was Fleur Delacour.
Hermione suspected that she was at least part-veela by the way she looked and how the boys fawned over her. Most students were surprised to discover that Durmstrang's uniform included blood-red robes.
Dinner was progressing nicely and soon Dumbledore stood and made a few announcements concerning the Tournament. He explained about how the Champions were chosen and what they'd done to prevent younger ones from entering if they didn't have permission.
Only those who could add a permission slip that was signed by their guardians and all four heads of houses as well as the headmaster could participate. Without that piece of parchment they couldn't get past the age line Dumbledore had drawn around the Goblet of Fire that now stood in the Entrance Hall.
And the parchment was keyed to the person who had the permission. No one else could use it to enter the Tournament. The students had time until four in the afternoon the next day to put in their names.
The Hogwarts students of course would have classes the next day since it was Monday but they would get the chance to try out for Champion throughout lunch and in-between classes. Carya had already decided that she'd rather not participate while Harry was sure that he would enter his name that night.
Draco wouldn't do it either. He wanted to spend more time with Ginny now and the Tournament would keep him very busy. Tom knew he could try too since the headmaster had given his permission but he had no desire to do so.
Helping Harry would have to be enough if the boy got chosen. After dinner the guests retreated to their ship and carriage for the night. The 'Slytherin Six' went to their secret rooms to talk a bit before going to bed.
When they finally returned they nearly ran into Snape who was looking for them. They were sure he had spelled the portrait so they went with Hermione and used one of the Secret passages that connected the Common Rooms to each other.
It wasn't that dangerous though because you could only leave the passage into a common room if you either belonged to the house of your destination or were invited by a member of said house.
(A/N: I think I got this idea from another story but can't remember where. Anyone care to help me so I can give credit?)
The kids woke up early the next morning and Harry entered his name without being seen by anyone. They heard about Dennis and Colin Creevey who had tried to fool the spell with an ageing potion. They got really nice beards and had to go to the infirmary to get them removed.
Lee Jordan had taken a picture though and Ginny had persuaded him to give her one. It looked hilarious. Both boys had long beards like Dumbledore's but theirs were brown like their hair. When Ginny grinned evilly at the two brothers once they entered the Great Hall they knew that Lee had given her proof of their little problem.
Fred and George had entered their names too although Molly forbade it but they were sixteen and therefore allowed to participate. The twins wanted the prize to get some money for their prank shop.
Soon the day was over and it was time for the announcement of the six Champions. Mr Crouch and Mister Bagman were there too. They'd be watching the ceremony and be judging the participants skills and success along with the three headmasters.
Dumbledore once again told them about the Tournament and pointed out that there were three tasks to fulfil. The Champions would have to put in all there knowledge, their strength, their wits and everything be it magical or non-magical abilities.
He then asked Mister Filch to bring in the Goblet. It was time to announce the Champions for all three schools. The Triwizard Tournament was about to begin. Soon they'd know who represented the schools and would fight for the Cup.
Dumbledore stepped next to the Goblet and waited patiently until the fire turned red and spit out a parchment. Once Albus took the parchment the fire returned to it's previous colour - to bluish white flames.
The Hogwarts headmaster read the first two names.
"The Champions for 'Durmstrang Academy of Magic' will be Vladimir Kravec and Viktor Krum!" he announced and the hall erupted into cheers for the first time.
Whispers broke out between the students and the children looked at the first two Champions curiously. They turned their attention back to Dumbledore when the flames went red once again,
"The Champions for 'Beauxbatons Institute of Magical Education' are Armand Solet and Fleur Delacour!" Albus stated rather loud but calm and firmly.
Another wave of cheers flowed through the Great Hall. The students were really excited now. Who would represent Hogwarts? No one really knew who had entered his or her names. The Hufflepuffs hoped for Cedric Diggory and the Ravenclaws didn't really care though they'd be happy if one of their housemates made it.
The Gryffindors fervently hoped that one of them would be Champion and they were really afraid that a Slytherin could get this honour. Soon enough the Goblet's flames turned red again and a third parchment fluttered out.
"And finally, the Champions for 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry' are Cedric Diggory and ... Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said.
For a second everyone was stunned. Harry was the only underage Champion and he was a Slytherin. Even though many had suspected that he had entered his name no one had seen this coming.
"Would the Champions please follow us towards the Chamber adjourning the Great Hall?" the Hogwarts headmaster asked and the six teens, the three headmasters, Mister Bagman and Mister Crouch left together.
Snape was oddly pleased by this. Although he had been really nasty to the Potter twins and their friends he knew that Harry had a fair chance even though he was at least two years younger than his opponents.
He too had no doubt that the 'Slytherin Six' would stick together through this and help Harry with their knowledge. He had wondered about that nickname for the group but he come to the conclusion that it was fitting. Even if one of the six was a Ravenclaw.
What had him surprised was the title Carya had gained among his house. Why would they call her the 'Dark Princess of Slytherin'? He had absolutely no idea. Sure the girl was a Parselmouth and knew quite some hexes but that was all, wasn't it.
Of course she had a fiery temper and was almost as reckless as a Gryffindor sometimes, but still? For Snape it was an unsolved puzzle, a true mystery. He vowed that he'd find out though. What he hadn't remembered was the incident in 'Knockturn Alley' when he'd run into Gemini and Devius.
Those two had been Carya and Draco. Had he remembered right then he would know how this title was justified. Carya watched as her twin followed the other Champions towards the antechamber and vanished behind a door.
When she furrowed her brows in concern Tom grasped her hand under the table. He smiled reassuringly at her. She knew Harry had wanted to participate but the weird feeling down in her stomach had gotten worse since the guests had arrived the day before.
She couldn't help it, something was going to happen and it wasn't necessarily something good.
˜°˜°˜ The Antechamber ˜°˜°˜
Crouch, Bagman, Dumbledore, Karkaroff and Madam Maxime were in the small room together with the six chosen ones. Crouch didn't waste any time for formalities and immediately started explaining what they had to know.
"You are the chosen Champions for your schools. I'm sure you have heard about the rules. You have entered a binding magical contract by putting your names into the Goblet of Fire and will have to compete in the Tournament no matter what. As you have heard there will be three tasks.
The first will take place on Thursday, November 24th. This task will test your nerve, your daring and your inventiveness. You will have to face an unknown task and you will only have your wand and your courage for your aid.
The Champions are not supposed to receive any help from their teachers before or during the task in order to complete it. You will receive information on the second task once the first one has been completed.
Due to the strenuous time the Champions will surely have to endure over the course of the Tournament they are exempted from the end-of-year exams. I believe that was all for now, wasn't it Albus?" Crouch explained.
When Dumbledore nodded the man hastily added, "Well, I must be going now. Much to do, goodbye!"
Crouch left them and the students looked at their teachers expectantly. Fleur began talking to her headmistress in French. Viktor followed his headmaster outside. They probably went back to their ship. Harry and Cedric looked at Dumbledore though.
"Well, I suggest you two head off to bed now, Harry, Cedric, goodnight boys," Albus said and ushered them out.
"So we're playing against each other once again, eh Diggory?" Harry said grinning slightly.
"Seems so. How come you are participating? I've heard that Pettigrew fled from Azkaban and yet you don't seem bothered at all," Cedric replied.
"That rat will get what he deserves, Cedric. Sooner or later someone will catch him. And he better wishes it's not me, my sister or our guardians. He won't live to see the next day if we find him first!" Harry said coolly and left a stunned Hufflepuff in the hallway.
'I almost forgot that Harry Potter is a Slytherin. That was scary. He was emanating power just now like other people are sweating. I only hope that being two years his senior will be enough to beat him at this," Cedric mused slightly worried and walked towards the Hufflepuff dormitories.
˜°˜°˜ The Founder's Chambers ˜°˜°˜
/Harry, we're waiting for you in our secret place! Hurry up, we don't want to take the risk of being caught tonight,/ Carya sent her brother and he replied.
/Yeah, I'm already on my way. Is Hermione there too? I'll tell you about the Tournament when I get there, okay?/ he said.
/Hermione's here and she's looking strangely at me right now. I think she knows that we are talking,/ answered Carya and Harry could hear her giggling mentally.
When Harry arrived he was immediately assaulted. His girlfriend hugged him and Draco as well as Ginny bombarded him with questions. Carya waited for her brother to explain and Tom sat next to her, one arm around her shoulders.
"Would you please stop assaulting me with questions? I'll explain if you let me! Hermione, can we move this to the couch? This is getting uncomfortable by standing all the time," Harry finally said.
Once he was finished talking they stared at him. Each of them trying to comprehend the given information. All six were quiet until Carya broke the silence.
"You know that we are going to help you, right, dear brother?" she asked with an evil smirk on her face.
"We can't Carya, didn't you hear what Harry said, no one is supposed to help the Champions!" exclaimed Hermione.
Carya sighed exasperated, "Geez, Hermione, are you a Ravenclaw or not. Harry told us that 'the Champions aren't supposed to get any help from the teachers to complete the tasks'. That was what he said, wasn't it?
Are we teachers? I don't think so. We are students, his friends and even more his family. We are actually allowed to help!" she told them and they understood what she meant.
"Holy Slytherin, you're right Carya. I hadn't noticed that. Does anything escape your attention at all?" Ginny remarked half joking half serious.
"Yep, everything related to History of Magic when Binns is in the same room! I just fall asleep within seconds. Without Tom and Hermione I'd be lost when doing History homework," the Potter girl replied grinning broadly.
At this everyone laughed. The twins were excellent students. They were at the top of almost all their classes together with their friends but History was one of the subjects where they didn't even try to be the best until it was time for the exams.
Not that this meant they weren't good at it either. They simply didn't try. Their friends had to agree that Binns was extremely boring. They were convinced that the ghost could get anyone to sleep with his monotonous voice.
Around eleven that night the children walked back to their dorms and were lucky enough not to be caught. They parted with Hermione at the Ravenclaw Common Room entrance and continued down to the Slytherin dungeon.
To be absolutely sure Carya threw a glance at the Marauder's Map. There in the astronomy tower was an ink dot labelled Crouch.
/What the hell is Crouch doing up there?/ she thought.
Harry heard and asked/What about Crouch, Carya?/
/He's here, at Hogwarts, in the Astronomy tower. Didn't you say he left for work after his little speech?/ the girl replied.
/I said that yes. Perhaps Dumbledore convinced him to stay the night. I have no other explanation though,/ Harry answered and they reached their Common Room.
It was empty and Snape was nowhere to be seen. The five fourth years walked to their dorms and fell asleep immediately once they'd crawled into their beds.
The next morning the twins woke up very early. Since it was only five thirty they decided to go for a walk around the lake and watch the sunrise. They took some parchment and a pen with them to write their guardians about Harry being Champion and everything.
When they went back inside breakfast had already started and the two Potter's spotted their friends at the Slytherin table. Hermione was chatting with Ginny and Draco while Tom was staring darkly at no one in particular. They walked over and sat down.
"Where were you?" hissed Tom quietly and Carya looked at him in shock.
'What was that about? Since when do I have to tell everyone where I'm going. Who does he think he is, I really should ... wait, he was ... he said he'd protect me ... Tom was worried?' Carya thought and frowned slightly.
Tom just glared at her and Dumbledore exchanged worried glances with Minerva McGonagall. This was a facial expression they knew all too well with one Tom Riddle. They just hoped that he wouldn't explode in anger.
"I will talk to you after breakfast, Tom. I'm hungry!" Carya said and looked him straight into the eyes.
He frowned but nodded slightly. Harry was concerned about the boys behaviour. It wasn't Carya's fault that they'd woken up early. What did Tom think? That Carya belonged to him like a piece of clothing?
After finishing Carya grabbed Tom's arm and dragged him outside. The look she'd given her twin told her friends to stay away from their discussion. The two kids stopped just out of hearing range.
"Where did you go this morning? Why didn't you tell me. What the hell did you think leaving me like that?" Tom was furious he couldn't restrain himself from saying that and only realised what exactly he said when Carya looked hurt for a split second.
"I'm sorry, I ..." he started but Carya was angry now too.
"What I was thinking? How dare you. You don't own me. You are my friend but I belong to myself only, understood? You remember telling me you wouldn't want to be like Voldemort, right? Well you're just doing the same he does.
Thinking of a person as a possession is what you are doing with me right now. No thank you!" she growled and stalked off despite her vow to stay calm and explain.
Tom was angry too but now he was also lost. To him it almost seemed that Carya didn't want him as a friend anymore. What now? Where could he go. He had only stayed at Hogwarts because of the dark haired Slytherin girl who had told him no too long ago that she loved him.
'Was that a lie? No, Carya doesn't lie. Slytherin's don't lie, at least not to friends. They merely tell half truths or twist it to fit into their purposes. I wonder what went wrong. Why did she leave me? Why didn't she tell me were she was going?' Tom thought miserably and went inside for class.
The first class was a double lesson - History of Magic. Carya sat in front leaving all her friends in the back and furiously took notes. Harry glanced at her back and at Tom every so often. They both seemed pretty angry and sad although they'd talked before class.
Hermione, Draco and Ginny were just worried that something bad had happened between the two of them. The biggest problem was that Carya as well as Tom had a pretty mean temper sometimes and both could be quite stubborn. They fervently hoped that they could work everything out.
It didn't get any better while they had class though. Arithmancy and Theory of Magic passed just the same way. Carya and Tom ignored each other and when their gazes met they just glared. The other four met in the Founder's Chambers after the last lesson was over.
Carya had gone to the Survival classroom to train with her sword while Tom had headed towards the library.
"This isn't good. They can't ignore each other. We all know that they need the other but they obviously don't know it. They can both be so pig-headed sometimes," said Hermione.
"Only half right Hermione. Tom treated Carya like some possession this morning. You know she loves being independent. If he tries to take that away from her he'll loose her," Harry sighed.
"Oh Harry but what can we do about it? It's not like we can make them talk it out. They are both so stubborn ...," Hermione said in concern.
Carya was fighting a magical dummy until she was too exhausted to stand anymore. Unable to get up she thought about her fight with Tom.
'What did he think by treating me like that. He should really know better, he ... he almost looked hurt when I told him that I wasn't anyone's possession. Did he really think I would only be there for him or was it just a misunderstanding on both our parts?' she thought and found no answer.
Snape found out about the fight when he had Potions with the Slytherin and Gryffindor fourth years the next morning. Halfway through the lesson Harry was called to the headmasters office. Harry had worked with Tom and the boy was now alone.
Only then Snape noticed that Tom hadn't been with Carya that day. The Potter girl was quietly brewing her potion in the back of the room and was scowling the whole time. Something odd was going on there and he would be damned if he didn't find out.
'I have always known that Riddle would bring nothing but trouble. It seems as if Potter has finally understood his true nature,' Severus thought with a mental sneer not knowing what really was going on between the two Slytherins.
After Potions they had Defence and Carya was still a little pissed about Tom. Moody tested their shield charms that day. When it was Carya's turn she put all her fury and confusion about the fight with her boyfriend into her shield. Moody couldn't even get one curse past it.
Tom's on the other hand broke apart quickly which surprised Carya. He had taught her this spell after all and was normally better than that. Something was wrong with him. He wasn't angry anymore. He seemed ... broken, depressed even.
Both children skipped Astronomy class that Wednesday night. Carya was back at the Survival room beating the crap out of their training dummy's while Tom was back in the library. Harry's day hadn't been that good either.
When he had arrived at the room he was supposed to go to the first person he saw was Rita Skeeter. How he despised the woman for writing so much crap. Fortunately Dumbledore was there too.
He explained that they would be 'weighing the wands' today to make sure they wouldn't fail during the first task since they were the Champion's only aid. Harry cast a curious glance at Mister Ollivander who would be testing their wands.
Vladimir Kravec and Armand Solet went first. Harry didn't exactly listen to them right now. He was busy glaring daggers at Skeeter who had repeatedly tried to get him for an interview. Then it was Viktor Krum's turn.
Ollivander talked about another wandmaker and muttered a charm. Many small birds erupted from Viktor's wand. His was made of a very thick piece of wood. Hornbeam and dragon heartstring at a length of ten and a quarter inches.
Fleur went after him. When Ollivander gasped everyone turned towards him. Fleur had a very strange wand because it's core was a single hair of a female veela. The wand was made of rosewood and was nine and a half inches long. Now only the Hogwarts Champion's were left.
Ollivander gave them one of his creepy smiles and examined Cedric's wand. It had been made by Ollivander himself, just like Harry's. The wood was ash and the wand was twelve and a quarter inches long. The core was a tail-hair from a male unicorn.
Now only Harry was left. Ollivander looked at him closely before noticing Harry's badge. His eyes widened slightly just like they had done with Carya but he concealed his surprise quickly. The headmaster noticed though. Harry felt a bit unsure.
The other's wands had been all shiny and looked brand new but his looked definitely used. What the young students didn't know was that even a wand that looked used could be in a better condition than one that looked almost new. Ollivander smiled when he tried a spell with Harry's wand.
Harry was complimented on the perfect condition his wand was still in and that got them many raised eyebrows. The Potter boy was just glad that the wandmaker didn't mention his wand's curious history and relation to a certain other wand.
After the weighing Skeeter and her photographer tried to get a few group pictures. Harry had already made it clear that he wouldn't be available for a personal interview. Dumbledore stepped beside Ollivander and whispered something to his friend.
"Surprising that they have been sorted into Slytherin, isn't it? Quite a shock it was at first but I have to admit they fit in there quite well. I do believe though that they are even more dedicated to the light than even the Gryffindor's, especially young Harry here," Albus told Ollivander with a smile and left a confused wandmaker behind.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
R&R,
Carya
2008-02-02