Chapter 41- Conversations & Confrontations.

As soon as Harry had finished protesting his election as a Champion, Albus Dumbledore showed off some of his power, a subtly cast spell making the air around him buzz with static electricity before its power was absorbed by the wards.

"Harry Potter! Come up here and through the door."

"Sir," he replied, "I did not enter the Tournament."

"Nevertheless, Harry, through the door and we will sort this all out."

Seeing Professors McGonagall and Sprout nodding at him, and uncomfortably aware of all the eyes on him, Harry got up and nodded. He walked silently through the gap between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables, following in Fleur Delacour's footsteps.

Harry opened the door to the antechamber, slipping into the smaller room lined with paintings. A handsome fire was roaring in the fireplace opposite the entrance and Harry moved away from the doorway, putting his back to a wall with his instincts telling him to be wary.

The three Champions were grouped around the fire, Krum slouching brooding and surly, Cedric standing tall and a little dazed, and Fleur proud and a touch haughty, when she noticed he had already entered.

"What is it? Do zey want us back in ze hall?"

Harry was still fighting off his anger at yet another life-threatening situation at a school for children, not soldiers, and ignored her. He knew if he opened his mouth that there was a big risk he would hurt her with his words and she wasn't his target.

The scurrying of feet took attention away from him as Ludo Bagman entered the room. He came up to take Harry by the arm but thought better of it seeing the tension in him. "Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary. Gentleman... Lady," he added, making Harry a little angrier at the snub, "may I introduce - incredible though it may seem - the fourth Triwizard Champion!"

Harry growled almost inaudibly, his Killer Intent spiking briefly and satisfyingly as he saw Bagman pale, then took a calming breath.

Amid the noise coming from the Great Hall of McGonagall, Snape and Flitwick trying to keep some order among the excited students, Crouch, the three Headmasters and Professor Sprout quickly ducked into the Chamber. Professor McGonagall's Scottish accent was clearly audible as she ordered the students to quiet down and wait for the 'irregularities' to be resolved. Sprout closed the door, cutting off the noise from outside. Harry became still except for his eyes, watching their every move and facial expression.

Fleur spoke up "Madam Maxime, zey are saying zat zere will be a fourth Champion?! Zees ees absurd, no? And 'e does not look pleased to be 'ere!"

Harry paused a moment, briefly inclining his head to Fleur, acknowledging the truth of that, before glaring again at the assembled adults. He made an exception for Sprout who moved to a position behind Cedric and Harry, clearly indicating where her loyalties would lie in the coming confrontation.

Harry noticed both Maxime and Karkaroff were unamused by his inclusion, and Harry quickly narrowed his glare to Dumbledore, Crouch and Bagman.

Karkaroff asked "Is Hogwarts allowed two Champions? I did not see that the host school gets two listed anywhere in the rules."

Harry stepped forward. He most certainly did not intend to compete, and that had not changed. Harry was coldly furious. "Headmaster Dumbledore, did you put in any protection against someone putting someone else's name into your benighted Goblet?"

Madame Maxime scoffed at Harry "Surely you would not turn down the fame from becoming the Triwizard Champion?"

Harry asked her "Do you know who I am?!"

"Of course, you are 'Arry Potter, the Boy Who Lived."

"Then I've got the fame."

"But what about ze money? It is a lot for a student, n'est-ce pas?"

Harry glared at her. "Not that it is any of your business, but I have no need for the money. I own the Lily Potter Foundation, Madame Maxime. Not even eighteen months after its foundation, the business already is the largest in Wizarding Britain. So to answer your question, yes, for most students, it is a lot of money. However, the money is not worth risking my life.

"I fail to understand why you seem to be pressing me to compete, Headmistress Maxime. It would seem to me that you would be better off allowing your Champion to compete against only two wizards, not three."

Karkaroff relaxed slightly, and added his glare to Harry's at the adults.

"Besides, I was hoping for a normal and safe year of schooling for once at Hogwarts."

"Now, Harry –"

"That's Mr Potter, Headmaster Dumbledore."

"Now, Mr Potter, Hogwarts is the safest place in Britain!"

Harry scoffed at that. "Then can you explain to me why I was attacked by a full-grown Mountain Troll in Hogwarts in my first two months?"

Mr Bagman stepped in, "Now, gentlemen, surely we can resolve this under the Tournament rules."

Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Mr Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half-darkness making him look much older, giving him an al most skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.

"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that those people whose names come out of the Goblet of Fire are bound to compete in the tournament."

"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front." Bagman turned back and beamed at Karkaroff and Madame Maxime, as though the matter was now closed.

Harry, however, was not so easily satisfied, since it was his life on the line, not theirs. "Then can we declare this tournament over, and have the three Champions go ahead and enter their names again? Or –"

"But the Goblet doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out – it won't reignite until the start of the next tournament in 5 years' time-"

"In which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing! I have half a mind to leave now!"

"Empty threat, Karkaroff, and you know it." A voice growled out from near the door. "You can't remove your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"

Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was a loud clunk.

"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."

Harry could tell he was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.

"Don't you?" said Moody quietly. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Someone put Potter's name in that goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it came out."

"Evidently, someone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Madame Maxime.

"I quite agree, Madame Maxime," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards —"

"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "but … funny thing … I don't hear him saying a word. …"

Harry griped under his breath about deaf wizards. "I certainly am complaining! I did not enter my name in this damned competition. What would happen if I withdrew anyway, given that fact?"

With everyone's eyes on him, Crouch spoke up here. "You would still likely lose your magic, and life, when the Goblet acted to punish the person standing in violation of the contract. It would also punish you if you don't make a serious effort to win."

"Even though I did not do this, you mean?" At Crouch's short nod, Harry's temper rose further. "Whose stupid idea was it to use a deadly artefact for a sports competition? What about if I simply destroy the Goblet, would that free us from its prison?"

"No, it would not; its connection to each of you is now sustaining you. The destruction of the Goblet would rip away the magic of all the Champions…"

Harry shrugged and muttered "That's not so bad. Plenty of people live without magic." 'And plenty of better schools around than Hogwarts,' he thought.

"What?!" the cry was ripped from a clearly horrified Krum. Dumbledore was lucky his old ears missed Harry's statement. He might not have survived the shock.

"-and your lives."

Harry sighed. "Ok, that plan's out, then. Pity." He looked around him at the incredulous faces, and got serious.

"Never mind. All right, rather than risk killing the real Champions, or myself, I'll take part only on three conditions. The first is that if a way to get me out is found, you let me know straight away. The second is that an announcement is made so that none of the students believe I wanted to be in the competition which would ruin it for the real Champions, Viktor Krum of Durmstrang, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons and Cedric Diggory of Hogwarts! To that end, should I win, I swear on my magic that I will give my prize in a three way split to each of the Champions. So I have sworn, so shall it be!"

Here, Harry's anger flared, Killing Intent rising, as he looked toward the twinkly-eyed old man. "And Headmaster Dumbledore, you will ensure that the Slytherins behave themselves as befitting students of Hogwarts. Any who cannot keep a civil tongue will face me in a duel. This Tournament has been corrupted enough already."

"But Mr Potter, why don't you want to compete for the glory of Hogwarts?"

"No, Mr Dumbledore, that honour belongs to Mr Diggory. We all heard when you said he would represent Hogwarts. As we will all hear you shortly, announcing that I am an unwilling entrant forced to compete, then letting me make my own announcement before everyone that I had nothing to do with this."

'As for Hogwarts and you, no, neither are deserving of glory,' Harry thought to himself. This was neither the time nor the place for that comment to be aired, however.

"Thank you, Harry," Cedric smiled at his mate, "you're a good friend." Professor Sprout to Harry's left nodded at that, happy to see one of her Badgers standing up for what was right.

Dumbledore looked betrayed, but when that found Harry unmoved he quickly dropped the expression and nodded gravely. "Very well, Har-" Seeing Harry about to say something, Dumbledore frowned and remembered the boy childishly refused to let Albus call him by his given name.

"Very well, Mister Potter. Let us go make the announcements." He was hiding just how much this rebellious attitude annoyed him from the boy he had hoped to mould correctly.

Harry put on a smile. "Not quite yet, if you will, Headmaster Dumbledore. I would like to hear the instructions for the tournament, what is allowed, what is not, and so forth. If this Goblet will kill us if we don't abide by the rules, then we need to know what they are before we risk our lives."

"Good work, Potter." Moody gave one of his horrible diagonal grins.

Mr Crouch seemed to come out of his reverie and moved forward into the light. "Ah yes, instructions. The first task." He considered his words for a moment.

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Harry, Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard … very important. …

"The first task will take place on November the twenty-sixth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

"The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."

Harry nodded. "A clarification please, sir. You said 'armed only with their wands'. What types of things are ruled out?"

"When you start the task, the only magical item you may have in your possession is your wand, and you may not use or carry any potion designed to enhance your performance."

"Are there any restrictions on non-magical items?" Harry asked, prompting Cedric to smile and others to frown.

"I don't see how they could possibly help you in the tasks," Crouch replied. "However, there is no rule about it."

Harry sketched a short bow. "Thank you, Mr Crouch."

Dumbledore took charge, getting everyone back into the Great Hall. "As you have heard before, Mr Potter did not enter his name into the competition. An investigation will be launched into the irregularities involved, headed by former Auror and our current teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Moody.

"Nevertheless, Mr Potter will be competing alongside the others and, should he win, he has vowed to give the prize money to the others in a three-way split. Please give all our champions your support. Thank you."

Harry stood before the Staff Table, allowing eyes to turn to him before speaking. "As you have heard, I did not enter into the Triwizard Tournament. However, I have been assured that if I do not compete, I risk the loss of my magic or life, or worse that of the real Champions, Cedric Diggory, Fleur Delacour and Viktor Krum as well as just my own. I do not ask for your support as a Champion, only your understanding that I have been forced into this, just as the real Champions have been forced to accept this situation. Let's hear a round of applause for the real Champions!"

His Head of House was the first to clap, followed half a heartbeat behind by Harry's ladies and friends. With over fifty people already clapping, the rest of those assembled found it easier to join in. Among the first to follow were the other Hufflepuffs, with the other Houses taking their lead from the Badgers for once. Not everyone applauded, with some of the Beauxbatons girls conspicuously silent despite the glares they received from those around them. Of course, the Slytherins were divided between those who did and those like Malfoy who would never cheer for a "duffer" or for a Potter.

In the silent category was one Severus Snape, though he did give an admiring nod to Lily's boy for turning the situation around and diverting attention away from himself, allowing Fleur, Cedric and Viktor to take centre stage.

With that, Harry returned to the Hufflepuff table while everyone was clapping for the others, still tightly controlled and wound up. Susan and Hermione who were closest to him rubbed his arms, hoping to get him to relax but to no avail.

When the applause wound down, the students split up, heading back to their Houses. Harry's friends were invited to join in the Hufflepuff party the guys were already heading inside where the Seventh Years were even then transfiguring and conjuring party items from balloons to streamers and getting the party started.

When Cedric entered to cheers from most of the House, he chuckled and lived it up. He really hadn't expected to be named ahead of the others, but he was determined to enjoy his time in the sun and show that he was worthy of the selection.

Harry gave him a couple of minutes, hanging back with his ladies to allow Cedric his time to shine before entering with them all.

He was surprised to get his own rousing cheer, one that got louder when Hermione kissed his cheek in front of everyone, and he smiled. "See, Hermione, they know I'm the lucky one." Harry told her under the cover of the noise. The other girls streamed into the party, getting their own quick kisses in as the party picked up further, hoping their affections would help relax him. Cho was last but not least, taking Harry to a corner and offering to take him up for a broom ride whenever he wanted before kissing him deeply while the others provided cover.

The partying students didn't have to wait too long before Professor Sprout made a visit, congratulating Cedric for being selected and giving Harry another thirty points for his sense of fair play. She did remind them all of curfew and activated the noise-limiting wards for the evening. That meant those who went up to their beds wouldn't be kept awake by the partying students.

During the evening as they were relaxing, Harry made an offhand remark to his ladies that stuck. "You are all as precious as any jewels to me. I treasure all of you."

"Then that's what we are, Harry, your Jewels." Susan announced, looking to the others for support. "I think it's a lovely name for us."

There were relieved nods. They had all felt that accepting the term 'harem' was a bad idea. It had unwanted meanings and implications in both worlds.

In the Beauxbatons carriage, Fleur wasn't partying. In fact, none of the French students were. That gave Fleur time to lie back and think on events. While she was still sure that this Harry Potter had a harem, he hadn't behaved like she would expect any teen boy to act.

For a start, it was clear that he had no trouble ignoring her Allure. He had been in her presence while she had allowed her Allure to return to its relaxed levels, not the suppressed level she was supposed to use in public at all times, when he entered the antechamber after his name was drawn. While Diggory was affected, and Krum seemed to have no interest in people, she was sure that any teen boy with the sex drive to keep a harem would be putty for her Allure but he was not.

Nor had she seen a sign that he considered women beneath him. He had clearly named her as a champion and ahead of a wizard. Indeed, he took pains to paint her as one of the real champions, unlike his own irregular circumstances, and he had also offered to give away the money if somehow he won. As preposterous as that seemed given their differences in age and magical education, she admitted it was remotely possible.

Those were not the typical actions of someone out for their own fame and glory. While a smart player may have done the same trusting that their actions would be seen as heroic and selfless, they were also the actions of someone who honestly didn't want the fame or money as Harry had claimed he didn't.

And it was obvious that he had a working brain, something all too rare in Fleur's experience. Most people she encountered were jealous of her looks and Allure or were affected by it themselves, so she didn't see people at their best, but even still, he had managed to ask useful questions on short notice.

And his claims about having faced a Mountain Troll had been accepted by the English present, so he must have something going in his favour to have survived that.

"Yvette?" Fleur called to her friend and talked about all of this with the other Veela, her fellow companion in isolation. Together, they agreed to spend time with this English boy and his harem. If he was just a teen with some luck and a reputation, they would find out soon enough and know to be on their guard. If, however, as they were starting to hope, Harry was the nice guy he seemed, maybe here they would find a welcome that they had never had at Beauxbatons. It was all far too soon to know.

Both the silver-blonde girls went to sleep with hope and a smile that night, headed toward dreams of a brighter future around people who might accept them as people first, girls second, and Veela last.

In the cold light of day the following morning, it seemed the students of Hogwarts had only half-listened to Harry.

While most of them accepted that he hadn't wanted to enter the Triwizard Tournament, some of them were still envious of his good fortune and resented him reminding people that it was still dangerous. Most of these people were in Gryffindor, the House that seemed to be have the greatest concentration of people who felt that the glory and the prize money outweighed any risk.

It wasn't anything serious, and it was still better than the reaction from the faction of bigots in Slytherin spearheaded by Draco Malfoy who had been as poisonous as ever. The former ferret was clearly envious of Harry for becoming a champion, and he attracted others like him by claiming that the Halfblood had obviously cheated somehow.

When Tracey pointed out that this would require Harry to have outsmarted their own Head of House, Malfoy had unwisely scoffed at the idea of that being difficult. Tracey didn't even hide her smirk as Snape came around the corner at that moment and gave Malfoy detention for insulting a Professor.

Draco finally shut his mouth, grumbling and thinking dark thoughts that Snape had no difficulty picking up with his passive Legilimency. Snape made a note to monitor the foolish boy when he could as well as keep a lookout for the teeth-growing curse that Draco had thought of using, Looking out for the fool was all part of his lucrative arrangement with the boy's wealthy parents to give him extra training.

As for the majority of the school, while they accepted he didn't try to get in, they were still treating him as a legitimate champion the same as the others. About the best Harry could hope for was that they remembered the others too, so that's what he did.

Another change was that the Beauxbatons champion, Fleur Delacour, had taken to spending her time not with her fellow French students nor with the older Hogwarts students, but around Harry, bringing along with her one friend, Yvette.

Harry opened the door to the room he and his ladies were using after dispelling his clones. When he saw who was there, he tagged them both mentally as being Veela due to their pressure on his mental defences but nevertheless welcomed them both in flawless French, then switched to English. "While I am always happy to talk to new people," he said, drawing on some of his parents' politics lessons, "I hope you don't mind if I ask if there was anything you wanted of us."

"Pas du tout, Harry. My friend and I are 'opeful that we may get to know such an interesting person." Fleur smiled and relaxed her control, letting her Allure flow.

Rather than being put under the spell, Harry just looked a little annoyed. "If you wish to get to know me, then would you mind not trying to force the issue?"

Yvette gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. "Is it true, you can ignore eet?"

Harry could have slapped himself. "Is that unusual?" he asked carefully while hiding his consternation.

"Forgive me." Yvette said as she copied Fleur's Allure. When Harry was unmoved, she quickly reined it back in. "It's true! Oh this is most excellent news, n'est-ce pas, mon amie?" she added to Fleur before blushing. "Oh, I am sorry, Harry Potter, that was most rude of me, of us. It's just, well, I had heard it but I couldn't believe it, you see. I am most curious, naturellement, how you have managed it."

Smiling, Harry turned on his own charm, "Naturally, Yvette, however I would be negligent if I allowed my secrets to become common knowledge. Would you be willing to keep it between us?"

Yvette looked at Fleur who nodded. "I believe we may be able to come to a satisfactory arrangement."

Hermione came up and asked curiously, "You mean as long as we keep quiet about what you tried to do to our Harry?"

"Ah, pardon me, my love," Harry blushed on command, "I neglected to introduce everyone." Once those were complete, Harry's ladies noticed a certain lack of warmth towards Harry compared to their previous attitude.

"Right, just what is your problem with our Harry?" Hannah demanded, making Sophie grimace at her bluntness.

"I'm sorry, Hannah, but that is just it." Fleur coolly replied. "How can we trust a man who keeps a harem of young girls? As Veela, we are more aware than most of just how men can view girls as property, or worse, as toys."

Her explanation was interrupted there by outrage from the other ladies.

"You dare insult Harry?!" was the common thread of their replies all on top of one another, and it was left to Harry to try to calm them down.

"Ladies, please. I am sure they did not mean that as horribly as it sounded." The look he sent their way told them they had better not.

"No, not at all," Fleur began, "the reason we approached you was out of a hope that you are not like that. From ze outside, at first glance, eet looked like this could be just a teen boy living high on his fame and-"

"Harry is nothing like that!" Susan rallied to defend him. "He has protected us, supported us, loved us, and treated each one of us like the most special girl in the world. He has risked his life to save mine, helped study with me, as well as been one of my best friends." The nods from the others confirmed her words. "This is not one of those awful harems we have read about. We are not property or servants. We love him and he loves us."

Fleur blushed at the passionate rebuke. "As I was saying, from ze outside, it looks like it could be. However, there's now reason to 'ope and we would like ze chance to find out. I am sorry, I did not wish to offend any of you, but you did ask and I could not think of an easier way to explicate, to explain, myself."

Yvette nodded and hung her head while Fleur continued. "Please, forgive us. We have both been raised to be suspicious of certain things, to suspect that some things are too good to be true. The idea that any normal boy could resist the Allure of a single Veela is like the idea of Merlin reborn among us. Especially any boy who had the ability to take care of a number of girls. As I hope you can see, we were caught between hope and fear of what may be.

"Oh," she smiled seeing a calculating look in Sophie's eyes, "not to replace you, we would not think to deprive you, but to get friends. At Beauxbatons, we are, isolated I think is the word, or scorned, because of our heritage. Girls reject us because their boyfriends will pay us more attention than themselves if we relax the control of the Allure, as we did when we arrived, while boys become mindless drones or pester us for things we are not willing to give."

The girls nodded at that, reminded of the DADA lesson on the Imperius, and were sympathetic to their fears. Susan and Leanne were the first to welcome them to the room after that, their loyalty that saw them Sorted into Hufflepuff coming to the rescue.

Over the next week, the pair of French witches spent much of their time with their new friends, getting to know them better and opening up far more than they had expected. As they were chatting, Yvette lost control of the Allure for a split second and Harry immediately noticed, before a detail from that first day jumped out at him. "Last week, Fleur, you said you 'relaxed the control' over you Allure, is that right?"

At their nods, he asked "So how does that work?" There were eager looks on several other faces at that.

Fleur took a deep breath, which did interesting things to her thin silk robes. "Ze Allure is something that we are always emitting. To some extent, we may control its intensity and focus, but we cannot turn it all the way off, though many have tried, without turning off all our magic. It is a drain on our magic, but one we learn to handle. At minimum power, something that takes specific training, the drain and effect on men nearby is negligible, but it is something of a strain up here," she tapped her temple, "and it is very helpful to release the restraint if we are to relax. Ze constant concentration, yes?"

Harry nodded, "I think we understand. So are there other levels of the Allure?"

"Yes, we can empower it if we train to channel extra magic into it. The training to control it helps to change the power higher or lower."

"Ok, if the girls agree, I would like to test myself against it." Harry smiled at his loves. "If at any stage I become affected, you may tell them to stop the test, ok?" Turning back to the two French ladies, he added, "If that is ok with you, I mean."

Getting cautious nods both from his ladies and from Fleur and Yvette, he took a comfortable stance and waited for them to begin.

Fleur went first, stepping up close to him still with the Allure on 1st level, as she thought of it. When Harry gave her a signal, she gradually stepped up the scale, stopping at the 8th level which was her maximum. Fleur was justifiably proud that she had reached it so young, though there was the price. She was only just holding herself back from acting on her own very strong arousal that the Allure created in her, glad that only a little of her excitement would be visible through the robes.

When Yvette started to add her own power to the mix, she was sure that Harry would crack. Surely, they could not really be so lucky. However, she reached the maximum power of her Allure, then pulled back to her comfortable 'rest' level of 4th, her quiet word to Fleur prompting her to do the same, groaning.

They weren't the only ones groaning. In their focus on the test, they had forgotten that the Allure could affect Harry's ladies, too. All of them were showing signs of having been aroused and now were blushing at what they had almost done.

"Perhaps we should take a little time to recover, yes?" Fleur suggested and Yvette agreed, excusing themselves to freshen up.

As soon as they were gone, Cho drew her wand, flinging locking and privacy spells at the doors, walls, floor and ceiling, before having to drag Harry to her, kissing and rubbing against him. Harry's other ladies were trying to do the same, groaning as Harry produced clones that held and teased them until they reached release. With the locking spells taken down and door opened, a quick Wind technique took care of the scent that had filled the room and a Water one had helped his own ladies freshen up.

When the two French witches returned, they were surprised to see no sign of the earlier arousal on the English girls except for some satisfied smiles.

"So how did the test go?" Harry asked, drawing their attention back to him.

"You were perfect, 'Arry," Fleur purred sexily then blushed. "I, we, were hoping, that you would permit us to leave our control relaxed while we are in private. It is much more comfortable for us, and as you see, you were unaffected. More important to us, however, we truly would like to be friends with you, that is with all of you. Since you know you have nothing to fear from us, it is our hope, our wish, that you may be able to trust us." Fleur finished earnestly.

After an appeal like that, Tracey groaned. "Ok, I know at least one of the 'Puffs is going to agree, but first, I would like it if you two would swear those Oaths against revealing our secrets. If you want us to trust you, that would go a distance towards proving we can do so." Daphne looked sharply at her sister Slytherin for the faux pas but Tracey ignored it.

Yvette raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow but was too shy to ask so Fleur did so. "Are you so sure you have a wording we will find agreeable?"

With the cat out of the bag, Susan grinned, "Director Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement agreed to swear an Oath. I think you'll agree that if she could agree to it, it is safe for either of you to do so."

"This is true." Fleur allowed, then blinked as she found a copy of the Oath in her hands as did Yvette.

"Here you go, please take the time to read it through first." Harry smiled. "And if you do want to change the wording, or have any questions, we can go over that before you commit yourselves to anything significant."

The two Veela relaxed and read it through carefully, prompting some satisfaction from the more intelligent or suspicious girls there, and at the end, swore the Oaths freely and waved off for now any suggestion about having the others swear to them.

In response, Sally-Anne poked Harry in the side. "Go on, Harry, show them your special trick."

Before the pair could think too much on that comment, they were staring in shock as the room filled with dozens of Harry Potter's.

"Merlin!" Fleur breathed out the exclamation. "Merlin!" She was already comparing Harry to him.

"Oui, Merlin indeed." Yvette agreed.

"Actually, there's not a bit of magic in that trick whatsoever." The Harry's chorused back at them.

They stood and stared, then had to take a seat. "Ok, that was worth swearing the Oath, just for that." Fleur declared.

There followed the usual round of explanations courtesy of two Harry's while Hermione and the others just revelled in getting to snuggle openly with Harry once again.

With all the Harry's there for the Veela to concentrate their Allure on, at Luna's surprising suggestion, Fleur and Yvette got to relax while they got to know their new friends, while the Jewels didn't get distracted by the hot witches in their midst. As for Harry, his mental defences easily took care of the Allure, allowing everyone to talk freely.

That evening after dinner, there was a practice session led by the French pair, demonstrating some of the spells they knew and offering to share their knowledge in exchange for some of the Hogwarts spells. The session was attended only by Harry and the Jewels, since they weren't yet ready to test their male friends around the two Veelas without giving them fair warning of the possible mind control effects.

That meant that Fleur and Yvette only had Nym in their own year level, leaving her to demonstrate the most advanced magic while Fleur and Yvette could switch off between them in terms of teaching and learning. To make up for that, the other Hogwarts students gave examples of the other magic they had learned, using training dummies provided by the Room of Requirements.

Unfortunately, even with Seventh Years' teaching the whole time, none of them picked up the spells that night. Harry and the others knew this would likely be the case, but it was still frustrating. In addition, there was the publicity and unwanted weight of expectations from the school that of course Harry Potter would win the Triwizard Tournament, or that he would fail nastily, depending who you asked, but everyone had an opinion that they were sure as sunrise was right.

His ongoing effort to remind people that Hogwarts already had a legitimate Champion in the Tournament at best only slowed the tide, and Harry almost despaired of continuing. It was only the way that his friends, including Cedric, rallied around that gave him the confidence needed to persevere with it. It also pushed Cedric further into the limelight, where he had chosen to be, while allowing Harry to take a half-step back out of it where he preferred to be.

The stress was mounting up, however, and though Ginny Weasley was the youngest of the girls who loved him, she was also the most focused on anything to do with Harry Potter. She knew she loved him with all her heart. In a way, by cutting herself off from her parents, she had latched onto Harry as the guiding light in her life. She felt hurt seeing him unhappy and resolved to do whatever it took to make him happy again, anything at all. She dismissed her first ideas of asking for a massage or making out. Both of those made her happy, but they hadn't done a thing to remove the stress from her Harry when she did it before.

No, Ginny intended to surprise Harry, a good surprise would work. It had to!

She wasn't the only girl to see the signs, but her decision played a big role in her life. While the others were distracted at dinner by the twins trying another of their pranks, this time making Flint's nose just as hooked and ugly as Snape's, she whispered into Harry's ear, asking a favour and giving him a big smile when he agreed.

Now, all she had to do was carry through on her plan.

When the plates were all cleared, Harry left a clone with the others, carrying on the conversation, while he followed Ginny to a deserted classroom up near the Gryffindor Tower. Once inside, Ginny threw a few locking spells at the door and windows, then transfigured a king-sized bed and lay back, giving Harry a lust filled look. Harry grinned and added to the protections before moving onto the bed with his fireball girlfriend.

"Oh Harry," Ginny gasped, "please, make me a woman, make me your woman for all time!"

Ginny was as good as her word, driving her body on until finally she had to admit defeat. She simply wasn't fit enough yet to keep up with someone trained by the Kitsune Clan for nearly a decade. What she was, was a little sore and a whole lot satisfied when she went to bed, going to sleep face down but with a smile that night. Harry had a similar smile as he went to sleep in his own bed for a change. He had offered to spend the night with Ginny, but she had turned him down, sad that she had to. She knew that if he was there, she would want him again and again, and she truly needed the rest. Her plan to break Harry free of his stress, as crazy as it was, had worked for now.

Thanks to Ginny, and the other girls who had similar ideas, Harry sported a grin at breakfast the following morning. His improved concentration enabled him to make a better start that day on some of the more advanced magic Fleur, Yvette and Nym had demonstrated. He had already mastered the Summoning Charm which Professor Flitwick had assigned but found it easier with his mind clear. The Potter Alliance had rated it one of the most useful spells around. At least, the most useful that wasn't designed to be used by criminals of one stripe or another like the Thief's Friend spell that unlocked doors or Petrificus and Incarcerous spells that were used to imprison someone.

Of course, the Summoning Charm could be used in conjunction with the unlocking spell to steal belongings, but it wasn't designed for crime. Its counterpart was the Banishing Charm which pushed an object that the wand was aimed at. Naturally, Hermione had wanted to learn both of these useful spells, along with any other ones on offer, ahead of time.

It wasn't all good news, however. Harry knew from Daphne, Tracey and Sophie that Pansy had finally begun to open up more to them, though they suspected it was at least in part to spy on them. While they were taking precautions in case their suspicion about Parkinson was correct, the façade of friendship had enraged Malfoy.

Draco was already on a hair-trigger temper of late as he felt that no one was giving him the adoration and deference to which he was entitled by virtue of being a Pureblood from the prestigious Malfoy family. The fact that the Malfoys had never been as prestigious as they wished, only rich, had never sunk in despite the numerous attempts from the other old families to set him straight. Such prestige and precedence was only granted to old, wealthy, English families.

While the Malfoys had been around long enough and were certainly wealthy enough, when you added their habit of supporting every two bit Dark Lord aspirant, their bribery and trying to buy elections openly cost them any chance of being seen as a proper respectable family. Certainly they were often feared and respected for their power but that last step eluded them. Especially as there were persistent rumours of murder and theft since before they had been kicked out of France following the Dark family throughout the generations.

Lucius had sacrificed much in using the Imperius as his legal defence, including some of his public respect, since victims of any mind control curse were seen as foolish or weak-willed. While in private, Lucius had gained some respect from the Dark for thumbing his nose at the law, as well as bankrolling efforts of other Death Eaters' efforts to stay free. In public, Lucius had to maintain the fiction lest Amelia Bones take him in for perjury charges. That was something he could not allow, since she would use it as the opening wedge to send him to Azkaban. All the same, Lucius wasn't a fool. He knew that the price of his chosen defence was that he would spend years and another fortune rebuilding the respect, and respectability, of the Malfoy family. Public and large donations to various charities had helped there, especially in the wake of his trial, to make him look like his defence was valid enough, or at least to whitewash the whole affair.

In Draco's mind, none of that mattered. It was simply jealousy making people lash out since his father had proved himself above petty laws to deal with the menace to their society.

Even the other Pureblood families who had long been on top of Wizarding Britain didn't expect everyone to adore and defer to their underaged scions who might never amount to anything. Again, that was irrelevant to Draco because they weren't Malfoys.

While Draco had come to accept gracelessly that the Mudbloods and Blood Traitors wouldn't bow down to him when he passed, it still rankled with him that he didn't get respect from his peers. So, when even Pansy looked to be making overtures to that upstart son of a Mudblood and his pathetic hangers-on, Draco's temper snapped and he yelled at the black-haired girl whose 'crime' was to ask in a polite voice, "Daphne, would you pass the butter?"

"How dare you, you Blood Traitor? What do you think you are doing talking to Greengrass? You know she's just one of Potter's!" he yelled, silencing the Great Hall, following it up with a backhanded slap to her face.

While normally Harry would have waited to give the staff a chance to respond, to punish the violent boy, right then he was too angry to do so. He was only just able to keep himself under control as he stalked over to the ponce.

"Apologise, Malfoy, right now." Harry was demanding and leaking Killing Intent enough that Draco finally realised that someone really could make him afraid.

"Apologise or you will live to regret this, Malfoy."

Daphne and the other Slytherins were staring shocked at this display. Indeed, most in the hall were shocked at the confrontation. It was the clearest evidence yet that the Boy-Who-Lived did indeed have a temper and a commanding presence.

"And if I don't, Potter?" Draco drawled, his trembling obscured by his robes.

"If you don't, Malfoy, then you will learn just how low your position can go. No one will talk to you. No one will recognise you. You will cease to exist to them even as you walk among them."

"My father-"

"-will be the first to ignore you. He will disown you, Malfoy, if you are so removed from polite society as to strike a girl without an apology or a bloody good reason!" It was the first time Harry had raised his voice since this all began.

Draco wanted to go on but was interrupted as he tried to speak. He found his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth and noticed his own Head of House lazily putting his wand away as he walked over.

"Potter," Snape began, "I must insist that you do not threaten one of my charges. Twenty points from Hufflepuff!"

The Deputy Headmistress and the Head of Hufflepuff followed close behind and caught his shift of expression and the way he silently made way for them, inviting them to take over for him.

"Mr Potter, for your noble effort to protect an innocent when you could have ignored it, and risking punishment for your actions, that will be thirty points to Hufflepuff." Professor McGonagall wanted to smile proudly at the young man, but would save that for later when she next talked to him in private.

"And for standing up for a fellow student across House lines, as well as demonstrating loyalty to your friends, that shall be twenty points to Hufflepuff, Mr Potter." Sprout finished, smiling at one of her favourites.

Snape nodded shortly and stalked off back to his meal. His part was done. He had been clearly trying to defend his charge as his damned position and Lucius' lucrative bribes required, and he had even taken points away from a Potter. That still felt good even after all these years. After he was done, Lily's boy was rewarded for sticking up for a Snake, which was even better. His breakfast went down nicely and Snape was in a rare good mood that lasted all the way to his first lesson. The other Professors weren't finished yet and their response was almost frightening to him in its implications.

"Mr Malfoy, what you did was completely unacceptable. Even a first year Hogwarts student knows better than that. As you have shown yourself lacking in the maturity expected of a fourth year student, you will be skipping the next Hogsmeade weekend. While your classmates are enjoying themselves, you will still be serving detentions with Professor Hagrid and Mr Filch. Professor Hagrid has mentioned wanting extra labour to muck out the thestral stables. You will assist him, without the use of magic, until you have proven yourself fit for polite company once more." Professor McGonagall's voice came out clipped and harsh as she bit back on the urge to attack him physically, an urge she felt was stronger because of her Animagus form.

"In addition, your parents will be informed immediately of your abominable behaviour. You may be assured that any repeat of anything like this will result in more serious disciplinary action. Now, you are to apologise to Miss Parkinson then you will not speak for the remainder of dinner." A flick of her wand and the spell on Draco was lifted.

As for Miss Parkinson, Snape watched satisfied as Draco, finally released from the tongue-locking curse, gave a stuttering apology that barely met the minimum effort required. He wondered what Narcissa would make of the affair. While the woman kept quiet in public, it was clear to anyone who spent time in her presence that she was sharp and didn't tolerate disrespect of her gender. If he had to guess, a sharply-worded letter and loss of his pocket money was the minimum Draco could expect to receive in punishment.

Once Draco sat down at the end of the table, a punishment position due to it being so highly visible, Pansy found herself being comforted by Daphne while Tracey and Sophie kept watch for the pair. Harry had inquired after her health before returning to his own place. In a way, Pansy was lucky that the Slytherin trio had been spending time at their House table, but in another, it was their presence that had triggered the problem, however much they hadn't meant that.

Naturally, the confrontation was the subject of a lot of gossip, even though everyone had witnessed it, and in the following days, Pansy was angry at her parents who told her to overlook his offence since he had apologised. Her dormmates consoled her and agreed that Draco had definitely crossed the line. She had gone to Potter and thanked him as Pureblood custom demanded in the old formal sentences, acknowledging the honour debt that she now owed him in her eyes.

Harry, now more aware of their customs, had responded as tradition required of him, acknowledging her debt, then reassured her that he had no intention of abusing his position. The three Slytherin girls supporting him lent weight to that which helped Pansy to relax a little. After all, just because he wouldn't abuse the position didn't mean he wouldn't use it, and it would be foolish of her not to bear that in mind.

Thank you for reading and for all your reviews. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. And as always, I am grateful to my betas Cloud Zen, Daisy Duck and Slicerness.