Chapter 44 - Having a Ball
When the Jewels assembled for breakfast in the same room they used for the party, they were surprised at how much Harry had transformed it from the night before. Gone were the empty bottles, the couches and so on, in their place there was a selection of Clan breakfast dishes that were quickly taken by the hungry girls, and a number of more casual loveseats, lounges and chairs.
Over breakfast, they talked about the party. Ginny admitted, "I probably went further than I expected, but I had a great time." She smiled shyly at Sue Li. "I just needed that little push."
"It was awesome! And the way Harry reacted when Nym transformed." Hannah gushed as she remembered.
Nym blushed and grinned, she was still wearing the clothes from last night with a robe over the top and it seemed not even her metamorph powers prevented bedhead.
"Has anyone seen my panties?" Hermione asked, puzzled.
"Oops?" Lavender replied after a quick check. "I wondered whose these were by the couch. Oh, hang on, these aren't yours, Hermione. Sorry, Stephanie."
Stephanie was a little startled and checked them. "That's ok, Lavender, I think I found where Hermione's got to." The girl picked them up from under the table next to her and the pair went quickly behind a screen, giggling as they sorted themselves out in private.
Once the girls were back, eating and waking up a little more, they started talking about how much each had liked the party. Fleur asked if they would want to do it again, ducking as she got a chorus of Yes's from everyone. Luna spoke up, adding, "I think we should have a rule, though, about clones. No clones of us girls unless Harry can double our numbers. I don't think any of us should have to miss out on the cuddling, Harry included."
There was a touch of surprise at her suggestion, but it seemed fair enough. For the moment, Harry couldn't do that so that meant double Hermione tag-teaming the other Hufflelovers or Harry was out at the party. Other times, of course, were a different matter, she noted to herself.
"We should also have another Hufflepuff Party!" Leanne put in.
"Mmmm they are a lot of fun." Daphne agreed and Tracey nodded with her.
"Yes, can we organise one for next weekend?" Lavender asked.
While Fleur and Yvette were unsure at first, it was a party and they were being included, expected to be part of the group, something they had longed to feel for years. When the party idea was explained, they and the Cranleigh girls were also solidly behind the idea.
Since Harry would be getting to have a relaxing time with the Jewels if it went ahead, and also be doing most of the work to prepare it, his vote carried more weight than usual. Parvati squealed when he said yes, gushing over what games they could try and running from topic to topic to an amused audience.
While they were talking, it dawned on Sandra how long they had stayed and she whispered to the others, finding that they too needed to get back to their homes. Looking at Harry, he nodded, having overheard them, and one clone dispelled himself to send the message back to the Compound. Unfortunately, or fortunately, neither Sirius nor Remus were in any condition themselves to Apparate anywhere, having stayed up late pranking each other in yet another skirmish. Amelia Bones would have been willing but that would have opened another can of worms with her involvement in Muggles inside Hogwarts.
Harry cheered them up by reshaping the Hall a third time into a close replica of the Clan's day spa, complete with massage tables, manicure and pedicure places and a 'small' spa that could hold a score or so comfortably. As the steam rose, there was a rush of girls over to the spa. They had exchanged their lingerie for swimsuits before they got into the warm water. Susan gave Harry an impish smile and crooked her finger, inviting him in too.
Some girls only stayed in a few minute before getting out, Harry's clones on hand with towels to dry them off and leading them to the other activities they wanted, soft music and scented brushes on hand. The Cranleigh girls were among the first to get the full treatment, looking a million pounds rather than like they had just been partying most of the night.
When Sirius and Remus turned up, they changed plans, Apparating the girls from inside the sweets shop rather than exposing the beautified girls to the leers of wizards. Sandra gave Remus a kiss on the cheek while Meaghan did the same to Sirius, thanking the pair for their help. They had to rush home, however, their parents were waiting.
The next Care of Magical Creatures class was interesting for Harry, at least. While Hagrid still loved his 'interesting' beasties, he had understood that not everyone was so safe from their ill temper or plain old clumsiness. In that way, the lessons from Septima and Aurora had been a real boon. It had turned his class from a calamity waiting to happen into about as safe as a class with dangerous animals could get at Hogwarts.
That still wasn't that safe, of course, and Hagrid still did more classes on dangerous beasts than the teacher he replaced, but that wasn't entirely a bad thing. There were a lot of dangers in the magical world and they needed to understand them. Hagrid was enthusiastic about his creatures and loved to teach about them, including what they could do to the unwary.
All this was standard enough for the class by now, and a number of the students looked to Harry almost as Hagrid's teaching assistant. Harry was the biggest in the year and always on hand if one of the creatures started to become a problem. If Harry thought it was safe, they thought it was safe.
Into this rather volatile environment, Daily Prophet journalist Rita Skeeter intruded. She had watched unnoticed during the class as Hagrid spouted off a number of facts about his beast of the week, seeing how he coddled the little darlings from danger. When one of the creatures tried to turn a Gryffindor girl into lunch, the Boy-Who-Lived was already there, holding it off as the girl backed away, smiling at her savior.
She could turn that into a feel good story, but those weren't what she liked, weren't what she was any good at, either. No, Rita wanted a scandal. She made a show of becoming noticeable and gave a saccharine smile at the big oaf.
"Well, well, well. That was certainly brave. Do you often have your students rescued from harm by one of their own?"
"Who're you?" Hagrid asked as he dragged his 'wee beastie' back into its cage.
"Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet reporter." Rita replied, beaming at him. Her gold teeth glinted.
"Thought Dumbledore said you weren' allowed inside the school anymore."
Rita acted as though she hadn't heard him.
"Miss Skeeter, would you please leave? You are interrupting our lesson." Hermione asked as politely as she felt able.
"And just who are you to ask that?" Rita asked haughtily.
"A fee-paying student. If you're going to stay, I will have to insist you reimburse us for the time you are wasting."
Rita laughed at her. "Such notions. You must be a Muggle-born." She turned up her nose at the girl.
"Yes, fancy expecting value for money or basic courtesy. After all, they're too good for you." Hermione was coldly angry now. "You're welcome to prove me wrong, of course. If you do, I will have to apologise."
"And just how do you expect me to do that?"
"By apologising for the interruption and leaving. With, naturally, a request for our forgiveness for wasting everyone's time."
"But!" Rita sputtered, caught off-guard. "Why should I do this? What's in it for me?"
Susan answered, "If you don't behave by the rules of society, you aren't entitled to its benefits. If no one will sell you food, how long will you last?"
"You would be in Azkaban in a week, I bet." Ernie added coolly.
Rita recognized the niece of Amelia Bones and that boy looked like a McMillan. She was floored that they were all united against her.
"Don't any of you want to be in the paper?" Rita appealed to their greed.
"Hardly. This is supposed to be a school, not a goldfish bowl." Roger Malone replied.
"It looks like I was right, after all, Miss Skeeter." Hermione put in. "You may leave, now."
Hagrid came up behind the witch. "She's righ'. You oughta be gone already."
Rita left hurriedly after the oaf loomed like that. The class was grateful she was finally gone, but some suspected that wouldn't be the end of the matter.
The very next day, she published an article slamming Hagrid and Hogwarts for failing to teach the students to respect the press (her) and the parents for failing to raise their kids right.
Harry was livid. The whole article was a pack of lies. While as per the agreement he had with the paper, it didn't name him in the article, it was an attack on his friends. He knew his parents would soon be putting in an appearance at the office for the paper, probably in concert with Amelia Bones and other parents to demand an apology from the paper for printing such lies.
Unfortunately, the article emboldened one Draco Malfoy temporarily who was snarking about "How standards had fallen in certain families" and obviously it was a result of too much interaction with dirty Muggles.
While Hogwarts had changed in the few years since Harry had started, the isolation and prejudice ran deep in their society. Such charges were given far more weight across all the Houses than they deserved since it appealed to those prejudices. It was only when Malfoy started going on about the importance of blood that most of his listeners came to their senses. His father was not impressed about that last bit, but at least the boy had done some damage to the reputations of their enemies, and he used that to bolster his own position with regard to his 'allies'.
The following morning, a high-powered group arrived at the Daily Prophet office. Once there, Madam Bones demanded an immediate meeting with the editor. The receptionist recognised the angry woman in front of her and passed the buck to her supervisor who did the same, calling in the editor.
"Come on through." The smarmy man called them in, leading the group to his office and shutting the door. "Now, what may I do for such distinguished guests?"
"You can print a full retraction and apology, for a start. And while we wait for that, you can explain just what you think you were doing insulting so many families without even checking your facts."
"Madam Bones, I did nothing of the sort." The editor's tone was so oily that Mr Greengrass felt dirty just listening to the man and his patience, already thin with the insults to his family via his daughter, was already running out.
"Since Skeeter is your reporter, she is your responsibility." Amelia was hoping he would see the out she was leaving him. She could see Greengrass already building up for an explosion.
"I will investigate what you have said." The editor promised her, completely missing the point.
"As a matter of curiosity, do you know who owns the paper, sir?" Mr Greengrass asked him, cutting in since the wizard in front of him was even more annoying in person than in print.
"Of course I do."
"So you know that as of midnight last night, I represent the controlling interest in the Daily Prophet?" Greengrass pressed.
"Ah, no, the previous owner hadn't seen fit to give me that information." The editor was suddenly nervous and had the urge to mop his brow. He did have the sense to know Mr Greengrass wouldn't lie about such a claim.
"Somehow, I am not surprised. He didn't have that good a head for business, you see. He was obviously running this place into the ground. Making enemies where he had no need is no way to improve the bottom line." Greengrass's smile would have done credit to a shark.
The editor smiled wanly. "I completely agree, sir."
"And I am sure that you will give our concerns the weight they deserve, won't you?" The question really was rhetorical, but the editor nodded hastily. "Thank you for your time. I am sure you have an urgent meeting to call with your staff."
They saw themselves out after that with the usual pleasantries. Later that day, the editor sent word to his new boss that Skeeter had been placed on probation for her breach of the paper's journalistic guidelines. Left unsaid was that those guidelines had been consistently ignored any time the editor felt that a story, factual or fictitious, would make for better sales.
Greengrass intended to see to it that they adhered to the guidelines more often. With that, they would become more credible and any planted stories they used later would be more useful. A word to Naruto and he was assured that someone would always be watching the staff.
Skeeter was seething when she was hauled into the editor's office and fined one week's pay for her article. The jerk knew it was nothing out of the ordinary, Merlin, the piece was tame by her standards, but she had gone after the wrong people. She was also placed on probation. If she wrote one more story that she couldn't back up, she would be fired, he told her. "I'd like to see the weasel try to fire me," Rita muttered, unaware that the bird following her heard every word, let alone that it was one of Naruto's clones.
As a thank you to Naruto for bankrolling their abrupt purchase of stock in the paper, Greengrass was more than willing to Floo to Hogsmeade and send an owl from there to his daughter, telling her of the change at the newspaper. He didn't like the pub there any more than he liked the Leaky Cauldron, finding it just as hopelessly dirty and lacking in taste, but it was the nearest place and meant the message would arrive sooner.
At least he got to send a message to his little girl.
On the Friday afternoon, at the end of his Transfiguration class, Minerva called Harry to stay back for a few minutes.
"As part of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry, there is another task that the Champions traditionally undertake."
"What now?" Harry groaned.
Minerva smiled mischievously at him. "Oh come, Harry, you haven't even heard what it is. You might even enjoy it."
Harry was suspicious, but- "Ok, I'll ask. Just what is this additional task, Professor McGonagall?"
"It is one fraught with hidden dangers and the prospect of public humiliation, Harry."
"Humiliation for Malfoy might be good..." he trailed off.
Minerva admirably kept her own feelings of nausea from reaching her face. "Alas, no, Harry, there is no way that I can see even you using this task to humiliate Mr Malfoy. You see, there is a traditional Yule Ball as part of the competition."
"Oh, is that all?" Harry chuckled then it hit him. "Oh? Oh!"
Minerva looked like the cat that got the canary. "Indeed. In addition to the danger of injured feet and so on, you will have to select your date for the Ball. Only one, Harry. That is also part of your task. You and your date will be required to open the dancing, along with the other Champions and their dates."
"You're enjoying this far too much, Professor McGonagall." Harry replied repressively, making her laugh.
"So do you have anyone you wanted to take to the Ball, Harry? Oh, one last thing. The Ball is only open to Fourth Years and up. Third Years may attend only at the invitation of eligible students."
"Thank you, Minerva. That is helpful after all. Now I just need to see what the girls think of my plan."
"A plan already? Most impressive." Minerva teased.
"All part of the training, Ma'am. And if Third Years can only attend by invitation, then I will have to invite one."
"Ah, Miss Weasley or Miss Lovegood, then?"
"That was my idea, yes." Harry smiled. "I don't want either of them to miss out, though, so I'll have to find some way to arrange that they can attend or, of course, I will ignore the tradition and take both as my dates."
"Now, Harry-" Minerva began.
"Relax, Minerva, I am sure I will be able to handle it."
"That's what I'm worried about." Professor McGonagall groaned. "Oh, one thing you may be wondering, why this particular timing? Well, it seems someone thought that springing this on the staff at a late stage would be a truly excellent idea. After all, it is not like the staff are already busy this close to the holidays. Since I don't generally check the school supply lists after I hand them to the Headmaster, that meant additions like dress robes could be made once they were on his desk, if someone had access. I expect an announcement will be made in the Great Hall tomorrow."
Access to the Headmaster's office was fairly well restricted, as Harry had come to understand over the years. Since he spent so much time doing other things at odd hours, it was generally kept locked tight. The only person who could reliably access that list was the Headmaster himself. "Thank you, Minerva, I'm sure I would have wondered about that eventually." Harry smiled.
"Very well, you may go now. I am sure your friends will be getting rather curious by now." Minerva dismissed him, her good humour returned.
Harry gave her a bow, acknowledging her victory, and left where he was quickly the centre of a group of girls checking him over and asking questions, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws, the lot of them. He did his best to calm them down. "I'll be able to answer all your questions at dinner, girls, though I think we should all meet up after dinner to discuss it. That includes the guys, 'cause this concerns them, too."
Over dinner, Harry mentioned that it was an 'extra task' that would involve those dress robes listed on the supply lists, and one that would involve over a hundred students. No matter what they tried, Harry kept his answers vague.
It worked, of course, making them all curious as to just what he had in mind.
Meeting up at the East Wing, chairs, couches and loveseats on hand, Harry took an easy stance in view of all of them. "Alright, you know why we're gathered here."
"No we don't!" Ernie called out. "That's why we're here." There were a few groans but also some nodding heads.
"I was going to break it gently, guys, but just for that!" Harry took a breath, building the suspense. "There is going to be a Yule Ball. It's open to Fourth Years and up, and Third Years can attend if invited by an older student. That's why we had to get dress robes. A certain Deputy Headmistress is somewhat annoyed that this was only revealed to the staff at the last minute, mind you."
His last comment went completely unheard as the buzz of conversation started up about the Ball. 'Perhaps it was for the best.' Creating clones, he talked with the Jewels about it, taking them to one corner of the room while at least one clone was on hand to talk with any of his friends.
Naturally, they all wanted to know who he was going to take.
Swallowing his fear, Harry answered slowly. "I was thinking that it would be very difficult to decide who to take, but part of it was made easier in a way. If no one asks you, Luna, or you, Ginny, then you can't attend, while the rest of you still can. So I was thinking, I should choose one of you two to take to the Ball."
Harry waited while the Jewels talked it over. One thing he wanted to avoid was any of them getting upset by his choice. The best way he could see was to make his reasoning transparent and letting them feel they had some input. He was fairly sure that meant they would be more likely to allow him to make his own choice if they didn't feel he was slighting any of them.
"No, I am hoping that one of our friends will agree to take the other to the dance, too, so we can all enjoy the night. I promised Professor McGonagall that I would at least try to respect tradition, but if it fails, I would be honoured to take both Ginny and Luna as my dates." Harry had replied to the obvious question. "That tradition means nothing to me compared to your happiness."
He was serious, too. The traditions of the Wizarding World often made little or no sense and a number of them were actively harmful, as far as Harry could see. Any tradition that got in the way of what he needed to do, he would break.
Ginny offered to sit out the Ball in Luna's favour, as did Luna in Ginny's. In the end, Hermione offered to flip a coin, and Luna became Harry's date, while Ginny would go with someone else if a volunteer could be found.
When Harry mentioned his problem to the guys, Justin Finch-Fletchley was the first to step forward. "Ginny Weasley, it would be my honour to escort you to the Yule Ball as a friend." Justin later explained that he had had dancing lessons already and he didn't want to risk Ginny's feet to someone else. That earned him a hug for his consideration and a butterbeer from the guys for reminding them they needed lessons, and partners. Privately, Justin was glad to get out of having to hunt for a girl to take. There were a couple of nice girls back home that he was hoping to get to know better, now that he had Shadow Clones available to take classes there. His parents were already working to arrange his admission.
A number of Harry's other friends were in a similar situation, not wanting to go stag but also not having any particular girl they wanted to take. They were advised to talk with the girls there first for a date who would be just a friend, something that was still daunting to the young teens but easier than having to ask for a real date. And who knew? Maybe it might become a real date, after all.
The following day was the Hufflepuff Party. As a favour to Harry, or perhaps as a way to repay him, Septima Vector agreed to open her Floo to the Cranleigh girls. She did ask that they be discreet and if she could possibly have just one more of those delicious lemon meringue pies. Harry just smiled, used the Floo and returned less than a minute later with one for her.
Fleur and Yvette were made welcome and were surprised at just how relaxed everything was. They had to keep their Allure on Harry, or on minimum, but other than that they were just as relaxed as any other girl there.
During the night, Meaghan asked if Harry would consider asking the other Cranleigh girls, that is Jennifer, Nicole, Jessica, Amanda and Lauren, to join them. "I know they really do want to become part of the group, they love you, and it feels wrong not to give them a chance, when Fleur and Yvette have already gone all the way."
Harry shrugged, "I do agree, but it's not just up to me either." More gently, he continued, "I will approach them if no one objects."
"Thank you, Harry." She kissed him tenderly before forming her own clone to go talk to the others. With that done, she took Harry to one of the loveseats, cuddling against him and talking about other things. Harry had already got her a birthday present, since her birthday was in the morning. It was waiting for her in his dorm room, as it happened.
Meaghan had decided on her own present however. As the party split up into groups, the serious girl looked into Harry's eyes, searching for something, and nodded to herself. She got a playful smile and jumped into his arms, trusting he would catch her. "Take me to bed, Harry!" she commanded, and when he did, she pulled him on top of her. She wanted to become part of this all the way. Meaghan had been nervous until Sandra of all people had had a quiet word with her, reassuring her that Harry was amazing and that he would make sure it wouldn't hurt.
She had been too shy to ask Harry or any of the other girls herself, shocked that Sandra had seen her dilemma, but now she wanted to find out for herself.
Meaghan saw the morning break dark and stormy and snuggled back closer into Harry as they spooned for a few minutes then stretched, getting up and hopping into the shower, pulling a smiling Harry in with her. Her final words to Harry before she followed the other Cranleigh girls into the green fire that would take her back to the Kitsune Compound were, "Harry, you will ask them, won't you?"
"Yes, Meaghan, I will. You really are sweet, have I told you that?"
"Oh, once or twice." Meaghan smiled and gave him a final kiss before tumbling through the Floo journey.
Lucius Malfoy was in his study, his favourite room at Malfoy Manor ever since his 'dear' father left the Manor to him, preferring his own private hideaway. There, Lucius was smiling with great satisfaction as he went over the lists. With Draco 'unfortunately' needed at Hogwarts for something or other, Lucius was far more confident that his coming Christmas function would go off perfectly. Narcissa was such a good help in these matters. She knew just what to say, how to say it, and when to say just what she needed to get her point across.
It was so sad that she had never caught another child, no matter how much he tried to get one on her. He was sure that any other child would become a better heir to the Malfoy name and fortune.
Still, he had begun talking with her, feeling her out regarding using those rather more discreet means to begin a more worthy heir to the distinguished Malfoy line. He had to take it slow since he dare not use the enchanted silver bar for this piece of persuasion. No, better to be sure that Narcissa was doing this completely of her own will, like he had been when he took the Dark Mark.
'Ah, those were the days,' the man thought, 'Mudbloods cowering like the pathetic creatures they were, the heady feeling of their fear of me, and my brothers in arms, of course. Their blood ran freely in the streets and I cursed my House Elves if they failed to clean it off soon enough. Not that I ever let them off without punishment, of course. And if I play my cards right, the good old days will be back.'
He had done a great job of gathering like minded wizards and witches together, using that Lily Potter Foundation as a rallying point. Not in public, no, in public he had to make statements more acceptable to the great unwashed, but the wizards of quality knew what he meant.
By now, he had assembled a coalition near a hundred who were fairly solidly behind him, not that they truly understood that. No, they had sworn to follow the Dark Lord, which in practice meant they had sworn to follow him as the senior Inner Circle member available. Lucius was leaving that control in reserve, however.
There was no advantage to revealing his weapons ahead of time. Better to use honeyed words and some trifles like the grand banquet he was throwing, and leave the dagger of their Oaths until it was necessary.
The last week of term passed with a buzz of excitement as imprudent students who had left their runs to find a date to the last minute scrambled to find someone, anyone, they could take. Fleur and Yvette were affronted, and confronted, by a number of boys who waylaid them trying to ask them out. Most of them at least managed to get their question out, eventually, but some like Dean Thomas just blurted out something and ran with red faces.
"Don't zey know zat we are Harry's?" Fleur protested, exasperated.
"They do!" Susan soothed the older girl. "They are getting desperate, though. Harry has distorted the ratio between unattached boys and girls here."
Fleur found herself hugged from behind from Harry, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "Ah, merci."
"My pleasure, Fleur."
Finally, the train took the students home who were going. This year, it was mostly the younger students since the older ones were almost to a witch and wizard going to the Ball.
Harry was concerned that with so many students in the castle and no classes, that they might get bored enough to start trouble and he had clones on patrol to keep an eye on things. As Moody said, Constant Vigilance.
Speaking of that, Harry remembered that he had seen that Moody often got visits from Mr Crouch from the Ministry, according to the Marauders' Map, but he had never observed Crouch leave. Harry put it down to use of the Floo from the DADA Professors' office.
No, for once, it looked like there was only one fairly inept attempt on his life this year, the Triwizard Tournament. Oh, the tasks were dangerous, but Harry was far better protected than any of his enemies knew, or so he hoped and honestly believed.
That meant Harry was free to spend time on other matters more. He already had most of the Hogwarts Library copied back at home, and his parents were scanning in book after book as well to make electronic copies too.
Best of all, though, it meant more moments like this, surrounded by the ladies he loved, knowing they loved him back.
With the shortest day of the year just passed, it was now time for the Yule Ball. The girls generally went around in packs, talking about what everyone was going to wear and who was going with whom. The boys behaved about as one might expect of teenage boys, debating about the girls and who they would, or wouldn't, date. They talked as well as about Christmas the following day, the presents they wanted, the presents they expected to get, and so on, and of course, Quidditch.
While some students were engaged in a mass snowball fight, others, more sensibly they felt, stayed inside in the warm rooms by the enormous fires that had been set.
With several hours to go before the Ball, the girls started heading up to get ready. Some boys were incredulous when their female friends left for that reason, sadly unaware how much time it can take ladies to look their best for special events. Lavender was in her element, applying and reapplying makeup jutsu to dozens of oathbound girls in a room they had taken over specially. In her mind, this had to be one of the greatest inventions ever!
The boys got an education when the girls started returning, meeting up with their dates for the evening or simply heading toward the Great Hall, milling outside it and chatting to their friends about idle things to hide their nerves and excitement.
The doors opened and Professor McGonagall sorted the Champions from the crowd, letting the mass of students swarm inside to their tables under her eagle eyes. The Weasley twins had been placed on their best behaviour, namely, they were required to offer an Oath against causing any trouble or any of their jokes for the evening if they wished to attend the Ball. Since Fred and George were drawn to the spectacle as much as any other student, they had freely given it, giving McGonagall some hope that she wouldn't be shamed by them again.
Once everyone else was settled down in the hall, Professor McGonagall told the Champions and their partners to get in line in pairs and follow her. Harry and Luna headed toward her, taking their place in line between Cedric Diggory and Nymphadora Tonks ahead and Fleur Delacour and Mark Wilkinson behind, getting to chat with their friends while Viktor Krum and his date, one of the Ravenclaw girls who wasn't interested in boys according to rumour, brought up the rear.
The Great Hall filled with applause as the Champions entered, heading up to the large round table where the judges were sitting. The walls had been decorated in sparkling silver frost, mistletoe garlands crossing the starry ceiling, and everything buffed and cleaned until it shined. The long House tables had been replaced by about few dozen smaller ones lit by lanterns, each able to hold about a dozen people. Most tables weren't quite full, either, not a surprise to Harry since there weren't enough students to fill them. The visiting dignitaries and officials were at their own tables near the place of honour holding the judges and Champions.
Holding her seat for her, Harry allowed Luna to sit down before taking his assigned place next to her, noting that Mark Wilkinson had nearly stumbled over his own part before pinching himself surreptitiously. Cedric had no such trouble with staying clear-headed with his date. The young man was all too aware that he was the centre of attention tonight and offering insult by less than model behaviour would kill any hopes of a good Quidditch career after school. Nym almost giggled at how his hands shook. It was quite a turnaround for her not to be the klutz. Instead, she thanked him quietly under the cover of the noise in the hall. He calmed a little, managing not to spill her from her seat.
Harry had noticed that one of the regular judges was missing, replaced by another of the multitude of Weasleys. From his spying on the students in previous years, he recognized him as Percy Weasley, a snobbish and officious little bureaucrat in the making from what Ministry gossip already said. That matched unfortunately well with his time in Hogwarts, but it could be in reaction to his hellish younger brothers pranking him all the time.
Percy had drawn out the chair next to him while looking at Harry, but Harry had had no intention of subjecting himself or his Luna to that all night, instead taking the ones in between his friends. Instead, the seat next to Percy was taken by a glowering Ravenclaw and Percy shut his mouth before he could protest.
Looking at the menu, Harry smiled seeing a few of his favourites listed. Dumbledore had done the same, saying "Pork chops!" which was followed by their appearance on his plate. Getting the idea, the others started doing the same. Harry bit back a comment on how Dumbledore could have mentioned that on the menu instead of showing off. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fleur doing the same.
Conversation started up as they dug into the surprisingly decent food. Even Krum started talking, going on about Durmstrang's beautiful if cold surrounds until Karkaroff cut him off for 'security'.
"Igor, all this secrecy - one would almost think you didn't want visitors." Dumbledore chided him smiling and eyes twinkling.
"Well, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, displaying his yellowing teeth to their fullest extent, "we are all protective of our private domains, are we not? Do we not jealously guard the halls of learn ing that have been entrusted to us? Are we not right to be proud that we alone know our school's secrets, and right to protect them?"
"Oh I would never dream of assuming I know all Hogwarts' se crets, Igor." Dumbledore said amicably.
"Only this morning, for instance, I took a wrong turning on the way to the bathroom and found myself in a beautifully proportioned room I have never seen before, containing a really rather magnificent collection of cham ber pots. When I went back to investigate more closely, I discov ered that the room had vanished. But I must keep an eye out for it. Possibly it is only accessible at five-thirty in the morning. Or it may only appear at the quarter moon — or when the seeker has an ex ceptionally full bladder."
Harry covered his smile with his napkin. 'I am pretty sure he was closest with that last guess of his. It sounds just like the Room of Requirement. And that crack of Karkaroff's regarding private domains really was on the money. Dumbledore still fights tooth and nail to keep Hogwarts as his alone.
'I am annoyed that bastard Crouch managed to hold onto his position, but the Ministry already views it as a punishment position for having to deal with all those foreigners. A stupid, short-sighted attitude from a stupid, short-sighted Ministry, really. He did lose his vaults to Sirius, though, and has been forbidden from leaving the country without informing the DMLE. Quite an inconvenience for someone whose job requires so much travel, what with all the clearances and forms he has to sign. Amelia's betting that the paperwork will force him to quit soon.'
Carrying on his talks with Luna about various creatures she had seen on nature documentaries, Harry put the matter out of his mind and gave the sometimes ethereal girl his attention, making her feel as special as Harry knew she was. Fleur was discussing decorations with Mark, and Cedric and Nym were talking about Quidditch teams and plays.
When their meals were done, the plates were cleared again and Dumbledore stood up, asking the students and guests to do the same. With a wave of his wand, the tables went zooming off back along the walls, clearing the floor for dancing. Another spell conjured a platform for the musicians who trooped in, the Weird Sisters. There was some applause, mostly from the wizard raised who hadn't been exposed to any of the popular music of the last century while those who had gave some polite applause before quickly stopping.
The band struck up a slow, mournful tune for ten seconds before the frantic signals from McGonagall made them segue into a cheerful tune more appropriate for a celebratory Ball. By the looks of it, Minerva had been threatening to demonstrate her Transfiguration skills on the band if they screwed up again.
Harry smiled and offered his hand to Luna. "If my lady would do me the honour of this dance?"
Luna sketched a curtsy and smiled back. "The honour is mine, sir."
They headed out onto the floor where Harry took her in his arms and led off slowly, letting Luna set the level of the dancing she was able to handle. To their mutual delight, Luna proved to be a rather skilled partner, and they made a good couple. Even if their disparity in heights could have made them look odd, they made it work. Luna put her head against Harry's chest near the end of the song, a blissful smile in evidence as her feet moved automatically.
After the first dance, the Champions swapped partners, Cedric with Fleur, Nym with Harry and Mark with Luna. Krum was content staying with his own partner anyway, but none of the girls had wanted to trust his duck feet near their fancy shoes. He had already stepped on the Ravenclaw girl's feet three times. She had proven her place in the House of the Smart by already having Cushioning Charms cast on her feet and legs. At least she had noticed how ungainly the star Seeker was on land.
Another dance later and the three girls had all danced with each of the guys apart from Krum. Karkaroff looked upset at the slight to his favourite but there was nothing he could do about it under dance protocol, not without causing even more of a scene.
At that point, others cut in, hoping for dances with the Champions or their partners. Generally, they only accepted trustworthy boys and girls, meaning none of the young Death Eater crowd and no one who would make unwanted advances. Some advances were wanted, however. Cedric welcomed the attention from the older Gryffindor girls and Mark had caught the eye of another Ravenclaw. It seemed he liked the 'brainy birds' and Harry couldn't blame him. They did make more interesting conversationalists.
Speaking of Ravenclaws, Harry gave Padma a kiss after their song ended and she moaned in his ear. "I want to drag you off this dance floor so you can make me scream your name."
Harry groaned too at the image.
"You and the rest of us." Lavender said, having overheard the pair.
"Patience, Lav, you know our clones are going to be living up all your dirty fantasies right now, and you'll be getting all her memories once she's done." Harry grinned as Lavender did her best to poke through her robes.
"Right now, though, you're in public, dancing at a Ball where anyone can see. Even Malfoy." Harry added when her arousal only spiked at the idea of being seen. The prospect of the ferret seeing her poured cold water on her hormones, though.
She took a deep breath, before glaring at Harry. "You know I'll be paying you back for teasing me like that later, right, Harry?"
"Looking forward to it."
She smiled, knowing she was looking forward to it as well, and they resumed dancing close.
Harry was wrong on the details, but right overall, as up in the Room of Requirement, Lavender, Hermione and the others had left their clones to enjoy themselves in private with Harry and each other, while in the Hall they were elegant and dancing.
Back at the Ball and well away from their private fun, Harry had a couple of clones on patrol to listen to conversations both in and out of the Hall. He didn't much care about most of the students or guests but some definitely were on his watchlist. Top was Dumbledore. While Harry wouldn't quite call the old man evil, perhaps, he definitely wasn't as good as he fondly imagined himself to be. Tonight, Dumbledore was in his element, confident that here he was the master. That confidence made him a trifle more relaxed about what and how he said things than his usual political self, which meant there was a chance he might slip up and say something useful rather than his usual platitudes and half-truths.
Also on Harry's list were Snape and Karkaroff, both were Death Eaters back during Voldemort's terror and both had been nasty pieces of work since. Neither had renounced their bigotry or acted like they regretted anything except for losing. Percy, the little lickspittle, was also on the list since he was too foolish to keep things to himself when he thought himself important, like he did tonight. Harry felt that Bagman was also worth recording for later examination in case he slipped out anything about the Tournament or the betting Harry was sure he had done.
The other guests had a lower priority for Harry, though he wouldn't turn his nose up at information coming from any source really.
Two of the high profile targets drew Harry's attention when they slipped out of the castle together for a private talk. If that's what they intended, though, they were clearly trusting to good manners for their security not to anything more substantial. In the event, they seemed to have thought themselves unobserved as they hissed and argued in low voices.
Evidently Karkaroff was upset though the reason didn't become clear until near the end.
"… don't see what there is to fuss about, Igor."
"Severus, you cannot pretend this isn't happening!" Karkaroff's voice sounded anxious and hushed, as though keen not to be over heard. "It's been getting clearer and clearer for months. I am be coming seriously concerned, I can't deny it —"
"Then flee," said Snape's voice curtly, "flee — I will make your excuses. I, however, am remaining at Hogwarts."
Harry's clone dashed in, clinging to the stone walls of the castle, and saw Karkaroff replacing his robe over his left arm. Knowing that both of them were Death Eaters, Harry was worried that they were talking about their Dark Marks. It would make sense of the conversation and it was one thing the pair had in common, in fact their membership was about their only connection other than both had remained free because of their supposed help.
Having read the transcript of Karkaroff's trial, Harry was clear on just how desperate the man had been to stay out of Azkaban. Harry had wondered at just how Dumbledore had meant that Snape was as much a Death Eater as Dumbledore himself. Oh, it was clear Dumbledore was trying to imply that Snape wasn't one, but Harry knew the politician was a master at misleading and misdirecting an audience.
He was probably overthinking it. Dumbledore was Harry's enemy, but that didn't mean he was a Death Eater.
Harry smiled wryly to himself. There were times when the Clan's training was really unhelpful.
The orgy wore down as the night wore on, ending with the girls tired and enjoying a cuddlefest. Hermione had noticed Harry reacting to Nym's changes in appearance, and made a note to ask the older girl later about it. For now, she was feeling just too relaxed, too good, to risk having to think about anything serious. She closed her eyes, the last of the girls to fall asleep, wrapped up in her Harry's loving arms.
Overnight, the girls' clones dispelled one by one as sleep took them leaving the real girls with Harry and his clones. Unlike Harry, they didn't have his years of experience with the technique so they still had some problems, like the technique destabilising as the controlling mind lost consciousness. He was confident they would overcome these initial hurdles as he had, given practice, and he was going to make sure they got plenty of everything they wanted and needed.
Once the clones were alone, they made their quiet way to the library to work more on that project. It was good to stay busy.
In the morning, the Jewels, those who had attended both the Ball and the orgy, awoke and experienced a similar set of minor shocks at just how horny, how wanton and sexy, they had been at the orgy before winding up snuggled to Harry's clones. Even Nym and Lavender, normally more physically expressive, had enjoyed winding down at the end of that night in Harry's arms, tender feelings dominating their thoughts.
The whole experience just helped to reinforce how good life was for them when they were together, and they missed getting to wake up with the others.