Chapter 46 - Black Lake Runoff
The Jewels' party mood continued with another 'Puff party on the 7th and a Sexy Party on the 14th. It was during the 'Puff party that Daphne and Tracey brought up something that got the attention of all of them.
"Harry, we really like these Hufflepuff parties." Daphne began.
"But we are feeling a little left out. They're Hufflepuff parties and not Slytherin parties." Tracey added.
"That's why we're hoping to throw a party of our own, with the help of our favourite Slytherin."
"That's you, Harry." Tracey clarified.
"Who else is so cunning that he has deceived the entire Wizarding World and hidden the way he took out a colony of Acromantulas?"
"Who else was ambitious enough to attack a colony of Acromantulas as a student?" Tracey grinned.
"Ok, ok, Harry will do it." Hermione replied amid her giggles. She knew Harry well enough and the girls were doing a great parody of the Weasley twins.
Harry was already nodding as he soaked up their praise. "So what kind of party are we Slytherins going to throw?"
"Sophie mentioned that for the Hufflepuff parties we dress in whatever's comfortable, and for the Sexy Parties, well, we could lose our clothes at the door," Tracey winked at the two Veela who only nodded back. "So Daphne and I were thinking something elegant, a formal dinner party where we show just how beautiful we can be."
"How beautiful you are." Harry corrected absently as he thought it over quickly. "Well, I don't see any problems, only an opportunity for more fittings to get each of you looking perfect for the party."
"I thought you'd see it my way." Daphne purred.
The following day, they got involved in making plans for the party. Again, they had chosen the East Wing since it was a large open area, perfect for remodelling for various needs. Harry had made some designs for the furniture. One thought he had was to craft the chairs especially for one or another of the Jewels, giving them the most comfortable seating possible.
A quick message home via making and dispelling a clone, and the ones in Cranleigh got to work on the project. There was plenty of usable wood around and more could be produced on demand by Naruto and the Angels, and Harry was intimately familiar with the measurements of his ladies after the regular fittings, the massages and the happy endings they led to. He also made up enough chairs for seating all his clones at once, again designed to fit perfectly just one person.
He was also busy making new outfits from the skin up for the Jewels. These were challenges to his sartorial talents, designed to be elegant, beautiful and perfectly matched to the variety of young ladies.
Miyuki arrived the following week with an expanded bag containing some of the furniture, accepting attention, a long drink of water and a plate of bacon before heading back for the next flight. The proud snowy owl had refused the suggestion of other owls helping out when it was made, making some of the girls giggle before they quickly apologised to the feathery friend. Miyuki's temper didn't cool until Ginny bribed with her last piece of bacon.
In class, Harry was still as attentive and hard-working as always and he still had clones on Library duty to copy the various sections. Outside of that, though, he and his clones were enjoying themselves more than ever. The woodwork and tailoring were great projects for keeping him busy with the prospect of a lasting effect, something he could take pride in.
The other source of enjoyment for the young man was his ladies. The Jewels were young, happy, in love and in lust with him, and he was reaping the benefits of having clones.
The Ravens also wanted a party of their own, but weren't agreed what form they wanted until Luna reminded them that they had access to the Room of Requirement. "Surely the room our Founder made is the perfect location in both ways. It's appropriate for a Ravenclaw party, and it has the ability to change into just about anything we want it to be."
"Fantasy!" Cho blurted out then blushed under their gazes as she recalled Harry playing the naughty student to her innocent professor the night before. "I mean, we can make fantasy the theme for our parties. The first one could be based on Alice in Wonderland."
Luna loved the idea, but Padma, Sue and Lisa weren't so sure. "I like the idea," Padma added, "but why don't we go with something simple for the first one. A masked ball gives us the freedom to dress up." And so it went. Elaborate costumes were the order of the day for the ball, as well as getting into character. With Harry in support, it went off without a hitch and they were all happy to have another one.
They now had four different types of party to enjoy and four Saturdays a month, which seemed like a natural combination. As a rule, the Cranleigh girls were smuggled in with the aid of the Marauders who loved their ongoing prank. Each party was a lot of fun, and each of them featured at least some sex as Harry and the girls expressed their love and lust for each other.
All the partying didn't go completely unnoticed by the rest of the student body. Katie, Angelina and Alicia in particular took note of it all, or what they could find out. Angelina and Alicia were the older pair and they led Katie a lot of the time as a result. At this particular time, they were leading Katie towards the Sixth Floor under a Disillusionment Charm, trying to find the location for the next party that they suspected would be an elegant affair.
They had dressed up just in case they managed to crash the party so they would fit right in. Their first intimation that they had misjudged things was when Katie's hand flew to her face, seeing the formerly clumsy and down to Earth Nymphadora (Don't Call Me That) Tonks walking proudly with an aristocratic air, wearing the most beautiful and artful dress that any of them had ever seen.
It just got more surreal from there as flirty and friendly Sally-Anne Perks walked in after her, her hips swinging from side to side in a very sexy walk, her own dress perfectly suited to her thin figure and matching her dark brown hair and eyes.
While Angelina and Alicia were feeling jealous of the girls, Katie had no choice but to admit to herself that she was also feeling jealous of Harry. It was an eye-opening experience for the girl, raised in the sheltered society, to see girls so openly proud of their sexuality without being slutty. Unbeknownst to Katie, the Jewels reserved that for Harry's eyes only. The way it made her want to see more of the girls shocked her to her core.
They gave up the idea of crashing the party at that point, heading back the way they came knowing that their best simply hadn't been in the same league as Harry's Harem as it was called, very quietly, by some of the students. Harry and his girls objected to that name but they couldn't stamp it out entirely. Those girls the Chasers saw, no, those young ladies, just outclassed everyone else, and it was obviously an effect of joining the group since it had even worked on Nym.
At the Slytherin party, Harry's handmade furniture was a hit, but he should have known that someone there would have the idea to use Harry as a seat as the night progressed. What he hadn't expected was for all the girls to end up sitting on the lap of one or another of Harry's clones, who were each glad that they had their own custom-built chairs to support each pair. Ella suggested that they keep these chairs for every party and discussion. With how she was grinding back against the Harry supporting her, it was obvious what else she wanted to do with those chairs.
Harry found out later that the Flying Foxes had tried to crash his party, and how, thanks to some of the clones he had spying around the place. That just increased his preparedness for the Second Task.
Not much else of note happened before then, and the day before the Task, Harry had already removed all of his belongings from the Hufflepuff Dorm, as well as securing any of his dormmates' gear that they wanted to protect from a 'well-meaning' Tournament official trying to get something of Harry's into the Tournament and taking their own valuables instead.
Harry was also keeping an eye on his friends, male and female, throughout the day. He had talked to Minerva about the Tournament, sharing his evidence that the no-cheating rule was an administrative thing rather than something enforced by the deadly artifact. She agreed, but still didn't want to risk his life. "I have failed you too much already, Harry," she told him fondly, "and I know you will survive anything this Tournament throws at you."
Harry was filled with her pride in him and thanked her earnestly before they went to speak of other things.
As the Friday wore on, however, the tension mounted higher and higher. Harry, Fleur and Cedric knew that it was coming, but couldn't really do anything about it. Harry's idea of a preemptive strike against the two Headmasters and the Headmistress was looking better and better as the hours wound down.
The Jewels noted his tension and did their best to relax him. Before curfew, with them all gathered, Hermione asked Harry for a promise. "What promise?"
"Promise me that if they do take us, that you won't go through this castle wrecking it to find us. We trust you will be able to rescue us if we are taken. You know they don't want to kill the hostages, they just want to make the Champions try their hardest. Please, just go through with the challenge."
"Why, Hermione?" Harry pleaded.
"I don't want you to have to live with the consequences of giving into your anger and fear." Hermione replied, getting surprised nods and agreement from the rest.
Luna smiled. "We trust you to bring us back, Harry, so please relax, Love, and let's enjoy tonight."
Harry caved in, cuddling with his Jewels, and Luna caressed the real Harry's cheek. "Alright, Luna, I'll try."
It was a decision he would regret in the morning when he woke.
Albus Dumbledore was vexed with Harry.
Rather than accepting the proper guidance from the most qualified wizard alive, himself, Harry Potter was trying to make his own way, stubbornly ignoring what was best for him.
He had even spurned the Weasley family for a minor turning away from the Light when everybody knew they had been firm supporters of the Light for ages. Harry wouldn't forgive Molly until Molly acknowledged she had done wrong, and that meant he would never forgive the woman. That was a disaster as it would leave him burdened by guilt if he never forgave the energetic woman her foibles before her eventual death.
On the other hand, Harry had used his wealth to help those in need, which was Good. He was also proving to be resilient, powerful and surprising, which gave the ancient wizard a measure of hope for the coming confrontation, foreordained by a prophecy given before the boy's birth.
Harry was also a loving boy who opposed the Dark entirely. Albus had used only the most subtle Legilimency on Harry's little harem looking for any history of Harry dominating his friends and found none of it. Albus had to stop the practice this school year on any of Harry's friends. He never could get anything from Harry that way and now the problem was spreading. At least the portraits still reported on Harry's movements.
So, rather than calling in any of the girls to ask for their participation, Albus did what he preferred to do, keeping the information to himself. He called in four house elves, giving each one a pebble that he had turned into a Portkey that would take anyone in contact with it to the Hospital Wing when it activated overnight.
Rather than trying to figure out just which girl was most important to young Potter, Albus selected Luna Lovegood on the theory that since she was the one Harry had picked for the Yule Ball, she was obviously special to him. Likewise, with a lack of other candidates for Cedric Diggory's hostage, he had selected Andromeda Black's daughter. Madame Maxime had already picked out Fleur's sister as a hostage, unsure if she really believed that her Champion would make a permanent attachment to the Boy-Who-Lived and unable in any event to use him as a hostage.
Lastly, not allowing Minerva to raise any silly objections by not consulting her, Albus had allowed Igor to choose Viktor Krum's Ravenclaw date to the Ball as his hostage.
His original plan, to call the students into his office and tell them what would happen, had been dropped when his trusted Potions Master had pointed out that at least three of the four students no longer trusted him. If he called them in and explained, they might refuse or try to escape. Much easier this way.
Albus went to sleep with a smile, satisfied that at least this would go to plan.
Harry woke up next to Luna, or where she should have been. A high-speed search of the Third Year girls' dorm failed to turn up her location, and the clone dispelled immediately. The other clones, and the real Harry, now knew that the girl was missing, and the clone in the Seventh Year Hufflepuff girls' dorm woke up a little later, out of bed a second later and searching for her, too, then dispelling.
It was confirmed. Two of his Jewels had been taken away from him, kidnapped from their own beds. The guilty people were going to pay!
Harry woke up Cedric and let him know what had happened, checking that the older boy hadn't lost any property. "No, Harry, it's all here."
"Damn them!"
"Calm down, Harry!" Cedric urged. "We know they're going to try to keep them safe until the start of the event. The danger won't really start until then."
"That's if they do it right. Right now, I wouldn't trust them to sit the right way on a toilet seat."
Cedric snorted at the image. "Still, Harry, we trust you! Once you find them, we both know you will keep them safe. Right?"
"Right." Harry allowed.
"So let's go find them."
Taking a few deep breaths, Harry calmed down enough to get his head back on straight. He created a number of clones that spread out through the castle and grounds, trying to find the hostages. He had promised not to break things. He had never intended to promise not to search for them. Harry thought that Hermione, at least, understood that when she had asked him.
Unfortunately for his peace of mind, none of the hostages were visible anywhere that he could look. The Hospital Wing had been empty apart from a briefly startled Madam Pomfrey who looked around for the source of the wind. The Library, never a place Harry expected to find them, was likewise a bust, as were all the other rooms in the castle that he could access. That was all of them except for the offices of the Headmaster and the DADA Professor. The gargoyle guarded the former and a number of nasty spells guarded the latter, making an unobtrusive investigation of either impossible.
At breakfast, Harry forced himself to eat. When Harry noted who was absent, it seemed clear enough that three of the four dates taken to the Yule Ball had been taken hostage. Fleur wasn't happy about her exemption to this, as she was afraid it meant they had taken one of her family instead.
While most of the students were excited about the spectacle, Harry's friends were more concerned with their absent members. It was unfair to have three of them taken while the rest of the school was almost untouched. They took to giving Cedric, Fleur and Harry encouragements as best they could, but their best wasn't that good that morning.
As the morning came to an end, Harry had to admit that he had failed to find the hostages in time. He had gone to the Deputy Headmistress who was livid and tore strips off an unconcerned Dumbledore.
"Really, Minerva, it's all for the best. They will be perfectly safe, I assure you." Somehow, this failed to reassure her in the slightest.
The original timing for the task was going to be early in the morning, until an acerbic Minerva McGonagall had pointed out just how cold Hogwarts was in February. In response, rather than cancelling the proposal to send the Champions into freezing cold water at all, they had simply made it later in the day when it would be warmer. Warmer was relative, however, as even the middle of the day wouldn't be that far above freezing most days.
This was one of those days. The clouds had parted and the wind was low, but not even that was enough to bring the temperature up enough for comfort. The Beauxbatons contingent had long since acquired cloaks and scarves to protect them against the Scottish winter.
With an appearance of calm, Harry walked down with his two fellow Champions (minus Krum) to the judges' table. Krum was glowering as he arrived last. The student body made their own way after them, taking up seats in the stands that had been moved to overlook the Black Lake.
When enough of the stands were filled, Ludo Bagman came over, moved the Champions apart, spaced ten feet from each other along the bank, and put his wand to his throat. "Sonorus!"
"Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One … two … three!"
The whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air; the stands erupted with cheers and applause.
Fleur and Cedric had their own strategies for the task. Unfortunately, the tracking charms they had placed on their Yule dates had been dispelled by the organisers as 'cheating' so they were already forced to resort to their backup plans. The Warming and Bubblehead Charms they cast worked, though, allowing them to enter the deadly environment safely as long as their magic lasted.
Krum used some self-Transfiguration, gaining some shark-like features as he dived into the water and swimming through it.
Harry, though, was cheating for all he was worth. He had stripped off his Hogwarts robes, revealing a wetsuit that was doing a good job at keeping him warm on its own and angering the "Muggles are worthless" crowd. Once he was ready, he ran off across the Black Lake, utilising one of the basic ninja chakra control techniques and a useful ability in its own right to change the surface tension of the water under his feet. Harry allowed himself a small smile at the open-mouthed shock of the crowd.
Other clones were dropped into the water under the cover of splashes kicked up by his movement and while in stealth, they searched the lake for Harry. Soon, they found the merpeople village which had been ignored in his earlier searches for the hostages. Harry now suspected that magic was involved to make him overlook it.
Dropping into the water once he was almost directly overhead, Harry used another of the techniques to breathe underwater, darting straight down to the centre of the village where he could see the hostages all tied up to a crude statue of a giant merperson hewn from a boulder, bound to its tail. There was a crowd of merpeople around them at the bottom of the lake, some carrying spears like they wanted to use them.
Harry had another choice to make. He could take Luna who was his hostage, or he could take more than just her. Making a snap decision, Harry signalled one hidden clone to watch over the other hostages as he swiftly freed his little angel, a single swipe of a kunai more than a match for the ropes of weed binding her.
He could see she was still asleep as he pulled her up to the surface, something that made transporting her far easier really, a fine stream of bubbles trailing her as he got her back up and closer to safety. As her head broke the surface, Luna woke up and shivered against him. Harry carried her bridal style as he ran back at a good pace, careful not to jostle her as he went.
The assembled students, staff and guests were stunned. Harry Potter was first, again, and this time he had been walking on water! Harry handed her off to a concerned Pomfrey, waiting with a lot of blankets and some hot drinks, then turned back to the Lake.
"Where do you think you're going, Mr Potter." Pomfrey demanded.
"Back to the lake, obviously. There are more hostages who must be returned safely."
"Oh they are perfectly fine, Mr Potter. No harm can come to them while they are in that enchanted sleep."
Harry scoffed and walked past her, casually dodging her clumsy attempt to grab him. "Mr Potter, get back here! You must be examined."
"Very well, Madam Pomfrey, but do not think to delay me with unnecessary diagnostic spells." Harry tried to command her, letting a fraction of Killing Intent slip out.
"I will be the judge of what is necessary, young man!" Pomfrey blustered to cover for her fear, but she did cast the spells as quickly as she could, finding again that he was free of injuries or any banned forms of magic affecting him. "You may go."
Harry Potter was already gone by the time she looked up.
There were things going on under the surface. This was a truism for the Clan, and for their son Harry Potter. They had trained him to spot the undercurrents in conversations and in politics. Right now, Harry was literally sensing the currents and guiding Fleur and Cedric toward the village where Mark and Nym were waiting for them. On the way, Fleur, frantic and distracted by the urgency of rescuing her sister, was attacked by small, vicious water demons known as Grindylow. While her affinity for fire was useless underwater, she still had a number of other spells available and she demonstrated one of them now.
The Banishing Hex was a Fourth Year spell in the Hogwarts curriculum, far from the hardest spell to learn, but no less useful for all of that. Fleur put it to good use here, a single cast knocking back one of the creatures and causing a shockwave that caught several others. Emboldened, she started casting it at or near the rest of the evil little creatures, knocking out or killing the rest as she continued swimming.
After that little skirmish, Fleur was found by Harry who signalled to her to follow him. She did just that, heading slightly off the straight line route to the village to take advantage of the currents with his guidance and water affinity. Unknown to her, Harry was also manipulating the water around them, propelling them faster than Fleur could swim alone. He was also doing the same for Cedric who had been headed in another direction at first, and the two Champions converged on the hostages. When the mermen saw Harry returning for the remaining students, they moved to cut him off.
That was a bad mistake. At first, Harry just forced them back, using the currents against them, but that was soon countered by the strong swimmers and they again pressed in, brandishing their spears. Harry ignored them until the first one swung at him, grabbing and shattering the head and breaking the merman's hands. This was as restrained as Harry was prepared to act, however, a warning not to mess with him.
Two more mermen ignored the warning, trying to pincer Harry between their attacks. They ended up slicing into each other as he dodged at the last moment. To make his point sink in, Harry used ninja wires on the mermen, taking their spears and knives and then tying them up. Harry felt like sighing, knowing how his Jewels would be disappointed in him if he left it like that, as he swam back to the two mermen who were trying to staunch their bleeding stomachs with their hands. They were fearful of him, and rightly so, but Harry ignored that and tied them up too so they couldn't struggle as he set about saving their lives.
Fleur and Cedric came along just about halfway through the time limit, getting their hostages quickly and passing a badly cowed group of merpeople. While they were curious, it was more important to get Fleur's sister Gabrielle and Nym Tonks back to dry land.
Harry returned with them, providing an armed and dangerous escort. The other creatures in the water sensed that, giving the group a wide berth.
Harry got out first, helping Fleur get Gabrielle onto the muddy bank, then Cedric with his Nym, the two Champions waiting anxiously as he got them upright again before Fleur moved in, hugging the little girl tight to her. "Gabrielle!" What followed was a torrent of French that Harry was unable to follow amid the flow of tears.
Nym on the other hand, knew exactly what she needed, giving Cedric a quick but sincere "Thanks!" before latching onto Harry and kissing him for all she was worth.
Harry saw Madam Pomfrey bustling over and he fixed her with a glare. "The hostages are fine, now. Shouldn't you be making sure that the Ravenclaw girl is ok?"
"Oh, nonsense. That enchanted sleep will last for hours, yet."
"No, Madam Pomfrey. It is not 'nonsense'. It is your duty, your job, to look after the students. How do you know that girl is ok?" Harry pressed.
"Well, she was fine when I put her under." Pomfrey explained. "They all were."
"You?! How could you kidnap students from the safety of their beds?!" Deep down, Harry knew his sudden rage was irrational, a side-effect of the recent combat he had fought, but right then he couldn't bring himself to care. "Madam Pomfrey, will you take an Oath, right here and now, to treat your students ethically or must I defend myself and my friends from your 'help'?" Harry demanded, using a lot more Killing Intent than before.
"But I have sworn an Oath! Dumbledore-" Pomfrey protested.
That name was like a red flag to a bull to Harry. "Following Dumbledore is what put over half a dozen students in danger! Three Hogwarts students and a small child were assaulted and kidnapped in their sleep by staff we are supposed to trust with our safety. How can we trust you after that?"
Although extremely reluctant, she knew in her bones that Harry was serious. Under the unfriendly gaze of the half-dozen people before her, she quickly swore the Oath, then gasped and hurriedly cast warming charms and a Bubblehead Charm, preparing to jump into the Lake herself to rescue the remaining pair at risk when the Ravenclaw girl broke the surface, gasping for air and shivering.
Pomfrey glared at Harry as her new Oath compelled her to start casting Warming Charms at the girl before her, then drying her and wrapping in blankets. By that time, Viktor Krum had reversed his Transfiguration and was also out of the Lake, receiving his own high-speed action to help him warm up.
Harry, for his part, ignored her displeasure. If she didn't want to do her job, she should have resigned already and not neglected and abused those in her power. Now, for her sins, she was compelled to treat patients to the best of her ability for as long as she worked as any sort of healer. She could still resign from the profession, though perhaps she had yet to work that out.
Taking down the one-way sound barrier that had kept their confrontation private for long enough, Harry was just in time as Ludo Bagman and Dumbledore hurried over to the water's edge. One of the merpeople, a particularly wild and ferocious-looking female, was screeching at Dumbledore and he screeched back, talking about the way one of the competitors had 'attacked' their village.
"Did any of you attack the merpeople?" he asked, grandfatherly mien absent.
"No, Mr Dumbledore. I did defend myself from the unprovoked attack of the dozens of merpeople armed with spears who tried to gut me as I escorted Miss Delacour to her hostage. They tried to stop us from getting to Miss Gabrielle Delacour to rescue her from their clutches. I tried to hold them back peacefully. They attacked and two of them struck each other when they missed me. I disarmed the village since the others were still trying to kill me, then patched up the two mermen and saved their lives." Harry's reply was delivered in a cold voice. "Maybe I shouldn't have helped them live if this is how they thank me."
Harry saw two mermen swim up at that point, the two he had saved, pulling at the merchieftainess and talking to her. From the way they were moving, they were worked up about it. The merwoman then screeched at Dumbledore, explaining that it was all a misunderstanding and giving Harry an intense look that he couldn't decipher.
Dumbledore straightened up and gave Harry an approving nod. "It seems it is as you say, Mr Potter. The two you saved have set the story straight. Very well, I shall explain that to the other judges."
Harry was happy to know that his act hadn't been dismissed by the mermen after all. He would have been happier to know that from then on, none of the mer would risk harm coming to those using the Lake in case they angered him. Though he would have been amused to learn that they still didn't want to talk to him. Some things didn't change.
"Headmaster Dumbledore!" Fleur called indignantly. "Don't you have something to do first?"
Dumbledore was perplexed. "No, I don't believe so, Miss Delacour."
"How about an apology, sir?" Cedric put in waspishly. "You insulted all of us, accusing us of a very grave crime, then think to ignore it?"
"Oh, yes, of course." Dumbledore replied. "I do apologise for the insult and implied accusation. I retract it fully and hope you will forgive the transgression. I am afraid I jumped to the wrong conclusion." They could see he was at least reasonably sincere. He was also in a hurry.
Fleur gave a small nod. "Apology accepted, 'Eadmaster Dumbledore." The others followed her lead.
The judges went into a huddle. Karkaroff gave Harry a considering look then went back to the discussion. If Potter could get Dumbledore to back down, then he was worth cultivating. He dismissed the Veela and the other Englishman as being responsible. The guiding hand was clearly Potter's.
Since Harry was the first back with his own hostage after performing another impressive feat of magic, silently and wandlessly casting a spell to allow water walking that none of them recognised, implying either great research into hidden magics or the invention of his own spell, Bagman and Percy Weasley, standing in for an ill Bartemius Crouch, wanted to award him full marks. The news that he had then defeated the attack by the merpeople made it all the more impressive. He had even done it to help his friends, placing himself on the line again.
With those two awarding his young student full marks, there was no way Dumbledore could see to do less even if he had wanted to. Not if he didn't want to drive the child of prophecy even further away from him. He was surprised by Percy's support after the way Harry had spurned the redhead's own parents but maybe that was the reason. Percy had all but abandoned his family too.
Madame Maxime was less enamoured of the Potter boy than the English, but he had helped Fleur when he could have stayed on land instead. She gave him another nine, and Fleur a ten for 'her persuasive efforts gaining her extra help within the rules'. She gave Cedric a seven and Krum a four. In response, Bagman gave Fleur a six and Cedric a nine, while Percy gave them both sevens and Krum received a six. Karkaroff gave Harry and Krum nines, and the other champions fives since they had finished together.
Bagman announced the scores, forty-eight for Harry Potter, thirty-six for Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory, and thirty for last to finish Viktor Krum. Viktor was glowering but that was the same as always so it wasn't obvious what he thought. Nor did anyone present care except for Krum and his Headmaster.
The assembled audience chanted Harry's name as the total scores were announce, putting Harry clearly in the lead, with Krum slightly ahead of the other two thanks to Karkaroff's more blatant bias. There were more Slytherins cheering Harry than after the First Task as he had proved that it was no fluke and everyone likes a winner.
"The third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament will take place at dusk on the twenty-seventh of May. The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions!" Bagman called exuberantly.
His bets on Potter were looking better and better. It was such a shame that he couldn't find anyone else to take more.
With the task complete and the judging over, the audience were free to leave the freezing winds and barely above-freezing temperatures.
On the way back to the castle, Harry was stopped by a grateful Fleur who gave him a quick but intense kiss, her Allure unconsciously raised and focussed onto her powerful man. He smiled back and caressed her cheek, reminding her softly in French, "The Allure, Fleur, you do not need it with me." He leaned in and kissed her again as she got it back under control, knowing she was simply overwhelmed by emotions.
Nym wouldn't leave it at that, though, swarming up to him and kissing him again before winking at the French witch. Little Gabrielle, at Fleur's other side, gave Tonks a look but, since Fleur didn't complain, she subsided rather than causing a scene. She tugged at her big sister's robes, eyes pleading. Fleur smiled tolerantly even as her hands removed Gabby's.
"Harry Potter," she began in French so her sister could follow it. "I would like to introduce my little sister, Miss Gabrielle Delacour. She is to commence her education at Beauxbatons in the autumn. Gabby, this is my love, Harry Potter."
Gabrielle beamed at him and probably would have tried to use the Allure if she had it. She chattered away to him in rapid French for a full minute before Fleur could quiet her. "Just wait a little, little angel," she counseled, "and we shall be able to talk all you wish, up at the castle."
Gabrielle blushed and nodded. She, at least, had been hoping to be involved in one of the Tasks in order to meet her hero and, more importantly, the man who had secured Fleur's heart.
Their little group swelled as Harry's friends all gathered around to give their congratulations to him for getting first place, and to all of them for getting the hostages back safely. Luna smiled, snuggling up to Harry. She liked the outdoors, but she was very much looking forward to getting inside and warm.
After they made their way inside, bypassing the crowd in the entrance hall and great hall, the large group headed up the stairs to another of the unused areas, set up by Harry's clones during the task for a party.
Once they were secure, an old habit for Harry, he guided the Delacours to a private area for a talk. "Fleur," he said in English, "do you think Gabrielle would keep my secrets? Do you think I should even ask her?"
"Oui," she replied, "I am certain she would razzer die zan betray you. She always pictured ze Boy-Who-Lived as her 'ero, but since I have wrote to her about you, I believe she likes you better."
Harry looked sharply at Fleur. "You don't think she wants to join us, do you? She is still too young for any of that."
"I know she looks young for her age." Fleur began.
"She is also too young to have had a real choice about the matter, even if her Veela heritage had made her body ready earlier. And you told me it hasn't." Harry sighed, seeing pain in Fleur's features. "I am not saying never. I am saying we will see. Who knows, she may not like me that way when she grows up."
Fleur gave out her musical laugh at the thought. "Of course she will, Harry. First, let us see if she will take the first step." Turning to her sister, she switched back to French. "Gabrielle, Harry has a request to ask of you. He wishes to be your friend and wonders if you wish to be his."
"Yes, yes!" the little girl cheered. "Of course I do, you know that."
"Do I? There is a way you can prove it, as I have."
Gabrielle blushed and Fleur shook her head. "No, my dear sister, you are far too young for that, whatever you may say. I mean with a promise not to betray his secrets. It would allow him to start trusting you with the things he must keep hidden from the world for now."
"Oh!" Gabrielle knew an Oath was a serious affair but shrugged. How could a promise to help Harry be bad? "Ok, I promise!" She smiled brightly up at Harry and Fleur as she happily took the Oath provided.
Fleur smiled at Harry who nodded and smiled back at the two girls.
Fleur laughed again as Harry gave Gabrielle a piggyback ride, her little sister pointing out things and asking questions in rapid-fire French.
Gabrielle was introduced properly to everyone over the afternoon, keeping to the side of Harry or Fleur or Luna the whole time. She didn't mind that her sister went off and came back looking pleased with herself, or that Harry's other girls did the same. While her Cher Papa would have preferred it to be otherwise, Maman didn't usually bother to close doors and she had explained Veela attitudes to physical affection. She hoped to get to enjoy it for herself soon, since it looked like they enjoyed it so much. She was going to be disappointed in that.
After the party, the students eventually settled down again. The Easter break was soon to be upon them which kept them from getting truly back into their normal boredom, which had its usual effect of restricting the number of pranks and so on.
Back in Cranleigh, though, Meaghan and Sandra were having a steamy session with one of Harry's clones at Sandra's flat. She had invited him over, smiling at his surprise on finding Meaghan already there. First Sandra then Meaghan had made out with him, sitting either side of him on one of the couches. Harry was happy to go along with whatever they wanted, and right then they wanted him.
Over at Ella's house, it was a different experience. She knew what the two girls had planned to do with Harry, but it didn't really interest her right now. No, Ella had managed to get the house to herself for the day with her parents off to London for some shopping and a romantic evening.
Once she confirmed that her parents were actually on their way and hadn't forgotten anything this time, she went over to the Kitsune Compound, kissing Harry as soon as he opened the door. When she broke it off, still holding him, he picked her up and carried her inside with her wrapped around him. She directed him to take them to his bedroom where she lay down with Harry on top. "Just the way I like it." She smiled up at him as she made out with the lucky young man.
After she had properly kissed him, she broke off, running fingers through his hair as she gathered her courage. "Harry, I have a favour to ask."
"Anything, Ella, well, just about anything." He smiled back encouragingly. "You know I'm happy to make you happy."
Ella nodded and blushed. She had changed her mind about going all the way after talking it over with Sandra and the others. She couldn't wait for the 'real' Harry and when she looked at her old reasons for wanting him, they seemed like rubbish. "I want to be yours, Harry, all of me, but I am nervous too. You might think my request is too strange."
"I doubt that, Ella, and whatever it is, at worst we'll only talk about it. At best, we'll try it and you'll like it just the way you hope."
"But-" Ella broke off, Harry was threatening to tickle the answer out of her, he had his hand raised in warning and she blushed. "Yes, Harry, I'll be good." He chuckled with her. "I want you to restrain me, I want to feel that you are in total control of me as you make love to me."
Harry tilted his head a little then nodded. "I can do that, Ella, and I'm not too surprised that you would want this."
"You're not?" Ella was surprised.
"No, you're not the only person to want to let go from time to time so that was part of my lessons, how to recognise the signs, how to make it good and, most of all, how to do it safely." Harry blushed, recalling his reactions at the time. "After my training, it was easy to see that it was on the cards for you, and it can be a lot of fun for me, too." He kissed her, letting it linger until her tension melted away, then came up smiling as they talked over details so that she could stop him at any point it got too much for her.
A kinky hour later, he unlocked the handcuffs and caressed her wrists, applying a cream to help soothe them as he cuddled with her. Ella was still underneath Harry and wrapped around him at last. "That was, just, wow!" she murmured, still experiencing aftershocks.
Pulling back to look him in the eyes, she smiled up at him. "If that's how good it is to be your girl, I'm never going to leave. I think I'm going to get a tattoo 'Property of Harry Potter' to let everyone know." She giggled, enjoying her freedom from cares.
"You would really do that?" Harry asked, still a little surprised at just how into the scene Ella had been.
"Yep! A tattoo of a collar around my neck with that written on it! Or maybe I'll get it inscribed on my butt. You certainly made it your own, you horny devil." Ella teased.
Harry grinned. "It's yours, Ella, that's what makes it sexy. I'm not sure that a tattoo would be a good idea, though. Your parents really wouldn't approve of one, and especially not if you snuck out and got it behind their backs. They would certainly want to stop you coming around any more, and failing at that would make it worse.
"But," he continued when he saw her about to protest, "they allow me to make clothing for you, in fact I think your Dad is grateful since it cut down on his bills. There's nothing to stop us taking that permission and making a real collar for you to wear if you really want one."
"Oh yes," Ella grinned, "we can have fun designing it, too. Later." The fiery look in her eyes told him he had more pressing matters to take care of and he did so enthusiastically.
In her Third Year dorm room, Luna was contemplating life, love and the universe.
That wasn't new for her, she often liked to spend time thinking about things external and internal. This time, she was leaning back into her Harry, basking in the warmth from his chest and his arms around her, and thinking about what it would be like to become one with him as almost all of the others had. She wouldn't deny the thought was appealing, far more than even a couple of months ago, but she wanted to do it on her own terms.
As she snuggled in, she smiled and decided that if she mastered the Patronus Charm, she would be ready. Turning around, she kissed him and started her day.
The following weeks, the students settled back into their routines reluctantly. Especially reluctant to return to studying was Ginny's brother Ron, until his girlfriend Romilda found a new way to motivate him. Ginny had accidentally walked in on them once, Ron's hands on the girl's back as they made out, then turned around again and found her Head of House to have the memory removed. There were some things she never wanted to know. On hearing what Ginny wanted to forget, Minerva agreed completely.
While the youngest son of Molly and Arthur had improved himself substantially from when he first arrived, his starting point was so very low. He was still one of the poorest in his year with his personal hygiene and school performance, though if his marks were compared to other years he was about the middle of the pack now. It was his misfortune to be in the same set of students as a number of hardworking and eager young teenagers. She reconsidered that thought, as their example had worn off on Ronald too. Maybe he would always have been one of the slack ones.
At least he had finally been broken of his habit of spraying his food all over anyone nearby, reducing the amount of food he needed to take before he was full. That alone had made mealtimes more alluring.
Pansy had written to her family right after the Second Task. In her letter, she had taken pains to point out all the salient points. Firstly, that Harry Potter, the youngest competitor, was not only in first place but he had finished first after using a feat of magic none of the judges recognised, casting the spell silently and maybe even wandlessly. That proved that Harry was already a powerful wizard. He was also getting high marks in all their classes and asked pertinent questions in class, ones that had helped advance her own understanding of the material. That showed he was intelligent, and Merlin knew that the Lily Potter Foundation proved he was ambitious.
If her family wanted her to marry up, they should be sending her after him, not after the Malfoy brat. Malfoy had terrible marks and no sign of cunning or any ambition beyond carrying out the fallen Dark Lord's agenda as relayed by his father. While he took care with his appearance, he still had an ugly pointed face and a nose that he kept firmly in the air at all times. While he had arrogance to match any wizard alive, he had nothing to back it up beyond a presumed inheritance and a generous amount of pocket money for a boy his age.
Pansy had heard rumours that the ponce's father was recruiting, of course. Everyone in Slytherin knew that much. What her parents failed to consider was that this meant Harry Potter and his allies knew it too, including Madam Bones. Pansy was approaching a point where she might seriously consider emulating the littlest Weasel and jumping ship to the Potter Alliance, if they would have her.
Thank you for reading and for your support. Your feedback is appreciated and if you have any questions, I will try to answer them. My thanks go to my betas as always for their hard work.