Chapter 9
"Hurry up, we need to be moving out soon," Luna said, pacing about in their hideout up in the mountains.
All of the ponies were currently getting ready to move down into the school, as the temperatures were dropping rapidly. And though that had not bugged them at first, Rainbow could sense a storm heading towards the school and it would bring tons of snow, more than they could deal with, without attracting attention at least.
The group would have moved out sooner, but they had gotten into a rather lengthy discussion about what to do with the reporter. So far they hadn't yet come up with anything other than to meet with her, as they had no clue how many copies of the photo she had, let alone who else had noticed the other ponies. They had not felt too worried before, as most wizards were rather blind to things at best, but now they did not want to take any risk when they were relocating into the school.
It took them only a few minutes before everyone was packed. Finally the cave looked the same as when they had found it. Luna and Night then used a spell on Twilight and Applejack. It was the same spell that Twilight had used on Rarity, a friend of theirs, a few months earlier. It gave them the ability to fly with wings made of silk and dew. They were rather fragile wings, but had the added benefit of letting them fly without having to learn to control themselves perfectly.
Luna cast a shield spell around them before Night then used her own magic to place an invisibility spell over the shield. It would be used to keep the group hidden till they reached the room in which they would be staying, and the shield would keep them safe from the winds that were slowly picking up. Rainbow had wanted to get rid of the storm before it could hit, but Luna stopped her on the grounds that it would give them away even more than they already were.
As quickly as they could, they made their way down to the school as the snow began to come down. And not light snow either, but blowing snow that was rapidly covering the area around them. Harry was waiting for them by the double doors to the Entrance Hall, and opened one of them as soon as Luna sent him a mental message to do so. The group of five entered the Entrance Hall, making sure to stay in the air so they could avoid making unneeded noise. Once inside, Harry closed the door behind them and they quickly made their way to the classroom Hermione had chosen for them on the third floor. Once in the room, Luna and Night went about placing the spells to keep the place safe from anyone that would come by. Or at least so they hoped.
It was at this point that Harry was to send out the owl to Rita Skeeter. This letter would inform her where and when they would be willing to meet her. Though even if they did meet with her, there was a solid risk that Rita still would tell the world about them, and it was something both Luna and Night were prepared to deal with if need be. At the very least, they wanted to find out who was after Harry, before their return and the existence of the other ponies became known to the world. But the big problem was, with so many people coming and going during this time frame when Harry's name had been placed in the Goblet of Fire, that the case was still next to impossible to solve.
The next day Luna was pacing about in another currently empty classroom. Every one of the other ponies was with her, waiting for Harry and Hermione to show up with Rita. She was noticeably nervous about this, as their plan was to tell Rita only half-truths. This was because the Elements that she once held and their magic made it hard if not impossible to straight out lie. And while Night said she could take the lead and lie if need be, Luna decided it would not look good if they suddenly switched who normally led their small group.
But it was because of this very reasoning the plan could also backfire badly. If Rita asked the right question, Luna might reveal a good deal more than what she wished, as she was terrible at lying. With this in mind, Luna and Night had decided that should Rita prove to be a threat to them, and not someone willing to work with them, they would personally see to the removal of her memories.
"Calm down, Luna," Twilight said as she watched Luna make another circle around the room.
"I just cannot help but worry," Luna said.
"Sis, you know as well as I do, that we cannot risk this reporter just writing whatever she wants. But that does not mean you need to pace around till your hooves fall off from worry," Night said, curled up on a pillow she had conjured.
"You have a point," Luna said, before walking over and conjuring her own pillow to lie on.
"So how much longer till Rita is supposed to be here?" asked Rainbow, looking rather bored.
"In about thirty seconds if that clock is right and my guess on how long it will take to walk up from the Entrance Hall to here is correct. If she is on time," Twilight said thoughtfully.
"Twil, did you time yourself, so you could plan your day, by walking all around Hogwarts?" Applejack asked.
"No." Twilight said, looking a little embarrassed.
"Tell us the truth," Applejack said, looking at her friend.
"Fine, I did it by accident when I was following Harry around one day. But! That was only to his classes, not anywhere else," Twilight said, trying to defend herself.
"You really need to stop worrying about a schedule for everything, Twilight; we don't want another Smarty Pants problem coming up," Rainbow said.
Twilight blushed and looked away, "Well okay."
Luna smiled at this, remembering Celestia telling her about that event. Twilight, in order to get something to write about, to prove she was learning about friendship, had put a spell on an old doll to make everypony who saw it, except for herself, to want it and even fight over it. The spell had backfired badly when she hadn't been able to solve the problem she had created and the entire town had begun to fight over it, until Celestia herself had shown up to deal with the problem.
Luna glanced back over and saw the slight glint where their Elements were being worn currently. This was because the Elements granted great power, and the more often a Wielder wore their Element the more in tune with that Element they would get. For Luna this meant Magic, Honesty, and Loyalty. She knew by now that, even if the Elements had not been worn by the group much, the effects were still beginning to show. This was not to say they could not abandon their Element, but it was not in their nature to go against it.
Luna's thoughts though were halted as the door to the classroom opened and Harry entered the room, followed by Hermione who was looking rather happy, holding a bright green quill in her hands. She had confiscated the Quick-Quotes Quill when she had taken a look at what was already being written by it when they'd only introduced themselves yet at the gates. Rita Skeeter followed in after them, looking rather annoyed as she glared at Hermione and the quill, but her expression changed to a more gleeful one upon seeing the ponies in front of her.
Harry introduced them to Rita. Almost each of the ponies could tell they would not likely like Rita the moment they spotted her. This was because Rita was the opposite in many ways of what each of them stood for. She was not loyal to anyone but herself, and she had never been truly honest since she started working for the Daily Prophet. Twilight and Night on the other hand could tell at once the others did not like Rita, even if they did not know why yet.
"Now that introductions are out of the way, let's get our interview under way," Rita said, pulling out a normal quill and a fresh sheet of parchment from her handbag.
"Yes… but I have a question first," Harry said.
"Sure," Rita said somewhat surprised.
"Why have you not written anything about me yet?" Harry asked.
"Well, Dumbledore took up most of my time beforehand, and though I could write something about you without an interview. I decided to do just a basic cover article about the Champions, as my sources had proven that there were some interesting things about you, stuff I wanted to find out before I decided to do a piece completely on you. This was because if I had done a piece, and my facts had been found out to be incorrect in my next article, then people would begin questioning me," Rita explained.
"I see, well I guess you can start now," Harry said.
"Okay, so Harry, what made you want to enter this Tournament as a Champion? For that matter, how did you get to be the fourth Champion when such a thing should not even be possible?" Rita asked.
"I have not wanted to ever enter this competition. Besides, Dumbledore drew an Age Line around the cup that would keep out anyone that was too young to compete, which I am. I also have never asked anyone to put my name in," Harry answered.
"Interesting, so you say you did not at any time ask to join this tournament," Rita stated.
"Yes, that's correct. I don't want to put myself at risk when Sixth and Seventh year students will have a hard time, while I have almost less than half the training they do in magical arts," Harry said, and while that was not completely true it did make his point.
"And the fame and money you would gain don't tempt you either?" Rita asked.
"Fame. Money. Both of those I have way too much of. Not meaning to brag here, but I have enough money in my trust school account alone to live for a few years without even having to work, not including my parents' vault. As for fame, I am the Boy Who Lived and I don't need more fame. And even if I did, can you tell me the names of the last Champions from the last Tournament?" Harry asked.
"No, I cannot say I could, in fact I will admit I had rather forgotten about this Tournament even existing up till recently," Rita admitted, thinking back over what she knew about the Triwizard Tournament.
"So neither the fame, nor the money have any lure to me to compete in this Tournament," Harry said.
"I see. So you say you didn't try to enter. Who do you think did then?" Rita asked.
"Personally I know one person for sure who would love to see me dead and might have a hand in it, though I doubt he did the deed himself. Not to mention the few enemies I have just because I'm still alive, though I don't think they would try to kill me in such a convoluted way," Harry said thoughtfully.
"That does not really answer my question," Rita replied.
"Yes true. Anyway, the first person would be Voldemort. While not commonly known, he is still alive, though not anywhere near as powerful as he once was.," Harry explained.
"You-Know-Who is still alive? But… but you killed him when you were a baby!" Rita exclaimed.
"Who said that? How did they know? And what body do they have as proof? Only the two of us survived!" Harry said.
"But how did he survive, and why didn't he reappear already then?" she asked.
"He only survived as a wraith, living like a parasite in other living beings if he wanted a body."
"I… that's… how…" Rita stuttered.
"It may be difficult to believe, but I saw him with my own eyes in my First year and I have no reason to think he died since then if he already survived all those years," Harry said.
"That… may be bigger news than what I came for. Though I doubt anyone would believe it if I wrote about it, especially with your reputation these days," Rita said, getting to her senses again.
"Yes, that's something that changes every year," Harry said bitterly.
"Perhaps we can come back to that later," Night interrupted to get back on track, wanting to get a better impression of Rita before they would touch any more sensitive subjects.
"Yes, that may be better. Where were we? I see… Any other people you suspect, Harry?" Rita continued, still shaken.
"The Malfoy family is the first and foremost enemy I have here; all others are not nearly as outspoken. Draco hates me, and would like nothing better than to see me killed. His father would be an enemy as well. And though he has not acted in hostility against me specifically yet, he was the reason for the attacks two years back, though I lack solid evidence to prove this without resorting to a truth potion. He also knows I was involved with stopping the attacks and I cost him his House Elf," Harry answered.
"I see. But that's another story for later, I guess," Rita said, her eyes lighting up at that little piece of information. While she did not dislike the Malfoys as they had never bugged her before, that did not mean she would not try to push them from their high perch. "But are you really sure of that? Those are some heavy accusations against an important member of our society."
"Yes, I'm sure. He may have claimed that he was under the Imperius Curse and been let go without much of a trial, like so many others, but why did he then have a personal diary of Voldemort?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort's diary? You really are an endless source of juicy information, aren't you, Harry? Though I might get the impression you're trying to distract my from my original purpose here. You nearly succeeded too; we certainly need to get together again in the near future," Rita smiled. "Anything else about noteworthy enemies who might be trying to kill you besides the Malfoys?"
"Well, I'm not sure they are, though there aren't many other possibilities I can think of. Maybe other Death Eaters who escaped justice and are acting on Voldemort's orders? I don't really have any other known enemies in Hogwarts currently. Though some would consider Professor Snape an enemy of mine just on how he acts around me," Harry said.
"Why is that?" Rita asked.
"I would rather not answer that, Snape's reasons for his actions are private," Harry said.
"Okay then, different question. Would he try and have you killed?" Rita asked.
"No. Snape, while he does hate me, is still a teacher here and would not let a student be killed without trying to stop it. For that matter, he has tried to save me before and I am thankful for that. Now, that being said, that does not mean he would not try and get me thrown out of this school the moment I step out of line," Harry said, chuckling at the last part.
"You find that funny?" Rita asked confused.
"Well to put it simply, if we were to account for all the rules I've broken, I probably should be out of school. But in some cases I had no choice but to break the rules. That is not to say I did not get punished later on for breaking them. Ask Snape. I served most of my detentions with him, so he could personally make sure I was truly punished and not given just a slap on the wrist," Harry said.
"I see," Rita said, writing down some more.
"So, any more questions you would like to ask me?" Harry asked.
"Yes, considering what you know from the first task and about your fellow Champions, what would you say your chances of not just surviving but winning are?" Rita asked.
"Before the first task I would have said none at all," Harry admitted, "But now I'd say my chances of surviving are better than I had thought, with even a small chance of winning. Though, even now I am still willing to drop out if at all possible, and let the real Champions battle it out."
"Rather sure of yourself," Rita said.
"The tasks are supposed to be three tests based around different traits in a person. The first was Courage and Resourcefulness when facing an unknown danger. The second task, if they follow the other Tournaments, will test one's Cunning and Knowledge. The final one combines the elements from both of the other two tests, and also tests how lucky you are. Because of this, we know the hardest task physically, should be over," Harry explained.
"So you think the next tasks might be easier than the ones before this?" Rita asked.
"No, I'm not saying that. The next task is made to test our brainpower to its fullest. If we can't decipher the clue in the egg I got from the dragon, I might be forced to straight out forfeit the next task," Harry explained.
"You make it seem so simple," Rita pointed out.
"In some ways it is, but we have yet to even figure out what the clue means," Harry admitted.
"I see, but that does make me ask: will you try and figure out the clue? Since not figuring it out would mean possibly forfeiting the next task," Rita tasked.
"I will try, after all it is only a possibility that we would be allowed to forfeit," Harry admitted.
"Okay, I have one last question for you before we shift talk over to your friends here," Rita said, looking around the group for a moment before refocusing on Harry.
"Ask away," Harry said.
"Considering the normal events of the Triwizard Tournament, who will you be taking to the Yule Ball?" Rita asked.
"I am not currently planning on going, I don't really care for it. I know it's traditional for the school Champions to lead the events, being the first to enter the Great Hall, and the first to dance. But I'm forced into this unwillingly, and because of this I shall back out of this event and let the Real Champions have their time in the spotlight, as it should be." Harry explained.
"So you will not be attending at all?" Rita asked.
"Not currently, though if I do go, I will be going as any other student from this school. Not the Champion," Harry explained.
Rita nodded as she found another two questions she wanted to ask, "So you say you're not a real Champion. Why is that?"
"The Goblet of Fire chose a Champion from each of the three schools, but only one Champion," Harry explained.
"Okay," Rita said, nodding in understanding.
"Now that means I therefore cannot be in anyway the Champion of this school, but rather the Champion of an unknown fourth school. As such I am in no way a real Champion, even if the Goblet thinks I am," Harry pointed out.
"I see now. Now back to the topic from before, you say you're not going to go to the Ball. Would that mean even if it meant not taking your friend here?" Rita asked, looking at Hermione.
"I already have someone to go with, but I did ask Harry first. That way he wouldn't have had to deal with all the other girls. But he said he would rather not go and draw attention away from those who truly earned it," Hermione said.
"And that did not hurt? I thought or at least heard he was your boyfriend," Rita said, idly noticing the different reactions around the room. Twilight and Applejack's eyes widened a little bit, but didn't show any emotions otherwise. Luna gave a slight chuckle, while Night and Rainbow Dash had mixed emotions pass across through their eyes, ranging from hurt and anger, to surprise.
"No, I am not his girlfriend. We are more like siblings than anything else, at least right now," Hermione explained.
"I only turned fourteen this year, and Hermione fifteen, and while it is more normal for wizards to start to notice each other and to begin dating at that age, in the Muggle world, most start dating at sixteen, though they might have formed a crush or maybe even tried to date before then," Harry explained, also noticing the reactions of the ponies.
"I see, an interesting look at Muggle versus Wizarding life. I must thank you, Harry, for allowing us this look at parts of your life and the Tournament," Rita said.
"Now, I have a few questions for you before you ask anything of us," Luna said.
"As you wish," Rita said.
"First, how did you get the photo, and how many people have already found out about us because of it?" Luna asked.
"I took the photo with my own camera, so only I know of its existence currently, besides your own group," Rita answered.
"Okay," Luna said, "Next, how much do you plan on publishing?"
"Everything Harry has told me so far I am considering putting in the paper. I had guessed some of it and knew other things, but there are some details that I just did not know. But I'd also like to set up a time for another interview to talk about all those other juicy tidbits we now only touched upon," Rita explained, looking rather happy.
"I meant about us, ponies, specifically?" Luna asked.
"Oh… I hadn't decided anything yet, to be honest. The photo was just to make sure I got an interview," Rita said truthfully.
"Then why did you say you wanted to talk to Harry and us as well?" Luna asked, both surprised and somewhat annoyed.
"Because I also came to set up a bargain between us. You give me the interviews of a lifetime, and in return I help you with information that is hard to get," Rita answered.
"After blackmailing us to even be here. That seems more like a trick than a way to set up a bargain," Hermione pointed out.
"Would anyone of you even have shown up or taken my offer seriously had I not done so?" Rita asked.
Luna thought about it for a second and realized this was true. They likely wouldn't have taken her seriously, for that matter they might just have blown her off. But like this she got their full attention, and short of them wiping her mind she had their full attention for a good while as well.
"Well would you have?" Rita asked again.
"No, not at all," Luna admitted.
"That's what I thought," Rita pointed out.
"So why don't you just write a fake story anyway, I know you have done it before," Hermione pointed out.
"True, though it's more 'slanting the facts' than lying, I can assure you. There's always a kernel of truth somewhere in my articles. So when I find a story that doesn't need any embellishment, I like to tell the truth, with solid facts," Rita explained.
"And you think we would have those?" Hermione asked.
"Your first year at Hogwarts, the Philosopher's Stone incident. Second year all those attacks that I was blocked from finding out about, third year Black escaping twice when it should not be possible and you two were the only ones besides Professor Snape that might know anything about it. Not to mention this year," Rita pointed out.
"You seem to have a lot of information, for someone who says they don't," Twilight pointed out.
"I hear rumors. Bits and pieces. But I don't have a enough facts to prove or disprove anything. After all, I'm sure you all know how bad a rumor can be for honest facts," Rita explained.
"I see," Luna said.
Luna extended her mental link to all of them, and they began to talk quietly among themselves about what to do. Luna knew this article would force the attacker either to make another move or betray themselves, or it might force them to retreat. Either way it was a win. In the end they decided they would let Rita have her interviews, if the information she could gather was of any real use. With this decided Luna spoke.
"We will give you these interviews, but only if the information you can find us is of any real use. We will send you a list of things you could check up on that will be helpful to us," Luna explained.
"And if I don't find anything out on these subjects, say because there is nothing to be found?" Rita asked, after all, she never did something for nothing.
"We shall see when we reach that point," Luna admitted, "Also, one last thing, do not betray us. It will end very badly should you report something outside what is allowed about us."
"And what is allowed?" Rita asked, semi-annoyed and worried by that last part.
"Just the interview from today, though send us the article so we can approve it before it goes out," Luna said.
"I see, well I should be going now to work on this for the paper," Rita said, before getting up and heading to the door to leave.
"Just remember Rita, you may have blackmailed us. But don't think if you reveal us to the world, we will not make your life very, very hard," Luna said, her voice gaining a very sharp edge to it.
Rita turned around and almost wished she hadn't as she saw the magic Luna held within her move about her body. It would normally have been a rather amazing sight to watch someone express their power with magic like that. But with it aimed at Rita she could not help but wonder if maybe she had for once gotten in over her head. Quickly leaving the room, Rita decided it might be better to stay away from the school for a while.
( Sorry it took so long. )