Chapter 34 :
The rest of the Wand Weighing Ceremony went relatively well. Ollivander carefully verified the wand of each Champions, using it for one spell before giving it back with a nod. The journalist, bullied by Colin's innocent enthusiasm and bright shining eyes, had no choice but to do her job professionally, reluctantly interviewing everyone equally with a proper quill while the man named Bozo took a photo of them.
Soon, the students were dismissed and everyone went their own way, leaving the adults to discuss Tournament matters. Since they were both going back to the Gryffindor House, the young Potter offered to Colin to walk together, making him squeal in delight.
Thanks the Gods and the Potter Ancestors for creating the delicious piece of awesome that was Harry Potter !
For the older boy it may have been a simple matter of accompanying his junior back to the Common Room, but for a diligent fan like Colin it was akin to a religious experience. Each step, each second of this miraculous walk home was carefully etched in his memory. Each breath, each sound, was further recorded by his overworking brain to be forever remembered.
Colin let out a subtle sigh of wellness, making his weirded out idol raise a brow in askance :
"Is something wrong, Colin ?"
"Not at all !" Panicked the young fan, caught red-handed in the act of simping. "I'm just- uh- glad that this Rita Skeeter didn't make herself more of a bother !"
"Oh. Do you know her ?"
"What I said about her opening a path for female journalists everywhere is true," He started. "but she's mainly known to be a rabid sensationalist. There is a lot of fabrication in her articles, but she has been right enough times that everyone believe her words on sight. She is really toxic for the milieu, setting a worrisome example that many wannabe journalists feel the need to follow to stand out, sacrificing their integrity and betraying their Duty to the Truth for a fleeting fame."
So. It may have ended in a rant halfway through, but the last-minute distraction worked just fine ! Harry seemed way too perturbed to notice Colin's simping now ! Ah, shit... He made Harry Potter worried... Colin would never survive this mistake if his fellow fans ever learned about it...
He tried to find a way to reassure his beautiful -Holy Goat, how can he be so beautiful even when frowning!- idol, but luckily something intervened before he could put his foot in his mouth again :
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE !" Screeched the DADA Professor, popping off a wall like some kind of glorified Boggart.
Colin didn't care enough about manliness to deny that he shrieked like a little girl. On the other hand Harry spun toward the former auror, going straight for the nose with his wand -a dubious delaying tactic that more or less proved its worth against a Troll a long time ago-.
"He, good reflex, Potter !" Snorted Mad-Eye, somehow unscathed. "Might want to aim for the eyes next time."
The young Gryffindor sighed deeply.
"What do you need, Professor ?" He asked with weariness while Colin got his bearings back.
"Just an advice for the First Task, sonny." Grunted the old man. "I've noticed that you seemed under the weather in class. You're losing your edge. And trust me. You. Don't. Want. That."
Harry raised a wary brow, but didn't loosened his grip on his wand, stepping between the younger boy and the adult without being obvious about it. Mad-Eye smirked but didn't comment : if his students didn't trust him, that meant he was doing his job correctly.
"Whatever the First Task is," he said instead. "take it from a pro : stick to your strenghts."
The young Potter fiercely glared at him in answer, seemingly trying discern something from his words. The Professor didn't fault him for that. That boy was one of his best students in term of paranoia. He chuckled in good humour before leaving in his distinctive, threatening prowl, looming over in unsuspecting teenagers' blind spots to scream at them :
"CONSTANT VIGILANCE !"
Having finally calmed down from his fright, Colin let out a relieved sigh :
"Well. That was weird."
"Hm. Disturbing indeed..." Agreed Harry with a pensive look.
"Wasn't he supposed to be an infamous Hufflepuff extremist ? Why would he give you advice ?"
"I don't know, Colin." He answered with a frown. "I don't know..."
Later, Harry lay in the park beside Theodore. It was rare for them to show their connection in broad daylight like that, but the surrounding shrubs hid them in a nice little cocoon of greenery. They had of course talked about Mad-Eye's suspicious behavior, but since they couldn't do anything about it for now, they decided to leave it to the side to enjoy a very welcomed moment of respite.
"Do you want a pretzel ?" Proposed the young Nott despite his empty hands.
"Do you have some on you ?" Asked Harry curiously, "I'd rather not go back to the castle..."
"I don't, but Winky taught me a spell that makes the best pretzels."
This made the Gryffindor sit up in surprise.
"I thought you couldn't create food with magic ?" He started with a big smile.
Magic had this way of leaving him in perpetual wonder. It was so amazing and extraordinary... Many wizards forgot that fact after spending so much time surrounded by it, but to Harry it was so fresh- so- magical !
"You can't." Denied his friend with an amused smirk that made the shrubs shudder and faint in terror. "But this spell can summon pretzels, among other things."
Harry's pure awe and curiosity about Magic always made Theodore cheerful. It was so cute how innocent the other boy was about such everyday things.
"From where does it summon them ?" Asked the young Potter in interest.
"From..." Theo took a deep breath, leaving his words in suspense on purpose before finishing dramatically. "The House Elf God's cookie jar."
Harry exploded in delighted laughter, so happy and once again mesmerized by the sheer amount of possibilities Magic opened up for the world. It was so awesome ! Remembering that they were trying to conceal their friendship -why was that again?-, he hid his bubbling laughter in his friend's shoulder, the intimate gesture making even the revived shrubs gasp in dread. Actually... Since when were shrubs so noisy... ? The green eyed boy looked around in suspicion.
"Something's wrong ?" Asked Theo with a raised brow.
"I think I heard a sound..."
"Don't worry about it. It's surely some kind of random critter, like a Pekingese dog or something."
"Hm. You're probably right." Agreed Harry before turning to him with renewed enthusiasm. "Now, teach me about your miraculous spell !"
"Sure." Shrugged the Slytherin. "Be careful not to put to much power in it though, the more magic you pour into that spell the more you pretzel arrives with great fanfare."
"Ok," Repeated the young Potter with a look of focus on his face and his wand in hand. "Regulate the power..."
"Yeah, let me show you the wand movements. The incantation is : Deus. Ex. Machina."
AN : Hi! Haven't written in a long long while because life, but I had a chapter ready from who know when so here it is. Hope you're all well!
Also, Deux Ex Machina, the bullshit spell that is way more important to the story than it should be -because snacks- LMAO
