19. The First Task

The champions selection ceremony was conducted at the school's new stadium. It was a Friday, and the ceremony was held at morning, leaving the rest of the day for the students to celebrate the champions. This time, the minister chose not to speak, just witnessing the events led by headmistress Sprout. Every time a champion was selected they were cheered not only by their classmates but also by the students of other schools, in a beautiful gesture of respect and camaraderie. Well, all except one. If not for his own mother, the selection of Ronald Bilius Weasley as a champion would have been a silent event. As she was there to cheer for her precious son, he have a reception about half as loud as the others. But what made Dumbledore and Ronald angry was the warm ovation received by little Maeve, the champion for Harry's school. The girl had captivated many of them with her cheerful and friendly personality, her dedication to learning and teaching, and her constant willingness to help, and that was reflected in the amazing ovation she received from the public. Not even Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts champion, was so applauded.

Except for Maeve McDougal and Ronald Weasley, all other champions were students in their sixth or seventh years of schooling. While Weasley's chances to win were considered remote, even with an Order of Merlin in his chest, little was know about Maeve and the full-mages she represents, and her performance in the tasks was eagerly awaited.

Fudge observed all that fuming. He couldn't believe such small girl was anything special. He had her investigated and discovered she was from a traditional but relatively poor family of wizards and witches with a tendency to marry half-bloods and muggleborns, nothing that suggested any special abilities or legacy. He was convinced that all the fuss about full-mages was only a cover for a group of dissidents to start a parallel government, and he wouldn't allow a split of the magical society under his command.

It was a pity that his good friend Lucius had declined to come. Alas, it was a bit strange that other important members of the Wizengamot, like Nott and Parkinson, also declined. What could be happening to keep them out from such important event? Fudge was in need of some good advice. He never was a patient man, his will was to capture, interrogate and send to Azkaban any participants of this treason against his government. He saw the wisdom in Malfoy's suggestion to wait for the first task to measure the real strength of his enemies before acting, but his planned campaign of denigrate the image of this rabble couldn't hurt, right? He'll let Rita Skeeter and her acidic quill do her job preparing the terrain while he plan the final confrontation for after the first task.

.o0o.

Yes, Fudge was giving a lot of money to Rita Skeeter, but it wasn't easy money. She was really doing an effort for it, and was having great difficulties to gain access to any important information. It would be easy if she could just write whatever she wants, but The Quibbler had made the public more selective and critic, she need to protect herself either having proof of what she states, or having someone else saying it to assume the blame if contradicted.

She had a huge advantage over the competition as her water beetle animagus form was highly inconspicuous and let her be an almost invisible eavesdropper in many private conversations, but here at Hogwarts it hasn't being so useful. The castle was warded against animagus, it seems, as her effort to enter unnoticed failed miserly activating some loud buzzer that put a vampire and a fox-girl in her tails in her rushed retreat out of there. Their security was really amazing. The fox-girl had saw her beetle form and, consulting a parchment, clearly said to the vampire "It's Rita Skeeter, the gossiper!"

She didn't know how they had identified her, but they did, and it limited her news hunting to the grounds of the school, and forced her to be much more careful. It also limited very much her access to the students, as they were expending most of their time inside the castle, and their talks while outside were mainly focused on flirting and games, as expected from teenagers.

Anyway, she had obtained some interesting information, even if not so drastic, and most of it was centred around the so-called Boy-Who-Lived. It seems his life had suffered major changes this last year. For two years he had just two close friends at school, then after Summer of last year he had dumped the two and would have gathered a large group of new friends, especially among the younger girls. Rita paid special attention trying to identify some special romantic interest but found nothing. It seems the boy was treating all of them as friends only. It was at this time that occurred the Hogwarts Express fiasco, when the boy was said to have killed some dementors. The kills weren't reported. Fudge had used his position to give his own twist to the story, but she had heard one girl telling a younger one about it, and found that story easier to believe than the official version.

At that point Fudge, Dumbledore and the boy were in good terms, but it all changed with the next major news: the Sirius Black's case. Sirius was the boy's godfather, and was jailed in Azkaban without a trial. Why would Fudge and Dumbledore bond together against the guy who was clearly a victim in all this? Oh, it would be so much easier to attack them instead of the boy over this! It's always so easy to find faults in those exercising power! But no, the Prophet needs the government support and The Quibbler had the chance to expose the truth about Black, the corruption in the Wizengamot and the many diatribes of Dumbledore, raising as a new and powerful competitor to the Prophet. It was clear that Harry Potter had become angry with the behaviour of the two great leaders and started a personal vendetta against both.

Rita hates knowing something and being unable to use it as she sees fit. The information that The-Boy-Who-Lived had been emancipated and assumed the position of head of not only house Potter, but several others including that of the legendary founder Godric Gryffindor, was given to her with very explicit instructions to be kept secret. At least, knowing this helped her to build a better picture of what was really happening. The Potter boy had obtained some power, and didn't hesitate in use it to express his feelings about those he saw as traitors. Now, Fudge wanted some payback, possible as a first step before using the aurors. But how he thinks his aurors would overcome the impressible wards of Hogwarts she didn't know. Maybe with some assistance of the Unspeakables? Hard to say, as they usually kept to themselves and don't usually interfere in such matters.

With so many difficulties in her investigative work, Rita decided to test how much Fudge was really interested in discovering what was happening. She contacted Bob Cunningham, an accomplished legilimens with who she had worked together some times in her early days as a reporter. It would be expensive, but Fudge accepted to pay the extra costs. With help available, she scheduled some interviews to optimize her temporary partner's time to occur in the afternoon after the selection: Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, Potter's best friends in his two first years at Hogwarts; Luna Lovegood, one of his new friends and daughter of The Quibbler's owner Xenophilius Lovegood; Astoria Greengrass, other of his new friends and daughter of the important Lord Greengrass; Draco Malfoy, son of the also important Lucius Malfoy and Potter's enemy from day one at school, if the rumours were true, and finally the headmaster and champion of FUMA, Harry Potter and Maeve McDougal. The interviews were marked to start at 1pm with Weasley, following each other with an hour of interval.

When Weasley started telling her all his deeds at Hogwarts so far, and how he had always carried the dead-weight Potter because he was his friend, just to be discarded when the red-haired finally obtained some just recognition, she thought she had hit jackpot, but a sign from Bob made her cut the interview before the first half-hour mark.

"All lies! The kid's just hot air, bragging as his accomplishments that Potter and others did. Here, read what really happened. His mind was an open book. I could see everything. But what a mess and putrid thing he has for a mind! Typical pureblood stupid kid: lazy and unskilled, but thinks the world owns him some special place!"

"But… Dumbledore is doing such propaganda of this boy's skills!"

"All lies! Crouch Junior was stunned by someone else and fell over the boy. He pissed himself in fear, but Dumbledore told everybody that it was the boy who had discovered and defeated Junior, and everybody believed him! Maybe it was Dumbledore himself who did everything but put the honours in the boy's lap."

"Strange… This is the type of thing that you can't hide for long. And an Order of Merlin to the boy… I really don't know what Dumbledore expected to gain from this scam! He'll be unmasked in the first task, except if Dumbledore expect to cheat the boy's way to another fake success. No… it can't be that! It's too risk!"

"Well, I don't know what Dumbledore thinks. That's a mind I never tried to enter. But the boy will fail miserly without some serious help."

Hermione Granger, a muggleborn witch, was the opposite of the boy. she tried to say the bare minimum, but with all that was already published in The Quibbler added to what Bob had extracted from Weasley's mind, she couldn't hide much. By what Rita could infer, the girl was scandalized by Potter's wandless magic, developing sexuality and contempt for Dumbledore, and that had created a split between he and she that she couldn't mend. Bob confirmed her guesses, and added much more. The girl had a platonic love for Potter, but she was so demure and repressed that she took Potter touching a girl for healing as sexual harassment and the boy talking with other girls as he cheating on her. She was incredible smart bookwise, but terrible delayed in her emotional development, to the point that she now have no friends at all. Between the two of them they have now a complete description of Potter's two first years at Hogwarts, but almost nothing about the last year. Anyway, they confirmed that the boy, at the end of his second year, was a regular student with unusual agility, luck and ability to overcome challenges, to whom some bad things happened, mostly by Dumbledore's fault. When he returned for his third year, he was showing skills and power way above what could be expected even from an adult. What could have happened during his Summer? That was the main question to be solved in the next two interviews.

Luna Lovegood came, and Rita couldn't help but immediately dislike the girl. Her serenity and calmness weren't natural in such a young girl. As soon as the interview begun her partner fell to the ground and, in fetal position, began to cry.

"What is happening!?"

"He tried to read my mind."

"And what did you do to him?"

"I let him in, but he only could see what I let him see. Did you know that legilimency on a minor without consent of their guardian is a crime?"

"I… You're wrong! I'm sure he never would attempt such a thing! It must have been a misunderstanding!"

"As you wish. Just remember that Astoria Greengrass has amazing occlumency skills, an inability to forgive unprovoked attacks and a father who can put you both in prison within the hour."

With that, Luna walked out. Rita was too worried about her partner and the next interview, while Bob was in too much pain, so none of them complained.

Bod didn't participate in the next interview, and Rita was unable to extract anything from the girl just asking questions. Astoria didn't mind to repeat 'It's none of your business' as much as necessary until Rita admitted defeat.

Draco Malfoy had only a basic knowledge of occlumency and practically no skills in it. But he also knew nothing about what was really happening at Hogwarts. The only useful thing he could contribute (without knowing) was about the prowesses of wandless magic he was victim. That confirmed to Rita the reality of full-mages, and put great probability in Potter being the one to bring these skills to Hogwarts and spread them among his new friends. But where Potter learned them? Who taught him? What they want?

"Well, these questions you'll need Potter's cooperation to answer. Sorry, Rita, but I'll not try to enter this boy's mind. It's too risk."

"Maybe the little girl? She shouldn't have much of a defence..."

"Bull shit! You saw what happened when I tried it with that Lovegood girl. She shouldn't have defences either..."

"You didn't tell me what you saw in her mind."

"Hell, Rita, it was hell! Worst than trying to enter the mind of a dementor I bet!"

"Well, I want a discount on your charges. You only successful help with three of them! I still need answers!"

"Well, in fifteen minutes you'll have your chance with Potter and the little girl. Good luck! I'm finished here."

"Yes, you're and will not be welcome back" said a different voice, surprising the two adults.

"Potter! What are you doing here!"

"As you know, I own the place. Bob, in less than five minutes I'll be activating Hogwarts' wards against you. Get out, and don't come back. That is your one chance to not be punished for what you did."

Mister Cunningham could be really fast when properly motivated. It took him less than a minute to exit Hogwarts grounds. Harry signalled for Rita to wait until the man was gone, then he started putting the cards on the desk.

"Rita, I just change Hogwarts wards. Not only your friend will not be welcome here any more, but also you, if you assume your animagus form. Is that clear?"

"Crystal. Now, where is little miss… Maeve?" she said after consulting her notes.

A giggle to Harry's side preceded the materialization of the girl seated on a comfortable armchair, merrily tasting an ice cream. None of them had a wand in hand, nor seemed to have done any gesture to produce the change.

"Oh, Merlin! It seems that you have been serious about all this full-mage stories, after all. Tell me about them."

"No. All you need to know will be printed in The Quibbler or shown in the Tasks. I know of your agreement with Fudge. Don't expect me to give you ammunition to be used against myself."

"But, Harry, our readers have a right to know..."

"No, surely not! We own them nothing at all!"

This was Maeve who said, and it infuriated Rita, who went to the girl in ire: "Now see here, little girl..."

One of the chairs collided with Rita's knees from behind, forcing her to seat before moving back creating a safe distance between the two, while Maeve giggled at her before explaining: "Now, Rita, attacking a little girl wouldn't do any favours to your reputation."

Rita fumed for a while, then closed her eyes and did a great effort to calm herself.

"Well, Potter, what you can tell me about these full-mages? How you met them? Who they are? What they want? Tell me everything!"

"No, Rita, I'll tell you nothing. I just am here to tell you that you have chose your side in the future confrontations, and that exclude any chance of help or cooperation from our part. Just an alert: there are lines that I expect you won't cross, or you'll force us to change your current status from 'nuisance' to 'enemy' and retaliate. Keep your quill from denigrate my parents' memory, Maeve and the other minors. I don't care about what you'll say of me and other adults, but don't test my patience about those I asked you to spare: you'll find that it's non-existent. Are we clear?"

With that Harry and Maeve disappeared without any movement. Rita ran to the position where Maeve was and found nothing. It wasn't just invisibility, they kind of apparate away, but with no action or sound discernible.

She suddenly was aware of the huge consequences that 'Fudge's easy money' brought to her. Harry was clear about it: she wouldn't be accepted in the side that now seems to be the stronger. He had gone easy on her, he could be exposing her as an illegal animagus or hurt her for the use of a master legilimens on children. For now she was 'just a nuisance', not yet an enemy. She decided that was a line she doesn't want to cross.

.o0o.

Albus Dumbledore wasn't feeling so great and powerful as he used to believe himself to be. He had always been a control-freak, knowing everything and deciding what others should or shouldn't know, and now things were happening and he didn't have a clue why.

"I really don't know, Severus. Your mark, all Dark Marks, must have disappeared with Tom's death. And, alas, it not only is still there, but darkening."

"I'm telling you, Albus, I don't believe that brat was able to kill the Dark Lord! He deceived you somehow!"

"No, that's not possible, Severus. Alastor confirmed everything and the prophecy, I checked it in the Department of Mysteries, it's finally fulfilled. Maybe Harry have found some use for the mark, and a way to link them to himself instead of Tom."

"That… That is preposterous! I don't believe Potter have the knowledge or power to do such a thing! And it's even worse if he have! I refuse to be under his control! I'll kill him or myself, but I'll not be a puppet for another Dark Lord!"

"Severus, I'm sure that Harry will not become a Dark Lord!"

"I don't care what he becomes! I care that he hasn't any power over me! Never!"

"Calm down, Severus! And don't do anything too harsh before being sure of what's really happening. This situation is much more complex than it seems, and I couldn't discover anything. Harry is always surrounded by dozens of other people and refuses to give me any private time."

"Why you don't extract what you need to know direct from his mind?"

"Harry developed the most powerful occlumency I had ever found, Severus."

"I can't believe it! I'll see it for myself. I need some answers and I'll get them. If you don't have them and Potter is protected, I'll try the brat's friends."

"I seriously beg you to not attempt it, Severus. We are on an unstable truce with Harry and his group right now, and I fear what kind of retaliations we'll suffer if we break it."

Severus departed without another word, leaving Dumbledore back to his thoughts, but also worried for his friend's well-being. He had expended so much time planning and preparing for Tom's return and the long and bloody war that would follow and then it was all over before it even start! All his plans came to naught! No, it was worst than that. He had played with so many lives, had forced so much people to hurt and suffer… and it was all unnecessary!

The old man cried for a while, his heart heavy with his sins. Then he promise to try and do better, and returned to his analysis of the current events, trying to understand what was happening.

It was easy to understand why Harry didn't tell the world he had vanquished Voldemort. The boy never liked all the attention he got as The-Boy-Who-Lived, it would be even worst as The-Young-Man-Who-Won. Well, it would be if the world knew that Tom had survived his defeat that Halloween. In hindsight, it was a good and humble decision of Harry to keep it all secret.

'But why keep the dark mark active? Let's see… Only Death Eaters have the dark mark. Some were in prison, others were still free, and all of them have committed heinous crimes and could return to their old ways. Could it be that? An alteration of the mark to keep them under surveillance? I had inspected Severus' mark and found it was different, but I couldn't go further than that. I studied the dark mark for many years trying to free Severus from its burden, and never succeeded. Could Harry have advanced so much in magic to the point that he succeeded where I failed? What would you do if you find the Death Eaters returning to their life of crimes, my boy? Oh, Harry! Things would have been so much easier if you had accepted my offers to guide you!'

.o0o.

At exactly thirteen to midnight all Death Eaters received an increasingly pain in their marks. At one to midnight it reached its peak to abruptly cease, leaving behind a mark so nitid as when Voldemort was active. In many houses around the Island, old masks and robes that didn't see use for years were prepared and kept at hand, ready for use. The Death Eaters that have escaped Azkaban were ready to answer his master's call within a minute. Those who were in Azkaban were in high alert, hoping to be rescued soon. Severus Snape saw none of this. He was found unconscious near the Entertainment Centre a few hours before and didn't wake up until two days later.

The Daily Prophet had prepared a special article about the Azkaban prisoners, exposing how the inmates were celebrating the return of their master and promising retribution to all who dared challenge his power. Photographs of their dark marks, fully re-established, would follow the article giving some confirmation to the incredible statement. Cuffe, the chief-editor, had the good sense of contact the Minister before accepting the article for publication. He probably saved his job, and maybe even his head and that of his reporter, with this simple gesture. Fudge ordained total silence, under penalty of imprisonment for slander and incitement to panic.

The invisible mark on Fudge's arm let Harry's group know about this development and confirmed to them the Minister's inadequacy to fight crisis, the level of commitment of each Death Eater to their cause and the extreme incompetence of the government in keeping security. Fudge was 'marked' months ago and didn't pass a single check-up all this time. In a world where you have all kind of potions, charms and curses to alter the behaviour of a person, and also easy magical ways of detect and cancel such effects, not using them is a certificate of madness and stupidity. The same goes for magical vows and oaths: a well worded oath of innocence could solve any doubts about culpability in crimes, the same way a well worded oath could avoid treason and break of contracts. Harry's group was still using it with great success, even if the oath used by them was quite simple and generic, only to stimulate that secrets are kept and that a peaceful and cooperative environment was maintained.

As the days passed and the Dark Lord didn't contact his Death Eaters some changes started to happen with them. Those in Azkaban kept a general mood of hope and happiness, but in a much more sedate level, but those in freedom were becoming apprehensive in different degrees, asking themselves if their master had lost confidence in them and if they would be suffering some punishment for not helping him in his times of tribulation, but all that was short lived.

The next Friday, November 7th, saw a similar pattern as the previous Friday: at exactly thirteen to midnight all Death Eaters received an increasingly pain in their marks. At one to midnight it reached its peak to abruptly cease: their Dark Mark had vanished!

The Daily Prophet had a very special edition the following Sunday. The suppressed article about the suddenly happiness in Azkaban the prior week was printed, with some alterations, inside the paper. It was followed by another showing how that happiness changed to despair last week when a special operation of the Ministry, under direct request and command of the Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge had, after years of strenuous work, succeeded in finally vanquished the Dark Lord You-Know-Who for good. The front page brought out the headline "You-Know-Who no more!" and photographs of Bellatrix Lestrange with and without the Dark Mark, A special interview with the Minister was the main piece of the edition.

...

"Minister, when was this special operation set?"

"As soon as I was elected Minister. I found it strange that, after the Halloween of 2001 and the attack to the Potters, the Death Eaters still kept their dark marks. It was obvious for me that You-Know-Who was still out there, even if considerably weakened. As minister, it was my duty to do everything I could to ensure that he didn't come back."

"So, it has been going for years! Why keep it all secret?"

"The safety and happiness of our society was always my main concern. The operation was mounted to guaranty our safety, while the secrecy was both need to its success and to keep our society calm, happy and prosperous. After the huge celebration following You-Know-Who's failure to kill the Potter boy, it would be depressing to tell them that the danger wasn't fully defeated."

"Who did you select to participate in this secret mission?"

"Sorry, for their safety they will be remain unmentioned, but be sure that the Ministry, on behalf of our society, will reward them generously."

"Can you tell us how You-Know-Who was finally defeated?"

"You-Know-Who was a very powerful and smart wizard. Our group passed all these years in his trail but only recently was able to hold him long enough in a place so that a final confrontation could be planned and executed."

"And where it happened, Minister?"

"Sorry, we'll not disclose the exact location so that it doesn't become a place of peregrination. We want to turn this dark and sad page of our history once and for all. We must focus in the peaceful and wealthy future we have ahead of us."

"What happened in this final confrontation? We heard rumours that you were involved personally."

"Well, you see, as the mentor and leader of this operation, I felt obliged to be there in its culmination, and have the luck to administer the final blow that killed You-Know-Who. After so many years of effort, so many close calls, so much work to avoid You-Know-Who the time and peace he needed to re-stablish his health and power, we finally succeeded! The British Magical Society can finally rest in peace, knowing that this treat, that most even known was there, is finally over!"

…

It was the beginning of an amazing propaganda campaign that saw Fudge receiving an Order of Merlin first class (if Dumbledore could get one for the little Weatherby boy, why not him?), a hundred thousand galleons awarded to himself and a million and two hundred thousand galleons in his account to anonymously awarded his non-existent group of collaborators. The best is that, the same as with Dumbledore's protégé, nobody contested his claims. Only just one thing he couldn't understand: why his popularity had fallen instead of rising. The idea that most of the public knew of Voldemort's demise months before him and were upset by his blatant lie and theft of fame never crossed his mind.

.o0o.

The main reason why Harry and his group chose to postpone the disappearance of the Dark Mark was the possibility that Malfoy and his group decided to become more active before they had secured a more defensible position and established their base in the Pacific Ocean. In retrospect it was a good decision, even if Fudge had surprised them with his fast move to take credit for the feat. In fact, the next day from The Daily Prophet's special edition the Death Eaters were back at the Ministry after a week long absence, and they were in the warpath against the full-mages and Harry's control over Hogwarts. They still would wait for the first task, but doing all the preparations in advance.

The first thing they did was to probe the Minister about what had actually happened to their Master, as they didn't believe the official version. As they had expected, they soon concluded that the only news the Ministry had about the Dark Lord were through the Dark Marks of the prisoners of Azkaban, first with its darkening then with its disappearance. Taking all the credit was a huge bluff from Fudge. It paid him well so far, but Malfoy considered it too risky. It also had a bad effect over Fudge: the man now was much more selective about the bribes he accepted, both by avoiding the less popular ones as by charging much more for the ones he accepted. He promptly refused to review the case of the incarcerated Death Eaters. Lucius also discovered that their number suffered some losses: Antonin Dolohov, Michael Travers and two low-ranking D.E. had committed suicide while Seth Selwyn was catatonic. It seems they had put too much hope on a quickly release by Voldemort to the point that the loss of their marks caused them the loss of all hopes of ever getting out of that terrible prison.

At least Fudge was still open, even anxious, to deal with the full-mages, creatures, half-breeds and Potter's control over Hogwarts. They would focus on these problems first.

.o0o.

Both Harry and Albus were amazed by the arrogance and elitism of the Minister and the pureblood supremacists. Harry's group was in the know of all their machinations thanks to the fake invisible brands, while Dumbledore was knowing only some of their plans because, as an Order of Merlin recipient, he still was a member of the Wizengamot and so receives the proposals for new laws, and because Severus was keeping him informed of whatever he could extract from Lucius.

After the 'full-mages manifesto' was published in The Quibbler the first reaction of the elitists was deny everything as a big hoax. After FUMA registered for the international tournament they were described as a group of kids being irresponsibly rebellious under the command of a Boy-Who-Lived-To-Go-Crazy with delusions of grandeur, supported by creatures and half-breeds who wanted to conquer an undeserved space between normal wizards and witches. In short, the full-mages were being summarily and dangerously belittled as insignificant, without having being analysed in any detail for numbers and individual power.

With a conflict against the Minister almost guaranteed Harry called for his people to suggest what they must do. For their surprise, one of the first to present a suggestion was little Gabrielle Delacour: "If Maeve shows all the incredible magic she can do, wouldn't they be afraid of attacking us?"

It was a logical question, but they weren't expecting the Minister to act logically. Instead, they considered more probable that fear caused him to attack sooner and more viciously, to totally defeat them before they could get still more powerful.

Few people still in Britain knew the localization of their main base in the Pacific or their auxiliary base in Brazil, and they were all at Hogwarts. And a group of them have checked Hogwarts' wards. They were now quite solid, and they were being reinforced will new additional outer and inner layers to make them even more impressive, with some fun and some lethal surprises, to be used as needed. Their only point of worries were the relatives of the British children at Hogwarts that were still living in the Islands but out of the school. Most of them already have special portkeys that could be activate both by voice commands or the user being unconscious or hurt. A special task force was designated so that all of them received one before the first task.

A lot of members in the group would like to make the Minister fall, and the Death Eaters still in freedom be punished in some way, but they soon reached a compromise: any attacks at Hogwarts will be countered with minimum violence but considerable humiliation if possible, but attacks to innocents in general would lead to severe counter-measures.

.o0o.

Two days before the first task Luna decided to spent the nigh with Harry. First she resumed the progress in all activities she was involved, so he could know how they were doing. And everything was progressing according their most realistic predictions, which means that whatever depend only on them was going very good, what depends on others was slow but according the expected, and what was related to their deeper comprehension of magic was extremely slow but very compensatory as each new fact they discovered opened up new possibilities to be explored.

After that they have a round of anal sex. With Luna it was always so different! She was such sweet girl, always so kind and gentle. Even doing sex was a slow and soft action. She wasn't much in that pump in and out that it usually was. She liked to receive him full inside her, and then gentle move her hips like trying to make him go even further without never going back. He loves her way, and had did it this way with some other girls, to their delight. They fully shared their magic, making them intertwine and opening up to each other in a very intense and intimate way.

When recovering after their session, Harry decided to investigate something he saw while their magics were united: "Luna, I got a feeling that you're a little sad with so many people added to our group. Care to explain?"

"Always trying to fix the world, Harry Potter! But you don't need to worry about it. I'm really happy that our little group had grow so much! What you saw is just a bit of sadness because, with so many people, a day's time isn't enough to see and talk and interact with each one of them."

"Well, I definitely can relate. I'm also feeling that the day pass by too fast, and that are so many people I still don't know that well, and that I couldn't give the attention each one of you deserve..."

"Yes, it is sad, but it is also unavoidable. Many different reasons seem to work together to limit us. Maybe it was the reason I feel the zero-mages cities so cold and inhospitable: because there are so many people in them that it is impossible to create links with all of them."

"Yes. It's strange, isn't it, that we can feel alone even when surrounded by so many people."

"It's overwhelming. I love to interact with all my peers, but I also need to take a break from time to time and be alone for a while. I worry about how it would be when we were living in our own metropolis, if we would be losing a lot."

"Maybe not. Our city has the capacity to be expanded to host billions of people, but they will be living in small units of up to 1,200 people each one. We can do it like these units acts as small villages, we living in one of them but with the possibility of visiting many others whenever we want."

"I think we would only know how good or bad it was after we experience it for some time. Anyway, I'll put a note on my notebook to check this point every couple of years."

.o0o.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the First Task of the World Wizarding Wrangle! Our champions are at the centre of the stadium and ready to start, but before they are allowed to depart in their quest, let me explain what they will need to do! As you can see, the magical screens at each extremity of the stadium are divided to show you four locations on the grounds. Our champions would need to go to each one to retrieve one part of the special artefact that was also a clue for what they will need to do in the second task. Their first stop will be at the back of the gatekeeper hut, where they will need to show their skills with transfiguration and care of magical creatures, creating a niffler to collect a golden disc from the underground of the garden. Next stop will be at the border of the Forbidden Forest, where they would show us their skills with defence against dark creatures and charms to retrieve a hemisphere for their artefact. Another hemisphere will require knowledge in herbology and in brewing a potion to be collected. Then they will follow to the border of the Black Lake, where they will make use of their skills in runes and arithmancy to liberate the last part of the artefact. The finish line will be back here at the stadium. They will then receive points for the time expended mainly, with possible additions for creativity and excellence."

Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports of the Ministry, was having his day at the spotlight as the official announcer of the games. He was happy with it, and make whatever he could to prolong the attention he received from the public as much as possible without get boring. After the initial explanation he detailed each stopping point of the task then presented each one of the competitors, starting with Ronald Weasley and ending with Cedric Diggory and Maeve McDougal in a crescendo of interest and support base. Then a cannon blast started the event.

Most of the competitors soon divided themselves in two groups according their strategy to reach Hagrid's hut: a group summoning brooms and other conjuring or transfiguring things to create means of locomotion. This second group was creative: bikes, skates, scooters, roller skates and even a paraglider were shown. But two of the champions were even more remarkable. Maeve had learned how to magically enhanced her body, and shot out of the stadium like a cannon ball on her two small legs in a speed that would put Usain Bolt to shame. Ronald Weasley shocked the public levitating himself and then flying to his first stop.

Maeve was a smart girl, and the constant tutelage she receive from Harry and his group only add to it, making her more confident and creative. While still running, she had an idea and, summoning a piece of wood, started to transfigure it into a niffler before reaching the hut. When she arrived there, it was a matter of a few seconds until she had the golden disc in her hands and was on her way to the next stop. It was on her way out that she saw the strange sight of the ginger boy flying there. That was curious. Had they underestimated so much the boy's skills, or Dumbledore's proficiency as a teacher? Well, she was tutored by Harry Potter himself, she wasn't worry.

The human body wasn't created for flying by itself. By what the public could see, Ronald Weasley had first levitated his body and then boosted it forward, flying with the use of two different spells. His position in the air wasn't lying like superman, but standing up with just a small inclination ahead. His speed was less than a good broom but he had the advantage of starting his flight early, not having to wait for a summoned broom to arrive. Still, the Durmstrang champion easily surpassed him, and he arrived at the garden together with three other champions.

At this point Maeve was already working to obtain one of the hemispheres to be attached to the golden disc. They were in a large clearing, one for each competitor inside a circle of flames surrounded by a chain with spikes, defended by a big, ugly and clumsy insect... No, it wasn't an insect, it had too many legs. What were those animals really called? Centipede! They were centipedes protecting the circles! But would they be the part related to Defence against dark creatures? They didn't seem scary or dangerous.

Keeping an eye on the centipede next to her circle just in case, she tried to summon the hemisphere. It didn't work, so she tried to levitate it. It also didn't work. It was impervious to any magic apparently, but Harry had given her a good advice for when she was in need to deal with something impervious to magic when they talk about fighting trolls or dragons or such beasts. "If direct magic doesn't work, use your magic in something physical to act over your target." She summoned a tree branch and transfigure its point into a soup ladle. With it she easily caught the hemisphere and was again on her path.

It would be just a day later that she would realize she probably was the first person to have seen a boggart as they truly were: a magical Myriapoda, a 12 centimetres centipede able to use the fears of a possible predator to protect themselves. The occlumentic effect of her magic distributed over her body had protected her from allowing the animal to read her mind and select an illusion to scare her so, not knowing what to transform into, the animal didn't change.

It was a good thing she had opened such large advantage over her competition in the first two stops, as the next two weren't so simple for her. She probably collected the wrong ingredient as stabilizer for her potion, and had to use her magic to contain and avoid a possible explosion, but it worked good nonetheless and liberated the second hemisphere dissolving the rock where it was confined, even if at the cost of some precious minutes. Finally, she didn't know neither runes nor arithmancy yet, so the last stop was really exhausting for her. She solved it expanding her senses, specially her magical sight, and use her magic to overcome the protective wards around the crystal. By the time she finished, the red haired boy was already flying back to the stadium. In a final sprint, she surpassed him at the enter of the stadium and rush to its medium line to concluded the task. It was at that point that she heard a sonorous 'NO!' came from all around the stadium.

The boy was at his breaking point. He had done everything he could to won, to finally surpassed that brat of a girl in this competition, but she simply didn't accept it and used her inhuman speed to again lead the competition. He wouldn't loss! It was unacceptable! He must win! He took his wand and silently cast a spell to crush the competitor.

Her enhanced senses told Maeve of the incoming spell, but she didn't need to act. Harry was at the judge's box, and he made part of the ground rise to intercept the spell. At the same time, thousands of spectators, most of them full-mages, cried at the revolting attack and jump to revenge the little girl they so much learned to love. The ginger boy was subject to immense and varied magic. The hundreds of banishment charms coming from different directions were enough to break his body into tiny pieces. Add to that the explosive, cutting, stunning and what-more spells sent together, and he was completely vaporized.

A huge scream shocked everybody for a few seconds, until Molly Weasley lost consciousness due to the pain she felt. That her own daughter was one of the attackers she would never know. But Harry Potter didn't see it. He was busy with Dumbledore. The old man didn't act when the spell of the boy was approaching the girl, but he stand up immediately when his pupil was shattered, taking out his wand. It was then that he pronounced the word that explained so much: "Severus!".