Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
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"Wow, you've got quite a bit going on down here Harry," said Iris as she and Hermione walked past the Basilisk corpse, Hermione edging subtly further away from the magical creature than Iris. As for Iris, she had no real fear of it after having seen it in action as it actively tried to kill her. Those memories were still fresh in her mind and had haunted her nightmares for months after.
"Kind of have to," said Harry as he flicked a page through the book he was reading. To his side a cauldron was bubbling away over a small flame, several empty vials next to it along with leftover ingredients. "I've never made this potion before so I'm not expecting to get it right the first time."
"Must be something advanced then," said Hermione as she walked over and inspected the ingredients that Harry had used. "What are you trying to make?"
"It's similar to the warming charm but instead of focusing on the external layers of the body, it intensifies the heat of the internal layers," said Harry as he put the book down, staring at the ceiling. "Warming charms are fine and all but they only work in certain situations and, if what we have to do in the next task is what we think, we need to consider alternate options."
"You've figured out what the next test is already?" asked Iris in astonishment as she took a seat near her brother.
"In theory," said Harry, averting his eyes from his sister as he did so. "It's still a ways away but given the timing it's happening, getting the hang of this potion should be more than a good start."
"The twenty fourth of February, right," said Hermione as she stepped away from Harry's cauldron. "It's good to see that somebody in your family appreciates getting started on assignments in advance and not leaving them to the last minute."
"I'll have you know that I've had all my assignments ready at least three days ahead of when they're due," countered Iris, knowing full well that Hermione finished well before she even considered beginning in some situations. It wasn't her fault that History of Magic was such a boring topic.
"Still, that gives us nearly twelve weeks to figure out how best to tackle the challenge ahead," said Hermione.
Harry lowered his head at her words, already knowing what a piece of the upcoming challenge was and how it would likely effect either of the two witches currently residing with him. He silently hoped that they had misunderstood something regarding the lyrics or the riddle given to them but the more they had thought about it the more it had made sense.
A scary amount of sense.
When Harry had found out that he was entered into this tournament, he had been none too pleased to put it lightly. Those who had been teaching him at the time had had to repair quite a bit of damage that he had caused before he had gotten control over his emotions. After the initial outburst, he had come to grips with the fact that there had been contestant casualties in previous renditions of the tournament and vowed to not add his name to the tally. The simplest solution had been to get himself removed from the contest altogether but no, he had to put his life on the line for the entertainment of others which is where his backup plan had come into play; to rob the crown of as much entertainment as possible while staying alive.
Now however, it wasn't just his life on the line. It wasn't even one of the other competitors. It was others brought in as hostages to be rescued. It was potentially his sister.
That, that had riled him up real bad.
"Me and the others can figure it out," said Harry. "We've kinda got a deal going on and I know they're not going to withhold anything from me."
"No way! "Fleur I can understand given you to know each other," said Iris, a little pain in her voice that she did relatively well to hide. "But Cedric and Krum, what do they get advantage wise in this tournament if all of you are sharing information?"
"A better chance at living," responded Harry, a little harsher than he meant to. Raising his hands up, he apologized. "Sorry, sorry, just got a lot on my mind at the moment. I think you two should probably focus on the ball coming up."
"There's a ball coming up?" said Hermione.
"Huh, guess it isn't public news yet," said Harry as he pushed himself to his feet. "Apparently there's a Yule Ball over Christmas, some tradition thing that the champions got told we were forced to go to."
"You make it sound like I don't want to go," said Iris.
"Why would I?" countered Harry. "A ball is just a fancy dance where people play politics by figuring out who they're taking and what brand they choose to wear. I don't like the idea of politics and I don't like the idea of being the front page of Teen Witch Weekly with a questionnaire asking viewers what type of outfit they'd believe I'd wear."
"But there's the actual socializing part, mingling with people your own age," said Iris, seeing this as a potential opportunity for Harry to open up a bit more. So far, outside of herself, Fleur, Hermione and Luna, Harry hadn't spent more than a minute with any other individual that she knew of. She knew that he fully intended to leave once the tournament was over, as much as it pained her to believe, but perhaps if he managed to garner some more connections, he would be more likely to return somewhere down the line.
"Whatever," shrugged Harry, turning to face Hermione. "Just letting you know that if I get the feeling you've been hexed again into asking me to the dance, I promise to not use you as bait."
"You better," huffed Hermione as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What makes you think that I'd want to go with you anyway?"
"And that is a trap that I'm not going to walk into," said Harry, stepping over to the cauldron and stirring the concoction four times in a counter clockwise direction. "I'm going to leave that to simmer for the next hour or so while I get some dinner."
Iris let out a it of a sigh, knowing it wasn't even five o'clock yet and Harry was already planning on heading to the Great Hall to eat. That was all to ensure that he wouldn't be pestered by anyone while eating and can have already left by the time somebody else came to partake in some food. If she wanted Harry to make some connections, this definitely wasn't a good start. The problem was though that she knew she wouldn't be able to convince Harry of an alternative, and trying to get somebody else to eat at that time would be a pointless endeavor.
"You know I could go for an early dinner," said Hermione.
"You're not helping," grumbled Iris.
"If you want to join me, I'm not going to stop you," said Harry with a shrug as he made his way to the exit, the two girls following him. "Just so you know Iris, as your big brother, whoever asks you to the ball has to get my blessing first."
"Please, as if anybody is going to even think of asking you if they can ask me," scoffed Iris. "And who says you're the big brother? I could be the big sister for all we know."
"I don't believe that for a second," retorted Harry, Iris pouting behind him as Hermione did her best not to laugh at the situation she was watching.
...
The announcement of the ball occurred only a few days later and, understandably, the buzz around the school swiftly changed to discussions of what students were going to wear and who they were going to ask. Often groups of girls could be seen grouped together, looking at a bunch of boys and giggling incoherently before moving on and leaving the teenagers confused.
Others however were doing their best to push back the advances of others. "I don't zink so," stated Fleur, brushing past the flowers being thrust at her. "I am already spoken for for ze ball. Be sure to tell all zat you know zat this is ze truth and to stop coming for me."
The heartbreak was visible as Fleur and her classmates walked past the man who had fired his shot. While he was being consoled by his friends, Fleur couldn't help but release a sigh. That had been the fourth person she had rejected thus far and the all had become public knowledge a few hours ago. It was tiring and the sooner that everybody was aware that she was not available for the ball the better.
"Do you need to be so cruel Fleur?" asked Celeste, her fellow Beauxbaton's student. "He was rather cute."
"It matters not," huffed Fleur. "Zere is only one person who I will go with to ze ball."
"You just have to wait for 'Arry to ask you," said Juliette, placing her hands behind her uniform as she leaned forward. "You are waiting for 'Arry, non?"
"Of course," stated Fleur.
"Zen you may be waiting a while," said Celeste. "While he is skilled as a wizard, I do not zink zat he is well versed in ze way of courtship."
"I know, and zat is why I will be patient," said Fleur. "He is still but a boy and must learn these zings on his own."
"And what eef he does not learn in time?" asked Celeste.
"Do you plan to go to ze ball alone?" followed up Juliette.
"Zat," said Fleur before pausing, both in her words and in her steps. A few seconds passed before she eventually continued. "Perhaps I need to give zis more thought."
...
"Oh my gosh, what am I going to wear?" asked Lavender Brown, as she looked through her trunk for something suitable for the occasion.
"Lavender, no need to rush, we still have weeks to prepare," said Parvati Patil as she sat on her bed. "I've ordered some brochures to look at some new dresses and I'm willing to share."
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" exclaimed Lavender, scrambling over to her friend.
"Hey, hey, it's okay, I got it for all of us," said Parvati, trying to keep a small amount of distance between her and Lavender while looking over the other occupants in the room.
"Wait? Really?" said Iris, mildly caught off guard.
"We Gryffindor's have to stick together," said Parvati, offering a small smile as Lavender calmed down. "It wouldn't do well for one of us to not be looking the part on the night. Have to show that house loyalty."
"Oh, does that mean I get to do your makeup Hermione!" exclaimed Lavender, illuminated up like a festive light.
"Wait, no, what?" stammered Hermione completely taken off guard. "I wasn't planning on going."
"Oh hush you," scoffed Parvati. "I don't care if you've got a date or not, I will be seeing you on the dancefloor in the most beautiful dress you can get your hands on and we won't take no for an answer."
"Please pick your dress quickly," begged Lavender, now scrambling over to where Hermione was sitting. "I need to know what color makeup to use on you right away."
"Um, but, Iris, help me!" begged Hermione as she looked over at her best friend.
Before Iris had the chance, Parvati sprung from her position on her bed and leapt at Iris. "Don't think you're getting out of this either Iris!" Parvati proclaimed loudly.
The shriek of fear that rang out from the fourth year girls dorm could be heard from the Gryffindor common room.
...
Harry tossed the vial to the side in anger, having been unable to get the concoction right once more as the glass shattered into hundreds of tiny fragments. A primal roar escaped his lips in anger as he tried to calm his breathing. Once more his potion had been a failure, having barely kept him warm for a handful of minutes before disappearing from his system.
Given the circumstances for what the potion would be used for, that effectively made it worthless.
He had taken this task upon himself to adjust the original instructions to increase the duration time from ten minutes to a full hour for the betterment of all the champions. All he'd managed to do thus far was decrease the level of efficiency and it was frustrating him to no regard. There was only so many ways he could change the way the ingredients were prepared in order to give himself the best chance but each time he came up short. At this stage, to even increase the duration to fifteen minutes would require a miracle, let alone to the full hour.
Rubbing at his eyes, Harry knew that he was out of his depth here and would need to consult someone a little more versed on the topic. Thankfully, as opposed to seemingly everybody else in Hogwarts, his relationship with Professor Snape would be called reasonable in comparison to most.
Harry knew that he had to ask the resident Potions Master for some advice. Whether said Potions Master was willing to give said advice would be another story.
...
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