CHAPTER 27
Of Pikas And Lockets And Meets
Digging around was one of his hobbies, but Sly knew how upset his Aunt would get if she found her flowerbeds in a mess. So Sly preferred to spend his time sunbathing in a corner of their garden, against the wall, so neighbours would miss him everytime they looked over it.
Today was two weeks after the Quidditch match, and perhaps the last of the animagus ritual week for Ethan, Neville and Draco, who's magic unfortunately, hadn't been able to fool the procedure of animagus transformations, as Harry's and Blaire's had. But Sly was certain that they weren't concentrating hard enough.
He, and he was sure that Blaire too, had thoroughly concentrated on the hints that magic that been giving them, and they had concentrated on it until they knew that they could pull that colour, or any other hint towards themselves, and he was positive that the magic unintentionally bound the form onto them. But Harry wasn't going to upset them by saying so.
So today, they were going to drink up a potion, that looked disgusting, and Sly was glad he'd never got to consume it. Well, he would be the loyal brother and friend, and once they plucked up the courage to consume that potion and came to inform him as such, he would get up and stay by their side, rubbing their backs and say, "There, there."
But until then, Harry was going to stay in this corner so as to avoid all the bouts of anxiety that simply ended in petty quarrels.
The actual problem was rooted with the stress the week had caused them all. These were the seven last processes of animagus transformations for the luckier wizards. It was these steps that took the wizards years to figure out. But with Prof around, and the indirect help from an unsuspecting McGonagall, things had gone fairly well. They had been able to direct their magic into doing basic body transformations, where hands and feet would turn into paws and claws, but that was about all they could do.
The final step, however was a potion that needed to be consumed on the day after the full moon followed by the incantation. And they needed to complete the step today. If not, they'd have to wait for another month. Making this potion was another obstacle faced by many, but thanks to Prof, they were even able to procure the readily available ingredients at the right time.
And as Sly sat contemplating on what their forms would be, something crashed into him with with such force, he banged into the wall. Sly turned around to take a look at the culprit and maybe snap at them, but when he saw a grey and black, round animal, mammal to be precise, almost as big at him but with short, almost unnaturally blonde, legs, Harry stood on all fours, teeth barred.
Then the animal let out a squeaky bleat and Sly understood it when it said, "Calm down! It's just me, Draco!"
"Draco?" Sly squeaked out.
"Rush, actually." the animal said, and Sly realised that it didn't have a tail. "Blaire named me. She said it'd suit me. I'm a pika...from the rabbit family."
"You transformed?"
"Uh huh. Ethan and Neville tried the potion too, but they didn't succeed. Blaire's told them that they need to go through this weeks procedure again before the next full moon, so they can take the potion the day after the full moon. You missed it all!"
Before Sly could respond, they heard a scream from above. The neighbour living on the other side of the wall probably heard the squeaks and wasn't able to resist looking over the wall. Sly didn't bother looking up at her. He crashed into Rush in a bid to search for a hiding place and Rush followed stumbling over his short legs, his round ears twitching with the excitement.
...
"I saw them, I swear!" Blaire could hear Mrs. Winters, the next door neighbour, screech at an annoyed Aunt Petunia, with insistance. "I tell you, the mongrel and rat were having a tete-a-tete!"
"Stop talking nonsense, Welma." Aunt Petunia snapped. "There isn't a single dog in this neighbourhood!"
"But there was one in your backyard, staring face to face with the rat! The rat didn't even seem afraid of it! And the rat must have been huge!"
"Must have been?" Aunt Petunia said skeptically.
"Oh, Petunia! You wouldn't understand! I caught a glimpse of it from above! And the rat looked as big as the dog!"
"Perhaps you need an appointment with the eye specialist?"
"I know what I saw!" Mrs. Welma said indignantly. "Either the rat was gigantic, or the dog was small, because they were of the same size! Maybe it wasn't a mongrel at all! I think it could have been a Sausage-"
"Welma-"
"No, no wait! I think the dog had rather large ears! Yes! That's it! It was a Basset Hound! I must have been! And the rat-"
"Welma! I'll keep an eye out for them. You go ahead and carry on with you're day, dear. You see, I have to go to work in a few minutes. Once I catch sight of the rat, I'm going to call the Pest control. Don't think anything about it, Welma. Have a nice day."
The next thing Blaire heard was the door banging shut and a loud, exasperated sigh.
Too bad no grown-up save for Prof knew about their animagus forms.
Blaire was going to have to insist on keeping Sly, Rush and Woody hidden for the rest of the summer.
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Severus Snape was pacing around his living room in his home at Spinner's End, unanswered questions beating a rhythm in his head. The loudest, most important one turned out to be, Voldemort's secret location. The man who went missing turned out to be a resident of Little Hangleton. Immediately both, Dumbledore's and Severus's mind went to the Houses of Gaunt and Riddle.
A trip to that village informed them that Voldemort and Pettigrew had indeed resided at Riddle Manor for a period of time, but the house had no inhabitants anymore. An anonymous message to Amelia Bones informed her of Bertha Jorkin's murder during her vacation in Albania. The letter's information was as minimal as possible, but enough to set the wheels in the Minister's head turning.
But for now, they'd hit a dead end. Voldemort could be anywhere, and though Amelia Bones had made the security system as tight as it was during the days of the Quidditch cup, he had a feeling that they were already too late. Severus felt afraid. Not for himself, but for Harry. The boy was in grave danger. And with the out-of-the-blue suggestion and the implementation of the the upcoming Triwizard Tournament, something that hadn't been held even during Severus's years as a student, starting planting seeds of doubts in Severus's head.
But the entire theory seemed too far fetched to be true, so he discarded it. What was Voldemort even upto? How had he managed to acquire a body? How would he turn that body into the original one? What was going to happen to the Wizarding World? Where did the Muggle World stand in all this? Was Karkaroff the loyal servant? Impossible! He'd betrayed too many...but what if it was all a masterful act?
Severus sighed and lowered his tall frame into an armchair, turning his thoughts to the triplets, Harry in particular. He couldn't for the life of him figure out how a little transfer of power could create a connection so frightening. Could Voldemort sense Harry just as much as the boy could sense him? Was he ever going to use that as a means to trick or trap Harry? As strong as Harry's Occlumency shields were for his age, he didn't expect it to be the best solution.
Severus sighed again and stood up when he heard an urgent knock on his door. He opened the door and let in an old wrinkled woman who waved her wand, as he shut the door, and turned into an excited Narcissa.
"What's happened?" Severus asked.
Narcissa said, "Do you remember showing me the image of an ugly necklace some months ago? You expected it to be in the Black or the Lestrange vaults?"
"Yes?" Severus said carefully.
"I've found it!"
"What!? But where? How?"
"At Grimmauld Place, Severus! We were clearing out the place and I found it in a cabinet!"
"That's great, Narcissa! Do you have it with you?"
"Oh yes!"
She fished into her pocket and pulled out a small box. On placing it on Severus's tea table, she opened the box to reveal Slytherin 's locket. Severus didn't bother lifting it.
"Did you touch it?" he asked her.
"I almost did, but then I leviated it into the box...How do you think it got there?"
"Wasn't Bellatrix visiting Grimmauld Place?"
"She never stepped foot in there after her marriage. I'm sure of it."
"Why not?"
"Aunt Walburga would pester her for children." She laughed nervously, "I think it struck a nerve."
Severus smirked and then turned serious again.
"Then the only other Death Eater who was granted excess to that place was-"
"-Regulus Black... Alright, Severus, I need to get going, the others don't know I've left. I figured you wanted to keep that a secret."
Severus nodded and thanked her. Once she disguised herself and disapperated, he magically shut the flat box, lifted it and flooed to Dumbledore's office at Hogwarts.
"Severus!" the Headmaster said, startled from his seat at the table. "I thought you were on holiday... Anyway, it's good that you're here...saved me the trouble of floo calling you. Amelia Bones has just requested for an emergency staff meeting in an hour.
Wordlessly, Severus placed the box on the aged man's desk and took off the lid.
Dumbledore peered at it gravely and got off his chair. Moving to the bookcase, he took off the glass chamber and directed the locket, box and all in it and burnt it all in fiendfyre. What made this destruction different was that the flames turned into snakes which seemed to force the now quivering locket open. But the moment the locket opened, the flames attacked. Soon the chamber was empty.
When they were finally seated, Dumbledore offered Severus a glass of wine, which he gladly accepted.
"How did you find it?" Dumbledore asked as Severus took a sip and Severus put his glass down and told him about Narcissa and then they waited for a staff meeting that would be held in half-an-hour.
The door opened not even ten minutes later and Minerva entered with Amelia Bones, both in a heated discussion.
"I couldn't help it, Minerva! It's a yearly vote."
"A yearly vote?" Minerva asked in surprise.
"You mean to say you and the Ministers of France and Belgium vote for an inter-school tournament?"
"No, Minerva." Dumbledore sighed. "The school heads do, but only this time both Karkaroff and Madam Maxime voted in favour of the tournament."
"Were they imperiused?" Minerva asked immediately.
"Oh no." Dumbledore said. "Merely well convinced."
Minerva sighed wearily and sat down.
"I don't want the students to participate in this nonsense. Most of the younger ones can't even turn a teapot into a turtle! What will they do in the tournament?"
"Yes, yes." Minister Bones said impatiently. "Dumbledore put forth that problem in the last meeting he had with us. And now once everyone gets here, I shall explain the decisions and conditions we three Ministers have made pertaining the Triwizard Tournament...Have you found your Defence Against the Arts teacher, Dumbledore?"
"Of course Amelia...And rest assured you will be satisfied."
...
Dumbledore's find happened to be none other than the Mad-Eye Moody, the paranoid, retired Auror. The man sent a disgusted look at Severus as he took a chair. Severus chose to ignore him.
Once the meeting began finally began, Amelia Bones began, "ThisTriwizard Tournament is inevitable and given the circumstances, we can't move for tampering or foul play of any kind for the Ministers of Bulgaria and France and the Heads of the respective schools are absolutely certain that this is, I quote, the best for the education of young minds, unquote, And since both Dumbledore and I have objected, they've collectively decided to keep Hogwarts as the hosting school, I quote again, to save the Headmaster and students of Hogwarts any pains of transport and living accomodation, for they may have objected for that very reason, unquote."
Loud snorts accompanied that answer and Severus's mind was on full alert as he tried to find holes around these instructions in which Voldemort would be able to hide and lay in wait for Harry.
"Now speaking about living accomodations, the participants of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons along with their heads will arrive on their ship and carriage respectively, and they shall reside in there, joining the residents of Hogwarts only for meals and on the occasion of the tasks and perhaps the Yule Ball that shall be held on Yule, for which, the contestants will have to participate in the opening dance with a partner of their choice...And perhaps during the day of the third task where the participants families shall be invited to spend the day and watch the last task.
"I believe you've all heard about the Goblet of Fire? It's a Goblet containing flames, whose magic once awakened will chose impartially and without any bias the right representative who will participate for their respective school. The day of the representative selection shall take place on Halloween, therefore, the goblet's magic must be opened twenty four hours prior, giving the aspiring seventeen year old participants twenty four hours to put their names in it.
"The students wanting to participate will have to put a slip of parchment with their names and the name of their school written on it clearly into the flames. Now, regarding Dumbledore's concerns, only students of age can enter their names into the Goblet and Dumbledore, you will see to it that you put up a charm or something to keep the adventurous kids away from the Goblet."
Now she took out a roll of parchment and opened it up and began to read, "The judges of this tournament will be Ludovic Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, since the competition falls under his jurisdiction in this country; Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, since the participating nations cooperation comes under his jurisdiction in this country; Igor Karkaroff, the Headmaster of Durmstrang, Bulgaria; Olympe Maxime, the Headmistress of Beauxbatons, France; and Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, England.
"Now, staff of Hogwarts, I beg you to listen without interrupting, for though the participants will have to perform the certain tasks, they will be under the strict surveillance of the experts...so in other words, the participants will be absolutely safe.
"Ahem, three tasks will constitute this tournament. The first task, a test the contestant's quick wit and courage. The contestants shall not know what the task entails until the last minute. The task includes retrieving a golden egg amongst others from the nest of a dragon with only a wand as a weapon. The nest shall be guarded by the respective mother whose breed shall depend on the availability of nesting females during the latter part of November. This task shall be held on the twenty fourth of said month.
"The next task includes the unraveling of a riddle with a major clue placed in the golden egg. The clue will be in the form of a mermaid song that the participants will hear only if both, the egg and the ear are immersed in water. The main idea is that someone the participant holds dear shall be captured and held prisoner, by the mermaids. The prisoners shall be under a charm that prevents suffocation while underwater and it shall keep them alseep throughout the ordeal. The contestants shall have an hour to retrieve their respective prisoner.
"The third and last contest will be an obstacle course through a maze that will be built temporarily on the school's grounds. The obstacles will be upto the judges. The participants will enter the maze one at a time. The first to enter shall be the one who's scored the highest in the previous two tasks. The last to enter will be the person with the least scores. The participants shall move towards the centre of the maze, the place where the cup shall be placed. The one to touch the cup first shall be portkeyed back to the place they started and shall be the winner of 1000 galleons."
Wearily, Minister Bones rolled up the parchment and said, "That is all that I can tell you. The other information will be given out once all the judges have their next meeting."
With a few parting words and a small nod, she left.
And as the staff of Hogwarts began to leave the office, the doubt that Severus had pushed aside, came soaring back...What if Voldemort planned on using the distraction caused by the Tournament as a means to get Harry?
"Dumbledore!" he said sharply. But the aged Headmaster raised his hand and silenced him until everyone had left.
"I know what you're thinking, Severus. And that is why I asked Alastor to take up the defence post."
Severus scowled, "That's it?"
"The teachers will be on high alert as well...as will the Ministry officials."
"Ministry officials?"
"I've used the excuse of Pettigrew to ask for security."
Severus relaxed slightly and sighed.
"Moody's going to make my life a living hell...I won't even get to call in the swarm for tea! With that blasted eye of his..."
"We can't have everything Severus." Dumbledore said placatingly. "We need to have patience."
"And I might just as well kiss my privacy goodbye! With him as paranoid to have made that mess in his backyard for the sake of a noisy stray, who knows what he'll do for the sake of investigating a suspected Death Eater?"
Dumbledore sighed.
"Alright, Severus. I'm going to listen to your complaints for once. I'm going to spell your office walls as well as those of your quarters, impenetrable to Alastor's eye...In fact, I'll do better than that. I'll spell the corridor leading to your office as well so you and those children can have some time together...But-"
Severus groaned, "I knew there was a catch."
"I'm not asking for much, Severus." Dumbledore said. "I need you to invite Sirius and Remus for tea as well, just once a week."
"Whatever for!?" Severus asked aghast.
"I need you three to be on the same side, should something happen. I don't want you to be the best of friends, or even friends for that matter... Severus, I just need you to be aquaimtances. That weekly tea party will make a huge difference."
Severus groaned but nodded.
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"Why do we need dress robes, Prof?" Neville asked.
"These are dress robes?" Ethan exclaimed picking up his set of extravagant clothing.
Prof nodded.
"For what, Prof?" Draco asked.
Prof said, "For an event that will be held this Christmas."
"What event, Prof?" Harry asked.
"A Yule Ball."
"Yule Ball?" Blaire asked in surprise. "You mean dancing and all that?"
"Of course."
"Is it compulsory?"
"I must insist that you attend it. And to attend it you need a dance partner."
"But I can't dance!" Ethan groaned.
"Neither can we!" Harry and Blaire announced.
"Me neither." Neville stated.
Draco remained silent.
Prof smirked and said, "Perhaps you could ask your grandparents? The last time I visited them I could still see their display cabinet full of dance trophies and medals."
"Oh." Blaire said as she realised what her godfather was talking about.
"Oh, indeed."
"Will we learn it in a week?"
"Probably."
"Prof?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Harry?"
"Why has the school suddenly come up with this Yule Ball thing?"
"I can't tell you that?"
"Why not?" Draco demanded.
"It's highly confidential." Prof said.
"Then why invite students to the Ball if it's confidential?" Harry asked.
"They want it to be a surprise for you when you get to school."
"Can't we get surprised now?" Blaire argued.
"I'm afraid not."
"Pleeeease!" Blaire said with wide eyes.
And Prof's resolve broke.
"Oh, alright." He looked around covertly then put up some privacy wards around their bedroom and said, "Well, you see, Hogwarts is going to host the..."
tbc...