"Given your approaching fourteenth birthday," Alduin announced one day towards the end of July, "there is one more class I will have to add to your schedule."
"Yes?" Harry asked a little warily. He knew why the duelling was necessary, but he wasn't keen on giving up any more of his free time.
"Dancing," Alduin said with a bit of a mischievous smile.
Harry grimaced. "Really?" He asked incredulously.
Alduin looked more openly amused now. "How else do you expect to attend balls?"
Harry had actually never thought about that. "Well...I suppose..."
Alduin chuckled. "Precisely. But cheer up – it means less classes of other things!"
Harry wasn't sure he didn't prefer the exhausting duelling to this.
They started the very next day. Alduin declared that he would begin with something easy, and did his best to teach Harry mazurka. Harry felt he was in over his head right from the start. The steps themselves seemed simple enough, but Alduin made the mistake of showing him a displayer of an elaborate form of that dance performed somewhere, and Harry felt that would be forever out of his reach.
"Do not give up!" Alduin told him, and added: "If you do now, how will you ever deal with quadrille?"
Harry didn't even want to ask.
A day later, he was faced with waltz. While it was encouraging to hear that he could make use of essentially the same step in two different dances, a slow and a quick version, this seemed an order of magnitude harder than mazurka had before.
"I'm starting you from the simplest," Alduin assured him.
"How many are there in total?" Harry asked in some alarm.
Alduin considered. "Well, there are ten to be encountered in total-"
"What?"
"-but I think you can make do with six for now," Alduin continued, reassuring him a little, "if you find it impossible to learn all of them in such a short time. Certainly you are unlikely to face quadrille and minuet this year, and in fact the witch dance and the unicorn dance probably won't be an issue either. So, you know, only three more to go!"
That would be more encouraging if Harry did not already feel like he was getting things mixed up.
"Do you have to do that too?" He asked Neville the next time his friend visited.
"Yes, of course," Neville replied, surprised. "I've already learned some last year, though, so this year I just have to learn the reel, the jig and...the dragon dance, I think?"
Harry hadn't even heard about these yet. "So you already know mazuka and waltz?" He asked.
Neville nodded.
"Great," Harry said with some relief, "so you can help me, you know, in return for those duelling classes. How do you keep the steps straight?"
As Neville began his slightly confused explanation, Harry quite despaired of ever managing to learn all this.
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Harry had been asked for his particular plans for his fourteenth birthday, given that it was an important milestone in the wizarding world. He immediately declared that he'd like to go out with his friends, and then continue the party at the Manor. Alduin considered.
"All right," he said, "but the outing will only be for people as old as you are, or older. I don't want anyone under fourteen wandering about London without proper chaperonage. Where do you want to go?"
"Diagon Alley, I guess? I mean, is there anywhere else to go?"
Alduin thought about that for a moment. "Well, depending on the weather, you could go swimming, I suppose, though that would leave me a little more nervous about your well-being. You could also go for a flying trip, but there, too, I would probably feel some chaperonage was needed, at least for your first outing like that."
Harry nodded. "I think I'll stick to the Alley."
Even though he'd been there many times before, it was exciting to go without any adults for the first time. He'd been almost on his own on Easter, when he was here with Cho, but he'd still been vaguely aware of Alduin waiting for him by the Floo. This time, he left the Manor on his own, and he would be returning on his own, too.
Harry met all his friends there for lunch, and they wandered around the shops as they chatted about their holidays so far.
Harry also watched Lavender and Ron, and noticed they were much less attached to each other than they'd been at Seamus' party. He wondered if something happened there. He should probably ask, but it felt a little awkward and like he would be prying, if Ron never said anything the – admittedly few – times he had visited the Manor so far this summer.
Draco, at least, understood Pansy was not welcome at the party and didn't make a fuss about it, which made Harry grateful. He didn't want to argue, but he found it honestly unbelievable the two were still together, and was frustrated that it had been harder, the past half a year, to get Draco to find time for him because he was so often occupied with Pansy. He supposed he was giving Pansy what Harry had been unable to give Cho, but it was still frustrating.
But now Draco was here, Pansy nowhere in sight, and Harry made full use of that. It was also an advantage that Ron, while less glued to her side (and mouth), was still enough occupied by Lavender that he didn't have any time to needle Draco.
When the time for tea approached, they all gathered around the Diagon Alley Floo point and left for the Manor, Harry the last of them, making sure no one was left behind.
Lavish tables of food were ready and they descended upon them, soon joined by other arriving guests. "One year," Ginny was muttering as she came in, "just one stupid year."
"Do you feel the fourteen year old illness coming on, Harry?" Harriet questioned him cheerfully.
"Well...I'm still talking to you, am I not?" Harry pointed out, and the girls laughed.
"How did you do on your OWLs?" He later asked Horatio and Roger, who, while well over fourteen, have opted to join them only for tea as well.
Horatio shrugged. "Decently. Mostly Os and Es."
Harry blinked. "Wait, you had anything but?"
Horatio grimaced. "There might have been one A in certain subject that shall not be mentioned."
"I am shocked. Shocked!" Harry exclaimed in fake outrage, and then an idea occurred to him and he turned to Fred and George. "How did you two do?" He asked.
"Miserably, predictably enough," Ron replied for them.
"Hey, we're satisfied!" The twins defended themselves.
"I bet Percival made up for it with his NEWT score," Horatio remarked shrewdly.
"Yeah," Ron said in a disgusted tone of voice.
"Does he have a job yet?" Harry asked curiously.
"Unfortunately," Fred said with a groan.
Now Harry was confused. He knew the twins didn't get on very well with their brother, but surely it didn't go so far that they'd begrudge him a job? "Why unfortunately?"
"Because he won't shut up about it," George explained. "He works as the Ministry, as a secretary to some Crouch guy..."
"Bartemius Crouch?" Harry asked with interest.
"That's the fellow."
Harry remembered him. He was the one who did the secret spy work. He didn't wonder Percy found his job interesting!
"I wonder when we'll find out the prefects for the year," Kiara muttered.
"Are you hopeful?" Harry asked her.
"Yes, to be honest. I also think it's unfair the head boy and girl are already known."
"Are they?" Harry was surprised. He didn't know these things were announced at different times.
"Yeah. Maurice told me."
Harry blinked. "Don't tell me it's him?"
"No!" Kiara snorted. "Merlin, what an idea. Nah, but it's his friend, Jacob."
"Any idea who's the Head Girl?"
Kiara shook her head. "I don't really know any seventh year girls anyway," she said, "do you?"
Harry had to concede he didn't.
The party went on till very late, and Harry missed breakfast the next morning, only appearing bleary-eyed at elevenses. Alexandra laughed at him. "You need to be fit," she said. "There's another party to be had today!"
It was true enough, it was time for the formal garden party. Well, at least there would be gifts to motivate him.
He felt particularly motivated when he unwrapped a flat package with Quidditch Cup Finals tickets inside. In fact, he gave a rather undignified squeal.
"Awesome!" Draco commented. "We're going too. What about the rest of you?"
"Duh," Kiara replied. "Like I'd miss that for the world."
"Yeah," Roger agreed. "We're going too, and I think even Horatio is, right?"
Horatio nodded. "I might not care too much about Quidditch, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity."
"It's just a pity England won't make it to the finals," Harriet muttered.
"Ha!" Daphne said with malicious glee on her face. "You're just spared the shame of being flattened by us in front of so many spectators."
"Confident, are you?" Horatio asked her, amused.
"We haven't lost a single match so far, so...yeah, like I said, prepare to be amazed. This is our year."
"Krum might yet take you, though," Harry pointed out.
"Krum is good," Daphne conceded reluctantly, "but the rest of that team is crap."
Abdulaziz shook his head. "Sometimes I really wish I could make myself interested," he said. "But I just...don't care. At all."
"Won't you be going, then?" Harry asked in some surprise.
"Nah. None of us will, except Grandmother I think, who'll probably he accompanying her sister," he nodded to Roger, the grandson of said sister.
"Is he the only one abstaining, then?" Harry asked around.
"We might go," Ginny said. "It's still up in the air. Or rather, some of us will definitely go, but it depends on how many tickets Dad can get, and well. If it's only some of us, it's gonna be a huge argument."
"I'm not getting left behind," Ron stated resolutely.
Neville smiled grimly. "At least you have a chance," he said. "There's no way Gran is getting me tickets for that, I just know it."
"Sophie isn't coming either," Harry said glumly. "Well, and Parvati, but she isn't interested. Still, I really wish there was a way to arrange this...Dean got invited by Seamus' parents, I know..."
He shook his head. He didn't want to be maudlin on his birthday, but he'd have to think of a way to solve this later.
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The second party being a respectable garden one, it didn't really go into the night, which was a very good thing, because Harry had duties a day later too.
He was fourteen now, and that meant he was to give his first real interview to the papers.
Alduin gave him a choice between doing it by letter or speaking with the reporters while he was present. He made it clear that it would make a better impression if it was done live, so to speak, and Harry, who by now understood well enough why it was better not to have the papers hate you – he had enough teasing at school when the articles about him were essentially positive – agreed.
"Let's do it as in court," Alduin said, "if I was your lawyer. Don't answer anything too hastily, always give me a moment to object if I think the question is inappropriate. Don't look for my nod or anything so obvious, that would give a bad impression, but give me time. And of course, you can always refuse to answer anything on your own."
Harry nodded, and walked ahead into the drawing room where he was to meet the reporters.
"Oh, Mr. Potter," the elderly lady waiting for him squealed, "what a great honour to finally meet you!"
"Harry, this is Mrs. Alberta Fenwick," Alduin introduced her. "She works in the Daily Prophet. Mrs. Fenwick, this is Harry Potter."
"Of course it is!" The woman gushed. "As I said, a great honour indeed."
"Please, do sit down."
She did, and pulled out a parchment and a self-inking quill.
"So, Mr. Potter," she said, "let's get down to business, shall we?"
Harry only nodded.
"The wizarding public is very interested in your life. After your miraculous survival, you disappeared and were only heard of again when you started Hogwarts. We know that you lived with your Muggle relatives of course, but that is about the sum of it. What was it like? What did you do during that time? Did you regret leaving them?"
Fortunately, Harry was prepared for the question, and knew what the official story was supposed to be. "I suppose my life was pretty ordinary there. I don't think it's a very interesting story. The most exciting parts were probably the bits of accidental magic I did – very hard to cope with in the Muggle world!"
"Do you still see your relatives?" The reporter probed.
"No, though we correspond." That was a very generous interpretation of the fact that he once got a birthday card from Aunt Petunia, but not technically a lie.
"Why not?" Fenwick asked curiously.
"My mother and her sister were not close, and she never knew me as a baby. It was difficult for her, being left with a magical child she had no practical ties to. My cousin coming for me made everything easier both for her and for me, I believe." Here, that effectively exhausted the questions Alduin had prepared him for. Harry wondered what would come next.
"Do you believe magical children should never be placed with their Muggle relatives, then?"
Harry hesitated. "I don't think I'm the person who should be deciding that," he said. "I mean, if everything else was the same on both sides, then sure, it's better to be in a magical family who'll understand about the accidental magic and all. But it also depends on how close the family is to the child, if they can afford to take it in, and all that."
Fenwick seemed satisfied with the answer. "All right, let's move on. Was it a big change for you, coming to live with your cousin?"
Harry laughed a little. "Yeah. Pretty big, yes."
"What was the biggest difference?"
Harry thought that was a bit of a stupid question. "The magic, naturally."
Fenwick made an impatient motion of her hand. "Of course, but apart from that?"
The money, really, but Harry did understand it would be – gauche, as his cousin would say – to speak of that. "Well...my cousin lives a different life," he said after giving it some thought, "much more social, I'd say, and I found myself swept up in that."
"Did you mind?" Fenwick wondered.
"Not at all! All the people I was meeting were great." That, again, was stretching the truth just a bit, but then again Neville didn't deserve to have his grandmother dragged in the papers, and Harry most certainly knew better than to mention Lucius Malfoy.
"What about coming to Hogwarts, what did that feel like?" The reporter moved on.
Harry shrugged. "Well, I knew a lot of the people who'd be in my year already, and my best friend – Neville Longbottom – was Sorted in the same house with me, so it wasn't as big a shock as perhaps some people have. It took some time to adjust to the new regimen, but I loved it from the start, to be honest."
"What are your favourite classes?"
Well, that was an easy one. "Defence Against the Dark Arts, certainly."
That seemed to surprise Fenwick. "Oh? Even though the teachers fluctuate so much?"
Harry thought about how to phrase his response to that. "Well, Quirell and Lockhart were certainly unlucky choices, but fortunately we were never saddled with them for too long," he said at length, unwilling to go into details.
"And what about last year's scandal?" She pushed.
Harry frowned. "I had some problems with Professor Lupin at the start of the school year," he said, "but they had to do with not thinking his classes through. He learned from his mistake and never repeated it. And he was one of the best, if not the best, Defence teacher we ever had. I don't see what his condition has to do with it."
"You never felt in danger from him?" Fenwick wanted to know.
Harry scowled at her. "There were two Defence teachers who did me harm. Lupin wasn't one of them. Like I said, the only time I felt uncomfortable around him was when he misjudged his first class." That wasn't entirely true, of course, but Harry hardly felt like dragging the drama of Alduin and his father's friends into it.
"Lockhart and Quirrell did you harm?" Fenwick asked in alarm.
Oops, Harry thought. He supposed he should tread carefully now, but Alduin didn't say anything, and so Harry replied: "You know about Lockhart, surely – he deboned my arm. It was in the papers. As for Quirrell, I had assumed it was part of his trial – he jinxed my broom during the first Quidditch match."
Mrs. Fenwick was making furious notes, clearly shocked, and it took her a moment to recover.
"You mentioned Neville Longbottom as your best friend. Your cousin also talked about Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley in the past, an unlikely pair. Any other particular friends?"
So this, Harry thought, is where it gets really political. On some level it seemed absurd to him that naming his friends would have such an influence, but on another, he was well used to it already. "I'm afraid I'll leave someone out," he said aloud, "but I'll do my best to answer. I'm on good terms with all of the Gryffindors from my year, and Ron's siblings, and our Quidditch team. Then there's Hermione Granger and Su Li, Daphne Greengrass and T-" Harry stopped himself just in time, remembering Theo's father would probably not take kindly to his name being mentioned, "Kiara Shacklebot, Harriet Bulstrode, Abdulaziz Shafiq...Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot from our year too, I suppose...oh and Roger Davies and Horatio Yaxley...and many others I'm forgetting, I'm sure."
"It seems you made yourself quite a friend circle!" Fenwick said, sounding excited.
"Yes," Harry agreed with a kind of bashful smile – it sounded like boasting, but well, it was true! "I'm very glad they're all at Hogwarts now, so that I have more opportunities to speak to them."
"Is there anything you dislike about school?" Fenwick wondered.
"The exams...and that it takes me away from my little cousins!" Harry said with a laugh. He also disliked Dumbledore, on many occasions, but that, too, would probably be better kept to himself.
Fenwick gave a satisfied nod. "You're fourteen now," she said then, "so I have to ask: Any romantic interests?"
Harry blushed a little. "Not at the moment."
"Great news for the young people of Hogwarts!" She said with a laugh. "And one last question, what are your plans for the future?"
Harry shrugged. "Finish Hogwarts, first and foremost. To be honest, I haven't though much beyond that. I'd like to rebuild the family manor, I suppose."
"Very well. Thank you very much for your candour, Mr. Potter."
Harry was just glad it was finally over. There were still shots of him the in Manor garden to be taken, but he suppose there was less of a risk he'd bungle that up – unless he fell in the lake or something, and even he, he thought, could probably avoid that.
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AN: Next chapter, we finally begin to get into the events of Goblet of Fire proper!