- CHAPTER EIGHT -
Bienvenue en France
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Hermione breathed as the Firebolt carried Harry and her along the French coastline, high above the waters of the English Channel. Under a cloudless sunny sky, wide beaches with bright sand extended down the coast as far as her eyes could see.
Harry nodded in response while he steered the broom, following the coastline southward.
"Where should we land?" he asked.
"Maybe it would be best to get away from the seaside," Hermione suggested. "The Ministry or Dumbledore might send people to search near the coast if they suspect we went to France, but they can't search the whole country."
"Right," Harry agreed. "Do you have a destination in mind?"
Hermione surveyed the coast and pointed her hand in the direction of a small bay a few miles ahead. "You see that?" she asked. "I think that's a river estuary. It might be the..."
She furrowed her brows, trying to remember the country's geography from her previous trips to France. "The Somme, I think. We could follow the river further inland until we reach the next bigger city, which would be... Amiens, I believe?"
"All right, sounds good," Harry said and leaned forward, accelerating slightly and adjusting the course of the broom. By now, Hermione was getting used to the speed and no longer clamped onto him with fright. She was even able to enjoy the view and the peaceful scenery of the empty beaches around them.
Harry turned inland at the bay, which was indeed the estuary of a larger river. They followed the river, which for several miles was routed through a straight canal in a south-eastern direction. After they had passed the first smaller town, the river started meandering more, and lightly wooded floodplains extended to either side of it.
They passed many smaller settlements as they flew along, and half an hour later, the outskirts of what appeared to be a larger town slowly came into view ahead of them.
"That's probably Amiens," Hermione guessed.
"I reckon we can always look at the road signs to get our location," Harry remarked and pointed to a multilane road to their left. "Should I get closer?"
She nodded. "Yeah, maybe."
He leaned to the left and took them closer to the motorway. Soon, they could decipher the direction signs, which confirmed that they were ten miles – no, it was kilometres in France – ahead of the city of Amiens.
"We need to find a more secluded spot to put up the tent," Hermione said and scouted the surrounding area of fields, pastures, and groves. "See the woods over there?"
"Looks good," Harry affirmed and swerved the Firebolt southward to a small forest that was the largest patch of woodlands in the area. The trees had mostly shed their leaves, but some coloured leaves were still clinging to the branches, giving the forest a beautiful autumnal flair despite the approaching winter.
"Perfect, let's land here!" Hermione said happily when she spotted a small clearing, and Harry descended the broom. There were a few earthen pathways close-by, but they were reasonably out of sight, with the closest village a few miles away.
Hermione remembered what she had read about the underage magic laws in France, which would allow them to practice magic here. Underage magic wasn't prohibited in the country, and she was confident that they were out of range of the magic detection alarms that protected all muggle settlements in France. Besides, the only spells they were likely to perform wouldn't trip any alarms, anyway, as only more advanced or more dangerous spells got tracked.
"You want to let go of me and get off the broom now?" Harry asked with some amusement, and Hermione realised that they were floating right above the ground and he was waiting for her to step off the broom.
"Oh, right," she muttered and jumped off the Firebolt. Harry stepped next to her, hoisting the broom over his shoulder.
"Looks good, doesn't it?" he said while he walked across the clearing. "We should be well hidden here."
"Yeah..." Hermione nodded absent-mindedly while she prepared to put up the disassembled tent. She laid the tightly folded roll of canvas on a clear patch of grass and pressed her wand against the rune circle on the fabric. Immediately, the canvas expanded, forcing her to jump back as the tent assembled itself in the course of mere seconds.
"Wow, that was fast!" Harry exclaimed, looking with amazement at the small white tent.
"Yes, it was," she agreed and parted the canvas of the tent entrance to step inside.
"Home, sweet home," she mumbled as she entered the space-expanded tent that would be their abode for the foreseeable future.
Harry chuckled, but as Hermione looked around, she really felt that she could get used to living here. The rooms were spacious and well-furnished, and the wood-panelled walls and the canvas ceiling gave the inside a very comfy atmosphere.
Harry looked equally impressed as he walked around, inspecting the tent. Hermione watched him with a fond smile as he briefly sat down on the sofa in the living area to test the seating, checked out the contents of the drawers and cabinets in the open kitchen, tried out the water taps in the bathroom, and looked inside the empty cupboards in the bedroom.
"This is great!" he proclaimed after a while, and Hermione agreed wholeheartedly. She was glad that he liked the tent and wasn't upset over the amount of money they had spent on it.
"Yes, it is," she said. "I guess we could unpack our belongings now, and make ourselves at home."
Harry agreed, and they spent the next hour sorting their belongings into the shelves and cupboards in the tent. Hermione put all the potions and potion ingredients she had pilfered from Snape in one of the cupboards in the living area. Afterwards, she filled the bookshelves next to the cupboard with the books she had "borrowed" from the Hogwarts library.
"What now?" Harry asked when they were done.
"It's almost noon," Hermione said, glancing at her watch. "Maybe we could get to the closest village and find ourselves something to eat and buy some groceries? And we have to exchange some money first."
"All right... But the First Task starts at two o'clock," Harry reminded her. "We could probably listen in on it on the Wizarding Wireless."
"You think we can pick up the British network here?" she asked sceptically.
"Oh... I dunno..." he said with a shrug and stepped to the cupboard with the Wizarding Wireless. "Let's try it out?"
Hermione watched with raised eyebrows as he fumbled around with the magical radio, turning the buttons in a seemingly random pattern. At first, only some blurred voices speaking in quick French came from the spakers. But suddenly, much to her surprise, Harry managed to pick up the British program. Two female voices with British accents were discussing the latest song of the Weird Sisters.
"There we go!" he announced happily.
"All right, well done! Let's try to be back at two, then," Hermione said. "We should have enough time to eat something and get to the bank and a supermarket..."
She paused and frowned slightly. "We should probably take some Ageing Potion for that. Especially for the bank. It would look weird for two teenagers to exchange a lot of money..."
#
Twenty minutes later, Hermione had wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, pressing herself close against him on the Firebolt once more while they rapidly approached the village ahead of them. They could see the city of Amiens in the distance but had decided that a smaller village would do for now.
The person she was holding on to didn't look much like her boyfriend, much to Hermione's discomfort. It had been the first time that Harry had taken the Ageing Potion, and she had to admit that it had been strange to see Harry transform into a young man in the mid-twenties. She could understand how he had been weirded out the day before when she had unthinkingly tried to kiss him while under the effects of the potion. It wasn't that he didn't look attractive – he did! – but even holding him while they flew along felt slightly wrong, despite her knowing in her rational mind that the person in front of her was still her boyfriend.
It wasn't the only thing to darken her mood as they approached the village. Hermione scowled as she thought about Harry's response when she had offered to enlarge his clothes. He had only shrugged and pointed out that all his muggle clothes were a loose fit anyway, as they were all the cast-offs from his overweight cousin. The only thing she had to do when Harry transformed was to lengthen his sleeves and trouser legs by a few inches.
Once more, she cursed the Dursleys in her mind for their spitefulness and cruelty. She sighed deeply and strengthened her hold on Harry, giving him a tight squeeze.
"We'll get you some proper clothes as soon as possible," she told him in a voice brokering no argument.
"It's really not-" Harry began, but she interrupted him at once.
"We might be living like vagabonds, but that doesn't mean we have to look the part!"
She chuckled. While that might be technically true – they were living in a tent, after all – it was obviously not an apt comparison. Their tent was larger than most flats, and they didn't have to worry about their living expenses. What they were doing was actually more akin to taking a several-years-long vacation.
"Honestly though, the better we blend in the better," she said. "We don't want to draw any attention to ourselves, not even in the muggle world. And we'll draw less attention when you don't look like a homeless person..."
Harry winced at that, and Hermione quickly backpedalled. "Sorry," she mumbled guiltily. "I didn't mean- I mean, I'm sorry-"
"It's all right," he said, glancing back at her and giving her a comforting smile. "I get what you're saying. If you think it's important, I'll get some new clothes... But not today, we don't have the time."
Hermione nodded. "Yeah... Tomorrow then."
They flew over the village until they spotted a small bank office in the village centre at the main road. As they searched for a safe place to land the broom, they also noticed two cafés and a bar as well as a small grocery shop close-by.
They entered the bank first, where they posed as British tourists to exchange two-thousand Pounds for French Francs. A tiny fraction of that money they then spent on a delicious lunch at one of the cafés and on their grocery shopping.
Hermione wasn't surprised when her very limited knowledge of the French language proved insufficient to make herself understood at the bank or order at the café, but luckily, all the people they had interacted with were able to speak English well enough, albeit with obvious disdain. She resolved to look for some books to improve her French language skills. To her surprise, Harry appeared eager to join her in her studies when she told him of her decision.
But they didn't have time for more shopping that day. When they had bought everything they needed to get by for a few days, they got on the broom to return to their tent, hurrying to make it back in time for the start of the First Task.
#
"Is it on yet?" Hermione asked as she exited the bedroom and rushed towards Harry, who was sitting on the sofa in the living area, listening to the Wizarding Wireless. They had both taken the antidote of the Ageing Potion, and she had just readjusted her clothes again.
"No, they've just been talking about the tournament, it hasn't-" he halted when the presenter on the Wireless made his announcement.
"We now switch live to the Triwizard Tournament at Hogwarts!"
"Dear listeners," another male voice took over. "Today, we are reporting live from the Hogwarts grounds with the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament. My name is Gareth Jordan, and I will be your reporter on site. But for now, let's listen in on the opening announcements..."
"You think he's related to Lee?" Harry asked.
"Maybe," Hermione said with a shrug just as yet another voice sounded from the Wireless.
"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen-"
"I think that's Bagman," Harry whispered.
"Yeah," Hermione said, and they listened as the ministry official opened the event with a blustering speech.
She occasionally shot nervous glances at Harry, unable to stop imagining how he would suddenly start screaming because his magic was stripped from him. Rationally, she knew there was no real risk for that to happen, judging by all the books she had read, yet she couldn't help but feel worried about him.
She returned her attention to the Wireless when Bagman moved on to the description of the task.
"Now, Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe we have a very exciting challenge for our champions today. Yes... Ladies and Gentlemen, for the First Task, your Ministry of Magic has brought in... four... great dragons! Yes, you-"
"Dragons!?" Hermione screeched. "Have they lost their mind!?"
"Wow..." Harry muttered and shook his head disbelievingly. "That's..."
"Yes, you've heard right, Ladies and Gentlemen!" Bagman continued over the noise of the excited audience. "For the task, each champion will have to gather a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon!"
Harry looked at Hermione, an incredulous look on his face. "You know..." he said flatly, "I think we've made the right decision to get out of there."
Hermione snorted. "Yes, we definitely have..."
But a moment later, she lowered her gaze and bit her bottom lip with worry. "I just hope the other champions won't get hurt too badly..."
Harry nodded, looking equally troubled. "Yeah..."
"Now, before we begin, I have one more announcement to make," Bagman went on. "Unfortunately, I have to report that our youngest champion, Harry Potter-"
He halted when there were many cheers, shouts, and whistles in the audience. "As I said, Mr Potter apparently had a bad case of the jitters earlier, and he... well, it seems that young Harry has decided to run away rather than compete today."
There were even more roars from the audience this time, and Hermione could clearly make out the derisive laughter.
"I don't see them volunteering to fight against a dragon," she muttered, a scowl on her face.
"Yes," Bagman continued. "Mr Potter has run away and hidden himself, and we were unable to find him in time... Now, it is certainly disappointing to see that the Boy-Who-Lived has turned out to be a craven, but we can't delay the tournament only for him..."
Hermione gave Harry a worried look, unsure how he would react to the insults. She was relieved, however, when he didn't appear upset. Instead, he almost seemed amused.
"I'm not mad," he assured her when he caught her eyes. "Really, I'm not. I'm just... I'm actually just relieved I'm no longer part of this madness."
Hermione nodded slowly. "I am, too. And are you... are you worried about your magic?"
Harry gave her an uncertain shrug. "Not really. Besides, I'm not sure if I would want to fight a dragon to keep my magic."
"Yeah. I wouldn't, either," Hermione said and scooted closer to him on the sofa. She put her arm around his shoulders and leaned towards him, giving him a tender look. "Whatever happens... just know that I love you no matter what happens."
Harry smiled back at her, leaning his forehead against hers. "I feel the same," he said with a low voice. "I love you, too."
He surprised her when he caught her lips with his, giving her a soft kiss that she happily reciprocated. When they parted again, Bagman had finished his announcements and the reporter had taken over on the Wireless.
"And now, dear listeners, the dragon handlers are bringing in the Welsh Green dragon for the first champion, Fleur Delacour of Beauxbatons..."
Hermione and Harry listened with trepidation as the reporter described first Fleur's and then Viktor Krum's attempts at getting past their respective dragons. Fleur received some light burns before she managed to enchant her dragon to sleep, and Krum got some points deducted when he injured his dragon, causing it to destroy some of its eggs, but overall the two champions were able to complete the task successfully. Hermione was just relieved that both competitors managed to get their golden egg without the dragons maiming them or worse.
"And now..." the reporter said and paused dramatically. "Finally, we get to the champion of Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory, who will face off against the Hungarian Horntail!"
Hermione gulped. "I read about those. They are supposedly the most aggressive and most dangerous breed of dragon..."
Harry shook his head, a dark look on his face. "How is that fair, anyway? Shouldn't they all have the same kind of dragon? Or even better, the exact same dragon?"
"They shouldn't be fighting dragons to begin with!" she said pointedly.
"Fair enough," Harry muttered. "Let's just hope Cedric doesn't get hurt."
"Now, the Horntail is brought into the arena!" the reporter continued excitedly. "Oh, it doesn't look happy! Merlin! What a monstrous beast! And now... The dragon handlers are done, they leave the enclosure, and... ah, yes, here, Cedric Diggory enters the arena!"
They could hear the cheers of the audience in the background as the commentator went on.
"He enters the arena... and... yes... well... why is he just standing there? He... he seems frozen in shock... Oy, lad, get going! You have to- Ah, he raises his wand, and... Didn't it work? He tries again... And- Ah, now something happened! A transfigured dog? Clever, but will it be enough against a Horntail?"
There was a tense silence for a brief moment, and Hermione's breath quickened while she anxiously waited for the report to continue. She had grabbed Harry's hand and was squeezing it tightly.
"Yes... now, the dog approaches the Horntail... It's distracted now!" the commentator shouted. "That's his chance!"
"And Diggory makes his move, and- BE CAREFU- AAHH!" he ended with an abrupt cry.
Hermione slapped her hand over her mouth when she heard the screams of the audience in the background.
"Oh no! Oh Merlin!" the reporter groaned. "Someone get him- Oh no! Where are the dragon handlers? And the healers? Ah, there they are! Well... he's still moving... Oh Merlin, what an ugly sight!"
"What happened?" Harry whispered, but Hermione could only shrug her shoulders helplessly. She was just relieved that Cedric apparently hadn't been killed by the dragon.
It took a few moments until the commentator had regained his composure and resumed the report.
"I... I'm sorry, dear listeners... the Hogwarts champion was hit by the Horntail's flames head-on. The healers are carrying him out of the arena as I speak... The Horntail smashed the transfigured dog with a swipe of its tail and then turned its attention to the boy just as he tried to get to the nest. It blasted him with its flames, and... and caught the entire left side of Diggory's body with it, and both his arms as he tried to shield himself... The dragon handlers distracted the dragon before it could kill the boy, but I dare say that Mr Diggory will certainly be in Saint Mungo's for quite some time... He'll probably carry the scars for the rest of his life..."
"Oh, that's terrible," Hermione muttered. A part of her felt sorry for the Hufflepuff, and she was disgusted with the teachers and the Ministry officials who had been responsible for setting the task. But if she was honest with herself, the biggest part of her just felt relief that it wasn't Harry who was transported to Saint Mungo's right now.
Judging by the expression on his face, Harry felt equally conflicted.
"Well, that concludes the first task," the reporter went on. "A disappointing ending for sure. Whether Mr Diggory will be able to further compete in the tournament or not, with his injuries and his failure of the task, and with the Boy-Who-Lived refusing to compete, Hogwarts already appears to be out of the running for the Triwizard Cup. A sad day for Hogwarts and the Ministry, which will also have to answer some pointed questions on whether the safety of the champions was given all due consideration... And with that, we return to-"
Harry turned off the Wireless before he slumped back into the sofa.
"Dragons!" he muttered and shook his head. "I still can't believe it."
"Poor Cedric..." Hermione said, giving off a deep sigh. "But honestly, they were lucky no one got killed."
"Yeah..." Harry agreed, and they just leaned on each other for a long while, each lost in their own thoughts.
"So..." Hermione then began, sitting up and giving Harry a curious look. "Do you feel any different?"
Harry furrowed his brows. "No..."
Hermione watched with bated breath as he leaned forward, picked up his wand, and flicked it.
"Lumos!"
Relief flooded her when the tip of his wand lit up with a bright light.
"You still have your magic!" she exclaimed happily and threw her arms around her boyfriend, giving him a strong hug.
"Of course I do," Harry replied as he put his arms around her. "I never doubted you."
"I wonder..." she muttered, not letting go of him. "I wonder if whoever entered your name got punished by the Goblet of Fire instead..."
"They should've been, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I think so," she said with a nod. "And they would've deserved it, too! I think it's clear now that they entered you in hopes you would die in the task..."
"Yeah, probably," Harry said and gave off a small chuckle. "I kind of hope it was Snape... but I doubt it. He was too unhappy about it."
"Maybe a Death Eater sympathiser among the older Slytherins?" Hermione suggested. "Maybe the Wireless will have more on it in the coming days, or we can buy a copy of the Daily Prophet in a magical quarter in France..."
"Sounds good," Harry agreed. "So, what now?"
#
The rest of the day passed quietly. They were still in a sombre mood after what had happened at the First Task, and they both tried to relax after the eventful day. Hermione curled up on the sofa with a book on Arithmancy, while Harry tended to the maintenance of his Firebolt with his Broomstick Servicing Kit, ensuring that the broom would be in pristine condition for their continued travels.
Even though the kitchen was well-equipped with kitchenware and magical appliances, they only made some sandwiches for supper that evening. After they had eaten, they settled onto the sofa next to each other.
"Well, we did it," Hermione said as she leaned her head on Harry's shoulder. "We're out of Britain, and we're warm and comfortable and safely hidden..."
"Yeah..." Harry muttered, and she could see that something was troubling him.
"What is it, Harry?" she asked softly.
He exhaled deeply. "It... it's Cedric! Hagrid wanted to tell me about the task, remember? If I had gone, I would've learnt about the dragons and I could've warned Cedric, and he would've been better prepared. It's my fault that-"
"Please stop it, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh.
She turned towards him and took his hands in hers, giving him a sad look. She thought they really needed to do something about his habit of taking the blame for everything bad that ever happened around him. She suspected it had something to do with his upbringing.
"It wasn't your responsibility to make sure that Cedric was prepared," she tried to make it clear to him. "That was the teachers' job."
"I still could've helped..."
"So could I!" she pointed out. "I would've joined you if you had gone to Hagrid. And I advised you against going. Do you think I'm responsible for Cedric's injury?"
"What? No!" Harry protested.
"Do you think it's Hagrid's fault?" she pressed on. "He could've just shown the dragons to Cedric, after all."
"Well, no... not... not really?" Harry said with a frown. Hermione had to admit that he was right to be a bit hesitant with his answer. If Hagrid had wanted to help Harry, he should have helped Cedric, too. But that wasn't the point right now.
"Then why do you think you're responsible?" she asked him. "Others could've helped, too."
"I- It's just-" Harry mumbled, but then he shook his head and slumped back into the soft cushions. "You're right. It wasn't our job to tell him."
"No, it wasn't," Hermione said emphatically. "I suppose Hagrid could've told him at least. But really, it wasn't his responsibility, either. This is the organisers' fault. This is onto Dumbledore and the Ministry. Using dragons was just insane! And the teachers forcing the champions to go in blind makes it even worse."
Hermione scowled as she pondered the teachers' negligence once again.
"Honestly, just by forcing you to compete and not offering any help when they knew you'd have to fight against a dragon, they were... It pretty much makes all of them attempted murderers in my eyes..."
"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," Harry concluded and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer as she leaned with her back against his side. "We escaped. We're safe, and I'm out of the tournament no matter what happens now..."
He kissed her cheek and nuzzled into her neck. "Thank you for saving my life," he whispered.
"I was just the one to suggest first that we should escape," Hermione said and turned her head towards him, giving him a tender look. "But we did it together. We're relying on your money for all of this, and you're flying the broom, and-"
"It's nothing..."
"It certainly is something," she disagreed, but she kept her voice low. "And while my life might've been in less immediate danger than yours, I think after what has happened over the last few years, we can say that I wasn't safe at Hogwarts, either. So, you're saving me as much as I'm saving you here."
They stared into each other's eyes for a long while, until Harry relented first.
"Fine," he said, giving her a fond smile. "We did it together."
"Together," Hermione repeated and pecked him on the lips before she cuddled against him again.
As she ruminated over all that had happened over their long, eventful day, she was relieved beyond measure that they had successfully escaped from Hogwarts and Magical Britain, and she was more certain than ever that they had made the right decision. They were safe now, safer than they had ever been at Hogwarts. New difficulties might lie ahead of them, and she knew that their adventure had only just begun, but she also knew that whatever challenges the future held for them, they would face them together.
