oooOOOoooOOOOoo Chapter 13
The next morning, Harry was called out of Snape's class, of all classes, to take part in the weighing of the wands ceremony.
Colin Creevy popped his head into Snape's class and called for Harry and Hermione. He didn't mean to call for Hermione, too. He was just so used to saying their names in conjunction that he accidentally did it this time, too. He was too afraid to change his message. Snape was already giving him a look of death.
"Pray tell, what's so important that you feel the need to interrupt my class to gather my least competent students?" asked Snape, snidely. The Slytherins all snickered but the Gryffindors bristled. Hermione was a know-it-all, not an incompetent student. Hermione just rolled her eyes at the bitter man. Even Harry was competent in potions. He might not excel but he certainly wasn't incompetent.
"Professor Dumbledore wants them?" said Colin, shrugging his shoulders. Snape just rolled his eyes and snapped at the two exiting his class.
"Two feet of parchment on the potion, its brewing, and its effects due next class."
Harry just rolled his eyes and kept going.
"That'll be five points from Gryffindor for your lack of response! Each!" Snape yelled as the door snapped shut.
Harry and Hermione turned to Colin. He led them on to the classroom Dumbledore had instructed Colin to bring Harry to. The boy nattered on about how cute the twins were and produced a handful of pictures for Harry to keep of the twins with him, Hermione, and Gabrielle, or with Dan and Emma.
Harry adored the pictures but grabbed hold of Colin's arm.
"Colin, my babies' lives could be in danger if these pictures get out. Please, don't give them to anyone else and get the ones you have out of the castle," Harry urged him. Colin quickly agreed but it was too late.
"So it's true. Harry Potter has an heir. How glamorous. There are pictures?" the voice asked with vicious glee. Harry stuffed the pictures down his shirt. Colin looked angrily at the strange woman with the acid green cat eye glasses.
"Who are you?" Harry demanded.
The woman's grin just grew wider. "Why, I'm Rita Skeeter with the Daily Prophet," she said, just as a camera flash burst into life. Harry ducked from the overbright light.
"Is this the lucky mother?" asked Rita. Harry mulishly said nothing. Instead, he turned his back and went inside the classroom. Colin scurried away from the vile reporter while Hermione hurried to follow Harry.
Inside, the Weasley twins, Bill, Fleur, Gabrielle, and Fleur's teammates were waiting along with Ludo Bagman, Percy Weasley, and Madame Maxime. Viktor Krum was posing for the reporters out front along with his teammates and Headmaster Karkaroff.
Harry grumped his way over to stand with Gabrielle and the rest of the group.
"What's wrong?" asked Gabrielle.
"Reporters," Harry spat. Gabrielle understood. Reporters in the wizarding press tended to either vilify or treat Veela like mindless pleasure dolls. It was sickening.
"You didn't talk to them, did you?" asked Bill, in concern.
"No, but they heard me talking about the twins," said Harry, angry at himself.
Bill understood Harry's upset. The twins would be in real danger if Voldemort found out about them. It seemed inevitable that he would.
Just then, the Durmstrang contingent entered the room and brought the reporters with them.
"Let's get a few shots of the champions all together, then individually. I'll ask you all a few questions," said Rita with a grin.
The photographer started taking pictures of the contestant with their headmasters and with the officials from the ministry. Then, he separated them out for a quick interview and a few shots alone.
Harry's turn was a disaster.
"Harry. My lad. Come stand over here, just let me," said the photographer, fiddling with Harry's clothes and hair. Going as far as to try to unbutton some of his top buttons and loosen his tie! Harry smacked at the man's hands and turned annoyed eyes towards the door. Where was Dumbledore?
"Let's get to the interview, shall we?" asked Rita, a predatory smile on her face. She had asked the other contestants things like what town they were from and what their best subject was. She started off with a doozy for Harry.
"We understand you have several mistresses who have borne children for you. Is that true?" Rita asked, the photographer shooting picture after picture.
Harry spluttered his indignation.
"I'll take that as a yes. I understand you've undergone dark rituals so only sons were born to you? Or have you just abandoned your daughters?" asked Rita.
"I did no such thing!" Harry yelled. The camera kept snapping.
"Is this girl part of your harem? Perhaps all of these girls?" Rita asked.
"Those are my friends and competitors!" Harry shouted. "Stop it!" he yelled at the photographer.
"Are your children meant to carry on your family name? Do you expect to die in this competition?" asked Rita, mercilessly.
"That's enough!" roared Dumbledore. Everyone froze. "I will not have my students badgered, Ms. Skeeter. Please, leave. Your welcome is revoked." A gong sound echoed around the room. Rita got a shocked look on her face and uncontrollably marched out of the room.
"You too, Mr. Dingle," said Dumbledore to the photographer. He left quickly of his own accord.
"Ludo. You were supposed to be in charge," Dumbledore chided the man. Ludo looked ashamed but a small bundle of gold bulged in his pocket. Dumbledore noticed.
"Olivander, if you please," Dumbledore said, ushering the man no one had noticed into the room.
The owl-eyed wandmaker wandered over to a velvet covered podium. Colin Creevy hurried into the room. He offered to take pictures of the ceremony for the school and for the competitors.
Olivander examined each competitors' wand. He identified the core and gave a quick fact about the wands casting or its reaction to its wielder.
"Ah, birch and bowtruckle core. You are very intune with your wand but its magic can be unpredictable."
"Veela hair and vine wood. Very powerful but very fickle. Polish it daily for best results."
"Bicorn horn and beech. Very stubborn. Powerful but prone to being led astray."
"Mr. Potter. Shall we see how you've been taking care of your wand?" asked Ollivander.
Harry shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like letting anyone else handle his wand. It felt violating. Ollivander smiled understandingly at Harry.
"I see you've taken good care of your wand. It is very well bonded to you but beware. Its loyalty is true but its abilities may be stymied by one of its own," Ollivander said, handing Harry his wand back while Colin snapped a few pictures.
Harry stared at Ollivander, not understanding the warning. Ollivander just stared blandly back at Harry. Harry moved away to stand by Hermione again.
"What did that mean?" she asked. Harry just shook his head in confusion.
Ollivander went on with examining and weighing the wands of each of the competitors. Ludo Bagman paid particular attention to the wand details of each participant and the inside track he felt Ollivander was providing with his commentary. This is what he'd base his rankings on.
The ceremony was soon ended. Harry and his friends, including Fleur's teammates, headed back to Harry's place, since classes were now over for the day.
They still had a few hours to research and practice for the tournament before they needed to go to dinner.
"What do you think Ollivander meant by that?" asked Harry, remembering the strange warning.
Hermione thought carefully. "Didn't you say that Ollivander told you your wand shared a core with Voldemort's?"
Harry winced at the memory. He had tried to forget that fact.
"Maybe that can cause problems in a battle against one another. You might need a backup wand or weapon," said Hermione.
Harry nodded his agreement. "I'll have to research it." Hermione beamed at him.
They arrived inside Harry's trunk to find Bill, Remus, and Padfoot waiting for them.
"Hello everyone, I hope you did your reading for today. You'll need to know the theory before you learn to take on different types of magical beasts. Traditionally, the rounds of the tournament follow the theme of land, sea, and sky with the first round relating to some type of flying magical beast. The second round usually involves retrieving a person or thing from some sort of liquid. The final round is usually a maze or labyrinth of some type. We will plan accordingly," Bill informed them.
Remus led the instruction that day as defense against magical creatures was his specialty. Hagrid joined them with several specimens to show off. They weren't allowed to battle Hagrid's pets for practice but they did get to see how terrifying each of them could be.
Harry's head spun with thoughts of manticores, hinkypunks, thestrals, acromantula, and hippogriffs. Harry just hoped beyond hope that they wouldn't have dragons!
"The first task will be held on November 24. That's just a week away. We will focus on preparing you to meet practically any magical creature. We'll help you not just survive but thrive," said Remus. The champions cheered their agreement.
They broke for dinner. Harry decided tonight was the night. Tomorrow was Saturday and the last Hogsmeade weekend before the first task. Harry wanted to ask the girls to be his dates.
Harry had been practicing how he would ask and what they would do on their date for the past week. He felt cowardly that he had put it off for so long but it just made him so nervous. He felt he was ready to face a manticore but he felt flummoxed at the thought of asking two beautiful girls out on a date. Gryffindors charge ahead, he thought to himself.
"Hermione? Gabrielle? Can I speak to you for a moment?" Harry asked as the group was entering the Great Hall. The girls glanced at each other then agreed. They walked with their books in their arms, following Harry to a little alcove off the Grand Staircase.
Harry just stared at them.
"Yes, Harry?" Hermione asked, encouragingly. Gabrielle linked arms with her and gave Harry an encouraging smile.
"I. Would. Hogsmeade?" Harry said. The girls had the nerve to giggle. They shook their heads.
"What?" "Pardon?" they said. Harry sighed.
"Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to Hogsmeade this Saturday? I'd love to take you to lunch and perhaps some chocolates by the lake on our way back?" Harry said, trying to be a gentleman.
The girls grinned and agreed quickly. They each linked an arm with him and kissed his cheek. Harry blushed but grinned widely as he escorted the girls into dinner.
They ran into Malfoy and his motley crew as soon as they entered the Great Hall.
Malfoy looked at Harry and laughed. "You don't even realize how gauche you are. The way you dress, the company you keep, the spectacle you always make of yourself. It's shameful," said Draco.
"Just look at the women he lays with," said a disgusted Pansy Parkinson. "First a loony, then an animal, finally an ugly mudblood. You certainly get around the cesspool, Potter."
The rest of the Slytherins laughed. Harry took deep breaths and kept walking. The girls walked with dignity at his side.
The Slytherins tried to follow. They kept making increasingly obscene statements about Harry, his children, and the girls. They didn't see McGonagall coming up behind them.
"I thought I took points and gave you a lecture about saying such horrible things just last week?" scolded McGonagall. "It looks like three days of detention might be needed to impress upon you just how much I mean my words."
Harry turned around to smirk at the berks. Malfoy gave Harry a vicious look. A plan started to form in the little bastard's mind.