Majo Kon-ki The Marriage of Tanya the Witch
(The marriage chronicles of a witch)
Arc 4 - Goblet of Fire – part 4
October,AD 1994, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
"Tanya, say 'ahhh'…" Luna said, bringing a sweet close to her face.
"I am going to cuuse- I mean, curse you!" Despite her threat, Tanya had a piece of chocolate stuffed in her mouth anyway, and everybody around her cooed in response.
These last twenty-fours hours had been exhausting for her. After she finally managed to escape her tickling hell, she ran to the safety of her room. Unfortunately, she forgot her dorm-mates…
''''KYAH! Tanya you are so cuuuute!'''' The same as the teachers, the girls were quite taken with her temporary form.
What happened next was hour upon hour with a bunch of overly affectionate girls treating her like a baby! She thought at least the serious Hermione would keep her sanity…
'Tanya, I transfigured this cute doll dress, please wear it for me!' … Surprisingly, she was the most excited with the ordeal.
By morning, her dorm-mates plus Luna were all sleeping with a content smile on their faces with her in the middle of a big joined bed. Tanya deluded herself thinking the nightmare was over. However, she detected no change, she continued inhabiting a five-year-old body.
Only then she was reminded that Dumbledore warned the spell could be permanent.
"FUCK! I should have let him finish the examination!" But she couldn't lose such a great opportunity to try to take the wand.
She had hoped that, with no classes scheduled for the day, she could stay out of sight… Her dormitory companions had other plans: To put her on display for the whole school. Her entire day boiled down to an abundance of hugs, tight squeezes, cheek pinches, being lifted up, and countless rounds of tickling! By the time of the Halloween feast, there was a line to feed her.
"My turn! Please, Tanya try zis!" As Tanya gazed at Fleur Delacour standing before her, she came to the realization that even the Beauxbatons girls were captivated by her.
"GRR! WON'T THIS HELL EVER END- Ah?" As if someone had heard her plea, the charm was suddenly broken and her body returned to its former size.
"HOORAY!" Full of joy, Tanya started to jump non-stop.
"EVERYONE, LOOK AT ME! I AM BACK TO NORMAL!" She became aware that everybody was indeed looking at her, albeit mostly with embarrassment on their faces.
"Eh?" She was puzzled until she realized her clothes didn't grow with her…
A scream of embarrassment plus a change of clothes later, and Tanya returned to the Gryffindors table.
"You don't need to worry, Tanya. Most of your body was still covered, no one saw your s-sensitive parts'." Hermione reassured her.
"Hope she is telling the truth-" Her thoughts trailed off as Harry embraced her.
"I AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE OLDER!" Now that she thought back, during all her ordeal, Harry had worn a profoundly distraught expression.
"Really, I am so relieved! Thought we'd never be snogging again!" Funny how she suddenly wished she was a little girl once more…
"Tanya." In response to Professor Snape's call, the girl sought shelter behind Harry, her memories of their shared experience from the previous night coming to mind.
"There is no need to hide from me, first of all, I want to apologize for my behavior yesterday. I cannot fathom what came over me…" She relaxed, seeing him genuinely regretful.
"It's okay, I think there was another spell at work since everyone went nuts- what are you doing?" She asked, noticing he had begun a series of wand moves over her.
"I need to perform an examination per Professor Dumbledore's request."
"There is no need, as you can see, my body is back to normal."
"Humpf! Normal?! We shall see!"
"Sir?!"
"Huh?! Why is he angry?!"
"Is that a pregnancy test spell?!" At Hermione's question, all sound died in the hall.
"The heck he is doing-"
'… my period is late.'
"Right, I told Dumbledore THAT!"
"I am warning you, Potter! If she is pregnant, your life is forfeit!" The professor's threat appeared to be all the evidence people needed, in a matter of seconds, there was a big crowd around them.
"WHOA! Potter knocked up Degurechaff!"
"As if! Potter is not man enough!"
"FINALLY! You made me so proud, Harry!" These and many other comments were muttered and Tanya couldn't make out who they came from, except for the last one that was clearly Luna's.
"Uhh…How many times am I going to suffer utter humiliation today?!"
After almost a minute, the wand flashed a white light, naturally. Groans filled the air, and just as quickly as they had appeared, the crowd dispersed.
"What a shame! If the baby was as cute as Tanya earlier…!" Except by a few ones who felt the need to give their unwanted opinions.
"Harry… you are a disappointment."
"Luna is right! Don't try to cheat!"
"Yeah, you owe us- I mean, Tanya a cool dragon killing!"
"Does zis mean I still have a chance wiz ze princesse?!"
Tanya's irritation reached a whole new level, more than ever, she wanted to hurt the headmaster.
"I don't even care about the wand, all I want is to- what is he doing?" As she sent daggers through her eyes, she noticed Dumbledore wasn't at his seat. Instead, he seemed to be examining the goblet of fire.
"Congratulations, Potter! You will live to see another day. And Tanya, this is for you." He said giving her a vial with some sort of potion.
"And what is this?"
"A CONTRACEPTION potion. Please, use it sparingly… I beg you!" Again, all eyes turned to her.
Tanya's only wish at this moment was that the vial was bigger, so she could hide her flushing face.
"Can't this day end soon?!" Fortunately, the two absent judges, Crouch and Ludo Bagman, arrived shortly and Dumbledore declared the goblet would make its decision in a few minutes at most.
The students chatted animatedly, making their last guesses at who would be the champion from Hogwarts.
"I hope it's Angelina!" Each table had its own favorite and in Gryffindor's, it was Angelina Johnson.
"Yeah, better than pretty-boy Diggory." Ron remarked, casting a disdainful glance toward the Hufflepuff table.
"Who do you reckon will be our champion Tanya?"
"I don't reckon, I know."
"You know?"
"Harry, I can read mana and so can you."
"Right! I forgot! Then… who are gonna be the champions?" He whispered.
"Try to find out by yourself. This is a good opportunity to see if you aren't rusty."
Upon hearing her request, he shut his eyes and focused intently.
"Hum… from Durmstrang it will be… Krum, of course!" Not unexpectedly, the quidditch champion had already showcased his exceptional abilities.
"Beauxbatons… Gabrielle's older sister! Her mana is far brighter than Krum's! And, there is something weird about it…"
"You are probably seeing the mixed attributes of her aura. The evidence that she isn't completely human."
"Funny, it's another 'color', yet it is as odd as Hagrid's shine…"
Tanya resisted the urge to explain and instead opted not to reveal Rubeus Hagrid's little, or rather 'big' secret.
"What about our school?"
"Hmm… Oh, that's a pity. It's just a tiny bit, but Cedric outshines Angelina."
"Good to see you didn't lose your touch. And for the record, you are stronger than all of them." Harry blushed at her remark.
"I am glad that you're giving me compliments!"
"It wasn't a compliment, I was merely stating a fact. You are the strongest of this school after all the intense training I gave you."
"… in other words, you are complimenting yourself." Tanya grimaced at him.
"S-sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"That is not it. I want you to keep in mind what will happen if you waste my investment in you by entering unnecessary danger!"
"I told you! I didn't put my name in the goblet! If you couldn't, how do you suppose I could?!"
"He has a point…"
"And you have to admit that all the troubles you had since yesterday happened because you didn't trust me!"
"… again, he has a point."
"Okay, okay! I am sowwy- I mean, sorry!"
"You… agreed with me?!"
"Yes, I recognize I was wrong- why are you crying?!"
"I-its the first time ever that I won in an argument against you! Snifle!"
Tanya rolled her eyes.
"I concede you were right THIS ONCE. I exaggerated thinking you were going to try to cheat into participating and received a HARSH punishment for my mistake."
"Try to trust your boyfriend in the future, will you?"
"… understood." At her passive reply, Harry had a smug grin.
"I am still cutting your legs if your name comes out, though."
"Gulp!"
Tanya was mostly joking. She simply couldn't let Harry have a total victory over her.
A few minutes later, within the dimly lit hall, the goblet of fire started expelling names.
"… Victor Krum!" Exactly as they predicted, Dumbledore called the quidditch champion as the participant from Durmstrang.
"… Fleur Delacour!" In contrast to the first name, this one elicited surprise from the majority.
And now, the moment of the truth. For a third occasion, the goblet spat a piece of parchment. Dumbledore's face beamed with a smile as he lifted the name high and brought it closer to his face.
"The Hogwarts champion is…!"
"… Cedric Diggory." Tanya thought.
"…!" In contrast to her expectation, the headmaster didn't mention the Hufflepuff name. Instead, she witnessed the smile disappear from the headmaster's face, replaced by a solemn expression.
"D-don't tell me…!" Right away, Tanya pivoted her head to gaze at Harry. And she wasn't alone. Hermione, Ron, his brothers and sister were all looking at him. In an instant, the boy was sweating buckets.
Tanya's eyes darted toward Dumbledore, and he, too, redirected his attention in the boy's direction.
"Harry!" Tanya knew what was about to come…
"T-the Hogwarts champion is Tanya Degurechaff…"
"I KNEW IT! PREPARE YOURSELF, POTTER! I KEEP MY WORDS- Wait, WHAT?" Tanya had already taken aim at Harry's neck when suddenly, it dawned on her.
As a commotion ensued, she remained indifferent. Her numb mind was filled with questions about how this could be possible.
Then the applause began, most coming from the Slytherins, followed next by all other tables. Only Harry and his friends had the same confused expression as she.
"Please, miss Degurechaff, up here!" Dumbledore anxiously beckoned to her.
"Hey, princess! No fair!" One of the Weasley twins whispered to her.
"You were supposed to help us!" Tanya remained unbothered by their accusations. Her primary concern was unraveling how this could have occurred.
She moved down the hallway, each step heavier than the last, until she finally came to a stop.
"Sigh!It could be far worse-" As she was in front of the goblet, once again, it expelled a piece of parchment.
Tanya caught it before reaching the ground, her eyes widening at the name written on it.
"HARRY POTTER!" She yelled, giving said boy a murderous glare.
"Can't we find a way for you to drop out? Maybe due to some small injury…?"
"D-don't suggest something like that, you too!" Harry answered flustered to the flaming head of Sirius Black.
On a night, a few days after the choosing of the champions, Sirius, worried with his two charges, asked for a meeting by using floo powder.
"Unfortunately, it's not possible to drop out. The moment we had our names chosen, the goblet placed a compulsion spell on us."
"You mean something similar to an unbreakable vow?!"
"Yes, I was about to cut off his legs when Dumbledore warned me of this fact!"
"I can't believe it! How did this happen?! There never was more champions than schools!"
"Professor Moody suggested my name was put under a fourth school. To make sure I would be selected one way or another."
"Blimey! And what about you girl? I mean, you ended the official representative from Hogwarts, right?"
At this, the two teens let out sighs.
"It was Professor Dumbledore."
"WHAT?!"
"I know! It was a real shock hearing her accusing him, and he didn't bother denying it!"
"What was there to deny? I witnessed him fiddling with the goblet just as people were distracted with my… test." Tanya guessed he was waiting to see if she was truly pregnant before placing her name.
"I was initially convinced of his worry for me, until Harry's name came out and he showed a true distraught expression. Also…"
'Had you tried your own name, the goblet would have accepted it.'
"… he himself reminded me of my 'peculiarity' the night before."
"What did he have on his mind?! Has he gone senile?!" Tanya shook her head.
"On the contrary. It was the most rational decision he had available." In this regard, he made Tanya recall Brigadier General Zettour, both of them willing to endanger her to achieve their goals.
"He realizes and the goblet concurs that I have the best chance of walking out of this unscathed."
Sirius was silent. He may not appreciate it but couldn't deny her and Dumbledore's logic.
"… what about you Harry? Do you reckon anyone trusts your knack for survival so damn much that they'd toss you into a life-or-death mess empty-handed?!"
Harry grimaced and shook his head.
"In this case, we've got to face the grim reality: Someone is trying to have you killed!"
Tanya saw the boy shudder over this most probable scenario.
"This is a problem, we can't predict if our unknown enemy will try anything or is expecting a deadly accident during the tasks."
"Our first order of business is to discover who is scheming against Harry."
"I have a suspect." Sirius stated.
"Karkaroff! He was arrested for being a death eater-"
"It wasn't him. I already made sure of that." The same night Harry's name came out of the goblet, she thoughtfully interrogated him.
"Like with Professor Snape, 'Lucius' merely had to lure him with the promise to talk about the dark mark."
"Is that why he was cowering while you passed him in the corridor?" Her trademark sinister grin was the only answer she gave.
"Hehehe! Girl, you never cease to amuse me! How about Bartemius Crouch?" Sirius suggested next.
"Why would Mr Crouch be after me?" Tanya agreed with Harry. She couldn't see what Crouch had to gain.
"Not after you Harry, after your girlfriend. I recently discovered Crouch was quite vocal in favor of Tanya's arrest following that little incident seven years ago."
Sirius explained that Bartemius Crouch was once head of the department of magical law enforcement. During this period, he was ruthlessly devoted to hunting anyone who practiced the dark arts, employing methods as brutal and cruel as those he worked to prosecute.
"The man is a fanatic! He sent his own son to Azkaban with little evidence of his wrongdoing, not to mention the cases where he didn't even allow for a trial to take place." Tanya knew Sirius was talking about himself in the last part.
"If it was him, Crouch may hold some paranoid belief that Tanya is as dark as her ancestors."
"And he wishes to expose me by putting Harry in danger?"
"I reckon so, yes."
"He waited SEVEN YEARS?! To attack me indirectly?!" Tanya found it difficult to accept this theory.
"Then again, it wouldn't be the first time I witness a foolish creature lacking in reason!" Yet, there were better candidates.
"Let's not be hasty. I believe there may be more simple motivations at work here." Harry and Sirius looked at her both puzzled at this declaration.
"Some of my contacts…" Namely professor Snape, Lucius Malfoy and Karkaroff.
"… told me Ludo Bagman has a serious gambling addiction and is deeply buried in debt."
"You mentioned how Bagman was delighted to announce the fourth champion. Perhaps he is betting on Harry and-"
"Hold on! Mr Crouch and Ludo Bagman have nothing to do with this!" Harry cried out.
"It's Voldemort and his two servants! Including the one who wants to hurt Tanya!" The boy's words reminded Tanya that she still had no idea who was pursuing her.
"Tanya, have you ever found out what happened with the wizards who wanted to arrest you?" He inquired, clearly filled with concern.
"Every single one of them is accounted for and none bears any scars."
"Are you sure? Maybe one tricked you-"
"Harry, don't worry about me. As long as that pervert Lockhart is really dead, my PTSD won't block my magic." Harry's expression remained somber, indicating his skepticism about her safety.
"Well, on that note, I'd kindly ask you two not to get too cocky. Remember to rely on Dumbledore and Mad-Eye too."
"Don't know if I trust professor Moody, he said some nasty stuff to Tanya!"
"Don't let it get to you. Unlike Crouch, Moody won't jump on suspicion without solid evidence." Sirius said, sounding very sure.
"In truth, he has been watching over you two on at least two occasions. He was there when we picked up Tanya in the orphanage and during your party at the burrow."
This piece of information actually puzzled Tanya.
"No, he wasn't." She had noticed a strong mana signature during these occasions and it didn't match their current DADA teacher.
"Furthermore… don't freak out you two, I've got a hunch he might have 'dealt' with some death eaters that may have tried to pay us a visit."
"He thinks Moody was the one who executed them?!" Tanya chose to let it remain this way.
"Y-you mean he KILLED people?!"
"I- he only did what was necessary to keep you- we safe, Harry!"
"It is as Tanya said, Harry. I want you two to stick to him. You will need all the help you can get to survive the tasks as it is!"
"Regarding this matter, I was considering requesting a revision of the tasks, considering that half of the champions are children."
"Sorry girl, it won't work. By LAW, for the duration of the tournament, you two are, under all means, adults!"
Tanya widened her eyes.
"… did he say that I am an ADULT?!" This was something that greatly sparked her interest.
"BLACK! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?!" Before Tanya could ask Sirius to elaborate, they heard another voice coming from his side.
"GAH! It's my instructor!"
"Why aren't you in your bunk?!"
"I-I have an emergency with my charges-"
"NO EXCUSES! Since you've got so much energy, maybe we should do a bit of training right now!"
"What?!"
"Get your arse right here and-" The connection was seemingly cut.
"Sirius?! Oh no! Did he get in trouble because of us?!"
"He will be fine, his drill sergeant will merely work him to the bone, besides…"
"… I won't be needing him anymore!Not with the valuable information he just provided!"
Over the course of the next weeks, many situations made Harry feel constant misery.
For starters, talking with Sirius solved absolutely nothing. Both him and Tanya were still stuck into participating in a deadly tournament with no idea of who was plotting against him.
Second, Harry was having a new wave of unpopularity only surpassed by when people claimed he was Slytherin's heir.
"Or maybe, far worse seeing as I am all alone now." Wisely, Tanya made public how it was Dumbledore who put her name in the goblet. After the initial shock subsided, she gained the school's approval as the genuine Hogwarts champion. Proof of how much the students trusted their headmaster's judgment.
Harry, on the other hand, was branded as an envious cheater trying to steal the deserving glory of his own girlfriend.
Nevertheless, he expected his friends to stand by him… Oh, how wrong he was…
"What do you mean Ron is jealous?!" Hermione dropped this bomb on Harry one day while they were walking together.
"Well, he was mumbling to himself how it's always you who got all the attention… especially from girls."
Harry should have seen this coming, ever since the incident with the love potion, Ron had been completely infatuated with Tanya.
"I believe… Tanya is Ron's first love…" Her voice trembled with sorrow as she spoke.
"She pities Ron?!" This left Harry kinds of pissed. She considered even stupid jealous Ron more deserving of compassion than him.
His last silver lining was that Tanya remained at his side… He was taken aback seeing her wearing the 'support Tanya/Potter stinks' badges Malfoy had been selling.
"Cool huh? Draco is giving me one third of his profits!"
"Ehhhh?! You are profiting at my suffering?! Why?!"
"Sorry! This is one of the main rules of the capitalist world: pursue riches at any cost!" Before he could call the unfairness of it, Luna arrived.
"Tanya- ahem, my lady Von Degurechaff, it's time."
"Excuse me, Harry, I have an autograph and handshake event scheduled."
"A what?!" Harry thought he had heard wrong until he saw her outside the castle giving autographs for a sickle and a handshake for two. Luna acting as her manager/bodyguard.
"Hey! No one shouldtouch her besides me!"
To add salt to the injury, he saw the french boy, Luc, taking many turns in the line so that he could repeatedly hold her hand!
He tried to talk to his girlfriend only to be shoved away by the numerous blokes in line accusing him of trying to jump the queue.
"Luna! Give me some help!"
"Sir, I kindly ask you to join the queue at the starting point. Have your money at hand and princess Tanya will gladly provide you with an autograph once your turn arrives."
"L-Luna?!"
"Are you in the line, Harry?" Cedric Diggory inquired, his hands overflowing with sickles, ensuring he was in for a dozen handshakes, at least!
At this point, Harry was bursting with anger and it all came out later in the day when Malfoy insulted Hermione while she tried to defend him.
"Go on, then, Potter, Moody's not here to-" With a cruel satisfaction, Harry punched him straight on the nose.
"Y-you insolent git! Densaugeo!" Malfoy tried to hex him. However, the boy easily got out of the way.
"Are you daft? I've taken on fully grown dark wizards! Do you truly believe you could lay a finger on me?!"
"Shut up! Densaugeo! Densaugeo!" Harry laughed hard at Malfoy's expense. Hex after hex and none were-
"Hermione!" Everything came to a halt as he heard Ron's scream.
In all his eagerness to humiliate Malfoy, Harry forgot one of the very first lessons Tanya taught him.
'Don't play around. Finish your opponent as soon as you can or they might get lucky and manage to hit you or one of your allies.'
For a moment, he panicked thinking Hermione was fatally wounded until he saw her elongated front teeth.
"Phew! I thought he had blown her face off!" Catching an accusing glare from Ron, Harry realized that his sigh of relief had been misinterpreted as a chuckle.
"Wait, I didn't mean to-" He couldn't say anything as Ron took Hermione away.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU PRAT- Eh?" Just as he pulled his wand, he noticed that the coward Malfoy had run away.
In truth, looking around, he saw that everyone had left, leaving him all by himself…
"Sob! I am lonely…"
"There you are! I heard you were talking to Rita Skeeter! What were you thinking?!"
"Does she realize these are the first words she says to me in days?!" Just as Dumbledore had rescued him from that bothersome reporter, his girlfriend shouted at him in anger.
"Not my fault! She dragged me to a cupboard and-"
"What did you tell her?!"
"Nothing! Professor Dumbledore ended the interview before I could say anything."
"Later you will repeat to me every single word you uttered, you hear me?!" Harry could guess she was afraid of having her true status exposed in the biggest newspaper of magical Britain.
"Humpf! Wouldn't this mean she would get lots of new fans paying to touch her?!" The boy was so absorbed in his sullen mood that he didn't notice Mr. Ollivander's arrival for the wand-weighing ceremony until it was Tanya's turn.
"W-we meet again miss Degurechaff." Unsurprisingly, he greeted her with trepidation.
"Which of the two wands you will be using?"
Tanya handed him her white silver lime wand.
"Oh? Curious, I imagined you would be using the devil's wand."
"About that…" She shared the short tale of how she lost her red wand during the riot at the world cup.
"To be frank, I pray it ended up broken. It would give me peace of mind." The wand maker declared hopefully.
"To think the day would come I would wish for disaster to befall one of my creations! Not even the one that you-know-who once wielded could elicit these feelings."
"Funny for you to mention, because I broke it a few months ago." This time, Tanya told a tale about the final destiny of the wand in Wormtail's possession.
"Oh, my! What an unforeseen turn of events. To imagine that Mr. Potter's wand's 'brother' would meet such a fate."
"Brother?"
"Mr Potter didn't tell you about the relationship of the two wands?"
"No, he didn't…" She murmured before glaring angrily at him.
"I-it wasn't on purpose, I never got the opportunity." This justification was a lie. Truth be told, Harry felt uncomfortable talking about any aspect he has in common with Voldemort.
Actually, so great was his dislike for this matter, he thought he'd rather be talking with that barmy Skeeter woman. A few days later, he would have a change of heart…
'… I get my strength from my parents… I still cry about them… they're watching over me…' This basically summarized the first part of the article.
"From where she get all these crappy stuff?!" Harry could foretell the devastating effect in his considerably damaged reputation.
"Oh, well… at least Tanya was left out- Uh-oh!"
'… it's no secret Harry Potter is dating Tanya Degurechaff. A German girl born in England, so bright she was offered to graduate in her first year! Of course, her love for Harry was so great she refused to leave him. The boy is so passionate about her he calls her his princess…'
"Tanya won't fancy this." He knew how shy his girlfriend is about displays of their love. He could only hope that the fact the princess story wasn't published would appease her.
"Y-yeah, everything is fine- OH SHIT!"
'… Tanya Degurechaff performed a pregnancy test, declared their close friend Colin Creevey! Could this be the reason those two are risking their lives? A dear wish to elope and start a family?'
"A-any chance Tanya didn't see- EEK!" Across the hall, he saw her furiously ripping the newspaper apart.
"HARRY!"
"GAH! Sorry! I swear I didn't say anything-"
"Where is Colin Creevey?!" A wave of relief took him as his girlfriend was angry with someone else.
However, his relief turned into horror as that same night, Colin didn't show up for dinner…
"S-s-she didn't kill him?! R-right?!" Fortunately, his worries proved baseless as Tanya showed up at the table very snappy for not finding the younger boy.
Later, Dennis would confide to him how his brother was making sure to stay away from Tanya's path until the dust cleared.
"Wait until I put my hands in that blabbering dimwit…!" Harry discretely smiled, now he could enjoy his meal.
"Oh well, it was the last time something like this happened anyway. When I move out of Sirius' place, people won't find excuses for baseless rumors."
"I see-" Harry was so surprised at her casual comment he almost choked on his food.
"You are moving out?! WHY?!"
"Isn't it obvious? A small misunderstanding with Dumbledore and people thought I was pregnant! Who knows what sort of new nonsense may come in the future."
"People can say anything they want, I don't care! What I want is for you to stay with me!" Harry pleaded yet, she was unmoved.
"You might not care today, but in a few years, we'll be graduating. These rumors and scandals could come back to haunt us as we search for jobs."
"We merely lived together for a few months and she already wants to leave me?!" He couldn't shake the sensation that her fear of rumors was a pretext, while the real cause might have been something he either did or didn't do.
"Is itbecause I failed to notice her signs earlier? She must feel unloved!" Harry was left on the verge of depression. Considering all he had been through, this was undeniably the worst… until the night Hagrid showed him something appalling.
"RON! WAKE UP!"
"Hmm…? Harry?! What is wrong- What do you want?!" It took him a moment to remember he was angry with Harry. The boy however, was too desperate to be resentful.
"Please Ron! I didn't put my name in the goblet! Believe in me! I-I don't have anyone else to turn to, I need help!"
"W-whoa! Calm down- Ah!" Ron must have realized they were about to wake the room's other occupants, as he dragged Harry to the common room.
"Alright! We can talk here- C-come on, mate!" He exclaimed, noticing how Harry was almost in tears.
"D-don't cry! OKAY! I am sorry! I was kinda a prat!"
"… kinda?"
"Fine! I was outright stupid! Satisfied now?"
"… I missed you."
"M-me too… M-more important, you saw the dragons?"
"Yes, and- Huh?"
"Charlie told me." Indeed, his older brother was there caring for the dragons.
"With the way you are behaving, I reckon you don't fancy your chances against them, do you?"
"Oh, no. The hellish training Tanya gave me was infinitely worse than any dragon. I suppose if it is merely to get past them, I can handle it." Ron blinked.
"Huh? Then, why are you about to bawl your eyes out?!"
"Because I saw Hagrid with Madame Maxime! They barely met and are already more of a couple than me and Tanya ever were!"
"… pardon?"
"They get along so well… while me and Tanya… she said she is moving out! I didn't give her enough love… we never kiss anymore!"
Ron looked at Harry' teary eyed face, agape, and burst into laughter.
"S-sorry! It's just, I thought you and Tanya were- you know, the pregnancy testing thing."
"Did you forget? She declared at my birthday party that I would need to marry her first!"
"I thought she was having a laugh."
"No, it's a bit tricky deciphering Tanya sometimes. I reckon she was hinting that she wants to tie the knot this very instant!"
"Hmmm… and she is leaving cause you won't propose to her?"
"I guess!"
"Can't you see the solution? It's right in front of you: marry her!" Harry's simpleton friend had the gall to say.
"What about her condition?! I need to take out a-" Harry widened his eyes realizing the first benefit this tournament had brought him.
"A dragon! Next Tuesday I will face a DRAGON!" He shouted in delight.
"You are brilliant! Ron…?" His joy was short-lived as he took notice of his friend's gloomy outlook.
"You fancy Tanya, don't you?" His friend twitched at his question.
"K-kiss the dragon- I mean, go and kill the dragon for her! This way I can convince myself… to give up on her!"
Harry owed an apology to Hermione, Ron did deserve pity.
"Unlike me, the girl he fancies won't ever reciprocate his affections." Ron's nobility in helping him in spite of his own suffering, fueled his determination to straighten things with Tanya.
The next day, early in the morning, he went to talk to her. Unfortunately, he forgot how she usually had breakfast with Snape.
Seeing her with his most loathed teacher made him ponder whether to wait for a more suitable moment.
"… the ministry can't deny you or Potter an emancipation. But the conditions aren't negotiable."
"Superb! My only problem is money and that is going fairly well!"
"Am I too late?" Harry felt desolated hearing her so happy talking about leaving him.
"I saw your recent activities, to use your popularity in such a way was brilliant. Still, why don't you simply come live with me?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, I don't want to be a hindrance to anyone. I appreciate the feeling though."
Contrary to Harry's expectations, Snape grunted at her gratitude.
"S-sir?"
"You don't want to inconvenience me…?!" Snape got up abruptly, knocking down his chair in the process.
"… or maybe, you are eager to be a legal adult and elope with Potter!"
"Ah!" Harry was struck by a wonderful revelation: Tanya wasn't working so hard to leave him, she was saving money for them to start living together on their own!
"It was as I thought! She doesn't care about rumors or scandals!" Harry concluded she was testing his determination to be with her.
"P-professor! Are you bringing that article up? I told you- Ah!" She finally saw him.
"Harry! Explain to Professor Snape- mmmph?" He just couldn't wait until they were alone. Without any care for the whistles or Snape's swearing, he kissed his girlfriend in front of half the school.
"D-did I give you a 'signal' again?!"
"No, this is my signal! We don't need to elope, let's get married!"
"The heck are you-"
"With the prize money, we can buy a house and live alone! No one will ever interrupt us when we… you know!"
"W-w-what are you talking about?! You can't expect us to get married out of blue!"
"Of course we can! Our first task is to fight a dragon! Meaning I can give you the dowry!"
"Hold on! They are throwing a dragon at us?! This is absurd!" He saw that she was now worried, most probably on his behalf.
"You are right, I shouldn't take this lightly!" Abruptly, he released her and turned around.
"Hey? Where are you going?!"
"To train hard until the time of the task!"
"Wait, Harry!" Harry didn't hear her. He was too busy looking forward to their future together!
"ARRGGGHHH! I had another misunderstanding with Harry! How the hell do those things keep happening?!" The boy had arrived at the exact moment she had been consulting with Professor Snape about her emancipation. Needless to say the moron came to the most absurd assumption.
"Why can't the little parasite let me go?" Originally, she meant to stay close to him until he accomplished his life mission but…
"I already did everything in my power to turn Harry into a competent soldier. If even so, he can't complete his destiny, then it wasn't meant to be." Tanya currently has more urgent matters demanding her attention, such as devising a strategy to persuade Dumbledore to relinquish his wand (or if push comes to shove, a plan to defeat him). And, above all, a way to safeguard her CHASTITY!
Interestingly, the solution she had been eagerly awaiting coincided with her newest headache: the Triwizard Tournament. The tournament's regulations stated no underage students could take part, creating a loophole which legally turned both Tanya and Harry into adults for the competition's duration. What's more remarkable is that during this period, the laws became flexible enough to potentially make the change permanent.
Naturally, there were certain conditions attached to this deal. For instance, she had to commit to remaining in school until she completed her graduation, and she also needed to ensure she had the resources to support herself during school breaks.
However, this gave rise to a problem: how could she earn money if she couldn't leave school? Fortunately, the answer materialized one day when Luc Millefeuille incessantly urged her to take a photo with him.
"The idol industry! 'Princess Tanya' image has become so popular that I can have my own paid 'fan events'!" Tanya doesn't need to dance, or sing, or act. Just sit there, sign her name and give a handshake. Should she keep a stable income, she could accumulate enough money in approximately five months.
"Talk about an easy job." To think the salaryman always thought idols to be silly…
"And if it fails, I can count on the tournament's prize money!" After all, no way she is losing to a bunch of kids.
And speaking of them, she observed with a serene composure how Krum and Fleur anxiously awaited the start of the first task while Harry…
"Where the hell is that troublemaker?!" Tanya finally noticed Harry's absence.
"I didn't see or hear of him for two whole days. C-could something have happened?!" Suddenly a horrible thought assaulted her.
"Did our unknown enemy make a move?! Could Harry have been cornered by Voldemort's ally and is severely wounded somewhere?!" At once, Tanya lost her composure, becoming more nervous than the two champions around her.
"S-shit! I shouldn't have let him alone! All because I was afraid of a few kisses-"
"Harry! Good-oh!" Hearing Bagman announcing the boy's arrival made her let out a big breath of relief.
"Harry! Where have you… been?" Staring at the boy, made Tanya wonder if it was really him.
Physically, he was the same, except now… he stood tall, his green eyes brimming with confidence and strength.
"He looks kinda handsome- THE HELL AM I THINKING?"
"Sorry, Tanya. Moody was helping me train until late at night and I overslept."
"You should have-" He pulled her to him, a firm yet gentle grip.
Again, she felt mesmerized with this strong Harry Potter. She so naturally, closed her eyes and met his lips.
"Ahem! If you two don't mind, I have some explanation." Tanya reddened realizing what she allowed- no, what she did willingly!
"T-this is getting worse! FAR WORSE!" Tanya was so shocked with her own reaction she didn't complain that Harry didn't break the embrace while Bagman explained about their objective.
"You want us to steal eggs from nesting dragons?!" She became fully awake hearing this news.
Ludo Bagman responded with an uneasy chuckle.
Harry had warned Tanya about the incoming dragons, so she wasn't surprised.
"I still held onto hope they weren't deploying CHILDREN to confront such monsters!"
She was certain her abilities were more than a match for any dragon. Nonetheless, she held on the same determination of her first year to not display her superior skills fearing this might end in a recruitment to the aurors or any other law enforcement office.
There was also the matter of concealing her true potential from Dumbledore. She couldn't afford to arm her future adversary with any fragment of information, as it might eventually be used against her.
"I need to find a way to win by showing as little as possible! Preferably, without any fighting at all!"
As their dragons were selected, Tanya got the dragon with the number '1' meaning she would go first, Harry by his part, would go last and fight the Hungarian Horntail, the most lethal of the bunch.
Even so, he kept oozing enthusiasm.
"Oh! And a last word." Ludo Bagman called them.
"Remember that your task is to bring the egg back. Although you are allowed to defend yourselves, under no circumstance you can kill the dragons."
"WHAT?!" Hearing Harry's scream, Tanya had to hide her smirk.
"Yesterday an anonymous letter alerted us that some of you may be planning to kill them."
Harry diverted his gaze embarrassed.
"Who could have told? Ron? No, he gave me the idea…" He muttered under his breath, not knowing the true culprit was under his embrace.
"No way I am getting engaged to him!" She wouldn't accept anyway, but it would be better to handle it like this.
"I must go! Remember, no killing a dragon! You will be heavily penalized!"
"I am risking my life for nothing…" He deflated back to the normal meek boy Tanya knew so well.
"Whom I definitely don't consider handsome!"
"Ahhh, I feel so down that the dragon might kill me instantly… Tanya, can you promise me something? If I die, you won't end up in the arms of the first prat you find. If you need to marry someone else, then, marry Ron."
"H-how dare you-" Hearing the sound of a whistle, begrudgingly Tanya had to rush to the enclosure.
"Aff! Is she angry because I can't give her the dowry…?" This is the conclusion he reached seeing his girlfriend leaving with a scowl in her face.
"She isn't the sole one who will be disappointed…"
'Holy moly, Potter! Your girl is demanding you to kill a dragon for her?! Flirting sure has changed… I mean, sure, I will help!' Remembering Sirius' trust on Moody, he asked the DADA teacher to help him. Surprisingly, he accepted right away, though it meant he wouldn't be giving any classes for two days.
"I wasted these last days for him and me-" He heard a thunderous roar following the sound of the crowd cheering.
''''"PRINCESS TANYA!"''''
"You zink she she will be fine?" Fleur asked him and in the background, Viktor Krum shared a similar expression of worry.
"Honestly? The dragon won't stand a chance." Understandably, the two seemed incredulous.
"I wouldn't believe it either, if I didn't know she already fought something far worse: a basilisk."
The two tried to contest his statement when another roar was heard. This one louder, yet unmistakable human and… Harry was assaulted by irrational fear. His instincts told him something far worse than a dragon was out there.
He noticed he wasn't the only one petrified by fright, the other champions were in a similar state and outside, the once-noisy crowd was in complete silence.
"S-she did it! What sort of magic was that? She did it without casting a single spell at the dragon! And so fast!" Upon Ludo Bagman's announcement, the audience burst into renewed cheers.
"See? Told you." This left the pair gazing at him with wide eyes, their mouths hanging open in surprise.
"Still… even doing something I saw coming, she always finds a way to catch me off guard!"
Despite Fleur and Krum taking considerably longer than Tanya, it was almost as if a mere few seconds had gone by and it was almost his turn.
"… what a shame! Mr Krum is bound to lose some points over that!"
Harry got ready. He quickly cast all the enhancing spells he knew and walked into the enclosure.
"Bah! What is the point?" He remained disheartened over the fact he couldn't give Tanya her dowry.
"The last one, finally! Come on Mr Potter!"
"Why bother?! Tanya is going to win anyway-" Harry let out an exasperated sigh as realization hit him.
"Wait…HOLD ON A MOMENT! Tanya is surely going to win!" Again, Harry felt foolish. His girlfriend is strong enough to secure Hogwarts the cup (and the money for them to buy a house).
"So, that means… I don't have to follow the rules! I can pursue my real task!" With his confidence back into full motion and his sense of purpose renewed, he sped toward the dragon like a bullet.
Almost as quick, the Horntail spotted him and retaliated without delay. Inhaling deeply, it unleashed a massive burst of flames toward him. Harry narrowly evaded the searing flames and without losing momentum, he made a beeline towards his goal.
Once more, the dragon attempted to strike him, this time, with its spiked tail. Nevertheless, to Harry, it appeared to move in slow motion, allowing him to effortlessly avoid it.
"Feh! This oversized lizard is a slowpoke compared to the acromantulas I had to run from!" On those days, with his life hanging by a (spider) threat, he was forced to learn Tanya's enhancing spells in order to survive.
Harry could go faster and his senses become more acute however, this demanded an exhausting supply of magical energy.
"It's okay, I have a lot to spare!" And, by now, he was just a couple of strides away from the Horntail. Swiftly, he cast the conjunctivitis curse, rendering the dragon blind, followed by several blasts to divert its focus, allowing him to easily snatch the golden egg.
"Great Scott! What is this? Are all students at Hogwarts that skilled? He finishes as fast as Miss Degurechaff!" As he heard Ludo Bagman's voice amidst the crowd's applause and cheers, it reminded him of the nice dream he had during the world cup.
"And, the same as in my dream,Tanya can keep the cup. I desire another sort of reward!"
Concentrating the strongest severing charm he could pull, aiming at the dragon's neck, he shot.
"Eh?" Regrettably, he missed the target. Instead, he cut away the chain of the collar that bound the creature. The dragon, completely blind, could guide itself by sound and it turned its attention to the noisy crowd.
"Bollocks! I need to finish- huh?" Without a warning, Harry grew lightheaded, his body swaying, and his vision blurring.
"M-magic depletion?! Why?! I lasted much longer against the death eaters and during training!" The dragon opened its mouth to breathe fire at the stands. He was relieved to see people running out of its way- except for a young girl.
"I am not going to make it!" To his great relief and shock, a powerful blast exploded the dragon's head into a rain of blood.
"Who…?" Harry shifted his gaze to his side and discovered Tanya, who was giving him an infuriated glare.
"Oh-ho!"
"YOU MORON!"
"Sob! She is angry with me again! Sob!"
Harry was kneeling on the floor while Tanya berated him. It turned out to be an amusing spectacle looking as the entire Gryffindor house was watching.
"On how many occasions have I told you to be mindful with any enhancing spell?!"
Tanya didn't need to spell out his mistake. He had spent more energy than necessary because deep in his subconscious he believed the dragon was too big of a threat.
"Besides, I trained you to defend yourself, not to show off some crazy stunts! You had the egg, why try to kill the beast?! Bagman forbade us!"
"I-I get it… I let your dowry slip through my fingers… sorry." He was truly regretful, who knows if he will have another opportunity to fight a dragon?
"Can't you listen to me?! Who cares about that?! Because of you, I ended up dead last!" Another part he regretted. Once the task was finished, true to their word, the judges gave Tanya a harsh penalty, she lost about half her points.
"Uhh… I reckon we should have been informed the stands were magically protected against fire." Like him, Tanya spotted a young girl in the path of the dragon's flames and instinctively sprang into action to rescue her.
"GAAAHHH! And what in the world was Gabrielle Delacour doing there?! Doesn't that kid ever go to school?"
"Good question. Fleur didn't say anything about that. She was very grateful… even if there was no danger at all."
"Right, it was all for nothing! Plus Dumbledore said the dragon-keepers were furious! What if this poses a problem in my future?"
"Don't fret, I secured first place! When I win, I will buy us a big house!"
"D-do you have a screw loose?! Can't you realize your recklessness, you troublemaker?! YOU ALMOST KILLED YOURSELF!"
"!" For the third instance in recent days, he is struck by a realization.
"Of course! She's saying she doesn't care about the lost dowry. She'd prefer to have me in good health!" He couldn't help beaming at her. By unriddling her 'signals', he knew this was her way to show how worried she had been.
"I love you too…" He said honestly and full of affection towards her.
"GAK?! What does this have to do with anything?!"
Slowly, he got up and walked towards her.
"W-what are you doing? D-don't come near me- ah?!" She was cornered by a wall.
Harry didn't pass up the opportunity; he drew her into a kiss. As usual, she began tensely, then relaxed, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. He noticed that she grew more affectionate with each kiss they shared.
"Sirius was wrong. I am beginning to understand what is going on Tanya's head… and she is mellowing down!"
"Err, Harry?"
"Why does someone always have to ruin any moment we have together?! Gimme a break already!" He thought with annoyance as Lee Jordan called him.
"Is your majesty finished with your chewing?"
""Can we party now?"" Fred and George completed behind him.
"D-do whatever you want!" Tanya wriggled free from his grasp and darted to the opposite side of the room. There, she started serving herself food, apparently sulking.
"I promise you my love. Someday, we will have our own house and no one will interrupt us."
There was an immediate uproar as the Gryffindors interpreted Tanya's frustrating chomping down food as a permission to commemorate.
"No one is saying I cheated any more!" On the contrary, in the midst of the cheers and yells, Harry heard all sorts of compliments thrown at him. Besides, he hoped to have left a lasting impression on his rivals (both in the tournament and in love).
"Feh! I don't reckon blokes will woo Tanyaupon seeing what I am capable of doing!" And speaking of that…
"Sorry Ron! After your help, I couldn't kill a dragon- Ah! This doesn't mean I am giving Tanya up for you!"
"No! It's okay mate!" Ron waved his hands in a reassuring gesture.
"To tell the truth, seeing her fighting broke the 'enchantment'! I-I remembered why I was so afraid of her!" He said while giving a genuine shaking.
Harry was confused with this development until he recalled how Tanya defeated her dragon. She released her 'killing intent', making the dragon so scared, it didn't react as she took the golden egg.
Typically, this technique is most effective to use in creatures highly attuned to mana, such as magical beasts, as exemplified during professor Lupin as he attempted to attack them while in werewolf form.
"I felt it because I was tracking her signature- Ah!Thinking back, the entire crowd was silent, Krum and Fleur acted as if they sensed it too." It seemed she learned how to power up this ability to affect humans. He couldn't help being awed by the versatility of his girlfriend's arsenal.
"Well, in any case, this is another motive to party, my best friend won't be pursuing my girlfriend any more!" He would still keep an eye on Ron just to make sure, but overall everything was great.
"Open the egg, Harry, go on! Let's see what's inside it!" Excitedly, Harry complied to this request, only to hear the most horrible screeching noise.
"Shut it!" Immediately, the same several people who wanted it open, demanded it to be shut. He was glad to oblige.
"Sounded like a banshee…"
"No! It was someone under the cruciatus-" They had no time to discuss their theories as the noise was heard again. Tanya had opened her own egg for a few seconds and closed back.
"Tanya why did you-" She opened it once more.
She kept this pattern for a few minutes. The horrible, loud and screechy wailing was so maddening people were starting to consider abandoning the party.
"I think I got it!" She said and applied a chantless charm to her ears. She opened the egg for a few seconds once more and closed it, a triumphant smile on her face.
"I have the clue!"
"Eh? Really?!"
"All I had to do was to change the 'frequency' of my hearing." Harry looked at her in puzzlement.
"'Frequency of the hearing'?! That is how we are supposed to solve the clue?!" Harry directed this question at Hermione, wondering if it wasn't a spell taught in a day he wasn't paying attention in class.
She answered with the same quizzical expression he wore.
"In any case, Tanya you-" He was on the verge of asking her for the clue when she gave him a sly smirk.
"… won't share the clue with me. You won't even teach me the spell to decipher it, right…?"
"Yup! For starters, we are rivals! And you can't go into more danger if you don't know what the clue is!"
"Oh, well. Sometimes love can work against you… I guess."
AN: Sorry, I promised Snape's master plan for the yule ball but I ran out of space. Next chapter it will be.
I forgot to mention, Tanya's curse in the last chapter was my answer to many fanfics where a character manages to cheat the goblet of fire EASILY. I don't think that Dumbledore would overlook all the possible ways. He teaches wizards for heaven's sake!
Before people mention how easy it was to fight a dragon in this chapter, be aware that Harry's enhancements only sharpened his senses and his agility but not his defense. Tanya was angry with him because a single mistake, a mere scratch of the dragon's pinky and Harry could end forever crippled.
I wanted to show Dobby and Winky in this chapter but they didn't have much to say, so I will mention them in passing in a later chapter.
Next chapter: We will have the yule ball, a.k.a. the best night of Ron's life plus a big tragedy at the second task. A much beloved character will meet demise…