Chapter Twenty Two
Monday, however, brought more dread than Harry thought was physically possible. He's stomach seemed to have twisted itself into a knot over night that made Harry feel like he was going to be sick as he forced down a few mouthfuls of breakfast at Daphne's insistence, pointing out he had a long day ahead of him yet.
Harry was on his way to Transfiguration what he heard a familiar clunking behind him. He, Daphne, Pansy and Draco all stepped out the way, knowing that Professor Moody didn't like it when students stayed, dawdling in front of him.
"Potter, I want a word with you." He said, pointing towards his classroom.
"I was just on my way to Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall doesn't like it when we're late." Harry said, not that he was really in any hurry to get to Transfiguration.
Moody made a face that Harry assumed was meant to be a smile, "Just get your friends to let her know I've got you. We wont be long."
Harry nodded, "Here take my bag with you, show her I am actually planning on showing up."
Draco took the school bag off Harry and nodded as they walked down the corridor in opposite ways.
Harry followed Professor Moody into the dimly lit Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher's office and looked around. Every shelf was packed full of machines and devices, most of which Harry had no idea what they were or what they would do.
"Sit down Potter." Moody said gruffly, pointing to a chair with several books on it. Harry moved the books and placed them carefully on the crowded desk before sitting down.
There was a large mirror to the side of him with a crack running down the middle. Harry could see several shadowy figures moving around the glass, although there was no one behind him.
"Foe glass." Moody said, throwing a sheet over it, "Shows you yea enemies, more clear they are, the closer they are." he explained.
Harry nodded and waited for Moody to make his way slowly to the other side of the desk and sit down.
"Now I wanted to talk to you today, to ask yea what you were planning on doing about that dragon of yours." Moody asked directly.
Harry wasn't sure what to say, he knew that Moody and Dumbledore were good friends and that Dumbledore would almost certainly not be happy with Harry cheating; he also couldn't be sure that Moody had known he was under the invisibility cloak the other night.
"I'm not sure what you mean?" Harry said, acting surprised, "What dragon?"
Moody let out a large bark of laughter and took a large swig out of his hip flask, "This eye can see through a lot Harry, even invisibility cloaks."
Harry felt himself growing red, "Are you going to tell?"
Moody shook his head, "No. I suggested it to Severus, didn't know your Mam had already told him to do everything he could to help you, no matter what the rules say. You're a lot younger than the others Harry and all of them are above average, you deserve a little bit of extra help. So what have you planned?"
Harry wished he had an answer to give, but he didn't have a plan, "Well, I know that dragons are heavily armoured so their eyes are the weakest bit."
Moody nodded, "That's a fact, Potter, not a plan."
Harry sighed, "I haven't really been able to think of anything. Any spells we've looked up, that could possibly have an affect on a dragon there is no way I could learn them in just a night."
"You're not thinking Potter!" Moody said, slamming his hand down on the desk and making Harry jump, "You need to play to your strengths! So come on, what are your strengths?"
Harry currently felt the only strength he had was his minds ability to go completely blank, he thought for a few moments, Professor Moody waiting patiently, staring at him.
"Well, I'm a pretty OK flyer." Harry said at last, seeing the tips of the Quidditch goal posts from the window.
Moody smiled, "Better than OK from what I've heard, one of the best Seekers Slytherin has ever seen, I'm told."
Harry grinned and tried not to let himself feel to proud of that fact.
"Not surprised mind, your Pa was always a good flyer." Moody said,
"But I'm not allowed my broom, if I had that then I would have half a chance, Nimbus 2000s are pretty fast but I'm not allowed..." Harry pointed out.
"You're allowed a wand." Moody said.
"Yeah but..."
"You're not thinking again Potter." Moody growled, "Think, how can you use your wand to get what you want?"
Harry's brain lit up, the summoning spell. It was simple and already half mastered, when he was paying attention, it was something he could get sorted by tomorrow morning with his friends help.
"Thank you Professor." Harry said, jumping to his feet, feeling half a ton lighter now he had some sort of plan.
"Never said anything Potter, teachers aren't allowed to help. I just dragged you in here to ask you to try and write out how you resist the Imperious Charm to help the others learn." Professor Moody said, opening his office door and letting Harry out.
Harry nodded and made his way quickly to Transfiguration. He slipped into his seat next to Draco, earning him a scowl from Professor McGonagall.
"Sorry Professor," Harry said, "I was-"
"Yes your friends told me you were with Professor Moody. What did he want to tell you that was more important than my class?" Professor McGonagall asked.
Harry heard Tracy snigger behind him and smiled innocently, "He asked me to write out how I'm managing to shake of the Imperious Curse in Defence Against the Dark Arts, some of the other students," He gave a meaningful look at Tracy, "Are failing terribly."
Pansy and Daphne managed to suppress their giggles just before Professor McGonagall turned to glare at them as well, "How very public spirited of you Mr Potter. I hope you sudden abilities reflect as well in my class."
Harry nodded and opened his text book, he waited until the lesson had settled down to quickly write two identical notes, he passed one to Draco, telling him to pass it onto the girls and sealed the other. Both notes asked for his friends help, to meet him in the potion lab as soon as lessons had finished and be prepared for a long night.
Once the bell rang he walked up to Professor McGonagall who was organising a large pile of essays on her desk, "What is it Mr Potter?"
"Could you give this to Hermione and Neville please?" Harry asked, "It's important and I'm not sure if I'll see them in time."
Professor McGonagall looked less than pleased at being asked to deliver notes, "What's it about?"
"Helping me practice spells for tomorrow." Harry said honestly, he knew Professor McGonagall could open the letter to check if she wished and there was nothing he could do to stop her so really there was no point lying.
Professor McGonagall's face softened more than Harry had ever seen it, "Of course, I can hand it over to them at the end of class."
Harry thanked her and left the room.
He hadn't asked Severus if he could borrow the classroom, and as he stood, with Pansy, Daphne and Draco, thinking that maybe the potions room wasn't the best idea with all it's very breakable things. Hermione and Neville arrived shortly after they did.
"We got the note, what do you need help with?" Hermione asked.
"Learning the summoning spell, the one we're learning at the moment." Harry said, "I'm not far off but I need it perfect for tomorrow or I'm going to be roasted."
"You have a plan then?" Neville said, hopping up onto one of the desks.
Harry nodded, "Yes. If I can summon my broom into the arena with me I will have a much better chance of getting past the dragon."
"That's a long distance to summon something over." Daphne said, "Are you sure it's not against the rules?"
Harry nodded again, "I'm sure. We're only allowed our wand when we go in but there is nothing about not being able to bring other things to you. And it's more likely than me being able to learn the Conjunctivitis Curse in just a few hours."
"Well we can't do it here." Draco said, "Your father would kill us if we broke everything here, and we've all seen what happens when you miss."
"We can go and ask Professor Snape for a note to use one of the empty classrooms." Hermione suggested, "That can't be counted as helping."
Ten minutes later they had the note and a pile of pillows to practice with and were on their way to a classroom just off the corridor down to the kitchens.
"Oh look who it is!" Ron shouted, he's been going down an off shooting corridor when he turned towards them.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"What do you need Ronald?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms over defensively.
"Bit pathetic isn't it?" Ron gestured to them, "I mean come on. Brave Harry Potter cheating his name into the cup. Bit scared now though, you need all your friends to help you?"
Draco scoffed at him, "Ok, yes very interesting, I'm bored. Shall we be getting on?"
Harry nodded and started to walk down the corridor again, ignoring the shouts from Ron towards his back. He was bubbling with frustration by the time Pansy closed the classroom door behind them.
"What is his issue?" Daphne asked, slamming her bag down on the teachers desk.
Harry sighed, "I don't know. His Mum wont keep going on about how brilliant I am which I don't think helps."
"I think Ronald is just jealous, he's always jealous of something." Hermione said, "We should get started. This has to be perfect by tomorrow."
Harry nodded, forcing all thoughts of Ron out of his head. It wasn't easy, pillows had a large surface area and he could see them making it relatively easy for Harry to master summoning them. They moved on to smaller things, and people started running interference and Harry's skills soon fell down.
"I'm never going to get this." Harry said, it was past ten at night now and Hermione was just fixing a head injury that Harry had given Pansy with a hefty glass jar.
"You're already a lot better than you were." Hermione said, "You're getting even the smallest of items to fly now, even when you can't see them."
"Yeah just the issue of them smashing into things." Harry sighed, "If my broom crashes into a door or something it's going to be a pile of sticks coming to help me."
"Two more hours." Draco said, "If you haven't gotten it by then, we'll take your broom with us and sit with it in the stands. Might go down as cheating, but at least you'll have it."
Harry nodded and stood again, he was determined to get this.
The next morning, Harry woke feeling more nervous than he thought was physically possible. He had, however finished perfecting the summoning spell. Daphne and Draco were going to put his broom in the Slytherin Quidditch changing rooms with the window open so it would have less chance of crashing into a wall and still not be obvious that Harry had gotten it ready.
Draco dragged him down to breakfast and loaded his plate with food whether Harry wanted it or not. There were a number of badges pinned to students chests around the room and Harry saw several people sniggering in his direction.
The Durmstrang students were no where to be seen, the Beauxbatons lot where also absent.
"I imagine they want to eat with just the other students. In the ship or carriage." Daphne said, buttering some toast.
She wasn't showing it, but Harry could tell she was nervous; apart from anything else she'd put seven sugars in her tea.
Pansy wasn't eating at all, neither was Draco. They'd both pushed food around their plates and told Harry he needed to eat up but he'd not seen them actually take a mouthful of their own. He felt touched by how worried for him they were.
Harry was about to ask what the badges said when Gemini walked over and sat down opposite him, a brother on either side.
"Lovely day today." she said, tapping her cup.
Millicent, who was hovering behind her reached over and filled the cup with coffee. She also loaded up Gemini and Rodolphus's plate before Gemini waved her away. Millicent looked stupidly happy with herself, you'd think she'd been given the honour of serving the queen.
"It's not bad." Harry said through gritted teeth.
He choose not to say anything about the badges Gemini and Rodolphus were both wearing. They were bright purple and said in, clear, white letters. 'Cheer for Cedric!'
Corvus was sitting quietly, he took a bit of toast and nibbled along the edge. His hair was a fair few shades lighter than his siblings and showed more brightly in the light. Gemini's however looked like a raven's wing.
"Where is your badge Corvus?" she asked, seeing he wasn't wearing one.
Corvus shrugged, "Must have fallen off." he mumbled.
Gemini let out a loud sigh and pulled another from her bag. She turned Corvus to face her and carefully, almost lovingly, attached the badge to Corvus's robes, "There. Much better."
Corvus mumbled some thanks and turned back to his breakfast.
She turned to Harry and smiled, "Do you like our badges?"
Harry snorted, "Oh yeah. They're great." he rolled his eyes, "You know Ron was coming up with something very similar, maybe you should have been a Gryffindor as well."
Gemini let out a loud laugh, turning several heads towards her, "Oh, I don't think so. It was Weasley's idea though. Of course I wouldn't normally sully myself with blood traitors but it was such a wonderful idea. He couldn't get it to work though. But I could."
Rodolphus let out a large cough, and glared at his sister.
Her face grew dark for a moment, before she smiled, "Of course, we, rather. We managed to crack it."
Harry forced a smile, "You're very clever." he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"We haven't even shown you the best bit." Rodolphus said.
Gemini nodded and giggled, "Oh yes!"
She ran her finger round the edge of the badge and the picture grew blurry. As it cleared it showed a rough cartoon of Harry, dead with little crosses over his eyes and his tongue hanging out.
Harry had had enough. He shoved his last bit of bacon into his mouth and left the hall. Ron saw him leaving and hurried over.
"Like the badges Potter?" he asked, smirking.
Harry clenched his fists, "Yeah. Sooo original. I know they were your idea, I also know you needed students two years younger than you to make them work. You're pathetic."
Ron's face grew red with anger, "I'm pathetic? You're the one who felt he had to cheat! To show the whole school up!"
"It wasn't me!" Harry shouted, the hall around him growing quiet, "I didn't put my name in that stupid cup!"
"What is all this?" Professor McGonagall demanded, walking quickly over, "What on earth make either of you think you can cause such a scene in the hall?"
Ron and Harry glared at each other.
"Well?" Professor Snape demanded, also coming over.
"Harry started it." Ron said sulkily.
Harry was about to say something when Professor McGonagall raised her hands for silence, "You were both showing yourselves up. Ten points from each house and run along."
"I haven't finished breakfast." Ron said, pointing back to the Gryffindor table.
"You can wait until lunch, and think about your behaviour." Professor McGonagall said, pointing them both out the door.
Ron stormed off, shooting evil looks at Harry. Professor Snape followed Harry out the door, it was much quieter in the Entrance Hall.
"What's going on?" Severus asked, pulling Harry to the side.
"Ron just wont leave me alone." Harry said, throwing his hands up in disrepair.
"Shouting at him isn't going to help the situation." Severus pointed out.
Harry knew that; he knew he shouldn't have shouted, he should have just walked away but between the Lestranges, Ron, and the fact he was going to have to fight a dragon had left him a little on edge. He took a deep and calming breath,
"You're right, I know." Harry said, "It just got too much for a moment. Have you seen the badges everyone is wearing?"
Severus nodded, "Yes. Very tasteless in my opinion. There's nothing I can do though. Students are allowed to wear badges." Severus didn't say anything but it was just the sort of thing that James would have come up with.
Harry nodded, he knew that badges were allowed. So did Gemini and Ron, they knew there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.
"Good luck." Severus said, he was more concerned than he could show at this moment, students were starting to wonder out the hall from breakfast.
Harry forced a smile, "I'll be OK. We have a cunning plan."
Severus snorted a laugh, "I'll be there watching. If you need anything just shout and I will tell them to stop."
Harry nodded and went to get his bag for lessons. Lessons were stopping at midday in order for the students to be able to watch the first challenge. Harry felt like he was watching he lessons from above his body rather than actually there.
He couldn't focus properly, just running on auto pilot; Professor Flitwick did comment on how brilliant his summoning charm had become. When lessons ended, Harry wasn't sure how he was still moving. Fear we about all her could feel at that moment, his legs moving by themselves.