Chapter 6: Madness of
Journalism.
AN:
"" means outloud
'' means inside head
_ or more means to be determined
xxxxxx (underlines) means reading what the book said
() means me making a note
(I'm not going to try accents just yet, maybe later)
As the weeks passed, I quickly developed a routine. During the week, I would go to class, do my work, and do my homework. During the weekend, I would spend my time in the third floor classroom practicing spells, mainly the shield charm.
On a Thursday in November, I was in a potions class, brewing a soreness relief potion. It was not going well. When Colin Creevey, a third year Gryffindor, knocked on the door.
Professor Snape glided to the door. "Yes," he said as he opened it.
"Excuse me, Professor, but Professor Dumbledore wants to see Harry." Creevey fumbled with the camera around his neck.
"He's in the middle of brewing a potion." The professor sneered.
"But, but, but" Creevey was so scared, he couldn't form another word.
Professor Snape twisted his head, "Potter, get this blithering idiot out of here." Snape pointed at Ron, "Finish the potion."
I walked out into the hallway, leading Creevey away from the door.
He looked at me, "We need to head to the dialogue crafting room."
"Why does the headmaster want me?" I look at Creevey.
"He wants you for the wand weighing ceremony." He said as he started walking.
I followed behind him. "What's that?"
He shrugged, "I don't know. But I think it has something to do with the tournament."
"Why do you think that?"
He rounded a corner, "Becuase Diggory was there."
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
"Tempus, " and an 1:39 popped up
We arrived at the dialogue crafting room to see the three other champions waiting in one corner, while the head people and the Ministry people were in the other corner.
I walked over to the other champions.
"Do you guys know what's going on?" I looked between the three.
Delacour shook her head,"it's the wand weighing ceremony."
"That's neat." I looked towards Diggory, "What's the wand weighing ceremony?"
"It's where they have a wand expert check our wands, to see what we are working with, see if we need another wand," Delacour waved her hand to the Ministry officials, "And it's a time where people can interview us."
"Oh, thanks for the info."
Delacour nodded before she headed to a different corner.
I tried to make conversations with Diggory and Krum, but I seemed to be intruding into their discussions. So I followed Delacour to her corner.
"Um, hello again." I say as I arrive at the corner she's in.
"Yes." She looked my way.
"I was wondering what Beauxbatons is like?"
She eyed me up and down, "Beauxbatons it beautiful. It's not dark and cold like Hogwarts. It's warm. There seems to be magic every way you look." She went on, "It's not a casle like here. It's a mansion of sorts, well more like multiple mansions put together."
"I want to learn more about Beauxbatons, so can I make a chair?"
She nodded, so I took out my wand and muttered, "facti cathedra," and I turned some lint from my pocket into a miniature chair. I then muttered, "Engorgio." And the miniature chair became a normal size chair.
"I think I have another piece of lint. Do you want me to transfigure you a chair?" I pull out the lint.
Delacour shook her head and conjured a chair. "Why didn't you just conjure a chair?" She sat on her conjured chair, "Unless you wanted to show off."
I sat in my miniature chair that became larger, "I wasn't trying to show off." I looked away, "I don't know how to conjure stuff yet."
She laughed while I smiled.
"So, we were talking about Beauxbatons." I look up, "Well you were, I was listening."
"What I meant when I said multiple mansions was that there are five mansions that are either connected by underground pathways or paths above ground." She smiled, "Whenever it would start raining, it would activate the roofs. They aren't really roofs, though. It was like magic particles that didn't let the rain through."
"What are the five mansions for?" I glanced around, checking if anyone else arrived.
"Each was for its own subject. There's Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions in the first three. The fourth one had history, creature study, magical studies, its own Arithmancy, and the libary. The last one had our dorms, cafeteria, and a small libary."
"So each building has only one classroom?" I looked confused.
"No," she shook her head. "Each building housed its own subject, "the Potions building had Alchemy, potion brewing, potion studying, ingredients studying, among other things. Each building comprised of multiple classes for that subject."
"Oh, okay. That makes much more sense."
Before she could continue, the door opened.
Everyone turned to look at the opened door, the Ministry official, with the obvious fake blond curls and red glasses huffed, "Finally, took you long enough."
"Sorry for the wait. I haven't been here in a long time." He walked through the door and made his way to the center of the room.
It was Ollivander, the wand maker.
"Well, let's get started." Ollivander waved his wand around.
I stood up and untransfigured my lint turned chair, back into a piece of lint, and walked toward him.
I was the third on in line, Delacour was first, then Diggory, then me, then Krum.
"Please step forward and hand me your wand, miss." Ollivander gestured towards Delacour.
She walked up and handed it to him.
He spent a minute inspecting it before saying, "Ah, nine and a half inches, Rosewood, and contains a veela's hair. This wand is quite inflexible." He gave it a twirl, and a bouquet of roses appeared.
He gave the wand back, "Next please."
Diggory stepped forward and handed him his wand.
"I remember this wand, 12 and a quarter inches, Ash, and contains a unicorn hair core. It's pleasantly springy." He gave it a twirl, and a ring of silver smoke appeared.
He handed it back while saying, "Good job on polishing your wand."
Cedric accepted it back with a thanks.
"Next, please." He held out his hand.
I walked up and handed him my wand. 'I didn't know I had to clean it. Why didn't anyone tell me?'
"Yes, yes. This is also one of mine. 11 inches, Holly, and contains a Phoenix feather. It's quite nice and supple." He twirled it, and a fountain of wine shot from the tip of my wand.
He handed me my wand back. "Next, please."
Krum handed his wand to him
"Ah, 10 and a quarter, Hornbeam, and contains a dragon heartstring. It seems quite rigid." He gave it a twirl, and a flock of birds appeared.
He handed the wand back, "It seems that all of the wands are in proper working order." He looked towards the officials, "all the wands are working, and none of them seems to be messed with. If that's all, may I take my leave?"
Dumbledore nodded, and Ollivander left.
"Now then, it's time for the photos." The women with the blond hair and red glasses herded us to the middle of the room.
She put Krum in the back since he was the tallest, Diggory to the left of Krum, I was in between them, with Delacour off to the right of me.
They took a few pictures of us, from different angles, and with us in different positions, yet Delacour was always next to me.
"Excellent, excellent." She walked towards us, "It's now time for the individual interviews." She sounded excited.
She made a show of choosing who to pick before she grabbed me by the arm and dragged me to the closet door. She opened it and pushed me inside.
"A cupboard, you should feel right at home." She dragged me to a chair and forced me to sit down. "Now then, 1let's get started."
She pulled out a notepad and a quill, both started flying by themselves. The notepad opened while the quill started moving. She then got out another quill and notepad.
"How did you get your name into the Goblet of Fire and past Dumbledore's age line?"
Before I could say anything, the flying quill started writing. "Um, I didn't put my name into the Goblet, and I didn't get past the age line."
She wrote something down, "Now, Harry. May I call you Harry? There's no need to lie. You can tell me the truth."
"But I am telling the truth!" I glared at her.
"Okay, we'll circle back to that." She wrote another thing down. "Do you think your parents would be proud of you if they were alive? I mean, your name did come out of the Goblet."
"Um, what?" Both her and the flying quill wrote something down. "I, um, don't think they would be happy that my life is at risk."
They both noted something down.
"Speaking of your dead parents, how did their death impact you?"
I looked down, "I don't want to speak about my parents."
They again wrote something down.
She nodded, "Did you know that your godfather, James Potter's best friend, was the reason your parents died. How does that make you feel?"
I kept looking down, not answering her.
She kept on asking questions like that, and even though I never answered, she seemed to always have something to write after her question.
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
After a lot of questions, she closed her notepad and grabbed her belongings.
"I asked all the questions I needed to ask." She pulled another notepad out. "Send in another one."
So I got up, walked to the door, shook my head, and opened the door.
"Um, she wants another champion." I was about to walk out of the room when Bagman stopped me.
"Hold on there kiddo, you still have to do the group interview."
I stopped and stared at him before I walked to a corner and transfigured myself a chair.
After I was sitting down, I noticed that Krum wasn't there.
Krum came out after 10 minutes and asked for another champion. He spotted me in the corner and came over.
He conjured a chair and sat down. "What kind of questions did she ask you?"
"Um, things about the tournament." I lied. "What about you?"
"She asked about my quidditch career, the tournament, and how they will interact with each other."
"I dont think we'll all fit into the cupboard for the group interview." I laugh at myself.
Krum laughed too, "I do not either."
Diggory came out of the room within five minutes, it seems she didn't have much to ask him.
He came over as Delacour walked into the cupboard.
Krum looked towards Diggory, "Why did you come out of the room so soon?"
Diggory also conjured a chair, "She mainly asked about how well I know Potter." He sat down, "She asked me one question about the tournament."
"Sorry." I look towards the cupboard door. "Do you know that reporter's name?" I looked back to Diggory and Krum.
Diggory nodded, "Her name is Rita Skeeter."
"She's the one who wrote that article about the night the names came out of the Goblet." I look around the room.
There was a flash coming from the other side of the room. We all looked to see what it was.
It was a photographer.
After waiting another 20 minutes, Delacour came out of the cupboard.
She looked pissed.
Skeeter cane out of the room right after her, saying, "Time for the group interview."
We all unconjured or untransfigured in my case our chairs. We walked over to the indicated spot, where a couch now was.
"Why couldn't they conjure seating earlier?" I looked towards the others.
Diggory was the only one who answered me. "Don't know."
Skeeter took out a quill and notepad, and when I saw them, I shivered.
"Since this tournament is meant to be a way for other schools students to get to know one another, tell me what do you think of the other?" She pointed her quill my way.
"Shouldn't you have asked this when we were alone?" I look at the other champions.
"I'm gonna print this, so it's better this way." She started writing something down. "Well, aren't you going to answer?"
"Oh, um, from what I've heard of Beauxbatons from Delacour, it sounds l," Skeeter cut me off. "I asked what you think of the other champions, not their schools."
She was writing something down.
"Um, they're all neat. I haven't actually talked much with any of them."
Skeeter finished writing before pointing her quill towards Krum.
"The others are friendly enough, I believe I could win against them in a fight. The hardest one to fight would have to be Delacour. "
'Oh, that's what she wanted. Well, opps.'
She wrote something down and pointed towards Diggory.
"It seems like pretty tough competition from the majority of them. I can definitely beat one of them." He looked towards me.
Skeeter wrote what Diggory said down before pointing towards Delacour.
"The hardest challenges will probably be Diggory and Krum." Delacour nodded to them as she said their name.
'It seems that they all think I'm weak. They're not wrong since I don't know much about magic.'
"Well, that's all." Skeeter put her quill and notepad into her purse.
The Headmasters and headmistress waved us out, "You all have the remainder of the day off."
We walked out the door.
"Sorry about that, Potter." Diggory apologized.
"It's okay. You just stated the truth."
He nodded.
"It would suck if we underestimated you too much, and you win." Krum laughed.
"Yeah, have fun with your day off, guys."
And with that, we went our separate ways
HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP
"Tempus, " and a 5:46 popped up
I was sitting in the abandoned classroom on the third floor. I was twirling my wand around thinking.
'I've got the visualization down, and I have the wand movement and incantation correct. I also have the intention down. So, what am I missing?'
I threw my wand into the air and caught it.
'What am I missing?' I threw my wand up again, 'It can't be any of the basics, so why can't I make the shield work?' I caught the wand and threw it up again, 'It's always like this, I have everything right, yet the spell won't work. It's like it's taunting me.'
I caught my wand and tried the shield charm again.
"Protego!" And I could feel the shield form. I could also feel how feeble the shield was.
'Why is it so weak? A gust of wind could break the shield.'
I look at my wand and look towards the shield. 'It's the mana.'
'I'm not supplying it with strong enough mana for a shield charm. I'm trying to make tea without the proper tools.'
I stopped supplying the shield mana.
'The real question is how do I make my mana that of a shield?'
I twirled my wand again.
'I need to harden my mana. Whenever I want light, I think of my magic becoming light, and it's the same with when I wat the time. That's why it never works.'
I point my wand, I use the basics, as well as thinking about my mana hardening into a shield, and I tried the charm.
"Protego!" And I could feel the floppy shield, but this time I reinforce it with my hardening mana.
I could feel the shield charm, I knew that it worked.
It was taxing, hardening my mana, but if I use it enough times, it will get easier.
That night, I went to sleep happy, and planning on using the shield charm some more.