In the end, he had decided against keeping the beard. While Daphne had raised a good point, he thought it would just be far too much effort to maintain. Once he had explained his problem to Madam Pomphrey, she had given him a potion and then ran a small runestone along his jaw and the entire beard had just fallen off.
As he and Daphne had neared the hospital wing the Slytherin girl had veered off, presumably towards her common room. If he had the Marauders Map on him, he could've stated his curiosity and watched, but he very rarely removed it from his Workshop, where he and Bathsheda were investigating it.
Daphne was an extremely… curious girl. She was undoubtedly attractive, and although Harry liked to imagine otherwise, her looks had certainly helped when he decided to include her in his group. Then you had their shared private lessons with Snape, it was very hard to work together in such a situation without getting to know each other.
While some might say she was far too inquisitive, he found that her endless curiosity matched with his long winded explanations quite well. He could spend ages talking about a benign subject and she'd quite happily sit there the entire time and listen. It was nice to be able to ramble on about his interests without having to put up with bored or tolerant smiles.
Having spent so much of his childhood alone, with only his own thoughts for company, it was like he was addicted to being able to share his knowledge with those he cared about. He recognised the same desire to share in Neville, Ron and Luna, whenever they talked about Herbology, Quidditch or Zoology respectively, where he tried to show them the same patience they afforded him.
Draco, he had found, could keep a conversation going on both charms and potions from quite some time, the two subjects he favoured. While he wasn't at Harry or Daphne's level, Draco also didn't have Harry's magesight shortcut or Daphne's tutoring from her father, a highly-skilled potion Master. In a few years, assuming Draco put the work in, Harry could easily see Draco eclipsing him in potion skill.
The boy was also willing to sit through Harry's impromptu lectures, hoping to absorb as much information as possible. In a surprise twist, Crabbe was also happy to listen to Harry ramble. After a few of their weekly sessions, Harry had learned Crabbe possessed an incredible degree of patience and mental recall.
While the boy may struggle to sit down and figure something out by himself, Harry often only had to explain a subject once in ways Crabbe could understand and the larger boy would be able to remember it for a long time afterwards. As such, the number of spells Crabbe knew off was growing at a rate faster than Harry could match.
The same could not be said for Daphne. He had tried to teach her new spells, with some success, but whenever she tried to cast them they either failed or were extremely underpowered. He would normally suspect her wand of being resistant to combat magic, if not for the fact her ice magic was stronger than any other student in their year.
Pushing the thought out of mind, Harry carefully made his way out of the Hospital wing. Curfew had officially started a few minutes before, even if he had a perfectly valid reason for being out. Despite that, he didn't want to have to argue with a Prefect over lateness. Which was why he reluctantly made his way to the Ravenclaw dormitory, which was closer to the hospital wing than his far more comfortable workshop.
The moment he entered the common room, he knew he had made a catastrophic mistake. The room was packed with students, all of whom fell silent the moment he entered.
"Oh, hey Harry." Justin eventually called out, waving Harry over to his spot by the window. Justin seemed to be sitting with most of their year mates, along with a few students from the upper and lower years.
"We were just discussing if it was worth it to try and enter, along with hypothetical ways to get around an age line. Megan says she overheard the Weasley twins talking about an aging potion, but Adrian is convinced it won't work… Do you have any ideas?" Silently, Harry wondered who Megan and Adrian were, since he was fairly sure neither were in their year.
"An aging potion definitely won't work. The potion temporarily ages your body, but the age line measures how old your magical core is. Given there is no known way to change the age of your core, there is little you can do to trick the age line."
"So, are you thinking of entering, Potter? Assuming you can get past the age line that is." An older student asked casually.
"No. I have no wish to be killed horribly in front of an audience. I'd much rather just have a quiet year of learning."
"Oh, because we thought that was why you arrived so late. You know, trying to get around the age line and enter your name without anyone around to see. You certainly know enough to figure a way around it." The same student added.
"Well, you were wrong. I was talking to my friend from Beauxbatons then I had to go to the hospital wing. If I wanted to enter, I wouldn't bother hiding it, since if my name got picked then everyone would know anyway." Harry replied.
"Or, you could just be saying that to avoid getting in trouble, then if your name does get called, you can still compete and just say you don't know how your name ended up in the Goblet. It would be the smart thing to do." A younger student argued snidely.
"It would be the smart thing to do if you have a death wish. If I was so desperate to die, I'd rather go into the forest and try to ride a centaur." Harry shot back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go to sleep."
Normally, Harry liked a lay-in, however two factors conspired together to ensure his early awakening. The first was his dorm mates, who had seemingly unanimously decided to wake up early in the morning and make as much noise as possible as they got ready. The second factor was his desire to have an actual conversation with Fleur, which drew him out of his bed even to join his dorm mates in getting ready for the day.
Upon reaching the entrance hall, he was startled by the number of students loitering around the room, with the actual great hall only containing a scattering of students. The only table with more than a dozen students was the Slytherin table, simply because of the entire Durmstrang group having already arrived. Making himself a quick breakfast sandwich, Harry wandered back into the entrance hall to see what was up.
"Morning Ron, Neville. Why's everyone out here? Surely the Goblet isn't that interesting?" Harry asked, sideling up to Ron and Neville who had found a secluded spot near the Goblet.
"Well we aren't watching the Goblet, are we. We're watching for when people enter their names, I guess to just cheer them on. Plus it lets us know who's interested."
"So, has anyone I know entered their name?"
"Just the entire Durmstrang lot, nobody has seen anyone from Hogwarts entering, but they could've entered their name early in the morning." Neville answered. "Are you going to enter your name?"
"No! People keep asking, but I have no wish to be killed, no matter how much money they are offering." Harry snapped.
"Harry, Harry, Harry." A voice said from behind him, soon joined by a second near identical voice.
"You don't seem to have grasped just how much 1,000 Galleons and eternal fame is worth."
"Quite right Fred, for such rewards, what wouldn't we do?"
Turning, he was met with the infamous Weasley twins, whom he had mostly avoided throughout his time at the school.
"Aren't you two underage?" He asked.
"Regrettably so. Our birthday is just short of the time limit, a real tragedy."
"Of course, that's what the aging potion is for."
"What aging potion?" Ron demanded
"The aging potion we brewed last night of course, we just took it. One drop each."
Harry's opinion on their abilities rose at that. The aging potion was far from an easy potion to make, especially if you were brewing it over the course of a single night. Of course, despite their apparent brewing ability, they seemed to genuinely believe that something as simple as a potion could let them cross such an incredibly robust ward.
With some amusement, he had a first row seat as they crossed the line to some cheering. What they didn't see was the magic flash warningly the moment they crossed it. However, believing they had tricked the ward, they confidently entered their names, drawing more cheers. More cheers until the Goblet spat out their names and threw them across the hall. To the delight of everyone present, when they got up they revealed beards identical to the one he had worn the night before.
After Dumbledore had appeared from the hall and sent the twins to the Hospital wing, a few older students decided to enter their names. It was both fascinating and frightening to see the slips of parchment and paper entering the Goblet, causing a small tether of magic to leave the student and enter the Goblet.
The tether itself vanished almost immediately, but to have proof of the connection forming was thrilling, even if it felt like they were adding more powder to an already full powder keg. For some students, even the initial connection was barely visible, while for some like Cedric Diggory the line was far more substantial.
Despite his investigation of the Goblet, he still didn't know how it picked its champions. However, at a guess, he'd say it picked whichever student gave it the strongest line. While magical power didn't actually relate to magical ability, it would be a quick and dirty way for the Goblet to easily pick the strongest student from each school.
If that were true, it would be possible to ensure your success by deliberately feeding more magic into the offering, even if that would then increase how much magic would continuously be lost to the Goblet for the rest of the tribute's life.
Soon enough, the Beauxbatons students arrived, Fleur amongst them. One by one they entered their names, giving him an easy comparison of each student's magic. It came as no surprise when those with the brighter cores had the more substantial lines, allowing him to guess their chances for being chosen without relying on the temporary line.
When Fleur entered her name, the line seemed considerably brighter than any other student's, however that may have been down to her unique signature creating an outlier instead of an actual sign of power. To his relief, she spotted him by his spot and made her way over to him instead of returning to her group.
"Bonjour 'Arry. I 'ope you slept well?"
"Bonjour, Fleur. Yeah, I slept okay, although I'm not used to waking up so early. What about you? I assume you're all sleeping in your carriage?"
"Oui, we used expanded-space charms to increase the internal size of the carriage, making it quite pleasant to stay in I think. Much nicer than this draughty castle." There was a degree of humour within her voice as she said this, leading Harry to conclude she wasn't trying to offend him or the castle.
"Just wait until it gets cold. Even with the braziers lit you only forget to wear a cloak once." Harry laughed, enjoying her shocked expression.
"I 'ad assumed this was cold, you are telling me it can get colder?!" She exclaimed.
"I'm sure you'll be fine. Anyway, is your lot staying for breakfast or…?"
"Non, we will be eating within our carriage today. Many of my classmates have claimed jet lag, although in truth I suspect they simply wish to be lazy." She confided, leaning in so her aforementioned classmates couldn't hear her. "But we will be joining you for our lunch, perhaps you may give me a tour of your school after that?"
"I would love to. I'm probably going to be around Hagrid's, since he's a friend of mine, if you want I could meet you outside and we can walk up together?"
"Certainly. Well, au revoir, 'Arry."
By the time Luna had joined him, he had long since finished his breakfast and suspected he had seen most of the entrants. After explaining his plan to visit Hagrid she had skipped into the great hall before returning with a bowl of pudding. Where she had gotten the pudding from was a mystery, since there had been none available when he had looked inside. That said, it wasn't hard to assume she had convinced the elves to provide her beloved desert.
When Hagrid greeted them at the door, Harry was shocked to see the man dressed in a hairy brown suit and lurid tie. There was also evidence to suspect Hagrid had attempted to brush his hair into a form of order.
"Hello Hagrid." Luna greeted the man cheerfully, not even pausing at the man's unusual appearance. Then in her usual kind tone asked "Would you like me to help you with your hair?"
"Can' hurt I suppose." He agreed, chuckling. "If yeh think yeh can tame it then go fer it!"
She got the man to sit down in one of his massive chairs and asked Harry to summon a reinforced comb, which he obediently provided. Carefully she ran the comb through the man's hair, slowly getting it into some form of order.
As always, Harry basked in the comfort he could find within Hagrid's hut. With such pleasant company, cozy setting and a lazy dog resting upon his lap, it was incredibly peaceful "So, Hagrid, have you been up to anything recently?" Harry eventually asked, absentmindedly stroking Fang's back.
"Oh yeah, yeh probably wouldn' have heard. I've been havin' my fourth year's care fer a new species I've come into possession of. Yeh see, they're called Blast-Ended Skrewts an' -" Hagrid spent most of their meeting talking about his Skrewts, of which he had most definitely heard of. While he had no interest in Hagrid's subject, it was hard to not know about the man's newest dangerous creature. Ron alone had more than enough to say on the creatures.
Then, at around half eleven, they were interrupted by a timid knock at the door, causing the previously docile Fang to roughly jump out of Harry's lap and begin barking furiously.
"Don't worry, I'll get it. I think I know who's knocking." Harry announced, saving Hagrid from having to rise from his position.
Unfortunately, in his quest to get to know his newest visitor, Fang had planted himself right in front of the door. While he considered himself quite strong, he still needed to feed a considerable amount of magic into his muscles to even budge the dog.
"Hello?" He asked, opening the door a jar and awkwardly sticking his face into the gap.
"'Arry?" Fleur replied, looking bemusedly at his squished face.
"Yeah, hi. Do you want to come in? We'll probably be finished soon."
Having accepted his offer, Harry had to bodily move Fang far enough away for Fleur to slip into the room. The door had barely closed before Fang broke free of Harry's grip and threw himself at Fleur, who in a surprise twist guided the dog to the floor and began stroking his back.
Seeing his surprised look, Fleur quirked her eyebrow and said "My father has similar sized dogs, it was a matter of necessity to learn how to control them."
"Ah. Well, Fleur, I'd like you to meet my friend Hagrid, he's the Care of Magical Creatures Professor and also the grounds keeper for the school. Hagrid, this is my friend Fleur, she's from Beauxbatons."
"A pleasure to meet yeh, Welcome, feel free to make yerself at home. Any friend o' Harry is a friend o' mine."
"Merci, thank you for inviting me into your 'ome. It is you who has been chosen to take care of our abraxans, no?"
Of course, that was the wrong thing to say. Soon they were engaged in a conversation on various magical creatures and being served tea and lunch, which lasted for several more hours. It seemed Fleur's knowledge of French magical animals almost matched Hagrid's knowledge of the English variety, which when combined with Luna's knowledge on the more mystical animals led the three into a discussion Harry could only just follow.