Chapter 9
As to be expected, there had been some initial awkwardness after Daphne's request of Harry and Hermione, but after the four of them had worked out that it would take them a long time to make a decision, and that no decision was needed anytime soon (not even for a couple of years), the teens had set the question aside and had gotten on with their summer.
The four of them had fun introducing Daphne to the muggle world. Tracy, whose father was muggleborn, had been raised half in the muggle world, but the Greengrasses (being purebloods) had little to no contact with the muggle world. As such, Daphne's only real exposure to the muggle world was when she visited Tracy's home. According to Tracy, there wasn't a lot to do in her hometown; there were a few tourist spots, a nice public park, and a swimming pool, but that was basically it.
The second day of the stayover, they went shopping for Daphne to get a couple of outfits that wouldn't look out of place to the world in which they were currently staying. The pureblood witch had a couple of outfits for visits with Tracy, but not enough to last an entire week. Daphne was rather conservative in her tastes, avoiding anything that revealed too much skin. Wizarding robes rarely showed much skin, and Daphne just didn't feel comfortable with shorter skirts or low cut tops. Harry was (of course) bored for most of the trip but was happy that the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves.
However, Harry perked up once they introduced Daphne to the cinema after finishing shopping. They watched the latest offering from Disney, "The Lion King" as it wouldn't have technology that they would have to explain to Daphne or even Tracy, whose knowledge of muggle tech was random and spotty. They didn't get much of a reaction from Daphne to the big screen, as she had already been introduced to television while visiting Tracy. While the movie screen was bigger and more impressive, it wasn't completely new.
Wednesday, their third day as a group, they just hung around the Granger's home listening to music and watched films. They used Hermione's magical gramophone and raided her parents vinyl collection. Tracy hadn't seen many films and Daphne had only seen the one in the cinema the day before, and Harry also hadn't seen that many (although in his case it was because the Dursleys never wanted Harry around when they were enjoying a film and tended to send Harry to the kitchen to make dinner while they sat Infront of the TV). The four of them decided to have their own little movie marathon watching films from Dan's selection of VHS tapes. They enjoyed a few of the classics: Star Wars, Ghostbusters, Monty Python's Holy Grail, and Die Hard, before finishing off with Free Willy.
Hermione had chosen that set of films for different reasons. Star Wars was because practically everyone raised in the Muggle world had seen the film and referenced it. Ghostbusters and Holy Grail were there for fun, and Die Hard had a realistic look at guns without being too disturbing to watch. It would show Daphne and Tracy more about how dangerous muggles could be in one film than an entire year of Muggle studies would do, from what she had read of the textbook when she borrowed it from Lavender. Free Willy was just a feel good film Hermione liked and was a good uplifting film to finish off their set.
Daphne was a little confused by the idea of space travel at first but soon got into Star Wars, even if she found the idea of a moon-sized space station completely ridiculous. Tracy had a good laugh at the Holy Grail and kept quoting it when they stopped for lunch. The film that got to Harry the most, though, was Free Willy. Something about the whale being kept in captivity, then being released to find his family, spoke to Harry.
Thursday they went for a trip to the London Zoo, and for once Harry was the most knowledgeable one, having been there before. Well, knowledgeable in regards to what animals were there and where they were. Hermione, due to her extensive reading, often was more knowledgeable on the actual animals, but Harry did have fun introducing them to the zoo's boa constrictor and retelling the story of how he accidentally vanished the glass and set the snake on his cousin.
"They caught me within the hour," The constrictor complained. "I don't sssupposse you could free me again amigo?"
Harry translated for everyone before replying. "Sorry I can't, I got away with it last time because I was young. If I did it now I would get into serious trouble."
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Harry and Tracy walked into the Leaky Cauldron, which was packed full of witches and wizards. Most were from Britain but a few were obviously from out of town, judging by the languages and heavy accents. The two of them fought through the crowd to the bar, and after about five minutes were able to get Tom's attention. Harry bought the two of them a couple of chilled butterbeers.
It was Daphne and Tracy's last night in London, but it was also the final of the Quidditch World Cup. Daphne and Hermione had not been interested in the game, but Harry and Tracy (being huge fans of the game) couldn't pass up the opportunity to listen to the match. So Hermione and Daphne had decided to stay home and relax, while the two quidditch fans sorted out the only place in London they could listen to the match on the Wizarding Wireless. It wasn't as good as having tickets to watch the game, but the pub had a real atmosphere that was infections.
The two of them found two of the last seats and settled in as the two wizards on the wireless talked about their predictions for the game.
"Well Bibi, I'll have to disagree with you there. Yes, Ireland has the stronger team but don't be so quick to count out Bulgaria. Don't forget that Krum is an excellent flyer. I won't deny that Ireland has the chasers to build a lead, but if Krum gets that snitch before Ireland can put 150 points on top of what Bulgaria does then it will be the red flags waving tonight."
"True enough Jim, but don't forget about those Irish beaters. They will definitely be doing everything they can to keep Krum away from that snitch, and after what they did to the Spanish seeker a few weeks ago I wouldn't put too much gold on Krum pulling a win for Bulgaria." The pregame commentary lasted for about twenty minutes before the voice changed. "Ladies and gentlemen...welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
There was a thunderous applause thousands of spectators in the stadium screamed in delight and clapped as hard as they could "And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce...the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!" There was confusion from the general public in the pub as the commentary disappeared. A few moments later, though, it was back with a female voice. "Sorry about that folks, the Bulgarian national team mascots are a troop of, uh, rather enchanting Veela, and our commentators have gotten a little distracted."
"What are Veela?" Harry asked Tracy.
"They are witches, Harry, only they have a strong natural magic that makes them incredibly beautiful and they can charm anyone attracted to women to fall for them. It seems almost like a natural love potion but that isn't what they really look like. In reality, they are harpy-esque part humans who can throw balls of fire when they are angry or scared," Tracy explained.
"And now," the male voice was back, "kindly put your wands in the air...for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
The woman's voice returned. "For those listening at home, the Irish mascots are leprechauns. They are flying around the stadium forming a green comet. They are raining leprechaun gold on the crowd. No use picking it up guys, it'll vanish within a couple of hours. Still, I wonder how many vendors are going to have to explain that leprechaun gold isn't real." Judging by the sound coming from the crowd, the leprechaun display must have been amazing.
The male commentator took control again "And now, ladies and gentlemen, kindly welcome - the Bulgarian National Quidditch Team! I give you - Dimitrov! Ivanova! Zograf! Levski! Vulchanov! Volkov! Aaaaaaand - Krum!" The crowd went wild for every name, but when Krum was announced the screams of delight dwarfed the rest of the players put together.
"And now, please greet - the Irish National Quidditch Team!" continued the announcer, whom Tracy whispered to Harry was Ludo Bagman, ex-Wimbourne Wasps beater and current Ministry Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. "Presenting - Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand - Lynch!" If the cheers for the Bulgarian team had been loud, the cries of "Ireland! Ireland! Ireland!" completely drowned them out. Despite neither of the teams playing at home, it was obvious which of the two countries had more of a home field advantage.
"And here, all the way from Egypt, our referee, acclaimed Chairwizard of the International Association of Quidditch, Hassan Mostafa! Aaaaaaand theeeeeeeey're OFF!" screamed Bagman. "And it's Mullet! Troy! Moran! Dimitrov! Back to Mullet! Troy! Levski! Moran! The Irish are using the HAWKSHEAD FORMATION, and going on the attack. It's a strong attacking strategy, but flying in such close quarters can be devastating if someone makes a mistake. Troy in the center, slightly ahead of Mullet and Moran, bearing down upon the Bulgarians. It's a PORSKOFF PLOY! It's Moran with the quaffle. One of the Bulgarian Beaters, Volkov, swung hard at a passing Bludger with his small club, knocking it into Moran's path; Moran ducked to avoid the Bludger and dropped the Quaffle; and Levski, soaring beneath, caught it - Troy intercepts, TROY SCORES!" roared Bagman, and the stadium pub responded with a roar of applause and cheers. "Ten-zero to Ireland!"
As the game continued, Bulgaria's chances for victory got further and further away. Nothing that Krum tried seemed to work out, he was dominating Ireland's seeker Lynch but the snitch remained uncaught, and the longer the match went on the more points Ireland put on the board. As much as Krum was dominating Lynch, the Irish chasers were dominating the Bulgarian team the same way, slowly building their way to the magical number of 160 points ahead.
The Bulgarian team pressed on as much as they could, but it was in vain. For every goal they scored the Irish would score 3 or 4 and after about an hour and a half of play the Irish were more than 160 points ahead. At that point, the few Bulgarian supporters in the pub got rather dejected, they knew that their chances of winning had just been flushed down the toilet as their chasers had no chance to catch up. There was nothing their wonderboy Krum could do about it. If he'd managed to catch the snitch sooner it could have been a Bulgarian victory, however the chances of that were gone now, and the match was all over apart from the snitch.
Krum went for the snitch 20 minutes later, and the Irish beaters didn't try to stop him; like everyone else, they knew that it was over. There was no way that their seeker was going to catch the snitch, and it would be an Irish victory either way. Krum caught the snitch, and over the radio Harry and Tracy could hear the stadium go wild with both the Irish supporters celebrating their victory and the Bulgarian supporters praising Krum for the catch. The scene was echoed in the small London pub as everyone cheered the match.
Harry and Tracy didn't hang around too long after Krum caught the snitch. The party atmosphere of the Irish supporters quickly turned into a brisk trade for Tom the bartender and the two teenagers quickly felt out of place in the drunken revelry. Instead the two of them made their way out into London seeking something to eat.
It was Friday night so most places were packed, but the two of them were eventually able to grab a pizza at a faceless chain and took it to a nearby park bench to eat. Harry had planned to get pineapple on the pizza, but Tracy absolutely refused to eat pizza with pineapple and they compromised on a chicken pizza. The two of them devoured the pizza while they recalled their favourite parts of the game between them before they got the bus back to the Grangers.
When they walked into the house, however, there was a huge commotion going on. There were four adults there whom Harry wasn't expecting. Of course Dan and Emma were there, but also Daphne's mother Laurel as well as two other wizards and a witch Harry had never seen before. Harry's suspicion of who two of them were was corroborated when Tracy exclaimed, "Mum, dad, what are you doing here?" In reply, the two who Harry assumed were Tracy's parents pulled his friend into a hug.
The witch holding Tracy started babbling. "Tracy, oh thank God, are you hurt? Are you ok?"
Harry was also hit by his own bushy haired missile as Hermione grabbed him and pulled him into a desperate hug
"Mum I'm fine what's going on?" Tracy sounded as confused by the woman's behaviour as Harry was. Obviously something had happened that they didn't know about. The woman was too incoherent to reply so Tracy tried again. "Dad what's going on? Why are you here? I thought I was going home tomorrow?"
"You are coming home tonight. The World Cup celebrations were attacked by people dressed in Death Eater robes." Tracy and Harry were shocked by the news. "We were worried because we knew you intended to go listen to the match, and then when we got here you weren't back."
Hermione butted in. "We thought you had been attacked! Why did it take you so long to get home? Mr Greengrass said the match finished over two hours ago!'' Hermione was half shouting and accusing Harry, but it was obviously just because she was afraid.
"Mione, Tracy and I are fine. We weren't attacked. We left the Leaky right after the match, drunken parties are not so much fun if you can't buy a drink. We stopped to have something to eat on the way home. We didn't even know that anything happened, or I swear we would have come back sooner." Harry tried to placate Hermione's fears.
Everyone eventually calmed down and then moved to the Graingers sitting room. Unfortunately, the room was designed for one family and a couple of guests, not six adults and four teenagers. The adults took the chairs, leaving the teens to sit on the floor. And in the time honoured tradition of the British, when dealing with stressful situations, you serve tea. Emma served everyone a mug of strong tea and everyone was finally able to relax. Whatever had happened, their families were safe and that was really all that mattered.
-ϟϟϟ-
Castor Greengrass pulled Harry aside before he left with his wife and daughter. "Mr. Potter, while waiting for you Daphne informed me that she had made a request of you. This may be a little awkward but I was wondering how you felt about that request."
"Honestly sir?" Mr. Greengrass nodded. "It's a lot to consider. While I have no problems helping out Daphne, the idea of having a child and abandoning it just doesn't feel right. I know what it's like to grow up without your father."
The silence hung in the air between the two of them for a couple of minutes. it was obvious that Mr Greengrass hadn't considered that aspect of Harry's life and how it would affect his decision in this matter.
"I understand Mr Potter, and you must definitely do what is right for you, however, I would make two requests. First is that you please seriously consider Daphne's request, it's not like we need an answer anytime soon although I would prefer an agreement in place by the time Daphne is in her 20s." Harry was a little surprised at just how long he had to think on Daphne's proposal, 6 years was a long time.
Mr Greengrass looked incredibly serious as he made his second request. "The second thing I would ask is that you don't go talking about this to other people. This is family business between the House of Greengrass and the House of Potter. I understand that Miss Davis and Miss Granger both have a legitimate interest here and will be involved in the discussions, but please keep it between you four."
Considering how serious Mr GreenGrass was being, Harry had expected something far more from the man than a request to keep private matters private. "That won't be a problem sir, Daphne is a rather private person and I know she wouldn't want to be the subject of rumours. Whatever decision we make will be between us. You have my word on that." Harry reassured him. The Davises and Greengrasses left not long after, Daphne and Tracey both struggling to carry all of their purchases from Diagon Alley and muggle London. The teens said goodbye and promised to see each other on the 1st of September aboard the Express.
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The last two weeks of the summer hols were mostly filled with books. Hermione had insisted that the both of them read all of their textbooks cover to cover in the time they had left. While Harry was able to distract her a few times so that they could relax, Hermione seemed to win far more often. Harry had no trouble whatsoever reading through his new Runes book or the Defence Against the Dark Arts book, the two subjects were interesting enough to hold his attention all on their own. Where he did have trouble, however, was with his new History of Magic book and his new Potions book. No matter what he tried, Harry just couldn't find the subjects interesting. In the case of History, it was just incredibly dry and boring; in the case of Potions, Harry couldn't see how his efforts would ever be worth anything as Snape was just going to give him a failing mark anyway.
In the end, despite how much it felt like it was turning his brain into jelly, at Hermione's insistence Harry read through each of his textbooks. And while Harry didn't see the point of it in regard to school, that Hermione pulled him back into her room for the night when he finished his last book was more than enough reward. The morning of September 1st finally came, and Harry and Hermione would be off back to Hogwarts. They had gotten everything ready the night before and spent the rest of the evening with Dan and Emma, Hermione taking in the last time she would have her family together until December.
"Harry, wake up." Hermione's voice pulled him from his sleep early that morning. He opened his eyes and even without his glasses he could tell Hermione was looking at him. And something was going on.
"Mione? What time is it? Are we late?" Harry pulled on his glasses and checked the glowing red numbers on the cheap clock radio next to his bed. 6:04. There were 4 hours until they needed to leave, and as they had packed the night before there should be no need to get up this early unless something was wrong. He glanced over at Hermione. She was still wearing her normal summer sleepwear, a spaghetti strap top and a pair of knickers, and unusually for being at home, her feline features were on full display, with her tail whipping back and forth projecting how tense she was.
"We're not late." Hermione was wound tight as a spring as she searched for her words. "I need you Harry. I was hoping it would be another few days. Why did it have to happen today?" Hermione's question was more of exasperation than one expecting an actual answer. It took a few moments for Harry's brain to catch up with what Hermione was saying. For her to go into heat today when they were travelling would make it, in polite terms, an awkward challenge.
Speaking of awkward challenges, Harry would have to get a potion from his trunk. The trunk that was downstairs next to the door ready to leave underneath Hermione's trunk. He climbed out of bed and, after giving Hermione a quick kiss, slunk down the stairs as fast and quietly as he could. He was glad that Dan and Emma were both still in bed, his boxers did nothing to hide what talking about sex had done to him. And it would be awkward as hell to be seen by them with a raging boner.
Harry quickly rearranged the two trunks, found the box that Hermione gave him, and pulled out a vial of potion. This was only the second potion he had had from the box, the first one covering both his birthday day and a few days later when Hermione's heat had brought them together. The two of them hadn't had sex since then, mostly because of circumstance. First Hermione had been away, then when Daphne and Tracey had visited they were suffering through a small heat wave and the idea of getting hot and sweaty just didn't appeal. After that they were focused on their studies, and while there was one time that they almost did, by then Harry's potion had worn off and Hermione's insistence on double protection and both of them being unwilling to stop to go get a vial had led to the two of them falling back on other ways to keep each other happy.
Harry ran back up to his room, potion in hand, and found his girlfriend laying on his bed, naked and waiting for him. He stepped into the room, drank his potion, and closed the door.
-ϟϟϟ-
Harry and Hermione arrived at King's Cross with 45 minutes to spare before the train left. They said goodbye to Dan and Emma in the car, rather than the two adults coming into King's Cross as there was no convenient parking outside the station. Harry had Hedwig fly ahead on her own instead of confining her to a cage for the whole trip. His familiar was not really a fan of her cage; she would use it when it was needed but she much preferred an open perch and the open skies.
Crookshanks was not so lucky, as his inability to make his own way meant that the cat carrier was his only option. Harry had had a laugh at Hermione bargaining with her cat, promising to let him out of his carrier as soon as they got a compartment on the Express and how she had gotten two whole tins of sardines for the cat lunch. If there was something that both Hermione and Crookshanks agreed on, it was fish; while Hermione most certainly had a much wider palate, it also couldn't be denied that she loved fish since her transformation.
The two of them found an empty compartment and revelled in once again being able to do magic. They levitated their trunks into the overhead compartments, and Hermione performed a charm she read about in their fourth year materials that were designed to keep a room cool for a few hours since the tail end of the August heatwave was still holding a little sway in London. She would probably cancel it as they travel North but right now the cool air was a welcome relief.
Harry, knowing that they would need some privacy for at least part of the trip, put up some silencing charms so that no one would hear them. He would have put a locking charm on the door but there were people who they wanted to see first. Daphne, Tracy and Neville definitely, but there were other more casual friends with whom they would like to catch up, such as the Gryffindor Quidditch team. This reminded Harry that they would need a new keeper this year. He wondered who McGonagall had picked to be captain. Probably, Angelina, she was in sixth year with Alicia (unlike Katie who was in her fifth year this year), but Angelina was the more responsible of the two. The twins were also sixth years, but Harry doubted that McGonagall could choose between the twins even if she thought they could be responsible.
Hermione let her cat out of its carrier, collapsed on one of the chairs, and pulled Harry down next to her. With Crookshanks in her lap and Harry to use as a pillow, Hermione took a nap to catch up on the sleep she lost that morning.
-ϟϟϟ-
Daphne and Tracy were seated in the compartment with Harry and Hermione. The two girls had joined them not long after Harry and Hermione had finished their lunch. Hermione was in charge of lunch so it was a simple salad with tinned salmon. Cooking really wasn't Hermione's thing, but she knew enough to cut up some vegetables and then pour some store-bought dressing over everything. It hadn't been amazing, but it was edible.
The four of them chatted about the whole World Cup aftermath; without a subscription to the Daily Prophet, Harry and Hermione hadn't heard anything since the Davises and GreenGrasse's had left their home.
"Well it turns out the attack was just at the World Cup itself. We were completely safe in the Leaky…well as safe as anyone can be around a group of unknown drunk wizards." Tracy filled them in.
"Did they find out who it was? Was it really Voldemort's old supporters or was it just some drunk idiots?" Hermione asked. Daphne and Tracey both shuddered at the mention of Voldemort's name and shot Hermione a glare. Despite Rita's warning about the name, both Harry and Hermione had difficulty dropping the habit of using it.
"No clue for sure, they all got away. But I would bet they were genuine supporters. I heard my dad talking to a friend who had tickets and they were tormenting a muggle family who lived nearby. And don't forget, one of them most definitely was a death eater at some point. Only the death eaters ever knew how to conjure the Dark Mark," Daphne explained.
After chatting for a few more minutes, the compartment door slid open to reveal Draco Malfoy, apparently there for his annual 1st of September taunting. But instead of the usual vitriol directed at Harry and Hermione, he seemed taken aback to see Daphne and Tracy in the compartment with them. "Davis, GreenGrass, what are you doing here with Scarhead and the mog blood? I thought you had standards." The blonde asked, still with his customary sneer painted across his face.
"We are going over our Runes homework Malfoy." Daphne held up the rolled up sheet of parchment on her lap. The parchment was blank, but Malfoy didn't know that; Daphne had thought ahead to this possibility and had prepared for it. "Unlike you, some of us actually have ambitions beyond living off Daddy's wealth and power. Potter and Granger are our partners in our Ancient Runes class. Now, can you please say whatever it is you came to say so that we can get back to work? I have other things to do after this and you're delaying them." Daphne's Ice Queen persona was in full swing along with the hoity-toity attitude.
"Whatever. I just wanted to know if Potter plans to enter? It will be right up your attention-seeking alley, Potter, there's apparently even a prize." Draco's attention was now focused on Harry.
"I have no clue what you're talking about," Harry replied, not hiding the boredom in his voice.
"Don't tell me you don't know?" he said delightedly. "My God, I heard about it weeks ago. But then, Father's always associated with the top movers and shakers of society. Who are you going to hear of things from? Your pussy's cat?"
"Associated with? Is that what he calls it? At least Harry's never had to bribe someone just so that he can hang around for scraps of information. I wonder how many of those movers and shakers as you put it would spend more than 5 minutes with your father if he didn't have any gold," Hermione retorted.
Draco huffed. "you want to be careful who you hang around with, Greengrass. You don't want to be painted with guilt by association do you?"
"Like I said, just going over our Runes homework, and the longer you badger everyone the longer I will need to stay here. Now, why don't you just leave," and she waved her hand at him dismissively.
Draco slammed the door and stormed off, his two lackeys in lockstep behind him.
"Sorry I said that. You know we like you but If he knew the truth, he could make trouble for us in the Slytherin common room. I don't like it, but I would rather avoid that for as long as possible," Daphne apologized. They chatted for a while longer and actually did go over some of their Runes homework, but eventually the two Slytherins had to go, Daphne citing the need to go check on her sister.
-ϟϟϟ-
The Great Hall was full of students waiting for the sorting to end so they could have something to eat. Harry and Hermione were quiet now that the first years had been brought in, but until now they had been discussing the strange, horse-like creatures that had been pulling the carriages. At first Hermione had wondered if it was some kind of illusion spell she had been hit with, as no one else was talking about them, but after first Harry and then Neville had told her that they could also see them, the three of them had started trying to work out just what the horse-like things were and why they could see them now.
Harry watched as Colin's brother Dennis, the boy that ran into him in Diagon Alley a few weeks back, was sorted into Gryffindor. "Colin, I fell in!" Harry heard the excitable first year tell his brother. Harry clapped and cheered along with the rest but a part of him was worried that the younger Creevy would be like his brother and he would get even less peace then he did now.
He also watched and clapped politely as Astoria Greengrass was sorted into Slytherin. As much as the girl was a bundle of energy, Harry kind of liked her; anyone who could wind-up the unflappable Daphne like that could be fun. Just as long the Creevys and Astoria never teamed up. Harry felt a shudder pass down his spine at the thought.
The sorting finished and food appeared. Harry helped himself to steak and chips. He and Hermione had been together three times today and he had worked up an appetite.
=== much of the next part is lifted directly from Goblet of Fire===
"So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to all students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year."
"What?" Harry gasped. He looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. Dumbhedore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts -"
But at that moment, there was a deafening rumble of thunder and the doors of the Great Hall banged open. A man stood in the doorway, leaning upon a long staff, shrouded in a black traveling cloak. Every head in the Great Hall swiveled toward the stranger, suddenly brightly illuminated by a fork of lightning that flashed across the ceiling. He lowered his hood, shook out a long mane of grizzled, dark gray hair, then began to walk up toward the teachers' table. A dull clunk echoed through the Hall on his every other step. He reached the end of the top table, turned right, and limped heavily toward Dumbledore. Another flash of lightning crossed the ceiling. Hermione gasped.
The lightning had thrown the man's face into sharp relief, and it was a face unlike any Harry had ever seen. It looked as though it had been carved out of weathered wood by someone who had only the vaguest idea of what human faces are supposed to look like, and was none too skilled with a chisel. Every inch of skin seemed to be scarred. The mouth looked like a diagonal gash, and a large chunk of the nose was missing. But it was the man's eyes that made him frightening.
One of them was small, dark, and beady. The other was large, round as a coin, and a vivid, electric blue. The blue eye was moving ceaselessly, without blinking, and was rolling up, down, and from side to side, quite independently of the normal eye - and then it rolled right over, pointing into the back of the man's head, so that all they could see was whiteness.
The stranger reached Dumbledore. He stretched out a hand that was as badly scarred as his face, and Dumbhedore shook it, muttering words Harry couldn't hear. He seemed to be making some inquiry of the stranger, who shook his head unsmiling and replied in an undertone. Dumbledore nodded and gestured the man to the empty seat on his right-hand side.
The stranger sat down, shook his mane of dark gray hair out of his face, pulled a plate of sausages toward him, raised it to what was left of his nose, and sniffed it. He then took a small knife out of his pocket, speared a sausage on the end of it, and began to eat. His normal eye was fixed upon the sausages, but the blue eye was still darting restlessly around in its socket, taking in the Hall and the students.
"May I introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" said Dumbledore brightly into the silence. "Professor Moody."
It was usual for new staff members to be greeted with applause, but none of the staff or students chapped except Dumbledore and Hagrid, who both put their hands together and applauded, but the sound echoed dismally into the silence, and they stopped fairly quickly. Everyone else seemed too transfixed by Moody's bizarre appearance to do more than stare at him. A few broke into frantic whispers apparently some of the students knew something about their new professor
Moody seemed totally indifferent to his less-than-warm welcome. Ignoring the jug of pumpkin juice in front of him, he reached again into his travelling cloak, pulled out a hip flask, and took a long draught from it. As he lifted his arm to drink, his cloak was pulled a few inches from the ground, and Harry saw, below the table, several inches of carved wooden leg, ending in a clawed foot.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "As I was saying," he said, smiling at the sea of students before him, all of whom were still gazing transfixed at Mad-Eye Moody, "we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
Harry didn't know what the tri wizard tournament was but evidently the Weasley twins did as one of them shouted "You're JOKING!" At the top of his voice. The tension that had filled the Hall ever since Moody's arrival suddenly broke. Nearly everyone laughed, and Dumbledore chuckled appreciatively.
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley," he said, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar." Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly. "Er - but maybe this is not the time...no..." said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament...well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.
"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
"Death toll?" Hermione whispered, looking alarmed. But her anxiety did not seem to be shared by the majority of students in the Hall; many of them were whispering excitedly to one another, and Harry himself was far more interested in hearing about the tournament than in worrying about deaths that had happened hundreds of years ago.
"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger. The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and three thousand Galleons personal prize money."
"I'm going for it!" Fred Weasley hissed down the table, his face lit with enthusiasm at the prospect of such glory and riches. He was not the only person who seemed to be visualizing himself as the Hogwarts champion. At every House table, Harry could see people either gazing raptly at Dumbledore, or else whispering fervently to their neighbors. But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who have completed their O. - that is to say students currentlytaking N.E.W.T classes - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -" Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words, and the Weasley twins were suddenly looking furious before grining as the suddenlyrememberedthat they where now N.E.W.T students- "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I, therefore, beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen.
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!" Dumbledore sat down again and turned to talk to Mad-Eye Moody. There was a great scraping and banging as all the students got to their feet and swarmed toward the double doors into the entrance hall.
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Harry and Hermione followed the swarm of Gryffindors headed for their dorms. Harry could hear people were complaining about the lack of Quidditch, but most people were declaring that they were going to get around Dumbledore and enter the tournament. Harry thought about it himself briefly as they started up the grand staircase.
The promise of eternal glory fell flat, what was glory to him? As the holder of the title 'Boy Who Lived' he already had that, and he wanted it gone. Three thousand Galleons was tempting though. With Dan and Emma insisting that he save his gold as much as possible, he had started to wonder about, for what he was saving it? The idea of where he would live after he finished with school was a big one. He couldn't help but picture himself with Hermione and their own place, but houses cost a lot of money, much more money than he had in his vault. Three thousand Galleons, just short of fifteen thousand pounds, would be a huge help in getting a home for him and Hermione.
But at what cost? Dumbledore had said the death toll was too high for them to continue the tournament until now. And what about Hermione, did he really want to panic her just win a few Galleons? Sure they would help, but so would his deal with Garrick. He and Hermione could always do what everyone else did and just get a job. It couldn't be too difficult, people got the money to get a home all the time, they got jobs and earned the gold needed. It wasn't worth the risk or the worry it would cause Hermione.
Now that he thought about it, it would also worry Daphne, Tracy, Dan, Emma, Neville, Uncle Moony, and even his teammates on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was weird for Harry to realise just how many people cared about him, it was so different from how he grew up but he wouldn't change it for the world.
After a few minutes of talking in the Gryffindor common room with a few people whom they hadn't seen on the train and had been seated too far away during the feast, they retreated to their new fourth year dorms. However, they didn't stay there for long, as Harry grabbed his invisibility cloak he had inherited from his father and, under its cover, returned to the common room. Hermione joined him not two minutes later, and after a little fumbling about she slipped under the cloak with him. The two of them left the common room and headed for the seventh floor and the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy. After all, Harry, as the good boyfriend he was, still had to help Hermione with her issue.
A/N
Some parts of this chapter were lifted directly from Harry Potter and the goblet of fire. The rights to those bits belong to someone who isn't me.
Yes I am aware that guns in films are not really that realistic. But Hermione is a British teenager who spends most of her time in a Scottish castle. She has never seen a gun fired and probably hasn't seen a gun outside of TV or films so she assumes that movies like Die Hard are fairly accurate. Harry has seen a gun of course, but that is not common in the UK outside of shotguns in rural areas.
Actually one of my biggest nitpicks with JK Rowling is just how easily Vernon was able to get his hands on a gun in the first book. There are tight regulations in the UK about owning firearms. You can't just walk into a shop and buy one, and it's very unlikely that anyone would sell a gun to some random person they had never met. Not when Vernon could have been working with the police and he would have been facing 5 years in prison minimum.
Hermione's in-heat issues are a little annoying here. When I started this fic I decided I would pay attention to dates and timetables, something JK was rather loose with (she had a werewolf riding a train that arrived at the school at night on a full moon FFS) So I made the rules for when it would hit Hermione knowing that having things like that and Hogsmeade weekends, holidays and full moons mapped out would help me. Now the timing is a little inconvenient but I kept the timing for consistency. Plus regular girls have their monthly when it happens and not when it's convenient as well so it adds a touch of realism. (Not that Hermione's being in heat is the same as her regular monthly, that comes a few days later for her.
I had intended for Harry and Hermione to run into the thestrals at the end of last year after the death of Auror Moonshine but I forgot to add that scene. Oops.