Chapter 9. She wrote a sensation
The morning sun rays shone through the high windows of the Gryffindor dormitory, gently touching Harry Potter's face with thin golden stripes. The boy stirred, waking from sweet oblivion, and his first thought was to make amends with Ron. Harry sat up sharply in bed, tousling his unruly hair, and glanced at the empty beds of his classmates. Ron was gone.
Putting on the first clothes he found, Harry hurried to the common room, but his best friend was not there either. Was Ron still sulking at him over that silly argument? Harry frowned, feeling a pang of guilt. He should have made up with his friend right away, without delay.
At breakfast in the Great Hall, Harry was also surprised not to find Jeanne. Odd, usually this girl easily found him with her piercing amber eyes and started teasing him with sarcastic jokes. Jeanne was able to mock everything, from Hagrid's beard and a fox fur coat to Draco Malfoy's new fancy hairstyle or Trelawney's talents. Sometimes her observant nature even scared Harry, as she seemed to notice almost everything. He had already gotten used to her sharp tongue, and now the absence of her familiar smirk at the Gryffindor table struck him as odd.
Jeanne d'Arc had truly phenomenal learning abilities. She grasped any study material effortlessly, memorizing the most complex spells and potion recipes with astonishing ease. It was no wonder that Harry and Ron always copied her homework.
However, the girl had a capricious and stubborn nature. Jeanne reveled in her superiority, enjoying the opportunity to taunt and mock her friends. She held her ground so firmly that the boys sometimes had to literally kneel before her and beg for help with another essay. In those moments, mischievous sparks would flicker in Jeanne's eyes, as if she truly enjoyed tormenting her friends.
"She definitely enjoys this," Harry often thought, noticing her self-satisfied smirk.
Over time, however, the girl mellowed, tired of her own games with people. She became more willing to share her knowledge, shedding her previous stubbornness. Her manner of interacting with others also changed - Jeanne clearly picked a group of favorites at Hogwarts with whom she allowed herself to be more relaxed.
This girl was a unique blend of contradictory qualities. She combined noble, almost aristocratic refinement with base rudeness, deep erudition with the impetuosity of her impulses. Jeanne could engage in intricate intellectual discussions on any topic, shining with erudition and resourcefulness. But she could also sneak up to Draco Malfoy without remorse, grab the elastic of his underwear, and with a sharp movement pull them over his face to the laughter of onlookers.
This girl could write a brilliant essay, earning Gryffindor dozens of points. But she could just as recklessly squander them, sneaking into the Forbidden Section at night in search of new knowledge. Jeanne consistently evoked mixed feelings in everyone - admiration for her talents and gifts mixed with disgust for the cutting remarks that seemed to flow too easily from her overly sharp tongue, gifted to her it seems by nature.
Harry couldn't remember all instances of her rude behavior, and could only recall a few.
Once, Jeanne sat calmly at a table in the library, immersed in reading an ancient foliant. Suddenly, a desperate cry was heard - it was Draco Malfoy, who had entered the library and discovered that someone had carelessly attached a note with a mocking rhyme to his expensive cloak, making fun of his hairstyle. Jeanne only gave the tousled Slytherin a condescending look and smirked slyly.
In Potions class, Jeanne flawlessly prepared another complex potion. But as Professor Snape turned away, the girl discreetly added a few peppercorns to Crabbe's cauldron. Eventually, a vivid cloud rose over his cauldron, bringing the Slytherin to tears and forcing everyone to urgently ventilate the classroom.
During her evening raid through the school corridors, Jeanne came across Peeves. The poltergeist, joyfully giggling, was amusing himself by sprinkling some potion on a practice dummy for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Spotting the girl, Peeves started performing intricate acrobatics in the air, singing lewd songs.
Jeanne accepted the challenge with a smug smile. She swiftly grabbed her wand and, with a single gesture, freed the dummy from the sticky substance, redirecting its powerful stream straight at the flying poltergeist. Peeves, spinning expressively, tried to dodge it, but soon found himself completely entangled in green tendrils, painfully squeezing his insubstantial body.
"Oh you shameless little twerp!" Peeves roared, trying to break free.
But Jeanne just laughed loudly, inspired by his struggles. One after another, various pranks from the girl began tormenting Peeves - a pillow appearing out of nowhere hitting him right in the nose, a towel wrapping around his neck, an old shoe hitting him right in the forehead.
Peeves fiercely resisted, insulting Jeanne with the worst words and threatening to unleash on her the wettest and smelliest disaster he had ever created. But the girl was relentless. Smiling, she simply skillfully sent the poltergeist rolling on the floor with a deft flick. And when Peeves tried to take off again, he was met with a powerful stream of water from nowhere, throwing his incorporeal essence back to the wall.
In the end, completely soaked, covered in bruises, Peeves simply fled howling and promising horrible revenge. And Jeanne, adjusting her tousled hair, just smirked after him. Another audacious prank was a complete success.
Despite the epic brawl with Peeves, during which Jeanne humiliated and shamed the poltergeist to the fullest extent, the girl did not harbor any particular animosity towards him. She simply enjoyed occasionally shaking things up, adding hints of chaos and recklessness to the serene life of Hogwarts.
A couple of days after their clash, Jeanne encountered Peeves again in one of the corridors. The poltergeist initially tried to retreat, fearing more mischief from the girl. However, d'Arc winked at him and innocently handed him a small pouch:
"Hey, buddy, look what I've got. A fresh batch of stinkbombs, honestly swiped from Argus Filch's office!"
Peeves looked interestedly, his mischievous eyes sparkling. When Jeanne pulled out one of the stinkbombs shaped like a black fuzzball, the poltergeist gleamed.
"Oh, you shameless little whippersnapper! I see what you're up to," he chuckled, joyfully performing almost balletic pirouettes in the air.
Soon, the corridors of Hogwarts shook with clatters and cries of frightened students, as two mischievous entities - one incorporeal and one physical - blissfully scattered horribly stinky balls in all directions.
Since then, Jeanne and Pivz became best friends and were even seen together during their joint pranks, which drove the teachers mad. Their nuclear duo caused a real rampage of chaos within the school walls, with students walking hunched over, looking anxious, afraid of running into the new tricks of this terrifying couple.
Jeanne's popularity and daring nature couldn't help but provoke irritation among some of her classmates. Shortly before the arrival of the delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to the Triwizard Tournament, a group of students decided to teach the girl a lesson in humility. About five people from different faculties and courses planned to ambush Jeanne.
That evening, when d'Arc was heading to dinner in the Great Hall after class, the envious seekers of her glory were waiting in one of the dark corridors. Someone was hiding behind a massive column, someone behind a waving tapestry, and someone squeezed under a narrow window. When Jeanne approached, the teenagers sprang out at her from all sides, pointing their wands. The colorful flashes of spells sparkled in the dim light, and one of the attackers even tried to punch the girl in the face.
However, Jeanne reacted instantly. Her hand intercepted the raised fist with a samurai gesture, and a disgusting crunch of breaking bones was heard. In the next second, the girl plunged the offender's face into the nearest toilet, reveling in her superiority. One by one, the other attackers followed suit, in horror gasping for air as Jeanne sadistically drowned them in the sewage.
Having finished the punishment, d'Arc simply shook her tousled hair and continued her way to the Great Hall, smiling. Playful sparks danced in her eyes, anticipating new pranks and recklessness. Jeanne was a hurricane that had burst into the familiar corridors of Hogwarts, breaking any rules and conventions.
Unfortunately, Jeanne's bold antics couldn't help but affect the reputation of all of Gryffindor. The girl's numerous offenses cost the House of Lions a significant amount of points, deducted by strict teachers. But influencing the headstrong d'Arc was no longer possible. After a couple of fights in which Jeanne ruthlessly taught manners to the unruly opponents, people simply feared approaching her.
Only Jeanne's closest circle, consisting of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, could not fear her angry outbursts. It seemed that Jeanne still valued their company and tried to restrain her wild nature around friends. Harry didn't consider himself particularly brave, but he continued to interact with d'Arc, occasionally drawing her sharp verbal reprimands.
In general, Jeanne was untamable. She was rough even with those who tried to please her. Draco Malfoy once tried to flirt with the girl, praising her charms and smiling seductively. But Jeanne shamelessly attacked the Slytherin, showering him with a stream of choice insults and calling him a "brainless peacock."
Nothing could restrain this whirlwind of recklessness that had burst into the calm corridors of Hogwarts. Jeanne d'Arc Alter was a wild flower, relentlessly pushing everyone around and demanding constant attention. She lived brightly, breathed deeply, never wanting to restrain her impulses for a moment. Near such a girl, it was best to keep one's distance to avoid accidentally getting caught in the hurricane of her unbridled nature.
Remembering all the pranks and recklessness of Jeanne, Harry involuntarily wondered - did the girl play a key role in their names being drawn from the Goblet of Fire to participate in the Triwizard Tournament? Sometimes it seemed to him that the name - Joan of Arc - should have originally emerged from the goblet with the enchanted flame.
After all, who but this perpetually bold and defiant Frenchwoman embodied the spirit of the tournament - reckless daring, a thirst for risk and dangerous adventures? After one of Jeanne's particularly wild escapades, even the stern Professor McGonagall involuntarily noticed that the girl truly lived up to her legendary name, only, alas, in a negative light.
Harry remembered how, after the announcement of the participants, he met the angry gaze of d'Arc in the crowded Great Hall. Her eyes literally sparkled with fury, as if the best prey had been taken from a predatory bird. At that moment, Harry truly realized for the first time that he had gotten involved in something greater than he had imagined. Like a random passenger who boarded a train heading into the unknown. And this train, bold and fearless, was not meant for him at all.
Participation in the Triwizard Tournament required from the contenders true lion-like courage and desperate bravery. These qualities were embodied in Joan of Arc. And he, Harry Potter, was just a random traveler, mistakenly finding himself in this mad race. Gryffindor clenched his fists, remembering that decisive moment of the announcement of the participants, when fate itself followed the will of the magical goblet and decided otherwise.
Harry involuntarily found himself thinking that sometimes he felt uncomfortable next to Jeanne. This slender girl, not even possessing the advantage of height, easily threw herself into any fight. And even though others constantly tried to knock the arrogance out of her during heated skirmishes, Jeanne invariably emerged victorious, once again stretching her lips into a self-satisfied smirk.
Only the recent announcement of d'Arc as another participant in the Triwizard Tournament wiped the familiar smile from her face. For the first time in a long time, mischievous dimples did not play on Joan's cheeks, and mischief did not dance in her eyes. However, this did not last long - soon her face was illuminated again by her signature half-smile, half-smirk.
"Will not a single one of the upcoming challenges of the tournament cause this girl to momentarily wipe her constant smirk off her face?" Harry pondered, casting a glance at Jeanne sitting next to him. He had studied her reckless nature well, but still sometimes found himself thinking that she behaved too boldly and recklessly for a young witch.
In his heart, Harry understood that his concerns were in vain. The Triwizard Tournament seemed to have been created specifically for such a daring nature as Joan of Arc. Should she fear any trials and obstacles, when in her veins flows bravery with unparalleled force, in defiance of all rules and conventions? Perhaps that is why the relics of the tournament recognized the bold Frenchwoman as a worthy champion, despite all formalities.
Harry imagined how Jeanne would behave during the most difficult and dangerous tasks. He was willing to bet on anything that the girl would not for a second lose that same challenging smirk, directed at any obstacles. After all, Joan of Arc was true courage, incarnate.
2
Today Harry wrote a new letter to Sirius and took one of the school owls to send it. Sirius complained that Buckbeak stands out too much and could easily be intercepted, so he followed his advice and left Buckbeak in the owlery.
Dear Sirius,
As you requested, I'm sharing the latest news from Hogwarts with you. You probably already know that this year the Triwizard Tournament will take place. Well, on Saturday evening, I was chosen as the fourth champion from Hogwarts. I have no idea who put my name in the Goblet, it definitely wasn't me. The other champion from Hogwarts is Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff. But there's one strange thing: along with my name, there was a note with the name of a new girl from Gryffindor, Jeanne d'Arc.
I hope you and Buckbeak are doing well?
Harry
3
Harry hoped that everyone would get used to his championship, but Monday revealed the harsh truth: no one even thought of doing so. As if he didn't already have enough jeers from Malfoy, now even the Hufflepuffs were making fun of him, and their relationship with the Gryffindors noticeably soured. Even the Hufflepuff head, Professor Sprout, seemed to be avoiding him. It was unknown whether Gryffindor's reputation was tarnished by the fact that Jeanne, who had quickly been openly despised by many, was also listed as a champion with Harry. Harry wouldn't even be surprised to hear news of Jeanne's sudden death under mysterious circumstances after her selection as a champion in the Tournament.
Until the end of the school day, only Hagrid expressed sympathy for the two young champions of the Tournament and explained how Hogwarts teachers, led by Dumbledore, refused to believe the rumors about Harry and Jeanne crossing the forbidden line.
"Oh, I don't know..." Hagrid suddenly sighed heavily and looked at Harry anxiously. "You're a Tournament participant... Something is always happening with you... And she," he looked at Jeanne, "always manages to find trouble too..."
4
Days after the announcement of the Triwizard Tournament participants dragged on for Harry like pure torture. The entire school was plunged into lively discussions about what had happened. Blatant envy and contempt seeped through every glance thrown, every whisper behind backs. Perhaps such disdainful treatment was not new for Jeanne. But for Harry, enduring this growing wave of condemnation became a difficult ordeal.
Ron was still sulking at his friend, refusing to acknowledge the obvious - that Harry could not have deliberately engineered his own entry into the tournament. No news came from Sirius Black either. Even the cheerful Weasley twins seemed to have quieted down, dedicating all their time to studying.
Now Harry could only openly speak with Hermione and Jeanne. But while Hermione tried to support and encourage him in every way, from Jeanne he mainly heard biting remarks. Her sharp jokes, so characteristic of her bold personality, sometimes grated on the ears. Comfort from this duo was not very convincing.
At such moments Harry felt like a sparrow locked in a small cage, whose bars were closing in and tight, cutting off even the slightest glimpses of light. Glances, whispers, alienation even from those close to him - any extra sound or movement was painfully accentuated in the compressed atmosphere of condemnation.
Only Jeanne's presence brought a peculiar note of recklessness into this exhausting environment. The girl behaved just as freely, not burdening herself with conventions. Her sharp remarks and jokes, sometimes vulgar but always accurately pointing out the funny sides of the situation, dispelled the oppressive atmosphere in which everything around was immersed.
Harry thanked fate that during this difficult time for him, Jeanne d'Arc Altair was right there by his side - a stubborn, free-spirited nature of the same wild type as himself. Together, it would be easier for them to endure the challenges of the grim tournament that had befallen them.
Another school day before the double Potions lesson with Slytherins began for Harry more than significantly. Along the chests of students from the House of Serpents, shiny new badges adorned. At first, the Gryffindor watched with curiosity, thinking it was a new campaign by S.P.E.W - the Society for the Protection of Elves and House-Elves, organized by Hermione. However, upon closer inspection, he chilled from the mocking sense spilled on the metallic circles.
Support Cedric, he's the real champion!
Potter and his girlfriend d'Arc - they're just a total dark!
Barely reading the mocking rhyme, Harry immediately looked around for Jeanne. And not without reason - a furious roar was already echoing down the corridor, heralding a new storm. Seeing the offensive badges, D'Arc was about to rush towards the Slytherins, but she was immediately stopped by other Gryffindors.
However, containing this hurricane of hatred was no easy task. Jeanne struggled and thrashed, trying to sink her teeth into anyone who dared to hold her back. She had already taken a few steps towards the gathered Slytherins when a whole cluster of classmates literally hung on her. Even six boys couldn't handle this enraged fury.
The Slytherins, in fear, awaited an inevitable cruel punishment. They remembered well what this girl was capable of in anger. After her outburst, Gryffindor would undoubtedly have to say goodbye to the remnants of their points. However, the prospect of once again incurring the unbridled wrath of D'Arc scared them much more. It was enough to remember how a couple of weeks ago Jeanne had hung one of them by his underwear in the bathroom for the amusement of the entire school.
In the end, Gryffindors struggled greatly to calm Jeanne down and drag her aside. They saved the Slytherins from an unknown form of Egyptian execution that the raging French girl was already anticipating for her tormentors. But just one look at her furious face was enough to understand - this wasn't over.
A real fight broke out because of Hermione, when Malfoy once again excelled by calling Hermione a mudblood. At that moment, Harry's anger boiled over and he cast a spell at Malfoy, who retaliated with a spell of his own. None of them hit their intended target, but they hit the students standing nearby instead, causing Goyle to turn into a walking illustration from a poisonous mushroom guidebook, and Hermione's teeth started growing uncontrollably. That's when Snape entered the office. The professor carefully examined the injured students and sent Goyle to the school infirmary. Snape sarcastically commented on Hermione's growing teeth, saying he only saw minor changes, and she ran out of the room in tears, hoping to get to Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary as quickly as possible. Ron and Harry cursed Snape together for his attitude towards Hermione. To their surprise, Jeanne's voice was also heard among their voices. However, luckily for all three of them, the resulting echo prevented Snape from determining what they had said. It didn't prevent him, though, from deducting fifty points from Gryffindor and assigning punishment to all three of them after classes.
"Do you have your ingredients ready? Now carefully brew them. Then we'll choose someone and test their effect on them," Snape said. Snape's gaze lingered on Harry. Catching it, Harry swallowed nervously, realizing his fate. He was saved from it by the young Colin Creevey, who came running to take Harry and Jeanne away. According to him, they were supposed to be photographed for an article in the Daily Prophet about the Tournament. Exchanging glances with Jeanne, Harry headed towards the exit of the classroom. Jeanne followed him. The Slytherins once again showed their badges as they walked by. In response, Jeanne gave them a menacing glare and ran her finger across her throat, causing the Slytherins to gulp nervously.
On that day, Harry learned two interesting secrets. The first was that Rita Skeeter herself had arrived at Hogwarts — the scandalously famous columnist from the Daily Prophet. Apparently, she was planning to extract the juiciest details about the upcoming Triwizard Tournament and present them in her signature exaggerated and sensational style.
The second secret was as simple as it was brilliant — Rita Skeeter shamelessly twisted and embellished any facts to suit her own agenda. Upon learning these two obvious truths, Jeanne d'Arc just scornfully snorted. Gossip and superstitions meant nothing to her.
Fortunately for both of them, their meeting was interrupted by the sudden entrance of the headmaster, Dumbledore. He had come to observe the important procedure of weighing the magical wands of the tournament champions.
"If this old boot writes any nonsense about you and me, I'll finish you both," d'Arc said in a sweet tone, but her eyes gleamed with malice.
Jeanne quietly chuckled, sending shivers down Harry's spine. He was absolutely certain — this girl was fully capable of carrying out her threats if pushed to extremes. This excessively quarrelsome French girl had a wild spirit and a fiery temperament that couldn't be tamed.
By chance, or perhaps not by chance, Jeanne d'Arc became the third Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament. Her rebellious spirit and desperate courage could not be left aside in the face of the upcoming trials.
When Harry returned to the dormitory, only Ron was there. He told Harry about the detention awaiting him and the punishment assigned by Snape — to work in his class tomorrow evening. Without looking at Harry once, Ron left the room. Harry briefly thought about following Ron, but ultimately curiosity won over, and he approached the window to retrieve the letter from the owl. It was a letter from Sirius. In the letter, he asked Harry to come to the Gryffindor common room fireplace at midnight on November 21st for a personal conversation, as he didn't dare to reveal everything in the letter out of fear of interception.
For two weeks, Harry lived in anticipation of the meeting with his godfather. These days became unbearable torture for him, dragging on slower than a turtle. Soon, Rita Skeeter's article was published in the Prophet, and Harry was ready to sink into the ground because of it. For the first two days, Jeanne occasionally teased him about his alleged cries at night over his parents and loved quoting the part about how they watch over Harry from heaven, so nothing would happen to him in the Tournament. But then she grew tired of it and stopped, for which he silently thanked her, as he wouldn't be able to tolerate her or the Slytherins. However, Jeanne thanked Skeeter for not speculating about her name in the article, as it stated that she was in a romance with Harry and Hermione.
The long-awaited meeting between Harry and Sirius was approaching, and on the twenty-first of November, Harry, along with Hermione, headed to Hogsmeade. He hoped to relax a bit there and for greater comfort, he wore his invisibility cloak. After resting at the Three Broomsticks and enjoying a butterbeer, Harry unexpectedly made a discovery - Moody's magical eye could see through the cloak. As soon as the professor showed up at the Three Broomsticks with Hagrid, this fact became clear. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hagrid invited Harry to see something extraordinary that evening. And he kept his promise. Experienced wizards, led by Charlie Weasley, were taming four massive dragons at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There were fifteen minutes left until Harry's meeting with Sirius.
Dashing into the castle like lightning, Harry burst into the Gryffindor common room. Sirius' head was sticking out of the fireplace among the flames. Their conversation was productive but too short, and Sirius didn't even have time to tell Harry how to defeat the dragon. But even from the little they discussed, Harry learned that the Death Eaters had become excessively active lately, as if preparing for something. These events reminded Sirius of the past, of how the first war began. Harry shuddered at the thought. The only thing Sirius couldn't understand was why the Goblet had chosen two names instead of one. To Harry's great disappointment, their conversation was interrupted by someone's footsteps. Someone was coming down from the Gryffindor dormitory into the common room. Sirius barely managed to disappear before a sleepy Ron came into view.