Harry cleaned the sweat of his face.
He had been training non-stop in the come and go room, getting ready for the duels that would be taking place in just a few days. He was confident in his abilities, the knowledge of Salazar on both offensive and defensive magic was unparalleled, the founder had been an explored and researcher of magic for the biggest part of his life and had been the best friend of a man who was considered by the magical world as one of the best duelers in history, Godric Gryffindor. While Salazar's main focus had not been in fighting magical duels, he had watched and fought alongside Godric for decades, and that, together with his magical repertoire made him someone to be feared.
Dueling tactics had changed a lot over the years, but they both agreed that going for an older strategy could catch his opponents off guard.
Salazar had passed all that knowledge onto Harry, who absorbed it like his life depended on it. And while they were both convinced that things would not reach such a level, it was better to be prepared. Harry had only spoken with Moody once, but his friends gave him a general idea of what his classes were like, noticing how both fake Moddy's and real Moddy's were so similar. One thing that was ingrained in all of them was the motto 'CONSTANT VILIGANCE'.
Harry was able to appreciate the wisdom in those words, so he was training like an insane man.
Blaise Zabini sat on a chair in the other side of the room, watching Harry train behind the security wards provided by the room.
When he noticed Harry was finished, he started taking his cloths of, until he had only a bathing suit on. Harry did the same, and in a few moments, the room changed into an Olympic swimming pool.
Harry had never learned how to swim. His uncle and aunt would never pay for him to have lesson and it was not taught at Hogwarts. In fact, until entering the magical world, Harry had never seen a beach or a pool in real life, being limited to what he watched on the television.
Knowing he would have to swim for one hour, he decided to ask for help. Blaise had been the most obvious choice, as his best mate was always willing to help him. That Harry had traded the secret of the room and allowed Blaise to watch him train was only a bonus for the Italian descent boy. And he was benefiting a lot from watching Harry.
Both boys looked at the cold water with disdain and jumped inside.
"Miss Delacour, please take a seat" the affable charms professor instructed.
Taking a seat, Fleur analyzed the goblin professor. He was small like all the members of his race, had a head full of white hair, and his face showed a lot of scars, informing everyone of both his experience and power and acting as a warning that he was not someone to mess with.
She had requested the meeting with the Ravenclaw head of house following what had happened in the Ravenclaw common room, and with her own actions of nearly torture against the two students spreading like wildfire around Hogwarts, the professor was also interested in speaking with the Beauxbatons champion.
"Thank you for receiving me, Professor Flitwick." She said, cold and polite. Her opinion of the diminutive professor was not the best, as she blamed him for not taking a more active role in the protection of Luna.
"My office is always open to all students, even those of are not officially Hogwarts students. So, I was told you wanted to speak with me about a situation surrounding Miss Lovegood, Miss Chang and Miss Edgecombe?"
"Yes, but not only. I would also like to approach the subject of Luna being a frequent target of severe bullying and physical abuse."
Fleur had to give some credit to the professor. If the man was aware of what was happening, he was an amazing actor, as he seemed genuinely surprised.
"Physical abuse? What do you mean by that?" he asked as he got control of his emotions and a blank face settled in.
"Professor, do you have a pensieve? I think it would be better if you see it for yourself."
"Of course." promptly answered Flitwick, a wave of his wand sending a small pensieve flying in their direction. "I assume you know how to take memories out yourself?"
Fleur smiled, as she put her wand against her own head and a silver stream appeared. She carefully placed the mist inside the pensieve and waited as the professor watched her memories. She had chosen to show him two, the one when she had found Luna for the first time, barefoot and alone near the lake and the scenario she found inside the common room. She showed the entire memory of the second incident, as she wasn't ashamed of her actions.
A few minutes later, the goblin came out white as a sheet.
"I- I don't even know what to say. Please believe me that I was unaware of the seriousness of the situation. I knew some students had a few issues with Miss Lovegood, but I always thought it was some light teasing, not with this severity. Trust me that the culprits will be punished."
"Professor, if you want to convince me that you were unaware of what was happening, then act on the matter. Do what you should have done years ago."
"I will. About your behavior and actions, while I can not directly punish you as you're not one of my students, I will inform Madame Maxime of it. Physical punishment is not the way to solve this or any other problem."
"I understand professor." She said. She would stand by her actions in protecting her friend. She would die for those she cared about, and she considered the punishment she had handed the girls to be light. If it was up to her they would not be Hogwarts students anymore and a heavy compensation would be given to Luna.
"At the same time, I will also make sure to refer that you were under a lot of stress and that seeing your friend be abuse in such a manner probably clouded your judgment."
A small smile graced the Fleur's lips.
"Thank you, professor." She quickly made her way out of the officed of the head of Ravenclaw.
Harry finished taking a shower and put on some fresh cloths. He was tired after so many hours of magical training and then one more hour of swimming lessons. Blaise had already left, claiming to be too hungry to wait for him.
He left Rowena's room and immediately felt her presence. The intoxicating feeling to please the young Veela filled him. He fought it for a second, suppressing the feeling almost completely. He noticed Fleur at the end of the hall, coming from Flitwick's office. Harry wondered what she was doing there, but a more immediate concern filled his mind. This was his chance. They were alone, most of the students were already in the great hall filling their stomachs.
Acting quickly, his right hand grabbed his wand while is left hand hid behind his back. A solid object was conjured in his left hand, and he firmly grabbed it, but kept it hidden. Making his way to the beautiful girl in front of him, he greeted her.
"Fleur, what a coincidence to find you here!"
She smiled and explained.
"I was just leaving Professor Flitwick's office, we had a serious talk about Luna's situation here at- "
She was suddenly interrupted when a giant bouquet of flowers, composed of tulips and red roses was almost shoved on her face. She noticed one single white rose in the middle. The contrast of colors was beautiful.
"Would you like to be my date to the Yule Ball?" He said in one go.
Fleur gracefully took the bouquet, taking a few seconds to put it against her nose and she smell the flowers.
"I don't know Harry, I have a lot of interesting suitors wanting for me" she made a pensive look.
"I- I- "
He was red with embarrassment. Fleur smiled.
"I'm kidding, Harry! I would love to be your date to the Ball."
Harry was washed over with a sense of relief as Fleur got closer and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Not one second later, he felt his cheek on fire, along with one other part of his body.
For an instant he wondered if he was blushing madly, but quickly discarded that hypotheses as all his blood was rushing elsewhere.
He justified that to himself with the excuse of hormones. He was a fourteen-year-old after all, and Fleur was stunning.
"It's a date then!" He said, enthusiasm in his voice.
"It is." She smiled. "Now, I remember you telling me you didn't know how to dance?"
"That's true. I thought about signing for classes at some dance school, but I don't think I would be able to learn well enough in just a few days."
"No problem at all. It's good you didn't sign up. You could end up falling for one of the ballerinas there and I already have enough competition as it is. I will teach you the basics, so you don't embarrass yourself, don't worry. After dinner, we can find an unused classroom and practice there."
"I think I have a better idea." He said and turned around. They had started walking in the direction of the Great Hall. "Follow me."
She did, and after a short walk back, they found themselves in the place they had met. Harry walked in front of the door of the Come and go room three times and opened the door for Fleur.
She raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior, walking back and forth in front of a wall, but when a door materialized in front of her she was more impressed and curious.
She walked inside and found a gigantic dance studio. She turned to her future date surprised.
"I never heard of Hogwarts having a dance studio! Is it a secret?"
"It doesn't. And yes, one of the biggest secrets." he said with a knowing smile. At the same time, the room changed, turning into the Champs-Élysées in Paris. "Homesick?"
Fleur almost chocked up with emotion, tears flowing to her eyes. She missed France a lot, not being able to easily adapt to the cold British weather and the lack of light beauty in the architecture. People were also way colder and much more formal. She missed the warmth of the south and the friendliness of her home. Seeing the Champs-Élysées in such an unexpected manner broke her composure.
"You can't even imagine how much" she said in a murmur. "Thank you for showing me this, Harry! How does it work?"
Harry turned the room into the dance studio again, but when he saw Fleur reaction the change, he was quick in reversing it.
He then proceeded to explain to her how it worked. Both teens only realized what time it was when they stomach growled, and after a moment of awkwardness followed by some laughter, they made their way to the Great Hall.
Lost in each other, they had no clue of what that night would bring.
The students were peacefully eating, light chatting all around the hall.
Daphne sat with Blaise and Tracey as she used to, and they were waiting for Harry to join them.
It was always a mystery if the boy would join them or not, as he used to be very irregular with his schedule. Sometimes he showed up for three or four meals in a row and other times he didn't show up for two days in a row.
This they though, Blaise had told them Harry was just getting dressed and would come shortly, so they waited. They waited for almost fifteen minutes until they started eating, as the food would eventually disappear and none of them wanted to skip dinner. At least that was Daphne and Tracey's thought, as Blaise claimed he was too hungry from swimming and started eating as soon as the food showed up.
The main doors suddenly open, but instead of Harry, a very mad professor Flitwick walked in. The small charms professor was usually in a good mood, a pleasant expression on his face at almost all times. This night was different, a look of pure rage present on his expression. He hasted in direction of the Headmaster, and a brief exchange of words, Dumbledore got up and followed the half-goblin professor to the adjacent trophy room.
The students exchanged looks of curiosity between them, except for some students at the Ravenclaw table who traded worried looks between them. They had a slight suspicion of what this was all about.
Before the two man had the chance to come back, the doors opened once again, this time revealing the student that the Slytherin trio was waiting. But he was not alone, a beautiful girl accompanied him. They were laughing together when they arrived.
The student body immediately went silent, except for a few wondering whispers, mostly between the gossiper girls. Daphne silently watched how well they looked together.
Fleur always looked incredible, but Harry didn't fall too much behind. He had an older look due to the rituals, not that she was aware of that fact, and stood a few inches taller than her. His vivid green eyes contrasted Fleur's blue ones.
They slowly parted their ways, with the Veela going to the Ravenclaw table and harry in her direction, in the Slytherin table. But before that, she gave him a light squeeze in the arm, and they shared a look of companionship.
A mix feeling of angst and anger filled Daphne at seeing them together, a feeling she was not used to feel. All she knew was she didn't like it, like she didn't like seeing them together like that.
Harry sat down with his friends, but he barely had any time to speak. He noticed Daphne had carried an unfriendly face towards him, and he suddenly felt nervous about the entire thing, but before he could say anything, Flitwick and Dumbledore returned, with the charms professor clearing his throat under a sonorous charm. He decided he would speak with Daphne after dinner. It would also be better to have some privacy, probably.
The hall went silent as Flitwick approached the podium, who immediately grew a small bench of the floor, enabling the professor to see the entire all and to be seen by all.
"It has come to my attention a situation regarding the severe bullying and physical abuse of a student here at Hogwarts. A student who fell victim of such vile action without any provocation at all, just for being who she is. And to my big embarrassment and shame, this is happening in my own house. I'm talking about miss Luna Lovegood."
Several Ravenclaw students had their heads lowered, unable to face the stares from the entire hall.
"Now, I'm awake that the perpetrators are from all the four houses, but from my understanding the main ones were the ones from her own house. I want to apologize to Miss Lovegood for my inaction on this matter, I was unaware of the severity of the situation."
The little blond girl had tears on her eyes, as the entire school focused their attention on her. She gave a small nod in Flitwick's direction, but said nothing.
"While it doesn't make sense to take points from the entire school, as it would be meaningless, the main culprits will have two hundred points removed from their house. The names of the people in question are as follows: Cho Chang, Su Li, Lisa Turpin, Marietta Edgecombe, Roger Davies, Padma Patil, and Mandy Brocklehurst. So, one thousand and four hundred points will be taking from Ravenclaw. For the first time in the history of Hogwarts, since the point system was put in place, a house will have negative points."
While a lot of the students didn't care much about the house cup and the points, it was an unprecedented action.
"These seven students will also have detentions for the rest of the semester. Those detention will be decided in my office, after discussion with the staff of what they should be. I hope you feel shame for what you did. You are responsible for your actions and I know this was not an isolated act. It lasted for years, probably since Miss Lovegood arrived at Hogwarts. If it depended of me, some of you would have been expelled, but Professor Dumbledore decided it was not the best option. Miss Lovegood, if you decide to press criminal charges against any of these students, I will gladly testify in your name. What these students did was an embarrassment to me and this institution. Any actions along the same lines, to Miss Lovegood or any other student will be punished with greater intensity, you all have been warned. Thank you."
Silence reigned in the Hall. No one even dared to open their mouths. Only the sobs of Cho and Marietta were heard, but nothing more. Harry observed the girls.
Cho was an Asian girl, one he could have, in an alternative dimension, be attracted to. She had dark hair and eyes, and used to gather a lot of male attention, her female form developing nicely. The situation was now slightly different, as Fleur's attack left traces in the girl's face, the curse still not entirely gone.
Marietta on the other hand, was not as attractive as her friend. She had reddish curly hair, and her face portraited one of the nastiest effects of puberty, acne. Fleur's curse was not as noticeable on her due to that.
He really hoped the girls would pay for what they had done. He felt bad for not stepping in and doing more for Luna, but he had been distracted with the tournament and all the problems that had come with.
The meal was finished in silence and the students made their way to their common's rooms, no doubt to discuss what had happened that night. On the way out of the Great Hall, they passed through the hourglasses that told the points each house had, the Ravenclaw's being completely empty.
Harry tried to pull Daphne apart, like he had done so many times, but the girl had already snuck out and he was unable to find her.
On the next morning, she had already left in the Hogwarts express. Harry felt bad for not having a chance to speak with the girl, but she was clearly avoiding him.
So, he focused on his dancing lessons with Fleur and the preparations for both the ball and the task he would have to face in the next days.
AN: Next chapter we will have the Yule ball, and following that, we will begin with the second task.
Due to a bad coincidence provided by life, the next two weeks of my life will be very complicated, with a lot of work-related commitments. My uploads will probably not be as regular as they have been, but I will make my best not to make them too spread out.
Thanks to by Beta Arthur for his, once again, valuable input on this story.
A small reminder that we are looking for a second Beta to prof read his corrections and discuss ideas. Remember that the Beta's read the chapter earlier.
Thank you for the follows and reviews. I really appreciate all of them. Keep them coming.