Hi people !
Usually I try to put a new chapter on the weekend, but this time I didn't manage to do it. It took me some tries and rewriting to get this to where it's at, so it's stayed light and funny, while also interesting. Changing POV's was definitively the right thing to do, and I hope you'll like it.
It is a continuation (sort of) the chapter 10 "I no try, I succeed", but can absolutely be read independantly I think. I don't have any chapter waiting in advance from now on, so I don't think I'll keep up with one chapter a week, because it takes me more time than that to write one. I have to get an idea, a way of attacking it and make it interesting, and as I try to put some humor in the stories, I let them rest for a while before reading them again, to be sure that they're good enough and not just a spur of the moment thing.
Don't hesitate to rewiev to tell me what you think of what I wrote so far, if you'd like to see Dobby's take on the second task, or if you have an idea for a new ficlet. Also, I'm French and don't have a beta, so all mistakes are my own. If you spot one, tell me and I'll correct it.
Have fun!
I no try, I succeed – Part 2
This wasn't really a deadly threat, but still, the Great Harry Potter was in need. Dobby heard him bemoan to his friend about a task harder than fighting a dragon in single combat.
The Yule Ball.
The Great Harry Potter was amiss. He had to find a partner, and learn how to dance. Dobby knew it terrified him, because he heard him say it in the bathroom. And in his sleep. And he wrote it to Sirius Black, his godfather, too.
Dobby wasn't stalking the Great Harry Potter, he was… taking care of him. Yes, that's what he was doing.
This wasn't a life-threatening situation, but still, Dobby wanted to help. And he didn't even have to break his promise to do that. He wasn't trying to save his life after all, even if his social life. But Dobby didn't think that counted, as Harry's social life was pretty bad already, in his humble opinion.
As he continued to shadow the Great Harry Potter, he noticed something else. There was another boy, as terrified as the Great Harry Potter to the prospect of dancing and finding a partner. Some girls were too, but those two boys were the most inadequately equipped for such an endeavour. Dobby wanted to help the Great Harry Potter most and foremost, but maybe he could help this other boy too.
He didn't know how, though. He knew his former master had hired dance tutors, but how did they find partners? The ways of the humans were a mystery to Dobby, most of the time. To be fair, the ways of the elves were somewhat mumbled in his head too.
So, he went to see someone the Great Harry Potter trusted.
/
"You're the one who potioned the dragons?" Sirius Black asked in between two bouts of hilarity.
"Dobby volunteered to feed the beasties!" Dobby puffed up his chest. He was very proud of his accomplishments.
"Oh, I love you!" The man blurted, laughing on the ground.
"But I don't think feeding the girls will help Harry Potter Sir." Dobby twisted his fingers nervously. He was out if his depth there. He knew how to handle beasties, but girls were far more harder to approach. The Great Harry Potter was right to be cautious with this whole ball thing.
Dobby had to wait a long, long time before the man-dog was able to talk to him again. He was too busy writhing with laughter on the floor for that.
"Oh thank Merlin for you." The escaped convict finally said. "I hadn't been so entertained in… more than fifteen years for sure. Come to see me anytime, buddy."
"Dobby is happy if you are happy, Sir. Dobby wants to help the Great Harry Potter, sir, but Dobby doesn't know how to do it. He is very bad at dancing." Dobby bobbed his head with worry. Harry Potter was great, everyone should see that. But even the best of heroes had flaws. Dancing was… He really was bad at it.
In the end, Sirius hadn't been much help. He gave Dobby the names of tutors, and an authorisation to take as much money as he wanted from his vault. But he said that Harry Potter should handle his date by himself.
Dobby didn't agree with him. He thought that the Great Harry Potter needed his help. He would help. He had managed so far, he could do it again. He was feeling emboldened by his success with the mean fire-breathing mothers.
Like his idol, he would gladly feed another dragon rather than deal with those strange human pre-mating rituals.
/
Dobby was still stumped a week later, and the Great Harry Potter had made no progress. In fact, he'd been worst. Girls had asked him, outright asked him, to go to the ball with them, and he said no!
Still, he complained that it was hard to find a girl to go to the ball with him. Clearly, he'd been confounded or potioned. Dobby was worried. He wanted to give him a cheering potion to lift his mood, but he didn't know how to do that without revealing his big plans to help him (the plans were so secret than he didn't know himself what they were yet.)
The solution was obvious. It came to Dobby like a thunderstruck in the middle of the day. If the Great Harry Potter was afraid of girls… it was absolutely brilliant!
He only needed to go see Sirius Black again. While Harry Potter, and all his friends, and Neville Longbottom (because Dobby wanted to help him too) was taking his first dance lesson paid by his godfather, he acted.
/
Sirius didn't know how Harry found the crazy elf, nor how he secured his undying loyalty, but he loved it. The little blighter brought him food, two different wizarding tents, a heating system, a jacuzzi, and enough old weird junk to tinker and study for a life-time. His situation was eons better than what he managed to do on his own when he settled in the cave. But that wasn't the best about Dobby.
No, the best was the endless source of entertainment he provided. His accounts of the Hogwarts life were full of quirky details, and very extensively centred around his idol. It suited him just fine, as Harry was also the most important person in his life. Dobby's ideas to improve the life of the Great Harry Potter caped everything else, though.
His latest try required Sirius' cooperation, and he was oh so willing to give it. Dobby was the best prankster he ever met, and he didn't even try!
If he had to study the rulebook of the Tri-Wizard Tournament like he had to cram all his N.E.W.T.'s material in his brain in two days, it was worth the effort. Harry would thank him later, he was sure of it.
/
Harry was nervous. He was dressed in the outfit Sirius had sent him, a tailored Italian suit made just for the occasion. He was sure he wouldn't wear it again anyway, because he couldn't fathom any circumstances where he would possibly wear it again. He even had new glasses! They were flashy, but those he would wear again because they were much better than his old broken ones.
People were looking at him like he'd grown a third arm or something, and he couldn't even tell them off. He was, after all, wearing a sparkling Navy blue tuxedo, with gold lapels, buttons and handkerchief in his breast pocket. He was feeling like a fool, straight out of a 70's disco dancefloor, when everyone around him was dressed in formal robes. McGonagall's lips were so tight he was half wondering why he couldn't see the shape of her teeth through them.
The only one happy about his outfit was Ron, because he gave him his dress robes to spare him the humiliation of wearing those old frilling things his mother had given him. How ironic.
The worst was that he was (kind of) willingly wearing this outlandish tuxedo, choosing to trust his godfather. His black shining leather with diamond incrusted shoes were surprisingly comfortable after he applied the spells described in his letter. This letter was the reason why he was following the fugitive's instructions.
"You're already making a splash. At least, make it on your own terms." That letter said, and it kept turning in his head like a mad spinning disco ball.
So, here he was, waiting for his blind date in the entrance hall, less than ten minutes before the beginning of the Yule Ball. He was doing his damnest to look cool, but he kept passing his hand in his hair to stave off the nerves.
Unbeknown to him, it was precisely what make him look cool to the muggle raised students of the castle, the other just didn't know what to think besides befuddlement. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time they would be surprised that night.
Harry either. His jaw dropped when he saw Hermione, his best friend, walk the stairs in her periwinkle blue dress. She was so far looking from her daily appearance that his brain couldn't compute the changes. He complimented her after Viktor, her companion for the evening, greeted her. He was gobsmacked, and couldn't hide it. Any jealousy he could have felt toward Cedric, who had Cho at his arm, vanished this instant. Hermione looked so radiant, he was just happy for her.
People were whispering around them, and when he realized it, he frowned. Hopefully, if Sirius' promise was true, soon they would whisper about him again, and leave her alone. She deserved to have a nice evening.
"Oh boy, what did you do?" Was all he could think about two minutes later when two people entered the hall, escorted by Hagrid. He knew they were his date, because they wore the same colours than him. The thing was, they were two people. One man, and one woman. He was too in a tuxedo, some kind of Navy Blue satin with gold diamond embroidery in the front and a giant dog across the back. She was wearing a gold dress with a deep neck-line, a hood and long sleeves. (Alike the white one Kylie Minogue is wearing in the video clip of her song Can't get you out of my head). Her high heels shoes were blue with red soles. He gulped.
This was… outlandish? He didn't even know how to qualify their outfits. It was quite amazing that at this moment, he was the third most weirdly dressed in the room.
Hermione coughed "Snuffle" in her hand, bringing him back to earth. He nodded. She giggled. He never heard her giggle before, and he wasn't sure he wanted to hear it again if this was what led her to giggling. The couple took their time to walk though the hall to the champions spot near the entrance. McGonagall facial expression was priceless, but no one saw it. They were busy looking at them. More so, the woman. She was indecently clothed compared to the conservative cuts of every other women and girls' outfits in the room. To be fair, she was quite indecently clothed for most muggle formal functions too. Harry wondered how she wasn't shivering in the cold hall, before he remembered, well, magic.
The third person entering behind them was totally ignored in the turmoil their apparition created. She was a nice girl, dressed perfectly normally for such an event, and went to find Neville and escort him to the great hall.
When they finally arrived to the champions, their surroundings were packed with teenagers walking excitedly to the great hall, closely monitored by the teachers. The guy smiled at him, and started to offer his hand when Fleur interrupted them.
"Anne-Marie!" she shot to the woman. Fleur's date, Roger, was pathetic. He had been quite dazzled the minute the Tri-Wizard Tournament female champion showed up, but now he was, literally, drooling as a thin strip of liquid was slowly making its way to his collar.
"Hello cousin" the woman answered with a smile. "How are you on this fine evening?" She added, with mirth in her eyes.
"You didn't tell me you were coming!"
"Well, that's why it's called a surprise." She shook her shoulder. "Now, excuse me but I have a date to attend to. I'm sure we'll be able to chat later."
Harry's brain was on overload. They were cousins? He noticed her blond hair, and concluded she too must be a Veela, or part Veela. He didn't mind, but it was surely taking him effort to not make a fool of himself like Davies was doing. Cedric had trouble too, but his date didn't seem to see it, as she had similarly problems. Hermione and Viktor? They were fine.
"Hi" he said awkwardly when she looked at him in the eyes.
"Hello" she greeted back. "I'm Marie-Anne." She was speaking a perfectly good English, with an Australian accent. She leaned and kissed his cheek. He tried very hard not to blush, and it almost worked. The lad put his hand out again.
"And I'm Funny." He presented himself as Harry was shaking his hand. Behind him, Hermione giggled again. McGonagall pressed her hand against her mouth for a moment. Harry looked at the guy suspiciously.
"How's Snuffle?" He finally asked.
"Oh, you know, he's unleashed for tonight, so never better!" The man said with a hand wave.
Harry, for the first time that evening, smiled. His body relaxed.
"Let's have fun, then!" He said, all of his worries floating away. The man, the exact copy of Will Smith, winked.
"Excuse me" McGonagall interrupted them. "Who is Potter's date?" She asked with a no-nonsense attitude.
"Both of us, of course!" Sirius, or Funny for the night, answered with his most charming smile. She opened her mouth.
"Before you make any objection, it is perfectly allowed to have multiple dates. The rule-book only speak of the champions and their dates, never being specific of their number, gender, or even species. Harry could have brought his owl, or a dog and you couldn't refuse him. He brought two persons instead, so you should be thankful. Someone suggested a Troll, as he already had a successful encounter with one, but hopefully we went with this instead. We are the best outcome possible, trust me on that."
Harry barely knew his godfather, really, having only met him in person a handful of times, but he dearly loved him. And Merlin, this dreaded evening promised to be brilliant with him at his side. He wondered how he managed to bring Anne-Marie into this, as just him showing up would have already been scandalous, but he wasn't complaining. The more the merrier, right?
"Right." She answered, a minute later. "It's time to enter. First the lady," she gestured to Fleur who walked to the designated spot. She had to guide Roger, because he had lost his ability to think.
"Then the guest champion." Viktor placed himself behind Fleur.
"And the host school champions." Cedric started to move when Harry spoke. He felt emboldened by his godfather presence, and his urge to live his life.
"Ma'am, where am I? Cedric is Hogwarts' champion, I'm just… an unwilling addition."
"Potter, you can go last as you have the most dates." She answered tit for tat.
Harry position himself, Anne-Marie at his right and Sirius at his left.
Then, they were announced and they entered each after one another.
"Harry Potter and his dates Anne-Marie Mariane and Funny Kent!"
He straightened up as a shocked silence filled the great hall, only broken by Hermione who was giggling, again. She must have been giggling tonight more than her entire life before, Harry thought. At his side, his dates were smirking, looking like semi gods deigning to show themselves to humans.
He didn't know why, but it felt freeing. He spent all his life trying, and failing, to avoid attention. Going the other way in such a silly fashion was amazingly joyful.
He, of course, momentarily forgot that people would talk about it for months.
/
Harry was enjoying his evening, Dobby could tell. He seemed nervous at first, waiting for his godfather and the woman he found. The Great Harry Potter was afraid of girls, thus his brilliant idea! Neither man nor Veela was a girl! Ha! It worked!
Funny Kent, Sirius's alias for the night, was entertaining the whole table with tales, subtly adding ingredients to people's plates, and charms to their chairs. Anne-Marie was laughing at his antics, commenting his most outlandish stories to Fleur, and diverting attention every time someone was trying to bog Harry. He was smiling at her, and looking at the show like a kid in a candy store.
Dobby was not idle either. He was observing the Great Harry Potter, of course, who wouldn't? But he was also doing his part. The time delayed potions were all set in the attendants' stomachs, and he became giddy with joy when everything went as planned.
Which was exactly after the end of the first dance, that the Great Harry Potter mastered beautifully, alterning between his two partners. Those long hours of practice with the best tutors money could buy had really paid off!
Naturally, he already had his camera ready, as he'd been taking lots of pictures.
Then, the interesting parts of the night began.
All the champions, their dates, the judges, their dates for those who had one (and Harry would have been incensed to the unfairness of the champions requiring dates when the judges weren't held to such standards if Sirius hadn't been so funny), well, everyone who ate at that particular table started to speak for a whole half hour as if they had breathed helium. They were also slightly levitating, as if they actually were part helium. Some red headed twins thought it would be nice to imitate them and see how well they could dance while not touching the ground. Of course, it spurred some kind of challenge between the older students, led by a very enthusiastic Funny.
Friendship sparkled between the champions, as they started to comment the diverse abilities of the teenagers.
When the potions wore off, they hit the dancefloor again and decided to switch partners around. It was mostly for Fleur's benefit, as Roger was out for the night, slobbering all over himself. It wasn't so bad, as Harry had a male date to spare so the number were even. Sirius, of course, was happy to create as much mayhem as he could, which he did, dancing a very heated tango with the two French part-and full- Veelas in the room.
Teachers seemed to care less and less about the propriety of the event as the hours passed by. Unbeknown to anyone but Sirius Black and Dobby, his loyal agent, their drinks were continuously spiked, so they were indeed joyous. Ron, and it was maybe the house elf' most useful achievement to date, was sleeping peacefully in a corner. Dobby dosed him when he saw him staring hatefully at his friends. He wouldn't let him ruin everything!
Sirius made his rounds with all the professors and staff, inviting them one after the other. Some, like Snape or Maugrey declined, but it didn't dampen his mood. His waltz with Hagrid was legendary, as the fact that he managed to do the Dirty Dancing famous lift and other epic moves with him. Hagrid was, apparently, a very good dancer and could toss his partner in the air like no other, even the formidable Madam Maxime.
Just before midnight, half an hour before their set was due, he managed to convince the Weir Sister to perform disco songs, to the to the general cheer of the room (well, at least from those who knew what disco music was).
The first one was, of course, the famed final dance of Saturday Night Fever, that Harry and his dates magnificently performed, joined by some muggle born students.
Sirius also managed to convince Harry to cast a special version of the Patronus some buddies named Prongs and Padfoot invented. The result was a giant silver stag running right under the magical ceiling, projecting hundreds of tiny silver fawns in every direction, very much imitating a weirdly shaped disco ball.
The teenagers were so happy to finally "let their hair down" and the staff sufficiently confounded to not check the time, that the party dragged until three a.m., three hours longer that it's intended end.
All in all, Dobby was satisfied with what he accomplished.
And he had a ton of photograph to send to the Quibbler and sell to some foreign press!
It was nice to not try to save the Great Harry Potter's life sometimes.