A/N:
Hi, new chap- *author gets crushed under the weight of the chapter*
Okay but seriously, buckle up and strap all the way in, this is the longest chapter I've ever written (it's only 10k words but still, yikes!)
Oh, and hooray for reaching 20 chapters! I hope you like this chapter and the more that are to come. I think we'll probably get to around 30 before I finally close it up.
To most of the magical world, Albus Dumbledore was an enigma.
Sure, he was a powerful and storied wizard who had racked up countless legendary accomplishments in his time, and had even contributed to the downfall of Lord Voldemort, but he was also highly eccentric, and some were starting to speculate he wasn't quite in his right mind.
"It's too blimey cold in this country!" Dumbledore yelled, pacing his office. "Any more of this and we might as well close up the school and turn it into a spare workshop for Santa!"
Deputy Headmistress McGonagall raised a critical eyebrow at the man but otherwise abstained from commenting.
"I need a vacation!" he continued. "Somewhere warm, preferably. Isn't there a magical resort somewhere in the Bahamas?"
McGonagall nodded. "There is one, Albus. But the semester has only just begun, and your duty is here with the students."
"Then the students can come with me! Heaven knows we're all trying to get out of Scotland in January."
"We can't very well relocate the whole school!" she replied, starting to lose her patience. "We don't have the budget to bring all of the students to a resort even if we wanted to!"
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped pacing. He turned to face McGonagall with a smile, his blue eyes twinkling.
"Then we'll bring them one year at a time!" he declared. "And don't worry about the budget, this trip will come directly out of my vault!"
Minerva's jaw dropped. She had once fervently disagreed with the claims that Dumbledore had 'lost it', but she was now forced to reconsider her stance on the issue.
"But this is a school!" she protested. "Our duty is to educate the students, not take them on vacations!"
Dumbledore shook his head. "Ah, but Minerva, a vacation is educational. My friend on the muggle school board says this has been popular among the magicless academies for decades; they call it a 'Field Trip'."
"A 'Field Trip'?" Minerva asked. "I've never heard of that before. Are you certain this is a real thing, and that you're not just making it up for the sake of a vacation?"
Albus started to sweat. "I don't believe so?"
McGonagall rubbed her temples and sighed. "Very well then, I'll see about organizing this 'Field Trip' of yours. But let it be known that if this ends in disaster, Hogwarts will never be attempting a 'Field Trip' again!"
With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving Dumbledore alone once more in his office.
As the door shut behind her, he pumped his fist in victory.
Over the next few days at Hogwarts, news of the field trip quickly became talk of the castle. The students with ties to the muggle world explained the concept to those who didn't, and soon enough everyone was buzzing with excitement at the prospect of a school-wide vacation.
"But I still don't understand," Ron said one morning at breakfast. "What does going on a trip to a resort have anything to do with school? Not that I'm complaining, mind you, I just don't get it."
"It's usually about learning the things that can't be taught in a classroom," Harry explained. "Things like leadership, team-building, and even just socialization outside of the normal school environment. Besides, I heard McGonagall is going to be coming along with us, so I'm sure she'll find a way to insert a lecture or an observation at an ancient dig site along the way."
Ron shivered. "That sounds dreadful – if we're going to a resort island, I'd rather just play on the beach…"
In the seat next to Harry, Daphne allocated only a tiny portion of her cerebral processor to the boys' conversation. The other part of her brain was busy jumping for joy.
Possible Emotion Detected: Excitement
Printing Thought Sequence: A field trip; what fun! Perhaps I can use this chance to deepen my bond with Harry.
"Well personally," Hermione said, approaching their table and sitting down on the other spot next to Harry, "I hope we take advantage of the opportunity to learn about the magics of another culture. Not that I'd mind a bit of time to relax on the beach, but this is still a school, and I'm here to learn."
"We can learn every other week," Ron argued. "And my family doesn't get the chance to travel as much as yours."
Hermione scoffed. "Are you calling me spoiled?"
"No, you just called yourself spoiled…"
Harry zoned out as the two started to argue and looked over at Daphne. Ron and Hermione had never gotten along as far as he could remember, and it had only gotten worse since she thrashed him in the dueling tournament last week.
"I never thought Hogwarts would arrange a field trip," he said to her, ignoring his bickering friends. "Maybe they're finally trying to get with the times?"
Daphne nodded. "That would make sense. The magical education system tends to be a few decades behind its muggle counterpart, which is quite concerning when you consider that the muggle education system is a few decades behind modernity in the first place."
"Teachers have it hard, don't they?" Harry sighed.
"They most definitely do. As they say, bureaucracy is the death of all sound work."
It had been explained in a recent morning speech from Dumbledore that each year would have their turn to go on the trip separately, as the magical resort didn't have the capacity to house almost a thousand students at once. That information came as a relief to some, but spurred disappointment in others; Harry had noticed visible regret in both Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley in particular.
Neville's girlfriend was in the year above them, so the source of his dismay was rather obvious, but Harry still wasn't too sure why Ginny had broken down into tears at the announcement.
In any case, even Harry was starting to grow excited as the days passed, and soon enough the time for the trip was upon them.
"Woah…" Harry said, joining Daphne as the students gathered on the grounds outside of the castle. "This is how we're getting to the resort?"
"It seems that way," Daphne replied. "And I agree; it is quite impressive."
Through a random selection from the Sorting Hat, it was decided that the sixth-years would be going on the field trip first. In the past few days, many of them had taken to speculating as to how they'd get to the Bahamas. International floo or portkey travel had been the going theories, but clearly, both were wrong.
Instead, a sizable brig lay in the water, with the Hogwarts logo emblazoned on the hull. There was a beautiful carved mermaid in a state of partial-undress on the prow, and it was so realistic Harry had to avert his eyes from the figurehead before he started blushing.
"Where did we even get this boat?" Harry asked no one in particular. "Does it belong to Hogwarts?"
Hermione sidled up next to Harry and cleared her throat. "Actually, this ship belongs to Dumbledore – I overheard him talking about it with Professor McGonagall just now."
After recovering from the initial shock of his friend's surprise appearance, Harry narrowed his eyes in puzzlement.
"And why exactly does Dumbledore own a boat?"
"You could have owned a boat too if you did not make me return it," Daphne cut in.
Harry raised his eyebrow at the girl, wondering if there was a hint of accusation in her tone. She just stared back at him flatly.
Hermione gave the two of them a strange look but shook her head a moment later, dismissing the couple's oddities.
"Uh, anyway," she said, "apparently Dumbledore bought it a few decades ago, when he found out Durmstrang has an official school boat. I'm not sure what he meant by this, but he told McGonagall that he 'would not get out-flexed by crusty Karkaroff,' and commissioned the ship shortly thereafter."
"I guess that makes sense," Harry replied. "One of my brothers goes to Durmstrang – they used to have a bad reputation for teaching dark magic in their curriculum under an old headmaster, and I have heard about their boat before. Granted, that headmaster has long since been removed from his post, and I'm not sure how much use that boat gets these days…I'm kind of surprised Dumbledore is petty enough to buy something like that just to compete with another headmaster."
"There is no genius without a touch of madness," Daphne provided.
They filed onto the boat with the rest of their yearmates and looked up at the helm, where Dumbledore stood manning the wheel. He was wearing a seafarer's cap and a set of Hawaiian-themed robes, laughing to himself as he looked out into the horizon.
"Right…" Harry said.
While it was cold outside, the waters of the Black Lake were calm, and all the students stood on the deck of the ship as they set off. A few merpeople jumped out of the water and did flips, garnering cheers and applause from the sixth-years, and a massive tentacle from the resident giant squid emerged and waved at them as they passed.
"Ah! I just realized something important," Hermione said after they'd been moving for a few minutes. "How are we supposed to get to the Bahamas like this?"
Harry scratched the back of his head. "I guess we'll just float there, won't we?"
"We are on a lake, Harry," Daphne said.
"I know…?" he replied tentatively, not understanding the problem.
"By definition, lakes don't connect to any other body of water," Hermione explained. "We can't get to the Atlantic Ocean from here. Besides, even if the vessel is magically-accelerated, it would takes us weeks to-"
Hermione's little monologue was interrupted as a massive rift split the air in front of the ship, slowly growing until it was large enough for the boat to pass through. Everyone stared in shock as they floated serenely through the rift, going from the chilly lake to the warm blue waters of the Caribbean. The change in temperature was immediately apparent, and the students had to shield their eyes with their hands against the newfound sunlight.
With a soft sucking noise, the portal closed behind them, leaving no trace of it ever having existed behind.
After another moment to recover from their shock, the students started to buzz loudly with excited conversation, none having ever seen a piece of magic so overwhelmingly powerful before.
"What was that!?" Hermione all but shrieked. "Did Dumbledore do that?"
The trio looked to the helm, where Dumbledore still stood laughing to himself at the wheel, staring into the horizon.
"Ha!" he said, his voice drifting on the wind as he spoke. "Catch me if you can, Gellert!"
Harry shook his head. "No, there's no way one man can cast a spell as powerful as that – even Dumbledore. It must have been a mass rune array powered by a coven or something…"
He turned to Daphne for backup and she nodded.
"I calculate a 0.67% probability that Dumbledore cast that spell," she said. "As you guessed, a rune array is far more likely."
Hermione turned to look at the chuckling headmaster and frowned.
"If you say so…"
A small island came into view not long after, surrounded by pale sandy beaches and clear blue water. The center of the island was mostly obscured by tall green trees, but pieces of buildings still peeked through at odd intervals. It was many of the students' first time seeing anything of the sort, and they clung unreservedly to the side of the boat as they took in the passing landscape with fascination.
Eventually they reached a large dock on the side of the island, where several other boats of all shapes and sizes were parked. Dumbledore expertly maneuvered and anchored them into an open spot, and everyone trickled out of the ship as the gangplank was lowered.
"Students, gather round!" McGonagall called once they had all disembarked. "We have a few ground rules to set before you all run off like hooligans!"
The students gathered around the woman en masse, but their attention was darting every which way in the meantime. In the distance, they could just barely make out a beach filled with people.
"First off," she started, "this is an educational 'Field Trip', and you will not be going anywhere outside of the supervision of a teacher. You must all follow the group unless otherwise specified, and there will be severe consequences for anyone found breaking this rule. Secondly, while open displays of magic are legally permitted on this island, you will maintain the proper decorum expected from a Hogwarts student at all times while staying here. If I have to confiscate wands, I will."
The students shifted uncomfortably - particularly the troublemakers - and Harry noticed even Dumbledore looking a little nervous.
"Finally, there will be no illicit activity between students while on this trip. You are still 'in school' while you are here, and Hogwarts' rules still apply." She looked around the group to be sure her message was understood before nodding satisfactorily. "Very well then. I will finish our check-in with the resort staff while Professor Dumbledore leads you on an informative tour of the island."
She turned on her heel and walked briskly down a concrete path into the forest.
When her figure had completely disappeared into the treeline, all the students looked to Dumbledore.
"No way I'm doing that!" the older wizard said cheerfully. "Let's all go to the beach!"
The students cheered.
"Should we go sit under an umbrella?" Harry asked Daphne once they had both changed into their swimsuits and emerged onto the beach. "This is nice and all, but, well…"
"Do not hold back on my account," Daphne said. "By all means, go play in the ocean with your friends."
She gestured to where Neville, Draco, and several others had already run out to splash about in the water. A beach ball was being passed between them, and someone would pull their wand out to transfigure it every few seconds.
"No, I'm okay. I'd rather stay on the beach with you anyway."
Whirrrrr
"If you are sure, Harry."
They headed over to a large sun umbrella, and Daphne quickly conjured a folded blanket for them. Harry tried not to stare too much as his swimsuit-clad girlfriend bent over to lay it out in front of them, but then stopped being so modest when he realized she was doing it on purpose.
"All things considered, this is a pleasant way to start the field trip," Daphne commented as they sat down.
"You're right. But honestly, I don't know if McGonagall will be very happy when she finds out we skipped off to play the second she left…"
"That is for Dumbledore to deal with, I suppose."
"I suppose…"
They sat there relaxing for the better part of half an hour, making idle conversation and watching their classmates play around on the beach. While the Hogwarts school uniforms kept everyone covered from head to toe, many of their peers' swimsuits were much less modest, and teenage hormones were running rampant as far as the eye could see. Boys and girls talked and laughed, making much more physical contact than was strictly necessary, and Harry's 'Love Genius' intuition was anticipating the formation of several new couples by the time the field trip was over.
Apart from the Hogwarts students, there were about three times as many unaffiliated people on the beach, and at one point Harry and Daphne watched Seamus Finnigan try to hit on some older girls and get loudly rejected.
"Yikes," Harry said, watching the boy awkwardly slink away.
Daphne nodded. "I am glad that we do not need to engage in these mortifying human mating rituals anymore. Every day I remind myself how lucky I am to have been approached by the perfect man without putting any effort in on my part."
"You put in the effort to be the person you are, which is why I was attracted to you in the first place," Harry said. "It has nothing to do with luck – I'd have loved you regardless."
Whirrrrr
"If you continue to talk like that, I may have to wear this swimsuit more often."
Harry blushed. Clearly, she had caught him staring.
"I mean, I'll never complain if-"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off as Ron Weasley and Dean Thomas ran up to where they were sitting with tears in their eyes.
"Harry! Daphne!" Ron shouted. "You need to avenge us!"
Harry turned to look at the two boys with his eyes narrowed, having no clue what they were talking about and being slightly peeved that they ruined his moment with Daphne.
"Avenge you for what?" he asked. "Against who?"
"Them!" Dean exclaimed, pointing rudely halfway down the beach to where two attractive girls stood next to a volleyball net. "We challenged them to a match and they beat us!"
"Two girls beat you at volleyball?" Harry asked.
"And it was you that challenged them in the first place?" Daphne added.
"Yes!" they cried in unison.
Harry and Daphne turned to look at each other and then to the volleyball girls. They were tossing a ball up in the air, looking at them appraisingly. The taller one leaned over to the shorter one and said something they couldn't hear, but it caused the shorter one to blush.
"I don't know guys," Harry said. "I'm not really in the mood to-"
The shorter of the two volleyball girls blew Harry a kiss and winked at him, causing him to choke on his words.
Daphne stood up and brushed the sand off her legs. "Okay, we will defeat them," she declared.
"Wait, we will?" Harry asked once he had recovered. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"What I want is irrelevant," she replied, setting her jaw in determination. "There are some things a girlfriend has no choice but to do."
"Then, you will be our next opponents?" the taller girl asked with a heavy French accent as Harry and Daphne approached.
"Yes," Daphne said. "It is clear to me that the two of you must be taught a lesson."
"Une leçon, elle a dit!" the shorter girl laughed. "Elle n'a aucune idée!"
Daphne turned to look at her. "Ne me teste pas, petite fille."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise, and the older of the pair put a protective hand on her shoulder. Not understanding the exchange but deciding the vibes needed some work, Harry tried to diffuse the tension.
"So, are you guys from around here?" he asked casually.
Daphne gave him a look, but he ignored it.
"Non," the older one replied. "We are on vacation – we come from Beauxbatons, in France. I am in my seventh year, and my younger sister is in her fourth."
"Really, Beauxbatons?" Harry said, excited. "Then you guys must know Allison Potter! She's my sister."
The younger one blanched and turned to her sister. "Mais voyons Fleur, je ne peux pas dragué le frère de ma meilleure amie!"
"Oui, Gabrielle, tu peux."
Harry blinked. Despite his best efforts, his French wasn't good enough to follow the girls' conversation, and he was left rather entirely in the dark. He thought he could hear the creak of Daphne's gears tightening in anger, however, so he could only assume whatever they were saying about his sister wasn't very nice.
"Enough talk," Daphne said, drawing the girls' attention back to her. "If you would like to play then I will oblige you; but let it be known that a game of volleyball is the only thing you will ever get from me."
The way she said that last sentence and grabbed Harry's hand had him feeling some kind of way, but he still wasn't really sure what was going on.
"Very well," the older girl said. "But if we win, my younger sister will be borrowing your male for the afternoon."
"Wait, what?" Harry said. Now he was really confused. "Am I the male? Why would you-"
"We will not lose," Daphne interrupted. "Claim whatever stakes you wish. When we win, you will leave this place and never look at my boyfriend again."
The girl smirked and nodded, leading the younger of the pair to the other side of the volleyball net. As they got into position, Harry turned to look at Daphne.
"Uh, so if we lose, what happens to me exactly? Those girls are starting to scare me…"
Daphne glanced over at him from the corner of her eye.
"If we lose, those girls will be the least of your worries."
Harry hardly thought that was fair, seeing as how she was the one to accept their challenge in the first place, but the way Daphne was looking at him right now made him think it would be better if he kept that minor injustice to himself.
"Ha!"
Set up by the younger sister, the older one spiked the volleyball down hard onto the other side of the net. Harry dove for it, but his fingers just barely missed.
"11-10 Beauxbatons!" Dumbledore called, and the ball was passed back to the girls to serve. They cheered and high-fived each other, and there was a scattering of applause around the court from their newfound fans.
At some point, their game of volleyball had attracted an audience – whether due to the intensity of the match or the attractiveness of the participants Harry wasn't sure. Additionally, an argument over a contested call had led to the impromptu arrival of a self-appointed arbiter in Albus Dumbledore, who showed up out of nowhere and promised to be a neutral party.
Harry wasn't sure what the man had been doing until then, but the sight of his school's headmaster in floral swimming trunks was throwing him off his game considerably, especially when he noticed that the man was sporting a surprisingly chiseled figure and six-pack abs that had no place on a man well into his second century of life.
"Ha!"
Harry returned his attention to the game as the volleyball came hurtling back over the net. Daphne moved swiftly across the sand, sliding gracefully to bump it up into a high arc for him. While all three girls present seemed to have better technique than him, Harry had size and weight on them, so he leveraged that to his advantage as he spiked the ball back down as hard as he could.
"Hep!"
With a sound like a gunshot, the ball barreled into the sand between the sisters before they could react. Dumbledore called the point, and the gathered spectators cheered.
"Good work on that spike," Daphne said, turning to Harry. "But if you do not improve your serve receives, we are at risk of losing."
"I'm trying my best…"
"I know that, Harry, but our opponents are more capable than I initially calculated. We will need to step it up if we want to protect you from falling into their immodest clutches."
"Then we shouldn't have accepted their challenge in the first place!"
Daphne stared down at the ground then, and Harry could tell she was regretting her actions.
"I am sorry," she said. "I understand now that it was a mistake…I will reflect on my irrational behavior later."
Harry sighed. He couldn't stay mad at such a cute robot.
"Alright, let's win."
Steve, Edmund, and Kenny watched the volleyball match with very different expressions on each of their faces.
"Why's it always Harry?" Steve asked. "When's it going to be my chance to play volleyball with three beautiful girls…"
"It's because he's the Love Genius," Edmund said knowingly. "He knows all there is to know about the human heart."
Kenny hummed. "But don't you think Harry looks a little stressed?"
They all took a closer look at Harry, who was clearly fighting for his life to win the volleyball match, diving and jumping gracelessly as he tried to keep the ball in play.
"Maybe he's really competitive," Steve suggested.
"Maybe being competitive is what makes him popular with girls," Edmund added.
"I don't know," Kenny said. "That French girl doesn't look too happy with him…"
Fleur Delacour couldn't possibly fathom why the boy in front of her wasn't letting them win. Sure, he already had a girlfriend, and yes, even Fleur would admit the girl was suspiciously beautiful for a human, but getting to spend an afternoon with Gabrielle should be worth breaking up with her for.
Despite being an attractive Veela in her own right, Gabrielle was rather shy, and didn't speak much with members of the opposite sex. In an attempt to help her out, Fleur had been scouting male specimens worthy of her sister's time on the beach all afternoon. Unfortunately, when she finally found one, he came with baggage in the form of a pretty blonde girl that gave even the Veela a run for their money.
It should have been as easy as challenging them to a volleyball match over the boy and winning, but both were proving incredibly more competent players than she had expected. The girl was very quick and startlingly accurate with her receives, and the boy had strong limbs that he knew how to use.
BAM!
With another gunshot-like sound, the boy spiked the volleyball with such force that neither Fleur nor Gabrielle could receive it. They had been the beach volleyball champions of their hometown for the past five years running, but apparently they had finally met their match today.
"20-19 Hogwarts!" Dumbledore called.
Gah! Fleur thought, her thoughts in English but with a distinctive French accent. Why will this boy not let us win? However, it is good that he is the faithful type. He will be a good prize for my sweet sister…
As the ball was passed back to the other team, Fleur schooled her facial features. Desperate times called for desperate Veela, and she was cooking up a dirty plan that would lead to inevitable victory. She didn't like cheating, but she didn't like losing even more.
The pesky girlfriend served the ball over to them, and as usual, Fleur received it. She bumped the ball over in a soft arc to Gabrielle, who set it off the tips of her fingers into a perfectly high spiral for Fleur. She spiked it with all her might, but as expected, the quick-footed girlfriend was able to get under it in time.
As before, she set it up for the boy to spike, but this time Fleur didn't move to receive it.
Instead, Fleur let Gabrielle make the attempt to receive, while she channeled her natural Veela allure straight at the boy. With the full force of a mature Veela's seductive magic pressing down upon him, there was no way he would be able to focus enough to hit the ball.
Fleur smiled as the boy jumped.
I've got you now, future brother-in-law!
While Daphne respected Harry's desire to take their relationship slow, she wasn't above utilizing seduction in an attempt to hasten his pace.
Just the other day, Harry was using his privilege as a quidditch captain to relax in the prefect's bath, when Daphne 'accidentally' walked in on him. She was wearing nothing but a small towel that hardly covered her body, and stared shamelessly at the water as Harry tried to hide his body with bath bubbles.
"Daphne!?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here!?"
"Perhaps I am here to take a bath," she replied mysteriously.
"We both know you can't get in the water, and my name was already on the sign-up sheet!"
"Silly me," she said, not sounding silly at all. "Well, now that we are already here and unclothed, shall we engage in sexual activities?"
Harry nearly slipped in the bath, even though he was sitting.
"Not here, Daphne!"
That had hardly been her first attempt, and was far from her last, and Harry felt his resolve to wait until graduation waver with each passing day. As time wore on, he regretfully resisted all of his girlfriend's advances; at the very least, he wanted their first time to be something special and emotional, not something done quickly and shamefully in the prefect's bath or a broom closet.
But still, they loved each other immeasurably, and she was both beautiful and desirable; unintentionally, while dodging Daphne's propositions, Harry's already formidable willpower had become nigh-impenetrable.
As Harry leapt into the air to spike the volleyball, several things happened simultaneously.
Firstly, Fleur channeled her allure towards Harry, immediately hitting him with the full brunt of her seductive power. Daphne's magical sensitivity picked up on this, and while she didn't have time to react, she was thoroughly enraged.
Secondly, Professor McGonagall apparated right next to Dumbledore, an irate expression on her face.
Finally, Harry ignored the sounds of an apparating witch and easily shrugged off the tempting magic he felt brush past his senses, smashing the ball down as hard as he could.
"Headmaster Dumbledore!" McGonagall began angrily. "I told you to lead the students on an informative tour, not-"
BANG!
With a sound like a cannon firing, Harry rocketed the volleyball over the net, straight towards the distracted Fleur's face. It contacted her nose with a sickening crunch, and the girl was knocked onto her back with a yelp of pain and a small spray of blood.
In the next moment everyone stopped, frozen in a bizarre tableau. The crowd around the volleyball court held their breath, McGonagall's eyebrows rose in surprise and confusion, and Harry glanced over at the downed French girl sheepishly.
Daphne whirred quietly in satisfaction.
"The final score is 21-19!" Dumbledore called, not reading the mood in the slightest. "Hogwarts wins!"
After ensuring the injured French girl was seen to by a healer and giving Dumbledore a severe scolding, Deputy Headmistress McGonagall told all of the sixth years to change and led them on a very educational tour of the island. She took her time explaining every excruciating detail of the land, including notes on the flora and fauna and anecdotes about the history of the resort. Normally it might have been at least vaguely interesting to learn about a magical vacation destination that had been built hundreds of years ago by a coven of witches, but the way in which McGonagall delivered it and the threat of a quiz when they got back to Hogwarts was sucking any possibility of joy from the students.
Harry almost thought the woman was making her lectures extra dry on purpose, but then decided the rational paragon McGonagall would never do such a thing.
"Very well," she said once they finished a wide loop of the island. "I suppose that's enough for now. We'll head to the hotel, where you can all take the opportunity to relax before dinner. After that, we'll be meeting in the lobby to head back out for an evening astronomy lesson. And remember, your behavior during our stay in the hotel will be monitored."
A few students groaned in disappointment at the prospect of more lectures from McGonagall, but most were just excited to settle into the hotel. They had passed it already on their tour, and the building was a towering modern structure with big windows and a beautiful view of the island. Between that and the gradual formation of plans to sneak into each other's rooms at night, the students accepted McGonagall's lectures as a small price to pay for the fun.
"No one's going to listen to the rules, are they?" Hermione asked with a sigh as they walked into the hotel.
"It doesn't seem like it," Harry replied, shaking his head. "But I'm sure McGonagall will stop anything too immoral before it starts."
"Dumbledore will be on watch too," Daphne added.
"Er, I don't know how much help he's going to be," Hermione said. "He seems rather…flippant."
Daphne acknowledged that with a hum, and the three headed to the registration desk to get their room keys. Daphne and Hermione both got the keys to their respective rooms quickly and took off, but as his roommates had beaten him to the punch, Harry needed to wait while an extra was enchanted for him.
"So, uh, what's there to do in the hotel?" he asked the woman behind the desk, trying to pass the time. "Is there a gym by any chance?"
The woman stared at him, and he could've sworn he'd never seen a more hateful expression in his life. She was clad entirely in pink professional clothes, and the little name tag on her chest read 'Ms. Umbridge'.
"There is a pamphlet detailing our facilities over there if you'd like to read," she said condescendingly, pointing towards a small stack of papers on the desk. "Otherwise, make sure you cause no trouble while you're here – I won't hesitate to report you to the local authorities!"
"Um, okay?" Harry said. He wasn't sure what he had done to anger this woman, but he decided not to risk provoking her ire any further by speaking and remained silent.
A short while later, a man appeared from a back room and nervously handed Ms. Umbridge a key before scurrying away. She handed it to Harry, placing it on the desk so their hands wouldn't accidentally touch as he took it.
"Thanks. I'll, uh, be going then," Harry said, walking away.
"I'll have my eye on you, boy!" she called after him.
Dolores Jane Umbridge positively hated children.
Since her dishonorable exile from Britain a decade prior, she had found work as the hotel manager for the world's only magically exclusive resort island. She didn't hate the work, as it allowed her to order people around and yell at them, and it also allowed her to avoid interacting with the nasty muggles, but customer service still grated on her nerves at times. Regardless though, the hotel was her castle, and she was its queen.
And now, her castle was being invaded by a veritable horde of children.
Feh! Dolores thought to herself, watching the annoying and impolite boy walk away from her desk. I hope you get a blood curse!
She had desperately tried to convince the hotel's owner to refuse Hogwarts' request to house over a hundred students seven weeks in a row, but of course he had ignored her. He didn't see the possible repercussions of allowing those grubby upstarts into her palace, blinded as he was by the money Dumbledore offered.
And of all the schools, it just had to be that wretched Hogwarts!
At least if it was Beauxbatons or Durmstrang, Umbridge wouldn't be reminded of the country that she had been forcibly evicted from after an incident involving an elementary school and attempted corporal punishment, but no; she was forced to watch these little British kids run around her hotel like a playground for the better part of the next two months.
Although, perhaps I can use this opportunity to my advantage somehow, she thought maliciously. As I told that boy, if I find one of those students causing trouble, I could report them and have it put on their record…or better yet, have them expelled!
With her new plan in mind, Dolores Umbridge returned to work with newfound vigor. If those students put even a single toe out of line, she would be there to see it.
And when they did, she would revel in their expulsion.
Harry slowly climbed the stairs, trying to remember which floor Daphne's room was on. Most of their classmates were playing down by the hotel pool or games room until curfew, but he hadn't been able to find his girlfriend since McGonagall's astronomy lecture.
He made his way to the door that he was pretty sure was hers and knocked.
"Daphne?" he called. "Are you in there?"
The door opened a few moments later to reveal a Daphne who had already changed into her pajamas.
"Hello, Harry," she said. "What a pleasant surprise. I was just cleaning the sand out of my seams."
"Ah, okay then…I was just wondering where you were."
"I had to take advantage of this opportunity for solitude," she said, gesturing inside her room. "When the girls get back upstairs it will be difficult for me to do any maintenance until we return to Hogwarts."
"Do you need help?"
"I will not refuse if you are offering."
Harry followed her inside, and she lay atop one of the beds with her back exposed. He was a bit of an expert at cleaning his girlfriend by now, and he deftly removed the last bits of sand from Daphne's seams, taking more pleasure than he'd like to admit in the process.
Have I become a deviant? Harry wondered as he worked.
When he was finished, they spent a bit of clothes-on quality time together, keeping an eye on the clock to make sure her roommates were still a ways off from returning for curfew. Harry wasn't sure if cleaning sand out of her back counted as robotic foreplay or what, but Daphne's kisses and caresses seemed particularly impassioned that evening.
"What's all this about?" he asked eventually, regretfully breaking away from her to recover his breath.
"This is my way of showing gratitude for the volleyball match today," she replied. "It was my mistake to give those Veela a chance in the first place, but thanks to you the consequences were not so severe."
Harry raised his eyebrows in surprise. "They were Veela?"
Daphne gave him another kiss for that.
"It makes me happy that you did not notice," she said. "But did you not feel the pressure of their allure during your last spike?"
Harry got a far off gaze, trying to remember. "Now that you mention it, there might have been some subtle pull, like a temptation to look the girl's way, but it wasn't much…"
"How interesting," Daphne remarked. "Your willpower must be very impressive."
He gave her an incredulous look. "And why do you think that is, Daphne?"
"Because it requires tremendous willpower to resist my sexual advances? More willpower than is required to resist a Veela?"
Harry blinked. "Uh, well, yeah, actually."
Whirrrrr
Possible Emotion Detected: Smug
Printing Thought Sequence: Heh. Daphne 2 – Veela 0.
Dolores Jane Umbridge was confused.
One of her lackeys had told her that he saw one of the Hogwarts boys entering a girl's room without permission, and naturally, she had jumped at the opportunity to investigate. The problem was, when she cast the spell to detect life in the room, her magic revealed only one person.
"Then was my minion wrong?" she mumbled to herself. "It wouldn't be the first time…but no, I should check just to make sure."
She waddled down the hallway, heading towards the room in question as silently as possible. If there were illicit activities going on between students in her hotel, she would find out. And if there were, she would destroy them.
She raised her wand, and in a fluid motion, unlocked the door and ran in.
"Put your wands down and your clothes on!" she yelled as she stormed the room. "I'm here for a scheduled room inspection!"
In mere moments, she investigated the entire space with a critical eye. Nothing was out of place, and the only resident was an annoyingly young and disgustingly pretty girl sitting in one of the beds, the sheets covering her legs.
"Is there anyone else in this room with you?" Umbridge asked, doubt creeping in the back of her mind.
"Yes."
Umbridge's eyes widened in malicious delight. "I knew it! Where!?"
Daphne pointed at her.
"..."
"..."
"Is there anyone here apart from us?" she clarified.
"No," the girl replied. "It is just 'us' here."
Umbridge recast her detection spell and once again, found only two lifeforms in the room. Herself, and the girl in the bed.
"I see…" she said eventually. "Well, then…good. That's all."
Making a mental note to yell at the underling who fed her false information, Umbridge turned on her heel and left the room.
A few moments after the woman left, Daphne lifted the sheets.
"It is safe now, Harry," she said, looking down at him. "You can come out now."
"Phew," he sighed, crawling out of the bed. "That was a close one. I don't think we're breaking any rules by just being in a room together, but I don't think that woman likes me very much, so I'd rather not give her any excuses to get mad…"
Daphne nodded. "Admittedly we are in a rather compromising position, so it would be difficult to defend our innocence."
Harry thought about how they would look from an outsider's point of view and decided she was right. Even if their clothes were still on, being caught together on a bed was rather condemning in light of McGonagall's 'no illicit activity between students' rule.
"You're right, I should really be heading back to my own room n-"
At that moment, the door slammed open.
"We're back, Daphne!" a cheery voice called. "And we like, brought a few friends too!"
Instantly recognizing the voice of Daphne's roommate Tracey Davis, the two exchanged a look. Without another word passing between them, Harry immediately ducked back down by Daphne's legs, and she pulled the bedsheets up over him.
Apparently, McGonagall had given the girls permission to move between each other's rooms for another hour after curfew, and so a sizable group had decided to hang out with Daphne and her roommates. Pansy and Millicent didn't have the biggest selection of friends, but their final roommate Tracey made up for them in spades and almost every Slytherin girl had turned up.
Incidentally, Harry was still hiding in Daphne's bed, trying to stay as flat as possible so no one realized the bump in the sheets wasn't anything more than her legs.
"So like, is everyone ready for girl talk?" Tracey asked. There were a few excited murmurs around the room and she smiled. "Okay, like raise your hand if you have a boyfriend."
Harry felt the slight shift in Daphne's body as she raised her hand, and passively wondered how screwed he'd be if anyone found out he was accidentally eavesdropping on Slytherin 'girl talk'.
"Pansy?" a girl said. "You have a new boyfriend? Who is it?"
"Oh, he doesn't go to our school," she replied. "So you wouldn't know him."
"What's he like?"
Pansy tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Let's see…he's a real cutie; he has beautiful eyes and a wicked sense of humor. Over the summers we live together, and I love him a whole lot."
Many of the girls squealed, while Daphne calculated the probability that Pansy was actually single and talking about her cat Caleb.
Printing Thought Sequence: Sorry Pansy. The numbers are not looking good for you.
"And like, what about you, Daphne?"
Harry almost startled as Tracey turned the question around to Daphne, but remembered how precarious his position was and forced himself to be still.
"I am dating Harry, of course," Daphne said.
Tracey shook her head. "Like, I know, but what's he like?"
Harry heard Daphne's body hum consideringly as she processed the question.
"He is everything I could have ever wanted," she said eventually. "He is always very patient with me, and he pushes me to grow every day. He is handsome, respectful, kind, and gets along well with my family. Before him, I never thought I would feel love, but now I do not know what I would do without him."
There was silence around the room as everyone stared at Daphne.
The silence was broken as one girl sniffled and blinked a tear from her eye.
"Woah," Tracey said. "That's some heavy stuff."
Harry was wondering what to do with all of the happiness in his heart when another girl spoke up.
"Um, Daphne? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but…how far have you gone with Harry?"
Every set of ears in the room perked up at this, and Harry nearly choked in surprise. Thankfully, he caught himself at the last moment.
Daphne considered the eager faces of her peers and wondered how best to answer.
Printing Thought Sequence: Most likely, the 'furthest' we have gone is when he opened my back and blew on my gears…but I cannot tell them that, or my secret will be revealed. I will have to be vague.
"Suffice to say he has been inside my body," Daphne declared.
This time Harry did choke in surprise, but the noise was covered by the sounds of over a dozen girls squealing in excitement at their newest dose of juicy gossip.
Meanwhile, in one of the boys' rooms, Ron was engaged in a heated argument with Neville.
"No man, I'm telling you, a thousand rats would win against ten lions. There's just too many of them, the lions wouldn't stand a chance."
Neville sighed, shaking his head. "It's the rats that wouldn't stand a chance. Even if there's a thousand of them, they wouldn't be able to do any meaningful damage before the lions crushed them."
The two boys continued debating the hypothetical battle while everyone else packed into the room glanced around awkwardly. The assembled males had been rather hoping that they'd get to have boy talk, or maybe even be led on a daring pilgrimage to the girls' rooms, but instead their two remaining chances for any sort of leadership initiative were talking about animal warfare.
"So, where's Draco?" someone asked eventually.
"He said he was tired and went to bed," Blaise replied. "Actually, now that I think about it, I'll probably be doing the same. Goodnight, guys."
Blaise left, and a few more boys shuffled out along with him.
"And what about Harry?" another said.
"We haven't seen him all night," Dean replied. "He probably snuck off to Daphne's room."
The remaining boys devolved into a murmuring hum of conversation, still background noise to Ron and Neville's raging debate.
"Should we sneak off to the girls' rooms too?" Justin proposed.
Steve shook his head. "There's no way we'll make it."
"But Harry made it," Ernie argued. "If he got caught, we'd have heard news of it by now."
Edmund shrugged. "But it's Harry. He's the only one that can pull that kind of stuff off."
"Why him?" Zacharias asked angrily, even though he knew Edmund was right. "Why can he sneak into the girls' room but we can't?"
"Because he's willing to risk it all for love," Kenny declared. "That's why he's the Love Genius."
"...damn, but you're right."
The boys all fell silent then, except for Ron and Neville, who had slightly changed the parameters of their animal war and started the debate anew.
Harry's limbs were starting to fall asleep in Daphne's bed, and he seriously wanted to get out of there. Half an hour ago he had realized that he probably should've just taken the hit and showed himself when the girls first arrived, but he was in way too deep now. He had unintentionally heard more secrets in the past hour than he had ever known before, and had gained a disturbingly accurate picture of exactly who liked who across their year.
Hopefully, the universe would overlook his crimes against women if he agreed to repent by playing cupid for them later.
After what felt like another hour but was probably only a few minutes, McGonagall stopped by to tell the girls to return to their rooms for lights out. Daphne discreetly peeked under the blanket and gave Harry a nod, signaling that their opportunity for escape would come imminently.
Sure enough, as everyone except for Pansy, Millicent, and Tracey left the room, Daphne made a declaration.
"I am going to go get new bedsheets."
In an awkward movement Daphne rolled up her sheets with Harry still inside them and slung the whole package over her shoulder. Harry tried not to yelp in surprise at the sudden motion or the fact that his girlfriend was lifting him with such ease.
"Uh…okay?" Pansy said, watching the girl head to the door and place the pile outside.
Daphne closed the door, waited half a minute, and then opened it again. Folded neatly in front of the door were her same bedsheets, now one boyfriend lighter than they had been before.
"Ah, excellent," she remarked flatly. "The service at this resort is exceptional."
She ignored the bewildered stares of her roommates as she reclaimed the bundle and laid it back out on her bed.
"Well, goodnight," she said.
The sixth years' remaining two days at the resort island went much smoother than the first. They spent the majority of the second day at a magical history museum that - apart from the beaches - was one of the main draws to the island in the first place. There was a small souvenir shop inside, and Harry picked out eight little gifts for his eight little siblings with Daphne's help.
"Are you going to get something for Astoria?" he asked once he was done.
"I think not," Daphne replied. "Despite how she acts, she still suffers from complexes related to her lack of magic. Any of the gifts from this shop would feel inappropriate in some way."
Harry nodded, considering. "I suppose that makes sense. There are probably other things you could get for her, though…"
"What are you suggesting?"
"You could give her Hermione's phone number?" he proposed, only half-joking.
Daphne stared at Harry. She didn't remember telling Harry about Astoria's fledgling crush, and her robot brain remembered everything.
Printing Thought Sequence: Is my boyfriend really a 'Love Genius' after all?
"I will consider it," Daphne conceded.
Much to the boys' relief, Harry stayed in his own room that night, sparing them from another night of boredom.
"Alright," Harry said, clearing away a large space on the floor. "I have a few decks of cards and a couple enchanted board games, so we should all be able to play something. If not, I also have a jigsaw puzzle and a wizard chess set somewhere."
The boys who had crowded into his room stared at him incredulously.
"Where did you get all of that stuff?" someone asked.
"I always have some games on me in case the younger kids get bored," he said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "But the ones I brought should be fun for us too."
Everyone gave him grateful, affectionate looks, and they settled into their boys' night. Harry didn't bother asking what they had entertained themselves with the night before, because he didn't want the conversation to turn to his own whereabouts at the time, but he was glad that everyone seemed to be having fun. He also wanted to avoid 'boy talk', because he knew way too much, and was rather tired of hearing about people's crushes by now.
As it were, the boys were just content to do anything other than listen to Ron and Neville debate rats and lions for a second night in a row.
On the last day of the trip, McGonagall finally caved and let them return to the beach to play. Harry and Daphne stayed firmly under their umbrella this time, and thankfully, didn't spot any more Veela.
Dumbledore was running around the beach with his shirt off like a man who wasn't one hundred fifty, and Harry saw McGonagall give him disapproving looks as he joyfully sniped unsuspecting students with beach balls. Harry's interactions with their school headmaster had been rather limited until now, but he couldn't help but feel like the man's attitude was a bit too eccentric.
"You have gotten slightly burnt," Daphne said, tracing Harry's arm with a concerned finger and distracting him. "We will have to put some cream on you when we get back to Hogwarts."
"Eh, I hate cream. I'll just use a spell or something."
Daphne fixed him with a serious look. "We will have to put some cream on you."
"Huh? No, I really-"
"We will have to put some cream on you, Harry," she insisted.
Harry gave her a look. A moment later, the pieces clicked and he blushed.
"Ah. I see. Well, I guess I could make an exception at some point…"
Dolores Jane Umbridge was fuming.
Despite three days and two nights of intense monitoring, she hadn't yet caught any students committing minor misdemeanors which she could blow out of proportion and get them expelled for.
What's the point of having power if I can't abuse it!
Dolores continued to lament silently and bitterly as she watched the students bring their bags down from their hotel rooms and assemble in the lobby. She was glad that they would be gone, but her humor was tempered by the fact that she still had another six groups of students to put up with before her palace was finally hers once again.
In that case, I'll just have to be more diligent with my monitoring next week, she decided. If I must, I can force the issue by provok-
Umbridge's thoughts came to a screeching halt as she saw something that made her tiny, rotten heart swell with sadistic pleasure.
"Daphne!" Harry whispered urgently. "Your wind-up key!"
Daphne blinked once in surprise, and then silently cast the spell to cover her key once again.
Possible Emotion Detected: Shame
"I have been careless," she said. "Thank you for warning me; that could have been a monumental blunder."
Harry looked around. "Yeah, but I don't think anyone noticed at least."
"It seems that way. Though, this wind-up key still causes me a great deal of trouble…"
"It's cute though," he provided.
Whirrrrr
"Well that makes it worth it then," she decided.
Everything fell into place at once for Dolores.
She had clearly just seen the familiar blonde girl cover up a wind-up key, which reminded her suspiciously of a toy she once 'confiscated' from a muggle child in the street once when she was young. It was a clear inhuman element, and if there was one thing Dolores hated almost as much as muggles, it was half-breeds.
Remembering then that this was the girl who she had checked up on a couple nights prior, Umbridge realized the girl might not even be half a human. Which in turn meant that her detection spell hadn't failed; there was only one other human in the room that night. It just wasn't the girl.
No, Umbridge thought, it was most likely him! That boy next to her – that's who my employee saw entering the girls' room! He must've been hiding!
She immediately ran into her office, shutting the door behind her with feverish excitement. Not only might she be able to get the boy exposed and expelled for indecent behavior, but she would surely be able to ruin the girl's life as well. She had never heard of an inhuman student at Hogwarts, and if her real identity was as big of a secret as she thought it was, leaking that information to the press could be devastating for her.
"How perfect," she mumbled happily. "First-"
"Good afternoon, Ms. Umbridge."
Whipping around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, Umbridge was startled to see Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry standing in her office.
"What are you doing here!?" she shrieked, enraged and unsettled in equal measure. "This is my office, you're not allowed to be in here!"
He looked at her with an uncharacteristically somber expression on his face.
"I'm here on behalf of my students," he said. "You see, it is my responsibility as their headmaster to keep them safe."
Dolores narrowed her eyes and palmed the wand in her coat pocket.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her tone wavering only slightly.
"Did you not intend to report one of my students, and expose the important secret of another?"
Umbridge couldn't help it; her eyebrows raised in shock.
"How did you know that? And what's it to you?" she said defensively. "It is my prerogative to do with their information as I wish, and I will see them both reported. Now you'll leave my office at once!"
Dumbledore sighed, shaking his head.
"I'm sorry, Dolores. I'm afraid I can't do that."
In the next moment, the woman was raising her wand, a curse already on her lips.
McGonagall tapped her foot impatiently, looking around the lobby. "Where is that incorrigible man?" she muttered under her breath.
Harry and Daphne exchanged a glance. Everyone was ready to go, and it was clear that the only tardy individual was in fact their very own headmaster.
A moment later, the headmaster in question came frolicking out of nowhere to come to a stop in front of the group.
"Sorry about that!" he said cheerfully. "I couldn't find my stuffed bear Lewis, and I simply can't sleep without him!"
There were a few laughs from among the sixth years, but the rest, including McGonagall, just looked at him strangely.
"To the boat!" he declared, and took off ahead of them through the glass front doors of the hotel.
McGonagall shook her head with a sigh, leading the rest of the group out with him. They made their way back to the dock where Dumbledore's boat floated, waiting for them, and Harry and Daphne exchanged another meaningful look as they boarded.
"I think there might be more to our headmaster than he lets on," she remarked finally.
Harry looked up to where the man had reclaimed his post manning the ship's steering wheel and nodded.
"You know, I had the exact same thought earlier…"
Back at Hogwarts, Ginny sat by herself at the Gryffindor lunch table, feeling rather miserable.
Not only had she missed a golden opportunity to grow closer to Harry during a field trip, but that cursed Daphne girl had spent the last few days with him instead. How much closer had the two gotten during that time?
The thought made Ginny shiver in barely-concealed rage.
"Hey, have you heard?" one girl said to another as they ate.
Ginny was hardly paying attention to the sounds around her, and was about to tune them out entirely when she heard something interesting.
"It's about Harry and Daphne."
Ginny's ear twitched.
"Heard what?" she asked the girl, butting into the conversation.
"Oh," she replied. "Hey Ginny. Well, my sister told me that Tracey told her that Daphne said that Harry's been 'inside' her. It's not really any of our business, but we're all nosy and it's all everyone's been talking abou- Ah, Ginny!? Are you okay!?"
Before the girl had even finished her sentence, Ginny fell backwards off the bench, unconscious.
The shock had been too much – Ginny Weasley fainted.
A/N:
I swear Ginny will find happiness eventually, it's just not in this chapter.
Thank you so much for getting through this monster of a chapter, I really hope you liked it. It's probably a little disorganized the way it jumps around, but I hope it was still entertaining for you and not too hard to follow.
I still often find my conceptions limited by my skill as a writer, so thanks for bearing with me while I strive to get better :)