Chapter 85: Out of the Woods
As with anything in Hogwarts, news that Viktor Krum bonded with a dragon spread like wildfire. The dragon, who Viktor names Iris, quickly endeared herself to the students when her first act on the castle grounds was to squash two of the remaining Blast-Ended Skrewts, prompting several students to plan ways to get her to eliminate the four that remained.
Hagrid gleefully took on the job of taking care of the dragon while Viktor was in class. Viktor introduced her to the new enclosure Hagrid built near the back of the castle between the Hippogriffs and Thestrals. Initially, Buckbeak reacted strongly to Iris' presence, prompting Harry to intervene.
"She's Viktor's new familiar," Harry said as he held up his hands to keep the hippogriff from advancing. "She isn't here to harm you, nor will she be a threat to Featherpot. You can settle and get along with one another, okay?"
"Iris," Viktor addressed his dragon by her new name while Harry talked down Buckbeak. "Do not eat any of the other creatures. Play nice vith the others and I'll make sure to visit often."
Iris stroked his cheek with her tail and nodded, their bond allowing her to understand him. Outside of the enclosure, Hagrid put up signs warning students from approaching. Iris had accepted Harry, Fleur and Hermione but was not as amenable to Neville for some reason. Hagrid warned the students they would likely put themselves and their classmates in danger should they approach.
"She's acceptin' her new home but she is still a dragon," Hagrid addressed everyone in the Great Hall during breakfast. "There's nothin' to be gained by approaching her and disruptin' her peace. I would like yer ter be able to see her but not in a way that will put anyone in danger."
Hermione tapped her lips with her finger, as she pondered that last part. Her eyes widened as she realized a solution. She rapidly pulled out a piece of parchment and scrawled a note. Before she finished writing, Hedwig landed in front of her.
"Just about the smartest bird there is," Hermione cooed. Hedwig puffed up her chest in pride. "Can you take this to Padfoot, please?"
"What are you thinking?" Harry inquired.
"Just something that Hagrid said about giving us a safe way to watch Iris," Hermione said. "I'm not even sure he will be able to do it but it's worth a shot."
"You had my curiosity," Harry gave her his full attention. "Now you have my attention."
"Patience is a virtue," Hermione smirked.
"Killjoy," Harry grumbled.
"You should know by now not all surprises are bad," Hermione said saucily before leaning over to kiss him. "And that good things come to those who wait."
As Harry's face turned the color of his tie, Hedwig flew off out the window, down toward London. After the meal, they made the defense classroom.
"Good morning, class," Moody addressed the class at the beginning. "Today is the lesson I promised at the beginning of the year. Today you will all try to throw off the Imperius Curse. First, I want everyone to stand up."
When the class stood, Moody pushed all the desks to the corner of the room.
"Everyone form a circle around me," Moody instructed. "Just as you don't know when you will have someone place this curse on you, I will not call on you to give you time to prepare. You must be prepared at all times. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!
"You all have learned the theory, you know what the key to protecting yourself," Moody said. "Listen to your own magical core. It will fight the curse so long as you are prepared for it."
"But how do you listen to your magical core?" Dean Thomas asked.
"It works differently for everyone," Moody said. "Be ready. Imperio!"
Moody cast first at Ron whose eyes glazed over.
"Slap yourself," Moody instructed and Ron slapped himself hard enough to leave a red mark. "Take your shoes off and put them on your hands. Now walk on your hands."
Ron walked around the group on his hands before Moody instructed him to return.
"Fight harder, lad," Moody said. "Imperio."
Malfoy was next and though he fought for a little, Moody soon had him acting like a monkey sounds and gestures. He moved around the circle, casting the curse, instructing them to perform one task after another. Moody threw a wrench in the works next, pointing his wand at Lavender and Pansy in turn.
"Play patty-cake with one another," both girls hesitated, forcing Moody to ask a second time. They lurched forward, their torsos moving before their feet. When they met in the center, they did a perfectly-coordinated patty-cake routine.
"You fought it for a bit," Moody said, nodding appreciatively. "Keep fighting and you'll beat it. Imperio."
Moody swung and cast at Neville.
"Do a ballet routine," Moody instructed. Neville immediately took to a perfect ballet pose, and stood on his toes before leaping around the room. When he arrived back at his spot and Moody lifted the curse, Neville cursed at the pain in his feet. "See? You couldn't physically do the acts without hurting yourself. Under the curse, you felt no pain but it all came back afterward. Imagine if I told you to do to grab a log from the fire."
As the group blanched, Moody continued through the class. Dean was made to do the splits, Seamus blasted himself with water from his wand, Tracey did two cartwheels into a handstand like a gymnast would and Vinny punched the wall. Once he lifted the curse on Greg who was talking like a parrot, Moody shook his head.
"You need to work harder," Moody said. "If I were inclined, I could have made you murder your friends, strip for me to take pictures used to blackmail you, sleep with your enemy, or turn on your families. Anything I wanted to satisfy my baser desires; I could do it. This isn't a game; I am trying to make you prepared for someone who would do you harm!
"My partner had this curse placed on him. By the time he learned to fight it, the man had killed three people and raped his own mother. When he eventually threw off the curse and he saw what he had done, he put a piercing hex through his own eye. Don't suffer as he suffered. Imperio!"
Moody summoned a desk to the center, spun, and cast right at Harry. Harry suddenly felt light as a feather. All his past concerns and worries lifted with the curse. He felt like he was floating.
"Somersault onto this desk," Moody's voice echoed inside his head. Acting on their own accord, Harry's legs carried him toward the center of the room. After three steps, another voice started to ask why.
You've never done a somersault in your life, the inner voice, sounding suspiciously like Hermione, said. Why should you start now?
Harry's stride broke and Moody repeated his order. Harry's feet carried him toward the desk but when it came time to jump, another force straightened his legs. The spell broke as Harry crashed into the desk as opposed to jumping onto it.
"Finally!" Moody shouted. "Potter here fought it. It took him a while but he finally broke through. Again! Imperio.
"Stun Daphne Greengrass," Moody demanded as Harry's eyes fluttered. Harry turned and drew his wand. Daphne drew her own to protect herself, just in case. Harry lifted his wand. Before Moody could do anything, Harry turned and trained his wand on him.
"Expelliarmus," Harry cast. Any remnants of the curse lifted as Moody's wand snapped out of his hand and into Harry's.
"Excellent," Moody chortled. "You deceived me into thinking the spell worked. 50 points to Gryffindor. Now may I have my wand back?"
"I don't think so," Harry smiled at Moody, twirling Moody's wand as he spoke. "Constant Vigilance, right?"
"Aye, lad," Moody slammed his walking stick down. His wand snapped back into his hand as Harry was thrown backward. Only a quick cushioning charm kept him from injury. After allowing Harry to pick himself up, Moody spoke again.
"Now that Potter has proven he can beat it," Moody cast at Hermione. "Imperio."
"Punch Potter," Moody ordered. Hermione's amber eyes dulled as she turned toward Harry. She drew her arm back with her hand closed in a fist. Harry silently wished, hoping she would break the spell. He closed her eyes and waited for the strike to come. All that came was a tap on the nose. Cautiously, Harry opened his eyes.
"Boop," Hermione smiled as she poked Harry's nose. "Occlumency helped, as did watching you."
"There you have it," Moody chortled. "Focus on that inner voice as Miss Granger has."
By the end of class, Daphne, Parvati and Neville were able to throw off the curse, though not as quickly as Harry and Hermione did.
Back in London, Sirius read the note from Hermione with a smile. Sliding the note into his pocket, he stepped out into the training room.
"Good afternoon," Sirius addressed his team. "You are almost at the end of your training. Today we will be testing you on teamwork as you clear a building. The setup is a raid. You don't know how many enemies are inside. Work as a team and clear each room, be aware there might be hostages. You may use any spell you wish up to a stunner but beware: your opponents will be throwing AK's at you, using the green paint spell in its place. Remember a shield will not block AKs and so if the spell bounces off a shield, you will be eliminated. You have ten minutes. Get ready."
"Alright, form up," Steven said. "Squads of two. Everyone watches one another's backs. You have the bracers that Penny and Sally designed. If you are in trouble, tap them twice and we'll know to come help. Remember that when someone does this, your own bracer will light up, acting as a compass to that individual. Check every corner and use smoke to check for a disillusioned person. We've come a long way; we're ready for this. Red, you're with Chubby, Chelsea with Penny, Sally with Doris, Johnny-Ray with Jo. Reagan, you're with me. Red, as the quickest draw and Chubby as the strongest defender, you'll head in first."
A klaxon sounded as the door opened. Studebaker stepped through with his wand at shoulder height, Checker right behind him with his wand down at a more defensive angle. They found themselves in a long hallway with doors on either side. Motioning all clear, the rest of the squad moved in. Using hand signals, they split down either side of the hall, heading toward a door.
As they readied, each squad stood at a door except for Mixon and Morrison who remained outside to keep watch and reinforce should the need arise. A series of red lights lit the doorways and each of the squads chimed in the all-clear. They all did quick revealing charms to look for a hidden person or stash. Finding some items of note, each duo tagged their find before rejoining the squad in the hallway. They went down the hallway until they arrived at the door at the end. Steven motioned that he would go first with Reagan. Mixon placed a hand on the knob and Steven nodded. On three, they threw the door open to enter. Inside, they found a large room with five figures, one of them tied to a chair.
"Don't move or the first one dead is her," the masked man said, his wand pointed at a blonde in the center. "Drop your wands."
Morrison knew that was a death sentence so instead, he raised his hands above his head, subtly tapping his bracer and stepping to the side.
"Didn't you hear?" A deep voice echoed throughout the room. "We'll kill this bitch! Wands down."
"Easy," Steven said. "No one needs to get hurt. Let her go and you can deal with me."
"Like we're going to do that," a third Scottish-sounding voice said. "We also know the rest of your squad is outside."
"They won't be a threat," Steven said. "It's just you four and the two of us."
"Oh come off it," the fourth, a woman by the sounds of it, said. "Now drop the wand…"
"Now!" Steven shouted. The room was bathed in red light as the disillusioned squad shot off stunners, taking each of the attackers. The squad bound the attackers in the center as Steven moved forward to free the woman.
"Thank you," the woman said in a dangerous tone. Her blonde hair turned pink as a wand dropped from her sleeve into her hand. Before anyone could react, Jo, Sally and Johnny-Ray were all down, covered in green paint. Penny conjured a wooden shield to protect Chelsea before Penny fell as well. The squad recovered with Checker creating wooden boxes for them to use as cover. Together, he and Mixon rolled out of their cover, shooting stunners as they did. The pink-haired woman deflected three of them but could not stop Morrison's stunner from the opposite side. Their pincer attack overwhelmed and subdued the woman but not until she was able to eliminate Checker and Mixon. Steven looked on in horror, knowing that his carelessness killed over half of the squad. Red moved the pink-haired woman with the others as Sirius apparated in.
Before the squad registered anything, the rest were covered in green paint.
"You forgot to raise anti-apparition wards," Sirius said. "Anyone could have escaped and you also left yourselves open to a surprise attack. You did well to overwhelm the attackers but then what happened?"
"I got sloppy," Steven hung his head. "I did not check the woman for a wand. I assumed she was a victim without checking, got my squadmates killed."
"Glad you realize that," Sirius said. "You all are doing well and you're on your way to becoming full-fledged Aurors. I'm sorry to say but some lessons are more painful than others to learn."
"Tonks, Shacklebolt, Proudfoot, McLeod and Matthews," Sirius vanished the ropes binding them. "Thank you for your assistance today."
"Not a problem," Tonks smirked. "Thanks for not taking too long, squad. I've got a date to get to."
"And I've got to get to Hogsmeade for guard duty," Kingsley said. "You're all getting better; just don't get overconfident."
"That's all for today," Sirius said. "You are dismissed."
Back up in Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall stood in the Gryffindor common room, holding court with her house.
"If I may have your attention," Professor McGonagall called her Gryffindors to attention. She placed a notice on the board for every Gryffindor to meet her in the common room before dinner that evening. "On Christmas Evening, Hogwarts will be hosting the Yule Ball. This is a part of the Triwizard Tournament and has been a tradition since the tournament's inception. The ball is open to all students fourth year and above, though you may invite someone who is a third year. It should be a time to…"
McGonagall rolled her eyes and exhaled heavily.
"…Let our hair down."
The Gryffindors laughed lightly at the idea of McGonagall's hair ever being down. Rumor had it, her hair was petrified, afraid to move an inch, lest they inspire the woman's wrath.
"This is a time to celebrate and get to know our foreign visitors better," McGonagall continued. "It is not, however, a time for you to embarrass your house or your school. You will comport yourselves with the dignity and grace worthy of Godric himself or, Merlin help me, I will have you cleaning the Hospital Wing by hand. Am I clear?"
As one, the Gryffindors nodded and muttered their assent. Before McGonagall could exit, the common room filled with excited tittering, many of the Lions placing bets on who would go with who, especially who Viktor Krum would take.
"Potter is taken," a Gryffindor seventh year said, loud enough that Harry could easily hear. "So who will get to spend the night on a Krum's muscly arms?"
Harry rolled his eyes and tuned them out, immediately wishing he hadn't.
"Excellent," a few of the boys said. "I've been aching to have a go at the French Veela. A few words here, a flower there and suddenly she and I are getting acquainted if you know what I mean. Veela's are the best, they say."
Harry quickly stood and sped from the room, Hermione quick on his heels after she spared the Gryffindor boys a scathing look. As she exited the common room, she spotted Harry's robes whipping around the corner. Hermione sprinted to catch up, finally catching up at the Room of Requirement.
"Just ignore them," Hermione soothed. "They're teenage boys; pigs honestly. They'll learn. Fleur is smart and quick with her wand; she'll be okay."
"I know," Harry said as he paced the wall. "That wasn't the only reason I left."
The door appeared and Harry threw it open, gesturing for Hermione to enter.
"After you, my love," Harry waved her in.
Hermione smiled and tucked a stray hair behind her ear as she crossed the threshold. Inside, she stopped short at the replica of the Gryffindor common room with a banner hanging, with the words "Will you go to the Ball with me, Hermione?" written on it. Turning back, Harry had a box in his hands.
"I talked to McGonagall and asked when she would announce," Harry said. "I wanted to set this up and I didn't want you to have to wait."
Hermione quickly opened the box wherein a bracelet lay made of pure silver with HJ engraved on the widest part with two chains weaving in and out of one another, both made of hearts.
"Yes," Hermione's eyes misted as Harry pulled out the chain and clipped it around her wrist. "I would be honored to be your date. I love you, Harry."
"I love you, Hermione," Harry beamed. "I can't wait to dance with you."
"Why wait?" Hermione smiled back. "We are alone and it's been a while since we practiced."
As the room provided music in the form of a waltz, Harry took the love of his life into his arms. With a flick of their wands, they moved the furniture and began dancing around the facsimile of the common room. And as Harry held her in his arms, he smiled, wishing moments like this could last the rest of his life.
(A/N: Almost used Iris as the track title until Hermione moved the furniture so they could dance, which is a line from the song "Out of the Woods" which also works for more than just that. The dragon is moved out of the woods to the castle grounds, Moody wants the class to be out of the woods with regard to the Imperius Curse and Fire squad, who we haven't spent time with in a while, thought they were out of the wood when it all went sideways.)