And here's the seventy first chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
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"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells
A Year Too Soon
Chapter LXXI: Arrivals
The beginning of October passed without much notable happening at Hogwarts, except maybe for the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. And, being a prefect, Harry had to keep an eye on the other students while they were visiting the village, to make sure they weren't doing things they shouldn't. Thankfully, there wasn't much mischief going on, so he got to spend time with Flora and Hestia.
And, while making rounds in Hogsmeade he got an idea to try out later that might be the solution to his 'mermaid issue'. Namely that he might not even need an obscure spell that freezes Magical portraits in order to prevent the stained glass mermaid in the Prefects' bathroom from peeking on him - or anyone he might bring along with him. Something as simple as transfigured or conjured curtains over the windows she could move through might be quite sufficient. Well, he'd need to do something about sound as well if he really wanted to have some fun with his girlfriends there, but that was a much easier problem to solve and Harry was pretty sure he actually knew a spell for that already.
Alas, between his rather busy schedule and the need to keep it a secret from the staff and other prefects, it would be some time before he would actually be able to put this idea about using curtains to test…
Then, just as the second half of October set in, the Aurors were deployed to Hogwarts to act as additional security for the duration of the Triwizard Tournament. Their arrival wasn't publicly announced by the staff - just a reminder to everyone that they should be on their best behavior, especially when Beauxbaton and Durmstrang delegations arrive - and the DMLE operatives themselves were trying their best to make their presence as unobtrusive as possible, but they were still quite noticeable and it affected the mood in the castle.
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James Knutsworth was a young wizard who has recently turned twenty. He was decently powerful and somewhat skilled with his wand - definitely not a second coming of Merlin by any stretch of imagination, but still good enough to earn himself a spot in the Auror academy. In fact, just a couple of months ago, he had graduated from the said academy and joined the Auror ranks in full. And, despite being a complete rookie, he somehow got assigned to a very high-profile mission that was the Hogwarts security detail. Which was very stressful, to say the least.
He barely lasted for three days before the need to relax a little with a bottle of something stronger than butterbeer in hand became too unbearable and he made a visit to the Three Broomsticks once his shift was over. He then visited the pub again the next day. And once more the day after that…
Today was the eighth day of James's deployment to Hogwarts, and having just finished his tasks for the day - patrolling the unused parts of the castle and making sure no harmful Magics or forbidden items were hidden there - he once again dropped by Madam Rosmerta's for a glass or two of Ogden's finest.
Half an hour later, he left the pub in a much better mood with much of the stresses of his job temporarily forgotten. And in his exhilarated state, though, James failed to notice a cloaked figure stepping out a dark alley behind him and pointing a wand at him.
"Imperio!" The figure intoned and a moment later James's mind was overcome by a pleasant haze that stripped away his independent will and made him want to do whatever he was told to. "Drink this." The figure ordered, while handing out a flask. Inside of this flask was simple water mixed with a few drops of a certain potion that was quite illegal for the non-authorized DMLE personnel to possess. Once the unlucky Auror finished downing the 'offered' drink, the figure spoke again: "Tell me your name."
"James Knutsworth." James replied.
"Do you know who will be guarding the Goblet of Fire on the night before the Champions' selection?" The cloaked figure asked next.
"I will be one of the guards in the Great Hall." The Auror said as the combination of the Imperius Curse and Veritaserum made him divulge the information he should never have told a random stranger in the streets. "Thomson should be the other one."
"That's very good." The aforementioned stranger said to himself, before addressing James again. "I have a small mission for you then. I want you to obtain a piece of parchment with Harry Potter's name on it, written by his own hand. And then, when there are no witnesses, I want you to throw that parchment into the Goblet of Fire and cast these spells on it to make it believe there should be four Champions instead of three." He said while passing a piece of parchment to the mind-controlled Auror. "Also, destroy this list when you're done memorizing the spells. Can you do that?"
"Yes." James replied.
"Good." The cloaked figure said then. "Then go and do it. Oh, and don't tell anyone about our little deal. Actually, just forget you've ever met me altogether."
"Yes." James replied before walking away unsteadily - a larger-than-safe dose of Veritaserum he had taken was making his alcoholic inebriation many times worse. Even without an Imperius-enforced order to forget about this meeting, the man probably wouldn't be able to recall this meeting when he wakes up.
Once the young Auror was safely out of his sight, the mysterious man turned around and dove back into the dark alley. From there, he headed straight for the Shrieking Shack.
"I guess I owe Peter one for this." Barty Crouch Jr. muttered under his breath. "The Rat actually managed to do something useful when he found out about this Auror getting his ass drunk in the pub every day." Now he just needed to wait for his unwitting pawn to play his role and get the Potter brat into the Triwizard Tournament, thus bringing his plan to bring back the Dark Lord one step closer to its glorious success. "Maybe I should do something nice for that bastard of my father too." He thought out loud some more after a few moments. "This all would've been a lot harder without that stash of regulated stuff he keeps in the attic. I don't think you can buy Veritaserum easily in the Knockturn these days."
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The morning of October 25th saw Harry up very early in the morning as he frantically did his best to finish a Transfiguration essay that was due that afternoon - between having to do an extra set of patrols and other prefect duties, such as tutoring the underclassmen, he just didn't have time to write this essay earlier. Thankfully, while Professor McGonagall wanted whooping eighteen inches from them, the topic itself wasn't particularly hard, so the green-eyed teen was positive he would be able to finish it on time.
And it looked like he indeed will: he had only the final inch left by the time the twins came from the girls' side of the dormitories.
"Good morning, Harry." Flora greeted. "Still working on the essay?"
"Good morning." He greeted her and Hestia back. "And yeah. I'm almost done, though. Just give me a few more minutes and we can go grab some breakfast together."
"Alright." The girls said before settling on the sofa next to him.
And before long, he indeed was putting the final touches on his essay. The last of which was signing the parchment in the top right corner. And just as Harry finished doing that, a drop of ink fell from his quill, leaving a blot next to his name.
"Damn!" At least, this blot didn't turn any of the words written ineligible, so he could still submit it to Professor McGonagall. Not that he'd have time to rewrite it anyway… "Oh well." He sighed. "I guess I'm done here." With a quick wave of his want he Magically dried the ink on the parchment, before putting it and his writing utensils into his bag. "Alright. Let's go." Flora and Hestia nodded, and soon the three of them were on their way to the Great Hall.
A couple of hours later saw Harry ascending towards the South Tower with his Slytherin classmates for their Transfiguration class when his bag unexpectedly gave way and a large hole ripped itself open on its underside, causing the bag's contents to spill all over the floor. Thankfully for the young Potter, his portable inkwell was sealed tightly, so its contents didn't slop out and bedraggle his things.
"Go ahead, I'll catch up to you." He called out to Flora and Hestia as he stopped to deal with this emergency. Quickly drawing his wand, he pointed it at his bag. "Reparo!" The Charm took a moment to take effect, but once it did, his school bag was fixed and ready to be used once again. Returning his wand to its holster, Harry started picking up his belongings from the floor.
"Here." An Auror, who happened to be nearby when this incident happened, said as he handed Harry his textbook and a few pieces of parchment.
"Thank you." Harry replied as the two of them worked together to quickly gather the young wizard's things. And once they were done, Harry thanked the man again, before hurrying away towards the Transfiguration classroom. Had he looked back then, he might have noticed the Auror hiding into his pocket a parchment that once resided in his bag.
He managed to arrive at the classroom shortly before the bell rang. And as he went on to unpack his bag the green-eyed Potter discovered that the parchment with his homework essay was missing.
"For Merlin's sake…" He sighed loudly with exasperation.
"Mr. Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked, having heard him.
"My bag broke a few minutes ago on the way here, and it looks like my essay somehow got lost while I was picking my things up, Professor." The Transfiguration Mistress nodded.
"I see…" She said. After a few moments, she continued: "I've had no issues with your work in the past, Mr. Potter, so I will give you until next class on Thursday to submit the re-done essay. Be warned that I will be much stricter when grading it now."
"Thank you, Ma'am." Harry replied, just as the bell announcing the start of the class rang.
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It wasn't long before the long-awaited day of the arrival of the Beauxbaton and Durmstrang delegations came. And seeing how it was a Sunday, no classes had to be canceled in order to organize the reception of foreign guests - something that a number of Hogwarts students were secretly a bit annoyed with.
At least the weather was alright. A bit chilly, even for late October, but nothing a simple warming Charm couldn't deal with. Had there been rain tonight, a lot more would've been needed to keep everyone comfortable. Assuming that the Headmaster would still wish to have everyone lined in front of the castle even under such weather, of course.
But there was no rain - not even a cloud could be seen in the sky - and so the Hogwarts students and teachers alike were standing fast and proud in front of the castle, ready to greet the arriving delegations from the other schools of Magic. Whenever those finally show up.
The sun had already disappeared behind the mountains and the sky was starting to turn dark when the Beauxbaton delegation finally appeared on the horizon. At first people thought that they were traveling by broom, but it soon became clear that they were using something more exotic: a giant flying powder-blue carriage, easily the size of a no-so-small house, pulled by a dozen of equally giant Abraxan horses.
The carriage circled around the castle before touching down on the front lawn, coming to a gentle stop right in front of the Hogwarts' greeting 'committee'.
After a few seconds, the door opened and a rather young page stepped out. Jumping down onto the ground, he tapped the side of the carriage with his wand, and immediately a set of ornate golden stairs appeared. Done with his task, the page stepped as the Beauxbaton delegation began disembarking.
Leading them was the Headmistress of the French Magical academy herself, madame Olympe Maxime. She was followed by a couple of Professors and about three dozen students. Most of these students were girls, but there were a few wizards as well.
Headmistress Maxime stopped briefly to exchange friendly greetings with Dumbledore before leading the Beauxbaton delegation into the castle: apparently, more than a few of her students hadn't thought about applying warming Charms to their fine-silk uniforms before leaving the carriage and were starting to shiver from the cold.
Meanwhile, Hagrid with the help of the page and another member of Beauxbaton staff moved the Abraxan-pulled carriage away, presumably towards the temporary stables that had been built next to the man's house the previous week.
For the next ten or maybe fifteen minutes nothing really happened. Then, just as many started wondering when the Durmstrang delegation would show up, the surface of the Black Lake rippled. From those ripples, a tall, skeletal mast appeared. It was soon followed by the rest of a heavily-enchanted sailing ship that looked like an old Spanish galleon. The ship remained motionless in the middle of the lake for about a minute before silently gliding towards the shore.
Once there and laid at anchor, the Durmstrang delegation disembarked, using a set of stairs that Magically appeared on the side of their ship. It was a bit smaller, with only twenty or so students, mostly boys. And unlike their French counterparts, they all were dressed according to the weather with heavy fur-trimmed cloaks shielding them from the cold. Leading them was their Headmaster, Igor Karkarov, while four of the Institute's instructors brought up the rear.
The greeting exchanged between Karkarov and Dumbledore was a lot colder, and several of Hogwarts Professors appeared to hold a restrained animosity towards the man. Which, given how he had once been a follower of Voldemort, wasn't all that surprising.
And once their brief conversation was over, Karkarov led the Durmstrang delegation into the castle. And as they passed by Hogwarts students, many had recognized a certain young man walking by his side.
"Krum! That's Victor Krum!" Hushed whispers erupted through the crowd. This came as a bit of surprise to Harry as he had thought that the professional Quidditch players - especially the ones playing for the national teams - had to have already completed their Magical education. Apparently not.
After the last of the Durmstrang guests had entered the castle, Dumbledore ordered everyone to the Great Hall, in an orderly manner, with Gryffindor and Slytherin students at the front of the procession because their House tables were along the edges of the hall while Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had their usual seating towards the middle.
And speaking of the Great Hall, the first thing Harry noticed when he stepped in there were three giant banners with the schools' coats of arms hanging behind the Professors' table. The one for Hogwarts was in the middle with Durmstrang's to its left and Beauxbaton's to its right. The aforementioned Professors' table had also been expanded to accommodate the staff of the visiting schools as well as the officials from the Ministry for Magic, though only Ludo Bagman deigned to show up tonight. Finally, two new tables had been added to the Great Hall, one for the students of the Durmstrang Institute and one for the students of the Beauxbaton Academy.
Once everyone was seated, Dumbledore called to attention. It took a moment for silence to fall over the Great Hall. Then, the Hogwarts Headmaster began his welcoming speech:
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and - most particularly - our guests." He said, beaming around at the foreign students. "I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable." After pausing for a moment, he continued: "The Triwizard Tournament, the reason we all have gathered here tonight, was conceived as a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities and backgrounds, and I hope that you all will make many new friends here, friends that will stay with you for years to come." Here, he made another brief pause. "The tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!"
And as soon as Professor Dumbledore said the last word, the plates on the tables filled themselves with all sorts of food, including a lot of foreign dishes. The feast has begun.
Harry decided to be a little conservative and stuck to the more familiar dishes while both Flora and Hestia felt adventurous and filled their plates with things he didn't know the names of. Not that it made it any less appetizing, and as twins caught him glancing at their plates and quickly offered to let him have a taste. Even going as far as trying to feed him, much to his embarrassment.
The main course was followed by desserts which, once again, included a lot of unfamiliar ones. This time, Harry decided to expand his horizons and gave a dessert he had never seen before a try. He also paid the twins back for earlier when they asked for a taste.
Finally, once the feast was over, Dumbledore stood up and addressed everyone in the Great Hall again:
"The Triwizard Tournament is about to start, but before we bring in the casket, I'd like to say a few more words. First of all, I know that it might be hard to take a step out of one's comfort zone, but I want to encourage everyone to make new friends with people from other schools. Next, while we have worked hard to ensure that the Tournament's tasks are as safe as possible while still posing a considerable challenge to the Champions, there is still an element of danger to them. As such, it was agreed that only those of age should be permitted to compete." This caused a round of disappointed moans and grumbles from the Hogwarts students - Beauxbaton and Durmstrang had been informed about this months ago and so they only brought students who were old enough to compete under this 'updated' rule. "And to ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, there will be Magics in place to prevent those not eligible to participate from submitting their names. And finally, let me introduce, for those who do not know him, Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. He and Mr. Bartemius Crouch from the Department of International Magical Cooperation, who unfortunately wasn't able to join us tonight, have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament and will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions' efforts."
Once the applause died down, Dumbledore continued:
"Now, without any further ado, let the Triwizard Tournament begin. The casket please." As soon as he said that, the doors of the Great Hall swung open and a group of Aurors carried in a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. Once they placed it in front of the Professors' table, Dumbledore tapped it with his wand, making it open up. Inside, there was a large, roughly-hewn wooden cup full to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. "The Goblet of Fire." He said, introducing the artifact. "The impartial judge who will select the most deserving person to be the Champion for their school. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward by writing their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and dropping it into the goblet. Be warned though that once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion." He said then while waving his wand in a complicated pattern, causing a circle of Magic to appear around the Goblet - the Age Line.
"Are you going to submit your name, Harry? You're the 'adult' among us, aren't you." Blaise asked half-jokingly.
"As flattering as it is to know that you think I might be the best wizard in all Hogwarts, I won't." The young Potter replied. "Something tells me that the Tournament will be plenty dangerous despite the Ministry's claims to have designed it to be much safer than the previous ones, and I'd rather not risk my life for a bit of gold. Plus, I'm sure that the Age Line the Headmaster had just put in place cares only about one's actual age, not their legal status." Blaise merely shrugged in response.
"Who do you think will be submitting their names?" Tracey asked then.
"Probably everyone in their sixth or seventh year." Daphne replied. "The actual question is 'who is good enough to be the Hogwarts Champion'. And, I think, from our House that would be just Higgs and maybe Warrington."
"Hm…" Her friend hummed.
While they were talking, Headmaster Dumbledore had explained that the Tournament will consist of three separate tasks, each designed to test the Champions' Magical prowess, cunning, their daring and their ability to cope with danger. He also said that those wishing to submit their name had only twenty four hours as the Goblet of Fire will select the three Champions tomorrow night, right at the end of the Halloween feast.
"...Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all." Dumbledore finished.
Since most students didn't have a habit of carrying pieces of parchment and quills with them all the time, only a couple of seventh years went to submit their names into the Goblet of Fire. Everyone else headed back to their dormitories. And, naturally, the Triwizard Tournament and its tasks were one of the many topics people talked about. The clique of Harry and his friends was no different.
"What do you think the tasks will be?" Blaise asked.
"I hope they will be interesting to watch." Tracey said with a nod. "Imagine if they make the Champions retrieve something from the bottom of the Black lake? I doubt people will find watching the surface of the water for Merlin-knows how long very entertaining."
"Agreed." Harry said.
"I hope there will be something really flashy, though." The girl continued. "Would be really cool if they brought in a dragon or something for one of the tasks, but the Headmaster said that the tasks won't be too dangerous, so, I guess, no luck with that."
"Tracey…" Daphne hissed.
"C'mon, don't you want to see a live dragon up close?" Tracey asked back.
"Won't deny that." The Greengrass heiress admitted. "But I'd rather not watch a dragon try to roast someone in the arena for my entertainment." This sentiment was shared by everyone in the Clique.
That's all, folks!
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