Story Arc 6, Chapter 7

Friday morning Harry packed up an overnight bag to spend the night with the Tonks. Neville was going to floo over there about ten. Andi had asked Harry to come over earlier so she could do a check-up to see how he was responding to the potions he had been on. He was hoping he'd be able to stop taking them soon. He'd already grown several inches and put on a bit of weight. His appetite had grown and now he was almost eating as much as Ron did on his first helping.

After breakfast, Harry hugged Sirius and Remus and told them to play nicely with each other. Andi had made the Wolfsbane potion for Remus so she knew it was done properly. He was off through the floo and promptly skidded out on his knees. Dora was there and couldn't help laughing, "Hey, squirt! For someone so graceful on a broom, it sure doesn't carry over to other things."

Harry stuck his tongue out and said, "Well, at least I don't trip over my own two feet!"

Thus ensued a quick chase around the sitting room before Andi came in and put a stop to it. Dora was on her way to the Ministry to pull a late morning shift.

Andi transfigured the sofa into an examination table and had Harry get up on it. She waved her wand and waited as the parchment finished writing.

"This is an improvement over when I first checked you and even moreso from when Poppy checked you last month. I'd like to keep you on the potions through next month, though. Your bone density is still a little low, but otherwise, you are a completely healthy young wizard. How do you feel?"

Harry knew he couldn't get by with his stock answer of 'I'm fine.' "I feel pretty good. I still can't eat as much as others my age, but it's getting better."

"How about your sleep? Any nightmares?"

"Sleeping's good. No nightmares since that thing is out of my head."

"No problems after your time in the Department of Mysteries?"

"No. It bothered me at first, and I talked to my mind healer about it, but I understand it wasn't me who killed all of those people. It was Voldemort."

"Excellent! Once Neville gets here, we're going to go over the basics you should have learned before you even brewed your first potion. I'm going to teach you the proper way to prepare your ingredients and why you stir clockwise for one potion and counterclockwise for another. Then I'm going to give you a potion from each year and have you make it. Once we've done that, we'll stop and see where you need further help."

"That sounds wonderful, Aunt Andi! Snape never taught us any of those things."

"If I hadn't been tutoring Dora, she would have never passed that portion of the Auror entrance exam. Speaking of which, has Sirius told you that you're invited to Dora's Auror Academy graduation next week?"

"He did. I'm looking forward to it!'

Neville came through the floo and Andi led them into the kitchen. She had different vegetables to use to mimic more expensive ingredients, but she did have some of the actual ingredients as well. She had fluxweed, shrivelfigs, daisy roots, and porcupine quills among others. Once she was satisfied they understood the different types of preparation, she went over stirring and heat adjustments. Finally, they were ready to try a real potion.

The first thing they tried was the cure for boils. Neville whimpered when he remembered how his cauldron had blown up, but with the calm guidance from Andi, he was able to make a flawless potion. They also made swelling and shrinking solutions. Both were more than acceptable. Both boys were happy with their results.

With the work over, the fun could begin. Harry took Neville into the sitting room and searched through the videos for one he thought Neville would like. He pulled out the first Star Wars movie and they sat back and had a good time watching it. Neville was amazed with all that he saw.

Then they called Hermione on the telephone and let Neville talk to her. He didn't understand how they could be hundreds of miles apart and still sound like she was in the same room.

Ted came home a little early so they all piled into the car and headed to the local pizzeria. Neville's head kept going back and forth with all of the new experiences. He discovered that pizza had to be the best food ever. And all of the different combinations just made his head swim!

The next morning after breakfast, the boys went their separate ways. Andi promised them another potions lesson next Friday morning. It wouldn't be quite as long as they had Dora's graduation in the afternoon. Harry thought about asking if Hermione could come but realized that it would be boring to her, so he just kept it between himself and Neville.

- Scene Break -

It was a quiet weekend at Alphard's Place. Hermione and her parents had come for a short visit Saturday afternoon. Hermione and Harry were able to show them some of the things they had been learning. Hermione wanted to see Harry's Patronus again. Prongs was even more vibrant in his colors. Hermione had to hold her parents' hands for them to see it, but they did.

"You have got to teach me that, Harry. Please?"

Harry laughed, "Remus is the teacher here, I just followed his directions. The main thing is finding that happy memory. I don't think the memory itself is what is important, but the feelings it generates."

Remus interjected, "And you would be correct, Harry. But getting people to recall happy feelings is a lot harder than having them focus on a happy memory and transferring those feelings over. If I'd told you to think of happy feelings, what would you have done?"

"I don't know. I had enough trouble finding a happy memory and feel it. Just trying to remember some random happy feelings would have been impossible," replied Harry.

"Miss Granger, I suspect it won't take you nearly as long to learn the charm and I think you have the magical strength to do it. Let me show you the wand movements, then give it a try."

Remus worked with Hermione for a few minutes, then stepped back. Hermione closed her eyes for a moment, then set her mind. She called out firmly, "Expecto Patronum!"

While she didn't get a full patronus, she did get wisps of gray mist from her wand. She tried it several more times, before she had to stop due to exhaustion.

"I think you almost have it. You need to take a look at your memory and see if there's something stronger you could use. Next time you're over, you can try it again. The Patronus Charm takes a lot of magical strength as well. Once you get it down, we'll teach you how to use it to send messages," said Remus.

Hermione was extremely pleased. She would have been happier if she'd gotten the full spell right away, but it was a NEWT level and above spell. There was still plenty of time left in the holidays to complete it.

Michelle and Ian had really taken a liking to Sirius and were getting used to Remus' more academic demeanor. There could be a good friendship with these two men, and with how close Harry and Hermione were, it was a good friendship to cultivate.

Harry said, "Oh! I know what I keep meaning to ask you. When do you have some time to go to Gringotts?"

Hermione replied, "Why do I need to go to Gringotts?"

"I think you should do an Inheritance Test. I was talking to my account manager after all of the Death Eaters died and about how scarily brilliant you were. When I told him your name, he thought you could be related to a line that squibbed out a while back. I told him I'd bring you in when you could and we'd get it done."

Michelle said, "That's quite thoughtful of you, Harry. I think we'd like to be with you when you do. We don't have another day off until we break for our holidays, so maybe next Saturday?"

"I'll owl Griphook and see if he's available. Does ten sound like a good time?"

Ian replied, "That sounds good to us."

- Scene Break -

Sirius, Remus, and Harry spent some time over the next few days visiting sites that Harry had never seen before. They went into London and hopped aboard the Hop On/Hop Off bus near Victoria Station and took a tourist's view of London. They got off at a couple of stops for a closer look. Then there was the scenic cruise up the Thames. They stopped at the London Eye and went on it, having bought tickets in advance.

Tuesday morning, Sirius and Harry headed to the Ministry to discuss the Triwizard Contest. Instead of in Amelia's office, it was in a larger conference room nearby. Besides the Minister, Sirius and Harry were the Headmaster, Barty Crouch, Sr., Ludo Bagman, Amos Diggory, Rufus Scrimgeour, and an Unspeakable. The Unspeakable winked at Harry, so he figured it must be Croaker.

Amelia started things off, "Alright everyone, let's make this short and sweet. Convince me that we need to host the Triwizard Tournament. I'll start with Albus."

Albus pontificated, "The Tournament has been around for a millennium. It allows the three European schools to compete for the top honor and give the winning school bragging rights until the next tournament. It gives the three schools a chance to meet other students from different backgrounds. I thought now was a good time to bring it back."

Amelia asked, "Was this another of your plots to persuade Voldemort to make an appearance?"

"Amelia! I'm horrified that you would think so little of me. Of course, I was only thinking of the students."

Sirius said under his breath, "Bullshit."

Unfortunately, it wasn't far enough under his breath. Amelia said, "Lord Black, do you have something to add?"

"Based on Albus' previous history since Harry's been at Hogwarts, and the fact that Peter Pettigrew had escaped to go find his Master, I think it's a pretty safe bet that this was another scheme to drive Moldyshorts out of hiding. However, now it is a moot point, so what purpose is there to bringing back a tournament that's seen more participants killed or maimed than survived?"

"I still think it would be a format for inter-school cooperation and a chance for students to learn about other cultures," replied Albus.

Harry asked, "So each school has a champion and they compete in a couple of tasks. What else is there for others to do? Will they be joining our classes or bringing their own teachers?"

"I believe each school is bringing teachers for their core courses, but some may join our classes if they so desire."

Harry asked, "Are these students in all age groups or just one?"

"One of the safety protocols in place is that every participant must be of age. To enforce it, I'll be drawing an age line around the Goblet."

"So, these are all going to be NEWT students?" queried Harry.

"Precisely," replied Albus.

Harry took a deep breath and said, "I agree with Sirius' comment. You're going to take a portion of the NEWT students away from their schools at a critical point in their academic careers and throw them into this tournament. Other than a couple of tasks,"

Albus interrupted, "Three tasks."

"Right. Other than these three tasks, I doubt there will be much intermingling except maybe in the library. As far as the fifth years and below, we won't care. And as for your age line, is that anything like not going to the third-floor corridor on the left side unless you want to meet a painful death?"

Albus was shocked by Harry's vehemence, "I'm confident the age line will have the desired effect."

Sirius interjected, "What's to prevent someone from standing outside of the age line and dropping an entry into the goblet? Or having an of-age student do it for him/her. Or what's to prevent someone from putting someone else's name in there?"

Harry said, "Yeah, a first-year who's just learned the levitation charm could put someone's name in."

Amelia said, "Well, I think that just shot a big hole through your age line plan, Albus. Unspeakable Number One, can you tell us more about the Goblet of Fire?"

"A lot has been studied about the goblet but not much is known. We theorize that the goblet scans the magical signature on the paper to match it with a person. Unfortunately, there's another theory that it scans the magical signature of the person who places the paper in it and the contract is made with them that way."

Sirius asked, "So if I put Harry's name in the Goblet as a prank, who would be bound to compete?"

"We don't know. The safest thing would be to have both the person who put the name in and the person named to participate. Otherwise, one or both could lose their magic."

"WHAT!" was exclaimed around the table.

Amelia was quick, "What do you mean they'll lose their magic?"

"The Goblet of Fire establishes a binding magical contract with the participant it selects. That contract forces the champion to participate in each designated task to the best of their ability. Failure to do so can, and has, cost a champion their magic."

Amelia said, "No. No. No. Absolutely not! I will not risk the lives of our young for the sake of a silly contest. There will be no Goblet of Fire in this if we do end up keeping it. Albus, what were you thinking about when you decided to use it?"

"My dear Minister, the Goblet has been used throughout history for the Triwizard Tournament. What do you suggest?"

"Each school have their own preliminary rounds to select their champion. I'm sure you can come up with several ideas such as a dueling tournament or other challenge to suss out the best prospect," she replied.

"As you wish," replied Albus.

"Amos, what was your role in this? I'd heard something about beasts being imported for the tasks."

"We've already sent a request to the Romanian Dragon Preserve for three nesting mother dragons and their clutches for the first task. I've sent a request to Egypt for a Sphinx for the last task. Albus has talked to the merpeople for the second task. I've also talked to Hagrid about supplying some other animals from the school. He's already promised an acromantula. He also has an experimental creature he's using for his class that he calls a blast-ended skrewt that he'll lend us as well. We can get a boggart from somewhere, too."

Amelia was getting a headache, "No. Absolutely not! There will be no nesting mother dragons. Are you insane? It takes six trained dragon handlers to subdue one dragon and you're going to put a student in front of one? Not happening during my administration. And you're telling me that the second task is IN the Black Lake? In what month?"

Ludo said, "February."

"Are you people even listening to yourselves? You want to put three students in the Black Lake in February?"

Barty said, "Not three; six. They have to rescue a hostage."

"That's it! I hereby declare that the Triwizard Tournament scheduled for the 1994-1995 academic year is officially canceled. No further efforts and monies are to be spent on this task. If I find out that this is still happening despite this declaration, I will haul you in front of the Wizengamot and let you explain to them why you want to kill our best and brightest. Does anybody have any questions or is this clear?"

Albus said, "Amelia, please. I'm sure we can come up with alternate tasks."

"No. My ruling is final. You are all excused. Lord Black and Lord Slytherin Potter, stay behind, please.

Once everyone had left, she closed the door again, "I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention. I think you can tell from what just happened that this was a fiasco waiting to happen."

Harry said, "And despite Albus' confidence in his age line, I don't share it. And I'd have bet my trust vault that my name would have come out of that goblet."

Sirius laughed, "That's a sucker bet, pup!"

"Please keep your ears to the ground in case you hear of something else like this. Who knows how many other secret plans Albus may have up his sleeve."

"No problem, Amelia."

With that, they left the building and headed to Gringotts to discuss budgeting funds for the changes at Hogwarts.