Chapter 14: It's Complicated
The first week of the term was a horrible slog for Harry. It was bad enough that Hagrid was incommunicado and that Malfoy was quoting Skeeter's horrid article at every opportunity just to rub it in; Harry also had to deal with the sniggers and the whispers from most of the fourth year Ravenclaws in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy (except for Parvati's sister, Padma, who told Anthony Goldstein to bugger off and shut up when he whispered something rude about Harry in her ear).
Hermione was the only other Gryffindor in their year who was taking either of the classes. Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass were the only Slytherins in Arithmancy, and Ernie MacMillan and Susan Bones the only Hufflepuffs in Ancient Runes, but fortunately none of them were inclined to mock Harry behind his back for being a year and a half behind the rest of the class.
The piles of homework Babbling and Vector had given him on top of all of his homework for his regular classes didn't help. After a few Arithmancy lessons, Harry felt utterly snowed under, his head spinning as he glowered at the pages of maths problems he was supposed to be solving while he sat by the fire in the common room with Hermione.
"Blimey Hermione - this stuff is bloody complicated," he grumbled. "I kind of get the basic idea of the solve for x and y or a and b stuff - that's not so bad. But what's up with quadratic equations? There's too much stuff to solve for, and how can an equation have more than one right answer anyway?"
"Well, don't worry about the quadratic equations for now, Harry," Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile. "I doubt Professor Vector really expects you to be able to do those yet. She probably just sprinkled those in to give you an idea of what's to come.
"Normally, you'd start off with the basic Algebra in the Autumn term of third year, then move on to more advanced Algebra in the Winter and Spring terms, all while getting an overview of its application to Predictive Algorithms and Numerology."
"Predictive what?"
"Algorithms. Predictive Algorithms are all about predicting probable future events and patterns, and Numerology is about the numerical values associated with, well... everything really. Letters in words, names, dates of events, number of planets, physical attributes, etc. ... Put Predictive Algorithms and Numerology together and you have Arithmancy."
Confused, Harry felt like slamming his head into the table, but he restrained himself, knowing that would be rather painful. But he did manage to get one idea out of what Hermione had just said.
"So it's about telling the future, then? Isn't that sort of like Divination?"
"No - not really!" Hermione's tone was mildly haughty. "Divination is very woolly, and based more on intuition, yet it makes absolute claims about what is going to happen in the future. I suppose in the hands of seers with a strong natural talent it could be meaningful. But it's fairly useless for most people.
"Arithmancy on the other hand, is very precise, much more scientific, and in some applications it only speaks in terms of probable outcomes based on evaluating past and current patterns and projecting them into the future. ... But it's so much more than that! Arithmancy also has applications in Alchemy, and in the creation of highly complex spells, and loads of other things."
"Bollocks!" Harry groaned. "It figures! Voldemort probably knows all this sort of stuff backwards and forwards, and I'm going to be totally rubbish at it!"
"You'll be fine, Harry," Hermione reassured him. "You have a strong natural talent for magic, and your magic is very powerful, like Dumbledore said. In the end, that's much more important when it comes to performing magic than knowing all there is to know about Arithmancy.
"All that matters is that you manage to do reasonably well enough to pass - and I expect that you'll eventually be much better than you think you will be. Anyway, that's probably why Professor Vector is trying to cram regular and advanced Algebra into the Winter/Spring term for you - so you'll eventually be able to catch up... maybe by this time next year, if I help you study over the summer..."
Harry felt his heart give a little flutter. "Er... summer?"
"Yes, I'll be able to visit you at your Aunt and Uncle's won't I? ... Now that you're allowed to do magic whenever you need to, they probably won't be inclined to say no." Hermione peered at Harry earnestly. "I can come on the Knight Bus once a week - I was going to anyway so we could spend some time together, but I'll be able to help you study too.
"And then after your birthday, you can go anywhere you want, right? You could stay with the Weasleys and I'll visit you there. Or..." Hermione paused and bit her lip, looking hopeful, fluttering her eyelashes shyly. "Or you could hire a room at the Leaky Cauldron - I'd be able to see you nearly every day then. My parents... we live in London, near Hampstead Heath."
Harry grinned. Summer! He was going to see Hermione over the summer.
"Yeah!" said Harry quietly, his green eyes shining. "Yeah, that sounds great!"
~o0o~
Ancient Runes actually turned out to be much more fun than Harry had thought it would be. He wasn't any good at translating Runes - though Harry reckoned that probably wouldn't be so hard once he actually learned it - but apparently he took to the calligraphy and carving like a fish to water, even though he'd never really done anything artistic before.
In fact, Harry did so well at copying out runes with his ink brushes that, much to his embarrassment, Professor Babbling held up his third assignment to the class as being an example of the sort of attention to detail she expected to see from her fourth year students. Red-faced though he was, Harry took some satisfaction in Anthony Goldstein's jealous scowl.
The rest of Harry's time was taken up with Beginning Occlumency and Legilimency lessons with Dumbledore (thankfully, Hermione had been eager to join in), the extra training sessions for the Triwizard Tournament with Professor Moody, and the Metamorphmagus lessons with Dora (which Hermione had also decided to sit in on, even though she couldn't be a Metamorphmagus herself).
The lessons Harry most looked forward to were Dora's, brief though they were; he might have looked forward to Professor Moody's more, but at the moment, Moody seemed keen on drilling Harry and Hermione like an Army sergeant. Moody had magically vanished the desks and conjured up a mat in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the first week had been all about calisthenics and teaching them how to fight. The only bright spot was that Dora was assisting Moody in the training.
Sweaty and sore after the first session, Harry and Hermione collapsed miserably on the mat, moaning in pain. Every muscle and joint in their bodies hurt.
"I thought this was going to be all about stunning spells and that sort of stuff," Harry groaned, looking up at Moody from the floor.
"Get used to it, Potter," the battle-hardened ex-Auror growled. "The wizard who dodges faster and lasts longer in a fight is the one who wins, and there's nothin' better than Muggle fightin' techniques to throw a wizard off his game in close quarters. Anyway, that was nothin'... it's only gonna get harder and we've gotta toughen you up a bit.
"Good thing you're a quidditch player, or you'd be in a lot worse shape," Moody added with a grunt. "And Granger's not too shabby either, all things considered. But I want you two t'keep up with the calisthenics on your own for at least half an hour every day. Do that and we'll have ye fitter than Hercules in no time." Then Moody took one last look at them with his spinning eyeball, shook his head, and lurched out of the classroom chuckling.
"Sorry 'bout that," Dora muttered, helping Hermione up as Harry staggered to his feet. "Mad Eye seems to think he's still runnin' the Auror Training Boot Camp." Then Dora retrieved two vials of potion from her bag and handed one each to Harry and Hermione. "I knew 'e'd be a bear about it, so I cadged some of these from Pomfrey - pain potions. You shouldn't need 'em after a few weeks once you get used to it."
"Thank you, Dora," said Hermione, downing the contents of her vial.
"What she said," said Harry gratefully, taking a swig from his own vial. It didn't take long for the first tingles of relief to surge and the aches began to subside.
"How's that then? Feelin' better yet?" asked Dora.
"Loads!" said Harry, grinning and feeling slightly giddy.
The end of the first full week of the term finally arrived, and for the first time ever, Harry had never been happier for a day off which didn't include quidditch. Saturday was a Hogsmeade day; Harry and Hermione decided to make a date of it. All bundled up warmly in coats and scarves, they traipsed down to the village through the snow with Dora, Ron and Neville trailing behind them.
Harry waved at Viktor who was perched on the end of a gangplank in his swimming trunks, preparing to dive into the lake.
"Blimey! He's off his nut," said Ron, gawking.
"He's probably using warming charms," Harry opined, thinking that he really ought to start practicing swimming again if he could find the time. And he and Hermione still hadn't come up with a way to breathe underwater yet, despite pillaging the school library.
Once they had arrived in the village, Harry and Hermione made a beeline for the bookstore. Neville and Ron browsed for a moment, then left Harry and Hermione to it and headed off to Zonko's which was much less boring as far as Ron was concerned.
Harry and Hermione looked in every book they could think of for something which might help Harry breathe while Dora browsed through the comic section of the newsstand. Spying a familiar looking book, Hermione lifted it from the shelf and flicked through the pages. Her eyes widened.
"Harry, look at this," she said excitedly, "I think I've found something."
"What's that then?" asked Harry.
"It's the book the fake Moody gave Neville: Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. Here, look..." Hermione held up the book open to the page for Harry to see.
"Gillyweed! Huh!" said Harry, his eyebrows popping up. "Excellent! That should work - gills..."
"...and flippers too," Hermione interjected, her expression pensive, "But the time - you'd have to be sure to take just the right amount to last an hour. If it wears off too soon... Hmm, that gives me an idea though..."
"What? ... What're you thinking, Hermione."
"Well, I was thinking, what if you could use your metamorph powers for gills and flippers? Then you wouldn't have to worry about taking too little or too much gillyweed. Your training with Dora is going quite well - in a few weeks you might be able to pull it off."
"Really?" Harry goggled at Hermione. "You think that could work?"
"I think so, Harry. But we can ask Dora and see what she thinks."
"Don't see why not," said Dora when Hermione asked her if it was possible. "You can do just about anything except change completely into an animal - you'd need to be an Animagus or use a wand and a transfiguration spell for that."
"Brilliant!" said Harry, grinning. "Bung the book in the basket then, Hermione. I'll need to study the effects of gillyweed properly if I want to mimic them."
After purchasing the book, Harry and Hermione waited for Dora to pay for the stack of comics she had collected. She blushed slightly when she saw Harry and Hermione both peering at her rather large pile.
"What're you two lookin' at? You're never too old for comics."
"Never said you were," said Harry, his face a picture of innocence.
The next stop was the village apothecary where Harry picked up a supply of Gillyweed to practice with. Following that, they looked through the whole village for Hagrid - even in Wizco, the Wizard Supermarket - but he was nowhere to be found. Along the way they passed Madam Puddifoot's where they spied Lavender and Viktor through the window, and they paid a visit to Zonko's and Honeyduke's, finally ending up in the Three Broomsticks for lunch.
Dora faded into the background to give Harry and Hermione some space, and took a seat at the bar, scanning the Pub for any potential threats. She spotted Bagman with a load of surly looking goblins at a table in the corner and rolled her eyes.
Harry scoured the Pub looking for Ron and Neville, but only saw Luna and Ginny sitting together and waving him and Hermione over.
"If you're looking for Ron and Neville, you just missed them," said Ginny. "They were finishing up lunch when we got here, just before you did."
"But you're welcome to sit with us if you'd like," Luna offered, beaming brightly.
Harry gave Hermione a questioning look. "Hermione?"
"Oh, yes, that would be lovely," said Hermione, pulling out a chair. "Thank you."
Harry was just about to plant himself in a chair too when he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned around, surprised to see Ludo Bagman grinning at him.
"Ah Harry, d'you have a moment?"
"Er..."
"Splendid!" said Bagman, taking Harry's "Er..." for a yes.
He steered Harry towards the furthest end of the bar, away from everyone else. Dora frowned, her eyes never once leaving Bagman.
"So, er, what's this all about?" asked Harry, feeling bewildered and unnerved. It seemed strange that Bagman was here in Hogsmeade when there was no Triwizard event scheduled.
"Just thought further congratulations regarding the Dragon were in order," said Bagman, cagily glancing back at the goblins. "A most ingenious performance, I must say."
"Er... thank you?" said Harry, still feeling puzzled; surely Bagman hadn't dragged him away from his date just to congratulate him again. Ludo Bagman's shifty blue eyes darted around, then he leaned in uncomfortably close and lowered his voice.
"Actually Harry, I was just curious, how're you getting on with that Egg, then? Need any help with the clue?"
"Er... isn't that against the rules? I thought we were supposed to work them out for ourselves," Harry answered, more perplexed than ever.
"Ah, well, er... I feel a bit bad about all this, Harry ... I know you didn't ask to be in the tournament after all ... just reckoned you could use all the help you could get to give you a fair shot ... you know, considering how much older the other champions are and all that."
"Oh," said Harry, suddenly certain that there was something Bagman wasn't telling him. "I'm alright. I've got it worked out already, thanks!"
"I see..." Bagman looked strangely disappointed. "Right then, good luck Harry."
Bagman gave Harry a pat on the back and returned to the table with the Goblins. They all leaned in and spoke in hushed tones. Several Goblins cracked their knuckles and scowled menacingly at Harry as he made his way back to the table with Hermione, Luna, and Ginny.
"What was that all about?" asked Hermione, frowning.
"I'm not sure really," Harry replied. "Bagman wanted to know if I'd worked out the Egg clue and offered to help me with it - which is kind of weird, considering, er... you know what..."
"That doesn't seem very fair," said Luna.
"It's not," Harry agreed. "But there's something a bit more to it. Bagman kept looking at the Goblins and seemed a bit out of sorts when I said I'd figured it out already."
"Hmm... I wonder, Harry..." Hermione bit her lip as the gears in her brain began spinning. "This seems to be another piece of evidence indicating that Bagman is involved, though he could be working with more than just someone at the Ministry or Malfoy as we surmised he might be. He could be working with some Goblins as well - especially if he owed them money. He might have been trying to see how much you know and set you up for the Second Task."
"What do you mean?" asked Ginny, looking very puzzled as this was the first she had heard about any of this.
"Well, Ludo Bagman's one of the Tournament organisers," Hermione answered, looking very concerned. "And Professor Moody seems to think that someone at the Ministry had planned all along to get Harry into the Triwizard Tournament to do him in or discredit him. So we think that Bagman is probably involved, as he was one of the only ones with access to the Goblet of Fire.
"But if Bagman and the Goblins are gambling on the outcome of the Triwizard events, he could also be trying to rig the Tasks so they can all make a lot of money. There's a good chance that Bagman was hoping to steer Harry in the wrong direction about the Egg clue and bet against him in the Second Task.
"It's loads easier to fix someone to lose than it is to fix them to win... Shady sports promoters do it all the time in the muggle world - especially if they're associated with gangsters. Sometimes they sabotage the athletes, or even bribe them to take a fall."
"Hang on," said Harry, his eyes widening, picturing Ludo with a gang of mobsters like those on television crime shows. "so you think he might actually be working with those Goblins as well aswith someone else at the Ministry or Malfoy to do me in?"
"Yes! It seems very likely."
"So that's three lots of people probably working against me, and Bagman's dealing with two of them. ... Blimey this is getting complicated! ... But if anyone looks like a load of gangsters, those Goblins sure do."
"Probably," Hermione nodded. "Anyway, I expect that's also one of the reasons why you ended up with the Hungarian Horntail for the First Task, Harry. After all, it's the worst of the lot - the largest, most vicious Dragon on the planet."
Harry groaned. "Yeah, that all seems to fit - facing any sort of Dragon was bad enough considering I'm only in fourth year, but of course I had to get the Horntail! I was beginning to think the universe just had it out for me..."
"Maybe it does," Ginny sighed. "Look..."
"Oh no!" Hermione moaned.
Harry turned around to see who had just entered the pub and stiffened; the muscles in his jaw started to twitch as his stomach began to churn with anger. He would recognise those brassy curls, scarlet fingernails and lips, and bejeweled spectacles anywhere.
"Skeeter," he hissed.
As if on cue, Rita Skeeter made a beeline towards the table wearing a toothy crocodile grin. The blinding flash of a camera bulb went off and everyone at the table was seeing spots.
"My, my, what a scrumptious little gathering..." Rita Skeeter devoured the scene with hungry eyes. "So, Harry, care to tell the Daily Prophet's readers how you and your paramour came to share the companionship of two more delightful young girls?"
"Sure! They're called friends!" Harry retorted, "I don't suppose you've ever heard of those! Hagrid's my friend too! ... Is that how you get your kicks? ...ruining people's lives?"
Skeeter's eyes narrowed, her smile stiffening. "Just looking after the public's interest, deary. People have a right to know!"
"Right to know what?" shouted Harry. "So what if Hagrid's half-giant? He wouldn't hurt a fly - and Lupin wouldn't either. But you wouldn't know about that because you'd rather print lies!"
"And what public interest are you serving by following us around everywhere taking our pictures all the time?" Hermione snapped. "You horrid woman! Why won't you just leave us all alone?"
The entire tavern went very quiet as they watched the altercation unfold. Bagman and the Goblins took advantage of the distraction to slip out of the back door unnoticed.
"Now, now, you silly little girl." Skeeter's voice turned icy. "You have no idea. ... If you think Harry's story belongs to him, then you certainly don't know how the fame thing works!"
"Harry never asked to be famous!" Hermione was livid now. "You have no right..."
"I have every right," Skeeter snapped. "It's called freedom of the press..."
"Freedom to lie, you mean," Harry snorted.
"I think I've had enough of arguing with children." Skeeter huffed, gesturing at her photographer. "Come Bozo, we've got plenty for now." Skeeter shot Harry and Hermione a nasty looking smirk as she turned to stalk off, sending a little shiver up Harry's spine.
As she turned to leave, Rita Skeeter stumbled and fell to the floor with a shriek. She peered angrily at her broken scarlet fingernail. Skeeter's photographer helped her to her feet and she whirled around, glowering at Harry Potter and his little friends, looking for signs of a wand.
Harry looked back at Rita innocently and she stormed out of the pub. Tonks winked at Harry from the bar and surreptitiously slid her wand back into the sleeve of her parka.
"Sorry about all that," Harry sighed, peering apologetically at Luna and Ginny. "I can't seem to avoid attracting attention..."
"It's not your fault, Harry," said Ginny. "You don't have to apologise."
"Rita Skeeter's horrible!" said Luna matter-of-factly. "Daddy says she makes stuff up all the time because she works for a secret department of the Ministry to make the Ministry's enemies look bad."
Neither Harry nor Hermione knew what to make of that. It didn't seem as unlikely as it sounded, considering that apparently Bagman and mysterious others associated with Ministry were plotting against Harry.
Lunch was a bit subdued, but despite feeling slightly better with tummies full of fish and chips and butterbeers, Hermione was still furious. She looked as angry as Harry had ever seen her as they trudged back up to the castle with Dora, perhaps as enraged as the time Hermione had broken Malfoy's nose. Harry was still cross too, but his anger was tempered by his feelings of guilt for having drawn Skeeter's attention.
Hermione had had enough. She marched through the piles of snow up to Hagrid's cabin and began hammering on the door with both of her gloved little fists. Icicles fell from the eaves as the hut shook and Fang barked from the other side.
"HAGRID!" she bellowed. "COME OUT! ... WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE! ... WE DON'T CARE IF YOUR MUM WAS A GIANTESS! WE'RE YOUR FRIENDS! ... YOU CAN'T LET THAT LOATHESOME WOMAN DO THIS TO YOU! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND STAND UP FOR YOURSELF..."
The door of Hagrid's cabin swung open with a creak and Hermione tumbled backwards into Harry's arms, shock and embarrassment all over her face at the sight of Dumbledore's serene features gazing down at her...
Chapter 15: Taken By Surprise
In a deep cavern, seated around a long wooden table, several Goblins argued noisily, banging their fists on the table to punctuate their points, while the other Goblins took hefty swigs of frothy Goblin Ale from their tankards and chuckled.
The cavern wasn't a nasty, slimy, wet cavern filled with wriggling worms and burrowing beetles, but it wasn't exactly a comfortable Hobbit Hole either. It was the main hall of a Goblin Warren, and that meant hard, but clean, smoothed surfaces carved from the stone walls and floor. Highly polished stalagmites and stalactites posed as pillars, glittering in the flickering light of the burning torches and candles.
Intricately detailed murals and pictures were etched into the stone walls, and the wooden table and chairs, rigid though they were, were masterfully sculpted. The tankards which held the ale, and the platters piled high with seared wild boar shanks, roasted potatoes, and boiled beets were made of ornately engraved and delicately moulded spun silver, belying the rough-hewn manners of the Goblin Artisans who had crafted them.
The arguing Goblins didn't notice when an enormous, fat, jowly Goblin entered the cavern, accompanied by two bodyguards and a slender, sly looking Goblin with spectacles and a goatee, but those drinking ale hastily set their tankards on the table.
"Hem...hem," the sly looking Goblin coughed to get everyone's attention. The quarreling Goblins immediately shut up.
"Sorry Chief Bloodaxe!" muttered the one closest to the head of the long table. The rotund Goblin commandingly tugged at the lapels of his finely tailored business suit and narrowed his eyes.
"Don't care!" Chief Bloodaxe grunted coldly. "I just want to know what Bagman has to say for himself, Grimnut. According to Accountant Gutripper, we lost 10,000 galleons on the First Task."
"Ten thousand and nineteen galleons, eleven sickles, and six knuts, to be precise," the goateed accountant interjected, trailing off and gulping when Chief Bloodaxe glared at him.
"Anyone else care to interrupt?" The Chief snarled, his lips curling savagely.
The bodyguards to either side of Chief Bloodaxe leered menacingly as if they were hoping that someone would interrupt the boss, flexing their spindly fingers as they gripped their black market, muggle-made machine guns. The cavern was silent.
"Thought not!" Chief Bloodaxe snapped. "Now back to business," he growled, "Potter tied for first place in the First Task! He wasn't even supposed to get past second. What went wrong? And how does Bagman intend to fix it?"
"According to Bagman, the Champions were tipped off that the First Task was Dragons and they had a chance to prepare," said Grimnut quickly. "Potter still got the Horntail like Bagman promised, and Bagman sabotaged the chain binding Potter's Dragon as well, but as you know, Potter managed to obtain his broom and out-fly the beast."
There were a number of raised eyebrows around the table.
"Still can't figure out how Potter pulled that off," grumbled another Goblin. "Shouldn't be possible to out-fly a Dragon - especially not a Horntail."
"Bagman suspects that one of the Dark Lord's former supporters might've had a hand in that, Skullcrusher," Grimnut proffered in response. "Apparently, one had infiltrated the tournament disguised as a former Auror subbing as a professor. He was apprehended over the Christmas Holidays - but the whole thing is being kept hushed up by the Ministry.
"Anyway, Bagman thinks that the supporter somehow slipped the Dragon a mickey to make it easier for Potter to win."
"That doesn't make any bloody sense!" exclaimed Skullcrusher, scratching his head. "Why would a Dark Lord supporter be trying to help Potter?"
"Beats me!" Grimnut shrugged. "Bagman got his info from the Senior Undersecretary, but he's pretty sure she's holding out on him. He didn't press her on the issue though, 'cause for the time-being she's on board with Bagman on upping the ante for the Second Task.
"Seems she's got a beef with Potter too, and she gave Bagman the go ahead to throw something extra at Potter - maybe Kelpies or a Sea Serpent. Bagman's still working on that, so we should be better situated now that the Dark Lord's former supporter is out of the picture."
"Should be?" hissed Chief Bloodaxe, grinding his sharp, pointy teeth. "I don't want 'should be!' I need a guarantee that Potter won't come anywhere near close to first place this time! See to it yourself, Grimnut - don't leave it up to those Ministry idiots to bungle things again! Potter needs to go down by any means necessary, even if you have to take him out."
"Y...yes, Chief!" Grimnut stammered nervously. "No problem! I'm all over it."
~o0o~
Following Hagrid's tearful agreement to return to work, Harry found himself flat on his back in the snow, the recipient of Hermione's heated affections. Hermione's burning kisses kept him toasty warm even as the snow began falling again, and he returned to the castle with a big soppy grin all over his face.
Both feeling much better about things, Sunday began with a few hours of studying with very little prodding by Hermione, eager as Harry was to catch up, followed by an afternoon which included an hour of flying with Viktor, a game of Exploding Snap with Ron and Neville, and a bit more snogging with Hermione (this time in the boathouse).
The second week of the term was no less busy than the first, but it was a bit less arduous as Harry began to settle into his new schedule. It was during Runes, when Professor Babbling assigned Harry to read up on using Runes to ward against fire, and write a foot of parchment for homework, that Harry found himself considering that he probably should learn a Rune sequence to ward against freezing to death in the icy cold water of the Black Lake during the Second Task. Another thought popped into his head - a memory really - of a brief conversation between Hermione and Professor Babbling during the Yule Ball.
"Psst... Hermione," he whispered, looking up from his book. Hermione stopped what she was doing: working out the Rune sequence to ward homes and furniture against termites.
"What's up, Harry?" she murmured back. "Do you need help with the translation?"
"No," Harry shook his head. "I was just thinking about the Second Task. Didn't you do a paper about warding boats against Water Sprites and Water Demons back in December?"
"Oh, yes I did!" said Hermione, her eyes lighting up with sudden comprehension. "Are you wondering...?"
"...whether they would work on people?" Harry nodded. "Yeah, I was."
"Well," Hermione bit her lip, frowning pensively as she considered the question. "I suppose they might actually, though they would need some adjustments to the sequences to work on living beings - humans specifically - rather than wooden boats. I'd be happy to work some out for you."
"Brilliant!" Harry grinned. "Then I can practice tattooing them on myself."
"We'll have to consider all the most likely creatures you'll find in the lake, of course - besides the Merpeople - though I don't think Runes would work against them, not that it would be very likely that you would need Runes against them. There are sure to be Grindylows, though Water Sprites are possible I suppose..."
"What about Kappa, or Sea Serpents or Kelpies?" asked Harry.
"Kappa are very unlikely to be found in the Black Lake as they're Japanese Water Demons - in any case, there are no Norse or Gaelic Runes to counter Kappa." Hermione pointed out. "As to Sea Serpents or Kelpies, neither are native to the Black Lake, which is good as they're extremely dangerous."
"But what if the Triwizard Committee add some in, just to make things more difficult?"
Hermione paled, her eyes widening with shock.
"Oh no!" she gasped. "You're right, Harry. I doubt the Committee would officially allow it, but with Bagman involved... I'll look into it right away. If I can't find any Runes for Kelpies, you might have to learn a Placement Charm - though you'd need a bridle - that could be a problem..." Hermione trailed off and began searching her book bag.
Harry swallowed anxiously and returned to reading his book, Ancient Runes Made Easy. Unable to concentrate now on the fire warding Runes, Harry flipped ahead to find the cold warding Runes. He frowned when he found them, reckoning it might take a few days at least to master them.
Harry had been hoping to use them instead of a Warming Charm, as Professor Moody had said he could return to swimming daily in lieu of regular Calisthenics; but Warming Charms tended to wear off and needed redoing several times during a swim session. Hermione knew cold warding Runes already of course, but she had never practiced inking Runes on a person before.
Resigned to the situation, Harry went on with the rest of his classes with Hermione, which ended with Care of Magical Creatures. Happily, Hagrid was back and he was continuing the lessons with Unicorns.
"I hope yeh were all payin' attention ter Grubbly-Plank... she's right on the mark abou' how dangerous the adult Unicorns can be to mos' lads," Hagrid said cheerfully.
"They migh' not have fangs..." he added, looking vaguely disappointed, "but they c'n still take care o' themselves with their horns. Right deadly they can be if yer not careful," Hagrid concluded, brightening up again.
"Anyway, got sump'n special fer yeh today," he continued, "Brought yeh a couple o' Unicorn foals, an' they might let yeh touch 'em too, lads ...if yer real quiet an' calm like."
Parvati and Lavender squeaked happily, and even Pansy Parkinson couldn't conceal her delight when she saw the foals.
"Oooh, they're so sweet," said Pansy, sounding most unlike her usual self.
Taking first turn with one of the foals, Lavender and Parvati made little cooing sounds as they stroked its silky golden coat and mane.
Hermione beamed at Harry, feeling a surge of elation as they petted the other foal together. The foal nuzzled them both, nibbling at the shiny red apple which Hagrid had given them as he was passing them around to the class.
Following Lavender and Parvati, Neville and Ron took a turn. Neville was besotted with the foal, practically cradling it in his arms, but Ron hung back a bit, giving it a couple of tentative gentle pats as he warily eyed the baby Unicorn's mother, who was giving Ron an equally wary look. Dean cautiously approached when Ron stepped back to hang out with Seamus.
Spying the mother Unicorn nearby, Harry thought he ought to say hello again, and went to give it a pet, leaving Hermione to it. Hermione knew she ought to get up and give Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson a turn, but she wasn't quite ready to just yet.
Daphne gave Pansy a little nudge and whispered something in her ear. Pansy shot her a dubious look. Hermione thought she heard Daphne say something like, "...she won't bite," and saw her give Pansy a little push. Pansy rolled her eyes, muttering, "fine," under her breath. She approached Hermione and the foal a bit stiffly.
"Er, do you mind?" Pansy asked, sounding a bit nervous as she knelt down to pet the foal.
"Oh! Of course not. I'm sorry," said Hermione as she started to get up.
"It's okay," said Pansy, heaving a sigh and glancing back at Daphne who was giving her a thumbs up and nodding, "You don't have to go."
"Are you sure?" asked Hermione, taken by surprise.
"Yeah," Pansy nodded as she ran her fingers through the Unicorn's mane. She hesitated, looking a bit sheepish, then continued. "Er, I... erm, I know I've always been pretty horrible to you, and I know you might not believe it, but I'm really sorry, Hermione! For everything! ... Daphne and I, well, we've, er... we've sort of been rethinking things a bit lately. We reckon you and Potter... er... aren't so bad really."
"What?" Hermione gaped in astonishment, not quite sure that she was hearing right. Pansy reddened.
"Honestly," said Pansy, "it was when Potter made that comment about liking you just the way you are, and said he was sorry that Draco wanted me to get a nose-job that got me thinking. I know Potter was just getting in a dig at Draco, but it... it was true! Draco did want me to get a nose-job to go to the Ball with him - and I was going to until Potter said that.
"I... er... I think you're pretty lucky to have Potter as a boyfriend - he treats you right. Daphne thinks so too. ... Zabini's about the only guy in our year in Slytherin who has any manners at all - he and Daphne are dating now - and we all think that Draco is a knob. ... It made us rethink some, er... other things as well..." Pansy trailed off, leaving the "other things" undefined, her cheeks taking on an even deeper shade of red bordering on scarlet as she bit her lower lip.
"Er... Wow!" said Hermione, still shocked, not sure what else to say; Pansy's meaning was all too clear, "That's, er... erm..."
Pansy pursed her lips in a little half-smile,
"Yeah! I know - weird, right? Anyway, Daphne and I just wanted you to know that we'll be laying off you from now on, okay."
"Thank you, Pansy," said Hermione, finally pulling herself together; she warmly returned Pansy's smile. "I hope the other Slytherins don't give you too hard of a time for talking to me."
Pansy snorted. "They can all go stuff their heads in a toilet if they don't like it, for all I care," she said, rising to her feet; Hermione stood up as well. "Anyway, maybe we can talk again some time... Hermione."
"That would be lovely," said Hermione, beaming as she and Pansy moved out of the way to give Daphne and Blaise Zabini a chance to pet the Unicorn foal. "How about next weekend? Harry and I are quite busy during the week at the moment..."
Draco stood a distance away, fuming as he watched the scene unfold. He couldn't believe what he was seeing - Pansy and Granger, chumming it up like they were best friends? What the hell was happening?
It was the last straw! Furious, Draco scowled to see Potter stroking the adult Unicorn's nose again after watching the foal eating out of the palm of his and Granger's hands. Putting all thoughts aside about the "girlyness" of Unicorns, Draco marched up to take a turn with the Unicorn foal which Blaise and Daphne were petting. The foal squealed when Draco drew near. Daphne and Blaise looked up to see what had upset the foal; Blaise shot Draco a look of warning. Ignoring Blaise's look and the foal's squeals, Draco kept approaching.
The adult Unicorn snorted in alarm and strained at its bond at the sound of distress coming from one of its young. Alarmed, Harry stopped petting the Unicorn and turned to see what was going on. At that very moment, the tether snapped and the Unicorn charged at Draco, whinnying angrily, kicking up clouds of snow as it thundered towards him. Draco's face paled - eyes wide with terror, he ran for it, shrieking like an infant with a wet nappy.
Hagrid nearly panicked when the row caught his attention, but panic quickly turned to outrage. His beard bristling with fury, Hagrid lunged for the galloping Unicorn, muttering, "Bloody idiot's gone an' done it again," under his breath. Hagrid only barely managed to catch it in time before it skewered Malfoy with its spiral horn.
Many of the other students began laughing as Hagrid shut the cross Unicorn in the paddock. Draco shot Greengrass and Zabini a malevolent glare, certain that they had spooked the foal. Zabini responded with a smirk and flipped the bird at him.
"Bloody Rhinoceros!" Draco spat venomously, eyeing the Unicorn which Hagrid was still trying to calm down. "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go... I'm done with this! We're dropping this stupid class."
Hagrid looked cheered, and a smattering of applause broke out among the Gryffindors at Malfoy's proclamation. Though a few were mildly disappointed.
"Shame Hagrid caught it," sighed Ron, a wistful expression on his face as he imagined Malfoy impaled and gored by the Unicorn.
Seamus sniggered and Neville nodded, laughing his head off and gasping for breath as he clutched a stitch in his side. Harry and Dean chortled gleefully. Even Hermione couldn't help laughing, though she was quite thankful that Hagrid had caught the Unicorn, as she was sure that he wouldn't be able to avoid being sacked this time if he hadn't.
~o0o~
After classes had finished for the day, still cheerful, Harry stood with Hermione - in dark blue swimming trunks and a one-piece lilac swimsuit respectively - near the edge of the ice shelf nearly twenty metres from the shore, shivering, before they cast Warming Charms on each other.
Dora kept watch, bundled up cozily in her parka, not envying Harry and Hermione as they both dove into the lake. Seated on a conjured matt to protect her bum from being frozen to the ice, Dora was startled when a familiar figure gracefully glided towards her. She peered at the platinum haired beauty, her cheeks growing hotter and her heart beginning to race when the figure tugged off her robes, revealing a skintight, powder blue wetsuit.
"Er, H-hi!" Dora stammered, growing flustered as she hadn't really met the other girl properly yet, having only seen her from a distance while keeping an eye on Harry and Hermione. "It's Fleur, innit?"
"Oui!" Fleur beamed radiantly, taking note of Dora's blushes. "And you are Dora, are you not? 'Arry and 'Ermione, zey speak vairy kindly of you."
"Er... They do?"
"Oui, zey do," said Fleur, batting her eyelashes coquettishly as she returned Dora's gaze with an appraising look of her own. "I mus' practice sweeming, now zat ze Second Task grows nearer. I think to accompany 'Arry an' 'Ermione. ... Per'aps you join us next time, Non?" Fleur concluded, her tone meaningful.
Dora swallowed nervously, goggling in surprise.
"Er, me?" she squeaked. "Really?"
Fleur licked her lips as if they were dry. "Mm... I am thinking per'aps I would like to get to know you better."
"Er... Yeah! All right then," said Dora, taken by a sudden rush of giddiness. "Sure thing, Fleur!"
As she tucked her hair into a powder blue swim cap, Fleur gave Dora another little smile, then sauntered slinkily to the edge of the ice and dove into the lake.
A lopsided grin on her face, still not quite believing what had just happened, Dora watched Fleur swim out to meet Harry and Hermione. Suddenly, swimming in the middle of a half-frozen lake in the middle of winter didn't sound so bad.
Chapter 16: No Rest for the Weary (or the Wicked)
Hermione could often sense when something was bothering Harry; he would get that brooding, distant look in his eye. It had become even more apparent since he had started taking his schoolwork more seriously, as he was much less likely to let his attention drift these days as it was doing right now, unless he was disturbed about something.
And she wasn't quite sure why Harry was disturbed after what had been a generally pleasant day over all - even training with Moody and Dora was starting to become easier - well, not so much easier as slightly less painful - now that they had started practicing stunning and shielding spells too. The other fourth year Gryffindor boys departed from the common room and headed up to their dormitory after having another good laugh about Malfoy being chased by the Unicorn, and Parvati and Lavender said goodnight and retired to the girls' dorms shortly after that.
Gradually, the common room emptied as the older Gryffindors set off for bed as well, eventually leaving Hermione alone with Harry, both of them with their heads in books, bathed in the warm orange glow of the dying embers in the fireplace. Hermione kept taking little peeks at Harry, her frown growing deeper; finally, unable to take the lack of communication anymore, she sighed.
"Harry?"
Silence!
"Harry, are you all right? What's wrong?" The distress in Hermione's voice seemed to finally trigger a reaction.
"Huh? What?" Harry looked up from his book, peering at her with concern. "Me? I'm fine! What about you?"
Hermione rolled her eyes and huffed. "Harry! You've been staring at the same page of your Runes book for the last hour. What's going on with you?"
Harry flushed and averted his eyes. From his hesitation, Hermione surmised that whatever was bothering Harry had something to do with her.
"Please, Harry! Whatever's wrong, we can work it out as long as we talk about it."
Harry sighed, letting his book fall in his lap, and rubbed at his scar with an anguished look as if it were paining him badly. For a moment Hermione wondered if Harry was sensing Voldemort again and simply didn't want to alarm her.
"It was something Fleur said while were swimming this afternoon," Harry finally said, as if each word were being pulled out by force. "... something about her sister, Gabrielle..."
"Something didn't happen to Gabrielle, did it? Surely Fleur would have mentioned it to me too?"
"No," said Harry quickly. "Nothing like that, Hermione. It was just an offhand comment about how she'd miss Gabrielle more than anything in the world - that's why Fleur's mum has been letting Gabrielle stay here with Fleur since Christmas. It...it just made me think... about that Mermaid song - that bit about 'what you'll sorely miss'...
"Maybe we've been thinking about it all wrong because the song says 'what.' ... But what if it's not really a thing or an object like my Firebolt after all? What if it's really a 'who'? ... There's nothing in the world I'd miss more than you, Hermione! I don't think I could bear it if something happened to you at the bottom of the lake!"
Hermione felt her heart flutter at Harry's earnest, tormented declaration. Biting her lip, she reached out her hand and caressed his clammy cheek.
"Oh, Harry! Even if they do take me - and I expect you're probably right - I'm sure I'd be okay with the Merpeople. The Ministry wouldn't have made an arrangement with them if they thought the Merpeople would harm any 'hostages.' ... They'd be more likely to protect whoever they 'take' than anything.
"The risk of International Incident would be far too high if a non-participant got injured. I'm much more worried about you."
"Yeah, maybe," said Harry skeptically. "But even if the Merpeople do try to protect the hostages, something could go wrong. I mean, blimey, Hermione, if Bagman or whoever tosses a load of Sea Serpents and Kelpies in the lake, anything could happen!"
"That's a fair point," Hermione admitted ruefully. "Still, if it makes you feel any better, at least Professor Moody is training me to fight too, and he's not exactly teaching us to play by normal dueling rules, is he?"
"True," Harry agreed half-heartedly. "It's more like he's training us for war, really."
"Exactly! And if you're worried about me breathing underwater, Harry, I can just use the Bubblehead Charm that Fleur told us about today if I need to."
"I still don't like it," Harry grumbled, looking as agitated as ever.
Hermione could see by the look in his eyes that Harry would probably be awake worrying all night, now that he'd got a hold of the idea of her being "held captive" underwater. Even if Hermione hadn't been aroused by Harry's impassioned declaration of her importance to him, she could only think of one way to help him keep his nightmares at bay.
"And I wouldn't expect you to," Hermione murmured, leaning in, the hand on Harry's cheek sliding to the back of his neck.
Harry's breathing grew more ragged as her lips drew nearer to his. When they finally met, the kiss was at first gentle, almost tentative, but Hermione knew it was working when she felt Harry relaxing, his arms curling around her waist. The kiss deepened, grew more heated, and Harry fell back on the sofa, Hermione atop him running her fingers through his messy black hair...
~o0o~
"Blimey!" Harry muttered, suddenly wide awake when he realised where he was and who was with him and what time it was.
Hermione was still cradled in his arms, sprawled on top of him, her tawny curls spilling over his shoulder and her own arms wrapped around him. It was nearly six in the morning and they were still entwined, having fallen asleep together on the sofa. Hermione stirred when she felt Harry shifting beneath her. She smiled sleepily at him and blushed, fluttering her eyelashes shyly.
"'Morning, Harry. Feeling better?"
"Loads!" he replied with a grin.
But then Harry began turning pink when he realised that he needed a cold shower, and that Hermione could probably tell as well. In fact, Hermione looked as if she were trying to restrain herself from nervously giggling as she gave him a quick peck on the lips and sat up, her own cheeks growing rosier by the moment.
"Er... gotta go change," said Harry quickly.
His grin turned into an embarrassed grimace and he fled up the stairs to his dormitory, his face hotly blazing. Quietly, Harry crept in, thankful that everyone was still asleep. He grabbed a fresh set of clothes and slipped silently into the bathroom. By the time he had showered and changed, Ron was waking up.
"Where were you last night?" asked Ron, eyeing Harry suspiciously. Harry gulped.
"Er, fell asleep in the common room - studying," Harry fibbed, reckoning it wasn't too far from the truth.
"Oh, I see! Studying with Hermione, eh?" Ron raised his eyebrows and smirked a bit, clearly not believing a word of what Harry was saying.
"Shut up!" Turning beet-red, Harry grabbed a pillow from his bed and flung it at Ron.
"Hah! Knew it!" Ron grinned.
"What's going on?" Neville mumbled as he roused from his slumber.
"Nothing!" Harry snapped irritably.
"If by nothing you mean shagging Hermione in the common room after everyone else went to bed!" Ron sniggered, dodging the second pillow that Harry threw at him.
"I wasn't..." Harry began to shout.
"Joking, mate! ... I'm just joking," said Ron in a wounded tone.
"Anyway, wha's wrong with crowin' about it?" asked Seamus, who was now wide awake and grinning as well. "Most blokes would be bragging if they bonked a bird."
"Hermione's not a bird!" Harry fumed, "And anyway, nothing happened!"
"If ye say so," said Seamus, shrugging and smirking. Dean rolled his eyes.
"Sorry, Harry!" said Ron earnestly. "I mean it... really!"
"Yeah, okay," Harry grumbled, feeling slightly mollified.
But he couldn't quite meet Hermione's eyes as they made their way down to breakfast together with the other Gryffindors, and every time they tried looking at each other they both turned pink and quickly looked away. If Dora noticed anything, she kept it well hidden.
As the day wore on, Harry and Hermione both managed to get over that morning's embarrassment and by afternoon they could look at each other without blushing. Everything was more or less back to normal between them, though it seemed to Harry that Hermione was finding even more excuses than ever for hugs and close physical contact - not that he minded in the least.
If that stolen kiss - steamy enough to melt an iceberg - at the end of Herbology in the empty greenhouse after everyone else had already gone on to lunch was any indication, Hermione's wandering hands suggested that she wasn't at all put off by their really close encounter that morning, much to Harry's relief.
Finally, regular lessons were over for the day, and as they waded through the white powdery drifts down to the lake for their swim, it started to snow again. This time, when Hermione tugged off her robes and grinned at him, ready for Warming Charms, Harry's eyes nearly fell out of his head. Hermione was wearing a white with gold trim two-piece bikini instead of her one-piece, exposing more of herself than he'd ever seen before.
"What's the matter, Harry?" asked Hermione as she tied her bushy hair back in a pony-tail, an impish look in her eye.
"Er, n-nothing," he replied a bit squeakily, thinking he wouldn't need that Warming Charm if his face grew any hotter as he adjusted his swimming trunks.
Dora, who was standing nearby on the ice shelf, tried to hide her little smirk. But she caught Harry's attention anyway - it was hard not to as Dora too had worn robes under her parka today rather a jumper and jeans, and the reason why was obvious when she slipped out of her robes revealing a black and silver one-piece.
Harry and Hermione were both surprised, as Dora had made it plain that even with Warming Charms, she thought swimming in a half-frozen lake in the dead of winter was madness. But when Fleur arrived, Hermione caught the glances and blushes between the two older witches and surmised that more was going on than met the eye.
Once they were all in the dark waters of the lake, Harry began to relax. And, as he had the day before, he sampled a small pinch of Gillyweed, enough to last about ten minutes, in order to get used to what he would be trying to mimic when he was advanced enough to use his Metamorphmagus talent instead.
And apparently Hermione, who was practicing the Bubblehead Charm, had come up with an interesting idea for how to make the best use of their time underwater together. Harry found himself the recipient of a submerged, slippery embrace and kisses from his girlfriend, who seemed to be doing her best to impersonate a mermaid.
~o0o~
Dry and clothed once more, nearly an hour later Harry found himself in the library with Hermione, as they both did research to help him with the Second Task. Harry was sitting at a table, reading up on an obscure Rune-set which ancient Vikings had apparently used to ward their vessels against Sea-Serpents, that Hermione had found in Mariners, Magic, and Monsters of the Sea.
After giving the section a read through, Harry flicked back to the pages on Sea Hags, wondering if there was any advice with dealing with those as well. He rather thought he should be prepared for any eventuality.
Hermione returned from the dusty unused section of muggle reference books and smiled, pleased to see Harry so engrossed in the book. He looked up and grinned, seeing that Hermione had another pile of books in her arms, which she promptly plonked on the table.
"Should've guessed you'd be back with more," he laughed. "What've you found there, Hermione?"
"Oh, just some books on human anatomy and ichthyology," she said breezily.
"Ickthy-what?"
"Ichthyology... the study of fish. I thought it would be helpful to look up gill cell-structures and compare them with the cell structures of human lungs."
Harry rubbed at his forehead and raised his eyebrows, beginning to wonder if he wouldn't just be better off learning the Bubble-Head Charm and being done with it, especially when Hermione launched into what she had discovered so far.
"These are the images of the gill-structures that you'll need, Harry," Hermione began in her school-teacher tone of voice, opening up several of the books on the table to the relevant pages. "Once you've reached the right skill level as a Metamorphmagus, it shouldn't be as difficult as I thought it might be. ... At first I thought you'd need special fish cells, but apparently fish gill cells for extracting oxygen and transferring it to the capillaries aren't much different than those in our lungs - they just arrange them differently, in layers of epithelium instead of internal alveoli..."
Harry's eyebrows had shot up, disappearing under his messy black fringe at "won't be as difficult as I thought," and his brain had gone a bit fuzzy when he heard the words "epithelium" and "alveoli,"though he had a vague idea that he knew what capillaries were.
Hermione saw his expression and blanched, realising that she'd lost him already. Then she blushed, reminding herself that Harry was a very visual learner. As long as he could picture it, he could do it, and with enough verbal association he would pick up the correct terminology with ease. But he had to be able to create a visual framework in his mind first to hang the words on.
"Sorry, Harry..." she said, grinning sheepishly, "don't worry about anything I just said. All you need to do is picture these gill cell-structures at the same time as you're visualising the overall cosmetic form while you're transforming. I suppose that will be quite difficult to do - hold more than one image in your mind at a time I mean."
Harry nodded and smiled at Hermione. That, he understood right off the mark. Suddenly, not caring that they were in the library where anyone might spot them (which was empty at the moment), Harry swept Hermione off her feet.
She tumbled into his lap with a little "Oh," taken aback by this abrupt turn of affairs. Encircled by Harry's arms, her own around his shoulders, Hermione melted into the kiss. She gave Harry a very pleased but puzzled look when he had finished kissing her.
"What was that for? Not that I minded of course," she said breathlessly, her lips still tingling.
"For just being you!" Harry grinned. "You're brilliant, Hermione! I think I like it when you go into lecture mode. ... Dunno why I ever complained really! You always get around to showing me what you're on about eventually, and then I can work out what you just said even if I didn't quite understand some of it the first time through."
Hermione was sorely tempted to remain in Harry's arms and snog a bit more, amidst the heady aroma of leather bindings and parchment of the tomes surrounding them, but they were on a tight schedule these days.
"Thank you, Harry! Though honestly, I can't remember a single time you ever complained." She beamed at him radiantly. "It was always Ron who complained, as far as I recall."
Harry had to give her that, come to think about it. As he wracked his brains, he couldn't actually remember ever complaining about Hermione's discourses himself either; he supposed he'd simply heard Ron's gripes so many times, they had seeped into his noggin.
"...Anyway," Hermione continued. "we should probably check out the books we need now. We're due to see Dora again in about ten minutes, and see how far along you are in your Metamorphmagus training."
It had only been a few weeks - almost a month really - since Boxing Day, when Dora had first given Harry some tips for training up his talent, but he had already come a long way in that time. He had graduated from simple things like growing and shortening hair, changing its colour, and changing skin and fingernail colour, to more complicated things, such as adjusting musculature and bone structure, like changing the shape of his nose and jaw.
Now Harry was at the stage of trying to do a load of changes all at once. After Dora invited Harry and Hermione into her private chambers, they set down their book bags and got right to it.
"Right, Harry," said Dora. "Let's see what you've got then."
Harry concentrated, but not too hard, just as he'd been practicing. Moments later he looked like a weird cross between Ron, Dean Thomas, and Draco Malfoy; Ron's nose, cheekbones and freckles on a dark complexion with straight platinum blond hair and eyebrows. To top it off, Harry waved his hands, displaying sparkly hot-pink fingernails - clearly mimicking Lavender's.
The overall effect had Dora and Hermione in stitches. Hermione couldn't stop giggling and Dora tipped over her chair, she was laughing so hard. Harry grinned.
"Merlin, Harry!" Dora wheezed, trying to catch her breath as she clambered to her feet and righted her chair. "That's hilarious, not to mention, bloody brilliant!"
"So, what do you think?" asked Hermione once her giggles had abated. "Is Harry ready to practice replicating the Gillyweed transformation yet?"
"I'd say give it another week," said Dora. "If you practice changing the rest of your anatomy a bit every day, Harry, I reckon you'll be good enough to focus all your efforts on getting Gillyweed effects down. After that, it's just a matter of regular practice, and over time you'll be able to really perfect your technique. Eventually you could even change gender when you get good enough."
"Excellent!" exclaimed Harry, thrilled that he was advancing as smoothly and rapidly as he was. "I'll need all the practice I can get, to get the gills right."
Professor Moody had also kicked up his training sessions into high gear, the focus now heavily on combat spells: stunning, shielding, and a few explosive spells, for the time-being the concussive ones such as Bombarda and Expulso, though he and Dora continued training Harry and Hermione in hand to hand fighting techniques and dodging as well.
"...You'll also wanna practice your releasing and severing charms, Potter," Moody growled. "The last thing you want is to get tangled up in Water Weeds... and don't be afraid t'use the more dangerous spells like Diffindo on creatures if your life depends on it. Holding back if something's tryin' to kill you won't do you any favours.
"You oughta start practicing doin' this all underwater while you're swimming too. I've seen you two out there swimmin' with Delacour. You might as well get her in on it and all train together - stayin' alive is more important than winning."
~o0o~
"Crabbe, Goyle..." Draco barked, glaring at Crabbe and Goyle when he finally managed to successfully kill three rodents with Avada Kedavras after days of producing nothing but green sparks, "find me some more rats. And can't you find more than three? ... That's bloody pathetic! I need a load more than that to get this right."
"Finding rats is harder than it looks," whined Goyle.
"Oh, come on!" Draco snapped. "How hard can it be? Don't make bloody excuses! It doesn't even have to be rats - it doesn't matter what you bring me as long as it's alive. Go into the woods and find me squirrels if you have to, or weasels... whatever! I need to practice the Cruciatus Curse too."
"What about the Imperium Curse?" Crabbe asked thickly, picking his nose and peering at the bogey.
Draco rolled his eyes. "It's Imperius Curse, you idiot! And I don't care about that one right now! ... Now get going and hurry up about it."
Crabbe and Goyle meekly obeyed their orders and filed out of the empty cell deep in the dungeons in which Draco was training himself. He watched as they departed, frustrated that he'd probably have to wait at least another day until they found enough small animals for him to practice on. He knew he'd have to keep at it for days or even weeks before he could generate enough power to take out a wizard, or even a muggle playing at being a witch.
Enraged at his rapid decline in status - even in his own House - and the continued slights on his honour, Draco was more determined than ever to get his revenge on Potter and his pet Mudblood, and he wasn't going to rely on the ineffectual schemes of his father and his father's Ministry friends anymore.
Chapter 17: Private People
The final push was on the last few weeks leading up to the Second Task, and Harry was enormously busy. But when he received a brief missive from Sirius just after the beginning of February to be prepared for another fireside chat at midnight in two days he didn't care how late it was going to be, even though Hermione had warned him that he really ought to be getting plenty of sleep so that he would be able to keep his focus during the day.
Harry had received the note from the barn owl which tapped on the window of his dormitory just after dinner. He briefly considered not telling Hermione, then remembered that he was telling her everything these days, no matter how much he was reticent to talk about certain things or give her a reason to be upset, so he headed back down to the common room where she was still looking up Runes to help him in the Second Task.
Feeling guilty, Harry was glad now that he had decided not to hold anything back. Harry set his ink bottle, brush, and quill on the coffee table next to his parchment on which he was going to be working on the Rune Sequences which Hermione was working out for him, and tentatively broached the subject.
"Erm... Hermione?"
"Yes, Harry?" said Hermione, looking up from her notes.
Harry peered furtively around the common room to make sure no one was listening, then lowered his voice.
"Erm, well... I just received a note from Sirius. He wants to talk the night after tomorrow - in the fireplace at midnight."
"Oh," said Hermione, in an equally soft voice and strangely looking very interested. "Well, that's nice, isn't it? I mean - it's been months since you last chatted and he is your godfather after all."
"Er... So you don't think it's too late then?"
"Don't be silly," whispered Hermione, rolling her eyes. "Of course you should talk to him, no matter how late it is - he's family."
"Cool!" said Harry, relieved.
Now it was Hermione who looked shy, biting her lip.
"So, er, anyway, do you mind if I join you?" she asked hopefully. "I mean, I expect you'd like a bit of privacy - but it's a very interesting way of communicating - using the Floo system. It seems a bit odd, doesn't it? I can't imagine one's head spinning round and round while one's body is stationary at the other end. Though, I supposeyou could just ask Sirius how that works and tell me later, but it would be nice to say hello too..."
"Yeah, of course you can join me, Hermione," said Harry, grinning, cutting off her rushing flow of words; he suddenly realised how cute she was when she talked a mile a minute when she was nervous. "And I bet Sirius would like to say hello to you too. He hasn't seen you since last year."
Hermione beamed at Harry and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"All right," she said, shifting gears, "now that we've sorted that out, we really should be getting on with this - there's only three weeks left..."
~o0o~
Harry and Hermione both studied late the night that Sirius's head was due in the fireplace, but they both grew anxious when it was after eleven and there was still a sixth year couple snogging in the corner of the common room. Harry and Hermione both tried reading a bit more, but gave up as they couldn't concentrate anymore. Putting their books down, they both fidgeted, wondering if they should pick up their quills and pretend that they were going to write some notes.
The sixth year couple finally rose from the well-cushioned armchair they had both been occupying at eleven thirty and smirked at Harry and Hermione.
"Night, Potter, Granger," said the older boy. "Don't stay up too late doing... homework!" he added with a wink; the sixth year girl tittered.
Harry and Hermione both reddened, then breathed a sigh of relief when the two sixth years headed up their respective stairs to their respective dormitories. Then Hermione bit her lip, grinning shyly and moved in for a kiss.
"I thought we might as well put the next half hour to good use," she said when they both came up for air, "now that we've got the common room to ourselves."
"No argument here!" Harry grinned.
Arms wrapped around one another, hands roaming, they re-engaged their lips, the kisses growing increasingly impassioned. When they heard the first ding of the clock striking twelve, they quickly pulled apart, gasping, and straightened their rumpled clothes; Hermione tried to pat down her bushy hair which looked wilder than ever after Harry's fingers had been entangled in her curls.
Not a moment too soon; on the twelfth ding something was happening in the fireplace. The crackling flames flared and turned green; as the green flames died down they saw a head spinning in the hearth. When it came to a stop, Sirius's head peered at them both. His eyebrows rose as he gave them a canny look.
"Been busy, eh? So it seems that Skeeter's article was right on the mark after all! That's a first! I suppose she's got to get something right once in a while."
Harry and Hermione's cheeks took on a rosy tinge.
"H-how did you know?" Harry sputtered. "I mean, I was going to tell you, but..."
"I have my sources," said Sirius, grinning. "Actually, it was Mad Eye, if you must know - Dora told me to bugger off and mind my own business when I asked her if it was true. By the way, well done for rumbling the imposter, you two. ... And it's really nice to see you again, Hermione - I must say, I thought you and Harry seemed quite well suited for one another the last time I saw you."
"Erm..." said Harry, his face growing even hotter.
"Okay, I know when to leave well enough alone," said Sirius, growing more serious. "Anyway, I wanted to touch base with you again before the Second Task now that I've taken up more permanent residence. I know you've been concerned about my return to Britain, and we never really got to finish our conversation before the First Task."
"Oh, did you find a safe place then?" asked Harry, flooded with relief; he had been feeling guilty for a while now since inadvertently luring Sirius back to Britain with his paining scar.
"You could say that," said Sirius dryly. "It's home anyway - my childhood home. It was never my favourite place, but it's well protected - not even the Ministry can find me here, nor Voldemort for that matter. And as long as I'm careful, I'll still be able to get out a bit in dog form.
"In any case, speaking about being safe, that's really what I wanted to talk to you about - your safety at Hogwarts, Harry. Now that we know it wasn't Karkaroff, and that it was one of Voldemort's people who put your name in the Goblet, Mad Eye and I got to chatting and he told me about his suspicions that someone at the Ministry is also targeting you.
"I don't like it, and neither does Mad Eye. It was too easy for me to get into Gryffindor tower last year once I got the passwords, and if Voldemort managed to slip someone else who's been polyjuiced into Hogwarts, perhaps even posing as one of your house-mates ... Well, I don't even like to think what could happen."
Harry gulped and he shared an anxious look with Hermione. He hadn't even considered that possibility. He knew that Dumbledore was checking all visitors and doing regular checks of the staff now for signs of being polyjuiced or imperiused - but if it was someone posing as a student, possibly a Gryffindor even... Harry didn't need Hermione to tell him that it would be a logistical nightmare to check hundreds of students.
"Anyway, I'm not trying to worry you too much, Harry," Sirius continued, taking note of Harry's anxiety, "but I'd really like for you to have private quarters with its own special protections, and Mad Eye agrees."
"Wait, is that even possible?" Harry gasped, shooting another look at Hermione, this one surprised.
"Certainly," said Sirius, "I don't know if it's been done before, but you're a special case, Harry, for very obvious reasons. Mad Eye and I thought we might have a bit of trouble convincing Dumbledore - but once we got McGonagall on our side too before making our case... Well, Dumbledore could hardly disagree with all three of us."
The more he thought about, Harry could hardly disagree either. There was only one real issue as far as he could see, and it almost made him more anxious than thinking about all the potential people out to get him.
"Er... well, erm... I suppose that makes sense," Harry muttered, "but people already think I get special treatment as it is."
"Your friend Ron - not to mention all the others who think you cheated to get into the tournament," Sirius sighed. "Believe me, Harry, I understand all too well! ... But your safety is far more important than some hurt feelings or the uninformed opinions of the other students."
Harry knew Sirius was right, but he still wasn't very keen to put up with all the scrutiny he had faced earlier that year - it had been like Second Year all over again. His stomach tied up in knots.
Hermione grew increasingly troubled, listening to Sirius, and when she saw Harry's expression, she knew she had to say something to persuade him.
"Harry, you really ought to do this! If Professor Moody and McGonagall and Dumbledore all agree, then this has to be the best option for you. I know you're worried most about Ron's feelings, but after everything... I'm sure he'll understand."
"Yeah, I know I have to do this, Hermione," said Harry, finally convinced. "I just hope you're right."
Sirius looked very relieved; he shot Hermione a grateful smile.
"Excellent!" said Sirius. "That's a load off my mind. And I know Dora will keep her eye on you too. ... Anyway, I'm sure I don't need to tell you to keep up your training - it's not just for the tournament after all."
"Yeah," said Harry, nodding vigorously and brightening right up, "of course! It was a bit rough with Professor Moody at first, but I think it's brilliant!"
"Right, I had a feeling you'd say that." Sirius beamed. "Now, I should probably let you get some sleep, but one last thing: I'll be sending you something else by Owl post when I've found it here at home. You should be getting an unmarked package in the next few days or so. It's a communication device - we'll be able to talk anytime you need. It's much easier than Floo calling, let me tell you!"
"Speaking of which," Harry grinned at his girlfriend, "Hermione had a question she wanted to ask you."
"Shut up!" said Hermione, turning as red as a fire engine, and gave Harry a little swat on the shoulder. "You know I really just wanted to see Sirius with you and say hi. It's not that important."
"Well, regardless, Hermione," said Sirius, a huge grin on his face, "I'm here right now. Fire away!"
"Erm... Well, I was really curious!" Hermione admitted, "How do you manage to Floo-call? I mean, with your head spinning at one end and the rest of you stationary at the other end?"
"I'm not quite sure how it all works to be perfectly honest," said Sirius. "But I can say that it feels bloody weird and uncomfortable! I'm really not fond of Floo calling and I'll be much happier when Harry gets the parcel I'm sending him. We'll be able to chat more often."
"Got it," said Harry, determined to make life easier for his godfather...
~o0o~
Ron stirred when he heard Harry finally coming to bed, and when Harry saw Ron grinning at him again, he considered whacking him with a pillow a few times again. As Harry lay his head back down on his pillow, he felt a bit sad; he was going to miss living in Gryffindor tower and sleeping in the dormitory.
But as certain potential benefits of having his own private space began to sink in, a smile crept to Harry's face. He could still hang out and do homework in the common room after all. Harry fell asleep dreaming happy thoughts about snogging Hermione in perfect privacy.
~o0o~
Ron was stunned the next morning when Harry told him everything over breakfast. First he just gaped at Harry, breakfast forgotten. Then he frowned. Then Ron looked confused. Then he frowned again. Ron opened his mouth as if he were about yell at Harry, then he shut it and looked confused again. Neville rolled his eyes.
Harry swallowed nervously and glanced at Hermione as he watched Ron trying to sort out his feelings right before his very eyes. Hermione gave Harry a look somewhere between an apologetic one and a just-wait-and-see look.
Finally, Ron slumped and sighed, glumly forking a sausage. For the first time in his life Ron chewed very slowly. Then he quietly ate a pile of scrambled egg, several pieces of bacon and a piece of toast and drained his glass of pumpkin juice in several gulps. He pushed back his chair, looking like he felt a bit better with a full stomach.
"Er... okay then. Right..." said Ron, nodding slowly. "I get it, Harry, I really do. ... I mean, bloody hell, after all these nutters sneaking into Hogwarts and trying to murder you last year and this year, it just makes loads of sense, really."
Neville nodded.
"Yeah, it really does make sense, Harry," he muttered, turning pink, clearly remembering how he'd left a list of passwords lying around in third year.
"Er... Wow! So we're really cool then, Ron? ...and you too, Neville?" Harry asked, deciding not to remind Ron and Neville that the mass murdering maniac in third year had really been Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, who had had access to Harry at any time since first year.
"Yeah, we're cool, Harry," said Ron. "I just hope you'll have a bit more time to hang out after the Second Task."
"What Ron said," said Neville, nodding again.
"Cool!" said Harry, feeling very relieved. "Anyway, yeah - there'll be four months between the Second Task and the Third Task - I'll still be a bit busy, but I should have loads more time."
After breakfast, on their way to class, Hermione smiled at Harry. "Well, all things considered, I think that went rather well."
"Yeah - way better than I thought it would," Harry agreed, grinning at her; Hermione had admirably managed to keep her I-told-you-so tone of voice to a bare minimum.
Hermione also had a spark of naughtiness in her eye which suggested that the possible benefits of Harry having his own private quarters had occurred to her as well.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Harry suddenly came out of it after classes, wondering how he'd got from the morning to the end of lessons already, almost as if he'd had a time-turner. Hermione helped Harry pack all his things in his trunk and lug them downstairs to the common room. Harry had thought of getting Ron and Neville to help, but reckoned that might be pushing it a bit.
Lavender could hardly contain herself; she looked like she was bursting to pounce and get Hermione to tell her everything. Parvati smirked at Lavender and rolled her eyes.
Harry hefted his trunk through the portrait hole while Hermione puffed on the other side, trying to to help him lift it through. Dora appeared in the nick of time to help Hermione catch the trunk and carefully lower it to the floor while Harry clambered through the portrait hole.
"Thanks, Dora," said Hermione, still trying to catch her breath. "Even after all of Professor Moody's workouts and swimming every day, that still felt a bit heavier than I thought it would. It's loads heavier than mine."
"No worries, Hermione," said Dora cheerily. "I got the other end from here, all right?"
Hermione followed Harry and Dora as they carried his trunk to his new quarters, which were spare teachers' quarters at the end of a corridor very near to Gryffindor tower. Dora pointed at another sturdy oak door in the stone wall of the passage on the right.
"I'll be movin' into that one right there, Harry. So I'll still be real close."
Harry nodded as they passed through the threshold of his new private chambers, and grunted when they set the trunk down in his new bedroom.
"Thanks, Dora," said Harry, wiping the sweat from his brow, wondering how he had ever managed to stow his heavy, old fashioned oak-wood trunk with iron bracings on the Hogwarts Express, even with Ron's help.
He'd never really given it much thought. Hermione's was much more sensible - it wasn't even a trunk. Rather, Hermione's luggage was a thoroughly modern large suitcase which had little wheels on the bottom, and a backpack. He'd always managed to lift them onto the luggage racks by himself with no problem.
"Right, I'll leave you to unpack then, Harry. I'm gonna go get my own stuff now," said Dora.
"I can help if you need it, Dora," Hermione offered, thinking she could manage now after having given her arms a bit of a rest.
"Nah! I got it, Hermione." Dora gave her and Harry a little knowing smile. "My stuff is loads lighter, and I can make a couple o' trips."
After Dora left, Harry and Hermione took a little tour around the private chambers. As well as a sitting room with a cozy looking sofa and a fireplace, there was a tiny little kitchen with a few wooden cupboards and a kettle on the stove. The bathroom was more luxurious than Harry had imagined it would be, containing an enormous marble tub with numerous gold and silver spigots and faucets.
"Huh! ... Wonder what all those are for?" said Harry.
Then Harry returned to his new bedroom with Hermione in tow. It wasn't all that different than the dormitory really, carpeted, with a large four-poster bed and a brick fireplace, except there was also an ornate mahogany cupboard and an equally ornate mahogany dresser, and a large bookcase.
"Wow! This really is amazing, Harry," said Hermione, peering around the room, ogling the enormous bookcase which already had a row of ancient looking tomes sitting on one of the shelves.
Harry grinned. "I suppose I ought to get unpacking so we can get back to studying and practicing stuff for the Triwiz."
"What's the rush?" Hermione asked breezily, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him into the sitting room. "Finally, a bit of privacy!"
Harry suddenly found himself pinned to the sofa while Hermione snogged him silly, more than pleased that his earlier suspicion that she had been on the same wavelength had turned out to be true. They were, after all, both fairly private people, not given to excessive public displays of affection...