Chapter 19 – The Quidditch World Cup
Harry lay in bed, having just fallen asleep three short hours earlier, when his bloody alarm clock he should never have let Hermione talk him into buying went off. He briefly wondered if Hermione had made it impervious to damage as he considered throwing it out his window. Then, he remembered why the alarm had gone off so bloody early. Today was the day of the Quidditch World Cup!
He struggled out of bed, remembering the last time he woke up this tired, just a few nights before. He'd been enjoying a dream involving Hermione when it was interrupted by an old man standing in front of him (right where Hermione had been) for a second before being cursed with some sort of green light and falling down dead. He'd woken up immediately, and his scar was prickling him lightly. He didn't mention it to anyone.
He took a quick shower and went downstairs to find Hermione (who'd spent the night in one of the extra bedrooms) and Sirius already downstairs eating.
"It's about time you got down here," nagged Hermione jokingly.
"We were about to tell Dobby to pop onto your bed," added Sirius as Harry joined them at the table for the scrambled eggs that had already been set for him. "You've got ten minutes to eat before we floo over to the Weasleys."
He ate as fast as he could and, before he knew it, he was falling forward from the Weasleys' fireplace, barely being caught in time by Sirius, who'd gone first, followed by Hermione, and finally Harry. The Boy-Who-Lived could swear he'd heard Mrs. Weasley's voice coming from the kitchen screaming, "Accio, Accio," over the twins' protests of whatever she was summoning from them.
"Hello, everyone," greeted an enthusiastic Mr. Weasley, reaching out his hand toward Sirius, who immediately shook it.
"Thanks for getting the tickets," replied Sirius.
"No problem whatsoever. Ludo Bagman, the head of the Magical Games and Sports department, owed me a favor. We should be ready to leave within a few minutes."
After what seemed like a short hike after all the training Harry and Hermione had been doing, the group, which had been joined by Amos and Cedric Diggory, arrived at the world cup via portkey. They were directed to their campsite, and before long, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny were walking toward the tap with a kettle and saucepans while Mr. Weasley and Sirius were attempting to light a fire.
The trio saw many people, including a toddler who'd 'borrowed' his father's wand, three African wizards, and a group of American witches. Then everything seemed to go green as they entered the Irish section, where Seamus Finnegan called them.
"Aren't you Ron Weasley's little sister?" asked Seamus when the trio had joined him.
"Yes," she answered, "my name's Ginny." She then shook his hand.
"Won't you be starting third year this September?"
"Actually," corrected Ginny as she slightly blushed, "I'll be starting fourth year. I was advanced an extra year."
"Really?" asked Seamus. "I'll bet Ron's not happy about being in the same classes as his little sister."
"Well," replied Ginny, looking down, "We won't be in the same classes. He, er, well, didn't do so well on his finals, and McGonagall decided to hold him back a year."
Seamus did his best not to look amused. "I'm, er, sorry to hear that. I guess he couldn't handle the classes without Hermione letting him copy assignments off of."
"Exactly," agreed Hermione. "Now, he's got to learn to do things on his own."
"Just how well did you do, Ginny?" asked Seamus. "Even Hermione here hasn't been double-promoted."
"Well," blushed Hermione, "After my first year, Professor McGonagall offered to let me skip a year, but I decided I'd rather attend for the full seven years. Probably so I'd stay in class with Harry. After that, she hasn't offered again."
Harry stared at her, "And you never told anyone?"
"I didn't see any need," explained Hermione smugly. "Since I wasn't accepting the promotion, telling people about the offer would have only been bragging."
After Seamus' mother showed up and nearly made the trio take an unbreakable vow that they were supporting Ireland, they continued on their way, stopping when Ginny recognized a friend of hers. "Hello, Luna," she greeted. "I'd like to introduce you to a few friends of mine. Luna Lovegood, this is…"
"…Harry Potter and Hermione Granger," the blonde, dreamy-eyed girl finished. "You both look more fit than you did when school got out, especially you, Harry. Have you been working out?"
"Er," answered Harry, blushing, "a bit."
"You should be careful to avoid any Minkdots while you're exercising."
"What?" asked Hermione.
"We've got to be going, Luna. It was good seeing you," said Ginny, leading Harry and Hermione away.
"What's a Minkdot?" Hermione asked Ginny when they were out of earshot.
"Probably some nonexistent magical creature her father writes about in the Quibbler. She believes everything it says," answered Ginny.
"Her father writes for the Quibbler?" asked Hermione.
"Actually, he owns the Quibbler," corrected Ginny.
"What's the Quibbler?" asked Harry.
Before he got his answer, they arrived at the tap, and noticed an old man in a long, flowery nightgown, talking about liking a healthy breeze around his privates, which caused both girls to turn red and start giggling.
On the way back, while carrying a lot of water, they ran across even more people they knew, such as Oliver Wood and Ernie MacMillan. They also ran across Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker, who for some reason winked at Harry, causing Hermione to place herself in between the two of them.
When they finally got the water back to the campsite, they found that Sirius had managed to start the fire, and they relaxed for a little while meeting several people from the ministry, including Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch. Upon seeing Percy's reaction to Mr. Crouch, Harry whispered to Hermione and the four youngest Weasleys, "Do you reckon Percy has left Penelope for Mr. Crouch yet?" causing his audience to burst out laughing.
Before they knew it, they'd bought their souvenirs from the salesmen who had started popping up everywhere, including four pairs of omnioculars that Sirius had bought for himself, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny. It was now time to head for the stadium. When they arrived at their box, Harry noticed a house elf in one of the seats, and introduced himself. Her name was Winky, and she explained that she was saving a seat for her master, Mr. Crouch. She also said she knew Dobby, and was glad that he'd finally gotten a master who he was happy with, and that Dobby can't say enough wonderful things about Harry and his friends.
As they continued to wait, Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic showed up, and to Harry's disgust and Percy's envy, shook his hand and introduced him to his Bulgarian counterpart. At that moment, Lucius Malfoy showed up and immediately began harassing Mr. Weasley for his lack of wealth. When his eyes fell on Hermione and his lip curled, he fell backwards, causing all of Harry's party to smile slightly. Harry whispered to his girlfriend, "Did you do that?" Hermione's cheeks went pink as she grinned and nodded.
Not long after that, the pre-game mascot shows began with a delightful leprechaun display, followed by what Hermione considered a vulgar veela dance, which she was happy to note, didn't affect Harry at all. When she noticed this, she immediately kissed him on the cheek, causing him to turn toward her. He smiled. "What was that for?"
"For being immune to the Veelas," she answered cheekily. "Look at Ron." He looked and saw that Ron was trying to jump off the bleachers toward them, being held back only by his father's hands. Harry also noticed that many of the men and boys were acting in a similar way.
"Why are they all acting like that?" asked Harry.
"Because most males can't resist their magical charms," answered Hermione.
"You're the only one who affects me like that," replied Harry, causing Hermione to blush.
"Once this match is over, I am going to snog you so senseless, you'll forget who you are," Hermione promised.
"Maybe we should forget about the match, Mine" suggested Harry, grinning at her.
"No, Hero," responded an extremely red-faced Hermione, "first we watch the match, and then we snog."
"If you insist," agreed Harry, smiling.
The match was very exciting, and Hermione was amazed at how well Ireland's chasers worked together. "I don't know how they do it! Just how much does that team practice?" Harry was pleased with Hermione's newly acquired appreciation of quidditch. After the match ended with Ireland winning but Viktor Krum, Bulgaria's seeker, getting the snitch, they returned to the campsite, and Hermione kept her promise to Harry.
They were still snogging when Mr. Weasley interrupted them saying, "It's time to go to bed," and with a wink he added, "in separate tents," causing the couple to turn red. They went to their tents without saying a word. After what seemed to Harry five minutes of sleep, Mr. Weasley was waking them up and telling them to get out of the tent and head for the forest. There were a bunch of wizards in black cloaks with masks terrorizing the muggles by floating them upside down in the air.
After they left Mr. Weasley and Sirius, Harry turned to Hermione and suggested, "I think we can help."
"You're right," agreed Hermione, so they turned around and made their way back.
The leader of the group spotted Hermione and shouted "Mudblood," in his muffled voice as he pointed his wand at her. Harry looked at the evil wizard, causing him to fall to the ground, petrified.
He then turned his attention to Hermione, who was surprisingly still standing next to Harry. He asked, "How…"
Hermione smiled, "I'm not sure if it was the necklace you gave me or the shield I put up that protected me."
"I'm glad you're wearing the necklace," replied Harry.
"Wotcher," greeted Tonks, who was approaching. "I suppose I should tell you to leave, but you did a good job catching this Death Eater. Let's see who it is."
As she was walking toward the fallen masked Death Eater, Fudge showed up and complimented, "Well done! I can see you're an Auror, but I'm afraid I don't recall your name."
"I'm Auror Tonks, sir. I just finished my training a few weeks ago."
"Very well," he responed, "Let's see who this Death Eater is," and he pointed his wand at the mask, causing it to disappear. Fudge's face went completely pale. "What! No, it can't be! All those donations! He was my guest!" Lying before them petrified was none other than Lucius Malfoy.
"Er, sir, it, well, looks like he might have been trying to use you, maybe," suggested Tonks timidly to her boss.
"Trying to use me," repeated the minister, taking on his normal pompous demeanor, "But, of course, I wasn't fooled. I was waiting for him to do something like this, but was gathering whatever information I could obtain until then."
"Of course, sir. I thought that must be what happened."
"Bind him, revive him, and then arrest him," ordered Fudge as he walked away proudly.
After Tonks had conjured ropes around Mr. Malfoy and taken his wand, Tonks whispered to Harry, "Er, could you revive him? Your spell seems too powerful for me to break."
At that moment, a terrifying shape filled the sky. A skull with a snake coming out of its mouth, which Harry had learned to be the Dark Mark, had appeared in the sky for the first time in nearly thirteen years, and the remaining Death Eaters fled. Many of the other wizards apparated.
"There you are!" exclaimed Sirius with a grin. "I had a feeling you'd want to join the fun."
"They caught Mr. Malfoy," commented Tonks, causing Sirius' smile to broaden even more. "Of course, Fudge thinks I did."
"That's probably good," replied Sirius. "I caught Mr. Nott myself." He indicated a bound man being arrested by another auror. "Can you handle this piece of trash?"
"After Harry revives him," answered Tonks.
"To keep appearances," suggested Hermione, "you should be pointing your wand at Mr. Malfoy when Harry revives him."
"Good idea," agreed Tonks, now doing just that.
Harry revived Lucius just before Sirius apparated himself and Harry to the scene under the Dark Mark, where Mr. Weasley was shouting, "That's my son!" and running to protect Ron from the other wizards.
Sirius whispered to Harry, "I'll be right back. I'm just getting Hermione."
Harry silently watched the scene unfold as Ron described hearing someone nearby conjure the mark. He'd just felt Hermione take his hand as he recognized the wand they'd found with Winky the house elf was, and checked his pocket to be sure. "That's my wand!" he shouted at the gathered witches and wizards.
"Your wand?" demanded Ludo Bagman.
"Yes," answered Harry. "I think it must have fallen out of my pocket in all the commotion when I was trying to escape."
Harry watched as they proved that the brother to Voldemort's wand had been used to conjure his mark. Mr. Weasley then made sure Harry got his wand back. Harry and Hermione were appalled when Mr. Crouch sacked Winky. Harry spoke up while Winky was crying. "Sir, since you're sacking Winky, then may I assume you wouldn't mind if I hired her?"
"What, no, I suppose not, if you really want this worthless elf."
"Thank you," replied Harry, calmly. "I could use another elf at my manor."
"Harry Potter, sir, you, you is wanting to hire Winky?" asked the heartbroken elf.
Harry squatted down beside her and gently answered, "Yes, Winky. As soon as Mr. Crouch releases you, come to Potter Manor. Do you know where that is?"
"Y-Yes, Winky is knowing where Potter Manor is," she replied, sounding a bit less sad, "Winky is going there as soon as Master is releasing Winky."
"Then I look forward to seeing you soon," assured Harry. Then Mr. Weasley, Sirius, Ron, Hermione, and Harry all went back to their tents.
"That was a good thing you just did, Harry," complimented Mr. Weasley as they walked.
"Yes, it was," agreed Hermione, who had one arm around his waist as they were walking. "And you've just earned another snogging session you'll never forget."
Chapter 20 – Slaves and Games
After only a few hours of sleep, Harry's group portkeyed near the Burrow, and then after bidding their goodbyes to the Weasleys, Sirius side-along apparated Hermione to Potter Manor, returning a minute later to take Harry.
When Harry arrived, he was greeted by Dobby, who immediately hugged Harry. "I is knowing Harry Potter is a great wizard for freeing Dobby and hiring him, but now Harry Potter is taking in Dobby's friend, Winky."
At this moment Harry noticed Winky timidly standing in a corner, wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. "Hello, Dobby," Harry greeted as Dobby released him. He then walked up to the other elf and squatted down before her. "Hello, Winky."
"H-Hello Harry Potter, sir. W-Winky is doing what Harry Potter is saying, coming to Potter Manor after Master Crouch, Master…" At this moment Winky started crying and Hermione, who'd been watching the exchange, squatted down next to Harry and hugged Winky.
"It's all right, Winky," she assured her, "It wasn't your fault."
"I is a bad elf. I is disgraced," Winky stated, sobbing.
"You are not a bad elf, and Mr. Crouch is the disgrace," countered Sirius. "If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. Based off of how he treated you, Winky, Barty Crouch is not a good man."
"I is not speaking ill of master," declared Winky defensively.
"You don't have to speak ill of Mr. Crouch," explained Harry. "Just agree to work for me."
Winky's eyes went wide as a smile came across her face. "You, you is still wanting to hire Winky?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course I do," answered Harry. "Dobby is getting one Galleon a week, with one day off per month. Is that acceptable for you?"
Winky lowered her head and began crying again. "Oh, no, sir. Dobby may be wanting wages," she shot a glare at the other elf, whose ears lowered, "but Winky isn't accepting wages or days off."
"But you've got to," argued Hermione. "It's only fair!"
"Then Winky is leaving. Winky is properly ashamed to take wages. Winky would rather die…"
"Fine," conceded Harry. "If that's how you feel about it, you can work here without wages." Hermione gave Harry a sharp glare. "But if you change your mind, you can come to me and ask for pay."
Winky smiled slightly. "I is accepting those terms, but I is not changing my mind about wages."
"Very well," agreed Harry. They then shook hands, sealing the magical agreement as their hands glowed for a second.
Hermione then stormed off toward the fireplace without saying a word. Harry called out, "Hermione," but it was too late. She'd already flooed away. Harry grabbed some floo powder, stepped into his fireplace, threw the powder down, and shouted, "Granger residence!" while Sirius watched silently.
When Harry arrived at Hermione's house, he distinctly heard an upstairs door slam. He looked around to see Adam and Marissa Granger looking at him with bewildered expressions on their faces. He took a deep breath. "Hello, Adam, Marissa."
"Er, Hello, Harry," greeted Adam. "What's wrong with Hermione? She said something about you owning slaves and stormed off."
"It was the only thing I could do, sir. At the world cup, we saw a house elf named Winky get sacked for no good reason, and we saw how heartbroken she was. I told Winky she could come to Potter Manor for a job. She showed up this morning and I offered her the same wages I pay Dobby, but Winky refused. She said she'd leave unless I let her work for nothing, and well, I agreed to let her, er, work for nothing. It was either that or let her live on the street. Hermione stormed off after that without saying a word, and flooed here." He then looked at Hermione's parents. "You don't think I should've sent Winky away, do you?"
"Well," replied Mrs. Granger, "It's sometimes hard for us to understand the ways of the wizarding world, but we know you were only trying to help Winky. We're sure Hermione will realize that soon."
"Thanks. Can I go upstairs and talk to her?"
"Yes, Harry. I'm sure you heard her slam her door when you arrived," answered Adam.
Harry then marched straight up the stairs to Hermione's room and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" came Hermione's voice from the other side. It sounded to Harry like she was crying.
"It's me, Harry."
"Go away!"
"I'm not leaving until you talk to me," he stated firmly.
"I have nothing to say to you, slave driver!" she shouted.
"Mine, will you at least let me explain?"
"Don't call me that!"
"Are you trying to end our relationship without even giving me a chance to explain myself? I thought it meant more to you, that Imeant more to you, than that. I thought you loved me. I guess I was wrong."
"I do love you, but what you did was wrong, and I can't have a boyfriend who owns slaves!"
"Please open the door so I can talk to you properly, Hermione. I love you and I don't want to lose you."
"Fine!" she replied as her door opened, revealing a red-faced girl with tears stains running down her cheeks, glaring at the boy she'd been snogging passionately just the day before.
He stepped in and tried to take her hands in his, but she pulled back. "Hermione," he began softly. "You heard what Winky said. I don't like having her work for nothing any more than you do, but if I didn't agree, she'd have run off, and who knows what would have become of her. I was only trying to be nice to her." When Hermione didn't say anything for a few seconds, Harry continued. "You're a lot more important to me than Winky. If you feel that strongly about it, I'll go home right now and give her clothes. Of course, she'll be even more heartbroken and probably kill herself, but if that's what you want…"
Hermione sighed, "I don't want Winky to kill herself. I just want her free! Slavery is wrong."
Harry spoke softly to his girlfriend. "I know slavery is wrong, but I don't see a choice if I want to help Winky. You heard me tell her that she can ask for wages any time she wants. It seems that for some reason most elves want to be slaves, so right now I think the best thing to do is to treat her with kindness and respect instead of the way they're usually treated. Maybe one day things will be different and Winky will be happy to get wages, but until then, at least she can be happy. I don't want to be her master, but that seems the only way to be her friend."
Hermione seemed to slowly calm down as Harry spoke. "I understand, Harry. Maybe we can find a way to work for house elf rights, but you're probably right about this being the only way to help Winky right now. I'm sorry I overreacted, Hero," she apologized with a small grin.
"Does that mean I can call you Mine?" he responded, looking deep into her brown eyes.
She smiled. "Yes, Harry, you can call me yours."
-MITAB-
A few minutes later, they both came walking hand-in-hand down the stairs. Mrs. Granger remarked with a slight smile, "You're holding hands. Does that mean you've settled your disagreement?"
"Yes, mum," answered Hermione with her head hung down. "I overreacted to something."
"I see," responded Marissa. "I'm just glad he followed you. I'd hate for you two to break up over a simple misunderstanding."
"So would I, Mum. I've already apologized to Harry, so can we please drop it. Harry and I have to get back to our training."
Adam chuckled, "All right, we'll drop it. But when you're done, we'd like Harry to come over for lunch and stay until after supper. It's been a while since we've had him over."
"All right," agreed Harry, smiling. "Thanks!"
"Oh, by the way, while you were gone, Professor Lupin went shopping with us in Diagon Alley. We picked up all your books and supplies, while Remus did the same for Harry.
"That was nice of him," commented Harry. "I hope you had a good time."
"Yes, we did," assured Adam. "He told us that Hermione was right about you doing better in his class. He also said that you've both been doing really well in your training, and that he thinks you can already defend yourselves against most wizards twice your age." Harry and Hermione both blushed at this statement. "We just wanted to say we're proud of both of you, and to keep up the good work.
Both Harry and Hermione quietly said, "Thanks."
They flooed back to the manor to find Sirius and Remus both waiting for them. "So, Hermione, Harry, have you settled whatever the problem was?"
"Yes," answered Harry. "It was just a misunderstanding. Can we have some breakfast before training? I'm starving!"
Winky immediately popped up to take their order. "What is Master Potter and Miss Granger wanting?"
"Winky," replied Harry softly, "I'd like waffles covered in strawberries and whipped cream. By the way, would you mind calling me 'Harry' instead of 'Master?'"
"If-If mas-Harry is preferring not to acknowledge that he's Winky's master, then…"
"It's not that, Winky! I'm proud to have you here. I'm just not comfortable being called anybody's master."
"Very well, H-Harry," agreed Winky. "And what is Miss Granger wanting?"
"Oh, I'll take the same as Harry."
As soon as Winky left, Sirius handed Harry the Daily Prophet. "I thought you might want to take a look at this.
Harry read the article out loud for Hermione's benefit.
"Minister Fudge Foils Death Eater Attack at Quidditch World Cup" Hermione rolled her eyes at this statement. Harry continued.
Last night, Death Eaters attacked at the celebrations following the Quidditch World Cup (for more on the actual game, see page 6). However, their leader, Lucius Malfoy, was apprehended almost immediately by Nymphadora Tonks, Auror and personal friend of Cornelius Fudge, whom he'd warned earlier to be prepared for an attack. Her cousin, Sirius Black, whom Fudge had dropped all the charges that his predecessor had wrongfully placed on Black, sentencing him to Azkaban for life without a trial, apprehended another Death Eater involved in the attack. Minister Fudge commented on the attack, "I'd suspected Lucius Malfoy for quite some time, so I invited him to join me at the World Cup to lull him into a false sense of security, so that I could catch him in the act…
Harry laughed, "Fudge is really laying it on thick, isn't he? He's the 'Great Hero' who saved the day. Well, better him than me."
"I wonder how Tonks feels about having her first name in the paper," commented Lupin.
"You seem to wonder a lot about Tonks, don't you Moony?" asked Sirius, causing Remus to blush.
"I'm way too old for her. Besides, my furry little problem would make it too difficult."
-MITAB-
After breakfast and another grueling three hours of training, Harry went to his personal shower connected to his bedroom so he could clean up while Hermione did the same in one of the spare bathrooms. He thought about how much he'd miss this bedroom when he went back to Hogwarts in less than a week. He also realized something else. He wasn't looking forward to Hogwarts the way he used to when he was living with the Dursleys. During his first year at the wizarding school, he'd come to think of Hogwarts as home, but now he didn't anymore. He still liked Hogwarts, but this manor was now his home, and he'd have to leave it for months. He realized that he'd, for the first time in his life, be homesick for someplace besides Hogwarts.
At the same time, Hermione was thinking of her mother's words, "I'd hate for you two to break up over a simple misunderstanding," as well as Ginny's words, "I won't come between you two, but if you ever break up, I will go after him." Hermione realized that she had very nearly handed Harry over to Ginny. If Harry hadn't followed her, Ginny would have found him heartbroken on the Hogwarts express, and immediately started comforting him.
Hermione sighed as she realized that even if Ginny didn't go after Harry, there were tons of girls who would. Hermione resolved to not overreact anymore. If they have a disagreement, they'll talk it through. That didn't mean she'd let Harry get away with anything he wanted, but she would just make sure that she always gave him a chance to explain himself before she stormed off angrily. She would not risk losing Harry over stupidity.
She came downstairs to find Harry already waiting for her, playing something on his Gameboy. He looked up, pressed a button on his Gameboy, and said, "Hi, Hermione, you look nice."
She blushed, "I, er, transfigured my clothes to something I thought looked nicer."
"They do look nice," agreed Harry, "but then you always do."
She blushed more as she walked up and sat on Harry's lap, draping her arms around his neck. "I just wanted to thank you for coming after me when I stormed off this morning. I was very foolish and I could have lost you. I promise that I won't act like that again. I'll at least give you a chance to explain yourself before I storm off. I don't want to lose you over a stupid misunderstanding."
"Mine," replied Harry, "You already apologized. How could I not have followed you? How would I live without you?"
"Th-There are plenty of other girls at Hogwarts that would be glad to help you try."
Harry looked at her like she was nutters. "That's rubbish. They're just curious about 'The Boy-Who-Lived.' They don't really want to be my girlfriend. And I certainly don't want to be their boyfriend. I'm in love with you!"
Her cheeks went pink. "I'm in love with you, too, and I'm glad you feel the same, but it's not rubbish. I could name a girl who has told me in no uncertain terms that if we ever broke up, she'd love to take my place."
Harry smiled, "Well, then I guess that girl's gonna be disappointed."
-MITAB-
A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione flooed back to the Granger residence to spend the afternoon there. "Good afternoon, kids," greeted Mr. Granger when they stepped out of the fireplace. "How was your workout?"
"Exhausting," answered Harry. "But somehow satisfying."
"I know what you mean," agreed Hermione. "It does feel good to finish a workout."
"Anyway," said Marissa Granger, "I'll bet you've worked up an appetite."
After a satisfying lunch, Harry watched an action movie with the Grangers, and then they all headed for the swimming pool where they had a game of water volleyball that was the teenagers against the adults. Hermione's mother made some comments on how Harry had filled out since they began working out that caused both Harry and Hermione to blush. After Harry and Hermione won easily, Adam jokingly asked, "Are you two sure you weren't using some magic to win?"
Harry chuckled, "If we had, there'd be an owl flying here right now telling us we'd performed illegal magic. I remember when Dobby got me that warning for underage magic he'd performed at my house. The Dursleys had a fit! That's when they locked me in my room for the summer."
"I still don't understand why Dumbledore would leave you with those people," remarked Marissa.
"He felt it was 'for the greater good' to leave Harry with those monsters!" answered Hermione. "He also felt it was 'for the greater good' to leave Harry ignorant of and therefore untrained for his destiny. You'd be amazed at how much more magically powerful Harry has become now that he's started training!"
"You've gotten powerful yourself," Harry interjected, causing Hermione to blush.
"My point is that if he'd been trained properly his whole life and not held back by Dumbledore's plan, he'd already be unstoppable! I mean, after just a month of training, he's already caught a d…never mind." She and Harry both put their heads down as Hermione covered her face with her hands.
"Caught what?" asked a concerned Adam.
"A Death Eater," answered Harry, "Lucius Malfoy."
"Malfoy?" asked Mrs. Granger. "Is he related to that…"
"He's Draco's father," explained Harry. "He's also the man that gave Ginny Weasley Riddle's diary, which possessed her. He's the reason Hermione and several other muggleborns were petrified in second year. Of course, he was hoping they'd be killed. Anyway, there was an attack at the world cup, and he tried to curse Hermione, and I, er…"
"Bravely defended me like the hero you are!" completed Hermione proudly.
"Are you all right, honey," asked Marissa.
"Yes, mum, I was wearing the protection charms Harry gave me, plus I put up my own shield. The curse didn't affect me, but the moment Malfoy cast it, Harry petrified him! I guess that was fitting. Harry was amazing! Malfoy still doesn't really know what hit him. He thinks Auror Tonks got him from behind. That's also what's in the paper."
"You could have done the same thing, Hermione, and you know it," Harry pointed out.
She smiled, "Possibly, but only because I've been training with you. They don't even teach that kind of magic in auror training."
"It's too bad no one but Sirius caught anybody else," remarked Harry.
"Sirius caught someone, too?" asked Adam, clearly interested. "Why don't you tell us exactly what happened?"
They started the story with Minister Fudge having Lucius Malfoy as his guest, and ended with the article in the newspaper, leaving nothing out (except for their snogging).
When they were finished, Mr. Granger replied, "Wow. I didn't know how dangerous your world is. I don't suppose I could get you to leave it, so I'm glad you're training as best you can."
"It's usually not that dangerous, Adam, but when things like this happen, it's good to be prepared," countered Harry. "Besides, terrorism happens in the muggle world at least as often as in the wizarding world."
"Unfortunately, I think you're right about that, Harry. I don't suppose there's anywhere you can go to avoid it," stated Mrs. Granger with a worried expression on her face.
"Anyway, I'm sure you and Hermione want some time alone before dinner," commented Adam. "Just keep your door open."
The young couple went up to Hermione's room to find her new school books stacked neatly on her desk near her laptop. She promised, "I'll put these books on our network tomorrow at your house." Then her eyes brightened with an idea. "Did you bring your Gameboy?"
"Er, yeah," answered Harry. "I put it in my pocket before we left, why?"
"Do you have your Mario Kart game?"
"Yes, that's what I was playing."
Hermione then opened a drawer in her desk and produced her own purple Game Boy Advance SP. I got my parents to buy me one last week, along with my copy of that game. I charmed my Game Boy at your house a few days ago, along with this." She then produced two ends of a cord for connecting the two Game Boys. "I charmed this to connect the two magically and wirelessly. We can play together from absolutely anywhere on the planet. Just plug this into yours and we'll be able to play against each other." She handed him one of the ends and plugged the other into her machine.
Harry pulled his system out of his pocket. As he was plugging the piece into his machine, he asked, "How come you didn't tell me about this until now?"
"I wanted to practice playing before I challenged you," she explained with a smirk. At that moment, Harry knew he was in trouble.
-MITAB-
After Hermione had humiliated Harry sufficiently, they went down to supper, and then Harry left, kissing Hermione goodbye. Harry then went upstairs and decided to start reading the books that he hadn't noticed in his room earlier. He knew he'd be in trouble with Hermione if he wasn't at least two weeks ahead on the homework before school started. He also decided that he'd spend some time practicing his game so that next time he wouldn't be beaten quite so badly as before. He resolved to study for an hour, and then play, alternating every hour until he went to sleep.
Chapter 21 – Flying High
The next day Harry woke up at seven with his Game Boy in his lap, as his alarm clock played a song that he just decided he hated. He thought about chucking the cd out the window, but then remembered that he'd made all his cds impervious to damage anyway. He settled on turning off the alarm. He fumbled his way to the shower as he felt the effects of sleep deprivation that the world cup had afforded him.
Hermione showed up at eight with only a few of her textbooks in hand. She explained, "I didn't see the point of bringing the books that you already have. I'll put them on the network before I go home today. For now, I guess it's time for more training."
At that moment, Hedwig flew into the house carrying a letter. Harry took the letter and went back to the kitchen to grab a piece of bacon for her before the elves cleared off the table. It was too late. As Hedwig was looking expectantly and impatiently at Harry, he called out, "Winky!" and the elf appeared.
"Yes, Harry?" she asked.
"Is there any bacon left, so I can give Hedwig some?" Harry inquired.
"Yes, Harry! I is getting it now!" With that she disappeared, reappearing a few seconds later with a piece of bacon, which Harry immediately gave to Hedwig, who took it and flew to one of the empty rooms she seemed to have claimed for herself.
Harry looked at the letter and said, "Hermione, this is from Fred and George. It says,
Harry and Hermione,
From what our father tells us, you have learned how to charm muggle devices, such as cop-muters, to work at Hogwarts. Is this true? If it is, we have a business proposition to make. You charm muggle devices for other students (for a fee of course). We advertise and handle the business aspect of it (advertising, etc.) and then give you the devices to charm. We then split the profits evenly.
Sincerely,
Fred and George"
Harry and Hermione looked at each other. Harry sighed. "Well, what do you think?"
"Well," reasoned Hermione, "When people see our laptops and Gameboys, they'll probably be bugging us to charm their stuff anyway. With this business deal, we won't have to deal with the students, just the muggle devices. And since they'll have to pay, it'll be less people than if we did it for free. However, I do think that we should get more profits than the twins, since it's your mum's research that makes it possible. We should demand two-thirds of the profits."
"Actually," countered Harry, "We should ask for three-fourths, and then they'll negotiate down to two-thirds. I would like it if you did the charms, though. You're better at it than me, and I certainly don't need the money."
"What if it gets to be too much work?" asked Hermione. "I don't want to get behind in my studies."
"If it gets to be too much," suggested Harry, "we can sell the twins the power charms, which would probably be the biggest seller."
Hermione smiled, "If it really does get that popular, we could charge the twins a lot for that spell."
"Okay, then it's settled. I'll write the letter." Harry then got a ballpoint pen and paper (He used them at his house because he didn't really like using a quill with ink and parchment). He wrote,
Fred and George,
It is true that we can charm any muggle electronic devices, such as our computers, to work at Hogwarts. We would be glad to go into business with you, but we feel that we should get three-fourths of the profits. Hermione will be doing the majority of the spellwork. We promise not to charm anybody's devices for free. If it becomes too time consuming, we'll consider selling you the spells so you can charm the devices yourself. Let us know what you think of our proposition.
Sincerely,
Harry and Hermione
Harry called Hedwig, who reluctantly stuck her leg out for Harry to attach the letter to. "Take this over to Fred and George, and then wait for their reply, girl." She then flew off out the window.
"Aren't you two ready for training yet," came Lupin's voice from behind them.
"We are now," answered Hermione, as they turned around and headed toward their torture chamber.
Three and a half hours later, while they were eating lunch, Sirius mentioned, "We're going to take a little trip today. Hermione, I already cleared it with your folks."
"Really?" asked Hermione, "Where?"
"It's a surprise," replied Lupin.
"Come on, guys," responded Harry, but before he could continue, Hedwig flew to the table and landed on Harry's shoulder. Harry saw a piece of parchment tied to her leg, so he took it and gave her a bit of his lunch. He then petted her feathers and said, "Thanks, Hedwig."
The letter said,
Harry and Hermione,
We agree that you'll probably deserve more profit than us, since they're your spells, but three-fourths is a bit too much. The most we can give you is two-thirds. We hope this deal is acceptable. Once we have enough Galleons, we'd be glad to purchase the spells from you. Hopefully we'll be able to do that by the end of the school year. We won't demand that Hedwig keeps flying back and forth between us again today. We'll see you on the train in a few days and finalize our agreement, if you agree to our terms.
Hopefully your partners,
Fred and George
"See, Hermione," gloated Harry smiling, "I knew they'd negotiate down."
"You were right," admitted Hermione, beaming back at her boyfriend. "I guess we've just gone into business with the Weasley twins. Oh, Sirius?"
"Yes," replied Sirius, who'd been chatting with Lupin and not paying attention to Harry and Hermione's conversation.
"Don't show anyone how to charm the muggle devices like your laptop. If anyone asks, send them to Fred and George. We're going into business with them."
"Really?" asked Sirius, grinning from ear to ear. "What if the teachers don't want to do business with students?"
"Then I'd suggest you talk to Fred and George to find out how much they're going to charge, and maybe make an agreement that says you sell to teachers only and they sell to students only," suggested Hermione.
"Hmm," responded Sirius, scratching his chin. "Maybe I will. Anyway, we're going to apparate someplace, and I want to bring brooms for all of us."
"All right," agreed Harry hesitantly. "I still wish I knew where we were going."
"You'll like it," insisted Lupin. "We promise."
They went outside to the broom closet near the quidditch pitch, and took out the two Firebolts and two Cleansweeps. Then Sirius apparated with Harry while Lupin apparated with Hermione.
They appeared in the middle of a forest clearing, and several magical animals, such as unicorns, ran away when they arrived. Hermione asked, "Where are we?" but Sirius ignored her and pulled out what appeared to be a whistle. After Sirius blew into it, making no sound audible to the human ear, he finally answered Hermione's question. "We're in a magical forest that's about a thousand kilometers south of Hogwarts."
"Why are we here," asked Harry. "Are we going to do some training on our brooms?"
"Yes, we will," promised Lupin, "but first we'd like to say hello to…"
"BUCKBEAK!" exclaimed both Harry and Hermione as the hippogriff fugitive flew down near them. They both bowed to him immediately, and he bowed his head back, allowing them to approach.
"Hello, Beaky," greeted Hermione as she stroked his neck, "How are you doing?"
"Hey, Buckbeak," asked Harry as he softly patted the hippogriff's head. "Do you mind if I ride you?"
Buckbeak shook his head, seemingly answering Harry's question, so Harry climbed aboard his back, and held out his hand to Hermione.
"Er, no I don't think I will," she replied, appearing nervous.
"Come on, Hermione," pleaded Harry. "It's a lot of fun! Please?" he gave her a pleading look that she could never resist.
"Oh, all right," she replied, and Harry helped her get settled behind him, and then Buckbeak took off into the air. Hermione was holding tightly to Harry and screaming as loud as she could (causing Harry an earache) at first, but then, as she got used to it, she began enjoying herself, and even let go of Harry for a few seconds while she held out her arms like they were wings of an airplane.
While she was doing that, she heard Sirius' voice say, "That a girl!" which startled her, causing her to grab Harry's waist again. She turned to see Moony and Padfoot flying right behind them on their brooms.
When Hermione looked shocked, Lupin explained with a smile on his face, "You didn't expect us to let you go off unsupervised, did you?"
Sirius laughed, "What kind of chaperones would we be?" Harry joined in the laughter.
After a few minutes of that, everyone returned back to the clearing, and then Sirius and Remus started chasing Harry and Hermione on broomsticks through the forest. It was actually a lot of fun. For the first round, Harry and Hermione used the firebolts while the others used the Cleansweeps. After the young couple successfully mastered that, they switched brooms, which made it a lot more difficult to escape the Marauders. After a few enjoyable hours of that, they said goodbye to Buckbeak and apparated back to Potter Manor. Dobby made dinner while they cleaned up. Hermione said she'd scan the schoolbooks into the computer after dinner.
While they were eating, Hermione mentioned, "I think I've gotten fairly good at flying. I was thinking of trying out for quidditch this year."
Harry looked ecstatic. "That would be great!" he shouted.
Both Sirius and Remus put their heads down.
Hermione looked uncertain, "Er, I know I'm not as good as Harry, but I thought I might…"
"It's not that," interrupted Sirius, "You actually have gotten very good at flying this summer, and you might even have made the team, but you see, er, this year you're not having quidditch."
"WHAT!?" shouted Harry, while Hermione looked perplexed. "How can they not have quidditch?" he demanded.
"Well," began Lupin, "we're not allowed to say…"
"We might as well tell them," conceded Sirius, "or Harry might refuse to go to school. You can't let anyone else know until Dumbledore makes the announcement." The two teens nodded. "Have either of you ever heard of the Triwizard Tournament?"
Chapter 22 – Announcements
The next few days passed quickly with training, getting ahead in classes, games (video games as well as the many other activities Potter Manor was equipped for), and of course, snogging. They did manage to visit Buckbeak one more time the day before school began. Before they knew it, Harry and Hermione were sitting in a compartment of the Hogwarts Express, competing against each other in yet another game of Mario Kart. Harry was improving, and was not as easily beaten by Hermione anymore. The door to their compartment opened and Hermione immediately paused the game to look at who had opened the door. She smiled as she greeted their visitors. "Hello, Fred, George. How are you?"
"Hi, Gred, Forge," said Harry with a grin.
"We're both fine," answered Fred.
"But we do want to know," added George.
"If you accept our offer of two-thirds of the profits," finished Fred.
Harry smiled broadly and answered, "Yes. You handle the marketing and bookkeeping…"
"And we'll charm the devices," finished Hermione.
"That's good news," replied George.
"Hopefully, we'll make enough money to develop our own joke products," added Fred.
"Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," completed George proudly.
"Are those muggle devices in your hands?" asked Fred, now eying their Game Boys.
"Yes," answered Hermione. "These are portable muggle video game systems called Game Boy Advances. Harry and I are playing a racing game called Mario Kart against each other."
"How are you playing each other?" asked George.
"There's no cord attaching those Game Boy Advances," Fred pointed out.
Hermione sighed, "Honestly. There are some muggle devices that do work together without being attached by a cord. However, you are right about these. Muggles need to use a cord with them, but I charmed them so they don't need it. If people get those, they need to know not to let muggles see them competing without the cord."
"Wicked!" exclaimed George. "Do you mind if we try out the products?"
"I guess not," agreed Harry, who'd let Hermione explain the Game Boys. "I was probably going to lose anyway."
Fred and George took seats across from Harry and Hermione, while Hermione explained how to play the game. Fred and George were already absorbed in their competition when Ginny walked into their compartment. She asked, "Do you mind if I join you?"
"Not at all, Ginny," replied Hermione. Ginny took a seat next to Hermione (Harry was against the window on Hermione's other side). Hermione then asked, "I'm surprised Ron's not with you."
Ginny sighed, "Oh, that git," causing her brothers to chuckle while still intently playing their game. "He said, 'I'm not spending the train ride with that show off!' and went to find a seat somewhere else. Good riddance!" Ginny then noticed that Fred and George were absorbed in some weird devices she'd never seen before. "What are Fred and George doing?"
"They're playing a muggle video game," answered Harry.
"Oh," responded Ginny, "Don't those need ekle-tricity?"
"Normally, they do require electricity," explained Hermione patiently. "But those are charmed to work on magic instead."
"Wow!" exclaimed Ginny. "Isn't that illegal?"
"No," replied Harry. "We asked your dad. He said that as long as they're not doing anything out of the ordinary, it's not illegal. They're functioning the same as always, so if a muggle used them, they wouldn't notice the difference."
"Except that the battery never runs out," pointed out Hermione, "But the only way they'd find that out is if they stole it."
"Cool," replied Ginny. "Can you charm any muggle device to do that?"
"Absolutely," declared Hermione.
"For the right price," added Fred and George together (while still playing their game).
"What do they mean?" asked Ginny.
"You see," explained Hermione, "We've gone into business with them and, er, promised not to charm any muggle devices for anyone unless they go through Fred and George first and settle on a price."
"The twins will give us the devices to charm, so if you want something charmed, you'll have to go through them."
The redhead girl smiled to herself, "I think I can blackmail them into letting me get things charmed for free."
At that moment, the door opened yet again, and this time it was an unwelcome guest. Despite the fact that his father was in Azkaban, Draco was still strutting around proudly with his two goons at his side, although Harry noticed that Draco's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"What do you want, Draco?" Harry spit out.
"I wanted to know if you were entering. I'll bet someone like you couldn't resist the chance to show off!"
"Didn't your jailbird father tell you the new rules?" asked Hermione.
"I wasn't talking to you, mudblood! How dare you insult my father," he snapped back, and then turned back to Harry. "What new rules?"
Harry smirked at Draco, "Didn't you know? They're only allowing people seventeen or older in the tournament, so I can't enter, and no matter how much your Death Eater Dad has bribed the ministry with, you can't either."
Draco seemed to pale slightly at the thought of Harry and Hermione knowing something he didn't, but still kept the same expression as he pulled out his wand, yelling, "How dare you call my father a, whaaaa…ouch!" At that moment, his feet came forward toward Harry as if summoned and Draco fell on his backside. Everyone in the compartment (except Crabbe and Goyle) started laughing at Draco as he got up and left quickly, followed by his 'bodyguards.'
Hermione turned to look Harry in the eye questioningly. He winked at her, causing an even bigger smile to appear on her face than was already there. She kissed him quickly, (she didn't think it was long enough anyway) as Ginny turned her head and the twins focused their attention back on the game, which they'd paused to laugh properly at Draco.
"Already at it," remarked Ron, who'd just walked up from the hallway, loudly.
"It's really none of your business," snapped Hermione, who was clearly annoyed at being interrupted while kissing her boyfriend.
"Why don't you go find someone to kiss instead of complaining about Harry and Hermione?" suggested Ginny with a smirk. "I'm sure there's a first year somewhere on this train who'll have you!"
The twins has to pause their game again as they joined in the laughter at that statement. Ron's face turned a shade of purple that reminded Harry of his Uncle Vernon. He tried to pull out his wand, but found that it was stuck in his pocket. He kept pulling on it, eventually with both hands, but it wouldn't budge. He was getting more and more frustrated while the others were laughing harder and harder at him struggling. He finally turned around and stormed off. Soon after the laughter died down, Harry looked over at Hermione, who winked at him, causing him to let out a slight chuckle. At that moment, Neville appeared in the doorway.
He explained, "I was sitting with Ron, but he went to the bathroom a little while ago, and since he came back, for some reason he's been really upset. I was wondering if I could join you guys?"
"Sure, Neville," invited Harry. Neville sat next to the twins, right across from Ginny. Hermione noticed that every few seconds, he'd glance at Ginny and slightly blush.
"So," asked Neville, ending the silence that started when he sat down, "What are Fred and George doing?"
-MITAB-
After the rest of the enjoyable trip, in which George finally won so they gave the Game Boys back to their owners, they found themselves soaking wet in the Great Hall. They all laughed when Peeves got Ron in the head with a water balloon. Harry and Hermione had noticed it beforehand and could have stopped it, but they couldn't think of one good reason to do so.
Before they sat down, Hermione pulled her wand out and verbally performed the drying charm on Harry, herself, Fred, George, and Ginny. Afterwards she whispered into Harry's ear, "I almost did that without my wand. It's going to be difficult acting like we need them, and even harder to remember to say the spells."
Harry whispered back, "I know, it'll be like pretending to be a firstie again."
She chuckled softly at that statement, and then Fred commented, "Oy, if you two must whisper sweet nothings in each other's ears, do it without making noise. The sorting's started. We're trying to hear the names of our new potential customers."
When the sorting was over, the Headmaster made the simple announcement, "Tuck in."
Soon after the feast had started, Nearly Headless Nick showed up, talking about how Peeves had been terrorizing the house elves, gaining Hermione's attention. "There are house elves here at Hogwarts?" she asked.
"More than anywhere else in Europe I believe," answered Sir Nicolas.
"I, er, I don't suppose they get wages here, do they?" asked Hermione timidly.
"Of course not," replied Nick.
"But, but they're happy here, aren't they? I mean, they're not mistreated, are they?"
"Aside from when Peeves is terrorizing them, I'd say they're the happiest elves I've ever seen. Professor Dumbledore always praises their work, and I've never yet heard of him punishing an elf."
"Well, that's good," said Hermione, as she took another bite of her food.
Harry smiled at her, causing her cheeks to go a little pink. "You handled that very well," he complimented.
"What did you expect me to do, refuse to eat?"
They continued the meal amiably, until the dishes were cleared and the Headmaster walked up the podium to make his announcements.
"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. First of all, Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to announce that smiling in the hallways is no longer permitted," Dumbledore announced, with a twinkle in his eyes. Filch gave him a quick glare. Dumbledore continued, "I'm joking, of course, but Mr. Filch did ask me to remind you that magic is forbidden in the hallways, and that the Forbidden Forest is, well, forbidden to all students. He has also added Screaming Yo-Yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs to the list of forbidden objects within the castle. If you're interested in the full list, which comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, it is inside Mr. Filch's office."
He then motioned toward the staff table. "As you may have noticed, there are three new members of staff here. Professor Brooks will be teaching History of Magic." He motioned to a petite woman with tan skin, brown eyes, and long brown hair. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, and was very attractive. About half of the younger boys blushed when she waved her hand. "Professor Figg will be teaching Muggle Studies."
Harry couldn't believe his eyes as he recognized the grizzled gray hair, although now instead of a hairnet she was wearing a pointed hat. He whispered to Hermione, "That's Mrs. Figg! The lady with all the cats who lived on Privet Drive that used to baby-sit me!"
Hermione gasped. She then whispered, "I'll bet Dumbledore placed her there to spy on you. Now that you don't live there, she had no reason to stay."
Dumbledore continued, "And finally, as the new Head of Slytherin House and Potions Master, is Professor Black, recently cleared of all charges."
"What?" came the sound of several surprised students from the Slytherin table.
"Isn't he Harry Potter's guardian?" came the sneering voice of Draco Malfoy.
"Yes, he is. Quite right, Mr. Malfoy, although I regret to inform you that I must take five points from Slytherin for your speaking out of turn," replied Dumbledore. "I'm sure that Professor Black will not show favoritism toward Mr. Potter in the manner that Professor Snape has shown favoritism toward Slytherin House and you in particular in the past."
Harry couldn't help but chuckle as he saw Sirius, sitting next to Remus, smiling brightly. "Did you see the look on Draco's face?" Harry whispered to his neighbors, causing them all to chuckle quietly.
Dumbledore continued, "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." Harry hid his grin as he looked around at Fred and George, his fellow members of the Quidditch team. They were mouthing soundlessly at Dumbledore, apparently too appalled to speak. The headmaster went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy – but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts, we will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament."
Fred and George loudly said together, "You're JOKING!"
Chapter 23 – A Day of Firsts
"I am not joking, Mr. Weasley" Dumbledore replied, "though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…"
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat loudly.
"Er - but maybe this is not the time…no…" said Dumbledore, "where was I? Ah yes, the Triwizard Tournament…" He went on to explain what it was and how the death tolls caused it to be discontinued, but now the other schools had agreed to try again. Then he caused an uproar as he announced, "…the Heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age – that is to say, seventeen years or older – will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This…"
Shouts of, "This is rubbish," and many other similar sentiments could be heard for about a minute until something small flew into the Great Hall. It appeared to be a small, gray, feathery tennis ball. It flew straight toward Gryffindor table, toward where Harry was sitting with his friends, while everyone, even Dumbledore, watched with interest. As it flew closer, Harry could see that it was an owl, and it had a note tied to its leg.
It landed in front of Ginny Weasley, who hesitantly untied the note, commenting, "I wonder who sent me this? It is a cute little owl, though." As soon as she removed the note, the bird hooted enthusiastically, and flew what appeared to be a victory lap around the table, causing several chuckles, while Ginny read her note. Her expression turned from confusion to happiness as she put the note in her pocket.
"Who was it from? What did it say?" asked the ever inquisitive Hermione.
"It's from my parents," answered Ginny. "They decided that they'd get me my own owl as a reward for how good I did in classes last year. This is it. Mum said he looked so eager she couldn't resist buying him." She then stuck out her hand and the tiny owl landed on her. "Hello, little owl. I'm you're new owner," she greeted it as she stroked his feathers. "My name is Ginny. What should I call you?" she asked as she looked into its eyes. "I know – Pigwidgeon! That's what your name is," she declared, nodding her head at her owl.
"Pig-widgeon?" asked Harry, trying to stifle a laugh.
"Yes," replied Ginny defiantly. "Pigwidgeon is a good name!"
"I agree," said Hermione, as Dumbledore finally continued with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Now that Miss Weasley has received her mail," causing her face to turn red as a few people, especially Slytherins, chuckled, "I believe it is time for bed. I know how important is for all of you to be well rested for tomorrow's lessons. Goodnight."
-MITAB-
Harry then turned to Hermione and kissed her cheek, "I want to talk to Dumbledore. You can go to the common room."
"If it's all the same to you, love, I'm going with you. This is about Mrs. Figg, isn't it?"
Harry nodded his head as they both walked toward the staff table. "Mrs. Figg," Harry called out in the friendliest voice he could. "How are you?"
"Er, Harry, I, I'm fine," she replied, "and before you ask, Professor Dumbledore had me move to Privet Drive when he left you with the Dursleys. I told him how they treated you, but he insisted that leaving you there was for the best, and he forbad me from telling you about the magical world or your part in it. I'm sorry about how miserable you were when I babysat you, but I knew that if you'd enjoyed yourself, they wouldn't let you come back. I'm glad you finally got away from those horrible people, Harry. I hope we can be friends now."
"Sure, Professor. It's not your fault. By the way, this is my girlfriend, Hermione Granger."
"Hello, dear," greeted Professor Figg, shaking Hermione's hand nervously.
"It's good to meet you, Professor," responded Hermione amiably.
"If you'll excuse me, though, there's someone else I want to see."
With that, he strode over to Professor Dumbledore, who was attempting a hasty retreat. "Professor Dumbledore," asked Harry in a friendly tone, "Could we speak with you in your office immediately?"
The aged man put his head down as he sighed, "Very well. I suppose we might as well get this over with. Come with me."
-MITAB-
Within a few minutes, the three of them were in Dumbledore's office. Fawkes' perch was noticeably empty. Harry immediately began, "Why did you place Mrs. Figg to spy on me, if you didn't care what she had to say?"
"I didn't disregard it, Harry; I just felt it was…"
"For the best," interrupted Hermione, surprising both the headmaster and Harry. "You say that a lot, as though you alone are the great and wise one who always knows what's for the best for everybody! You make wonderful people like Harry suffer their entire lives because of a decision you made! You hear reports of how the Dursleys treated Harry, but you know it's for the best because otherwise your decision would be wrong, and that's impossible!"
Fortunately for Dumbledore, he was saved from further abuse by Fawkes flying in and singing the soothing song that phoenixes are known for. Fawkes landed on Harry's shoulder, and while Harry petted the phoenix, he asked calmly, "Well, professor? What do you have to say for yourself?"
Dumbledore shut his eyes for a moment, and then answered. "I guess I have to say what I've been saying a lot this past year. I'm sorry, Harry. That's all I can say. I can't take back actions or decisions from the past any more than you can."
"Fine," conceded Harry, while the phoenix was still singing, "I guess you can't change the past."
-MITAB-
That night in Gryffindor tower, Hermione was sitting on a couch reading something from her laptop, while Harry was sitting next to her using his Game Boy, practicing Mario Kart, when Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas walked up to them.
Seamus said, "Hi, guys. What are those?"
"I know what those are," declared Dean grinning, "but how are they working? I thought muggle electronic devices don't work here."
Harry paused his game, smiled ear to ear, and explained, "Hermione and I found a way to make them work. We've each got a laptop with a magical battery that never runs out and a fast working connection to the Internet."
"If I had my folks send my Game Boy here," asked Dean, "Could you make it work like yours?"
At that moment, the Weasley twins, who'd been listening in on the conversation, walked up. Fred put his hand on Dean's shoulder and answered, "Yes, they can, my boy, but you'll have to go through us. We're business partners."
George asked, "How many Galleons is it worth to you?"
Dean looked from the twins to Harry, who nodded silently along with Hermione. Dean finally offered, "Er, ten Galleons?"
"Thirty," countered Fred.
"That's too much!" exclaimed Dean. "The most I'll pay is fifteen."
"Are you sure? The process gives you a magical battery that will never run out. We'll even throw in making it impervious for free," explained George.
"That way, when you drop it off the Astronomy tower while you're snogging," began Fred.
"Or you drop it in the lake," added George.
"It won't get damaged," promised Fred.
Dean took a deep breath, "Okay, but it had better work like you said! I'll owl my folks tomorrow."
"Deal!" agreed George.
After Dean had walked off, Fred whispered, "I guess we now have a price for making a Game Boy work. Do you think it should be the same for everything?"
Hermione finally looked up from her laptop with a smile on her face. "For most things. Make it twenty-one Galleons for digital watches and thirty-nine Galleons for TVs, DVD Players, and computers. That's to get them power. For communication, it'll be nine Galleons for things like the Game Boys and TVs. Computers and cell phones will be eighteen Galleons. If you're not sure of something, ask me."
"I couldn't help but notice that every price you've named is easily divided by three," commented Fred.
"I figured it would make easier math," explained Hermione with a smirk, and then continued her studying. After virtually every muggle-raised Gryffindor had spoken to the twins about having something charmed for them (after Dean, Harry and Hermione simply referred people to their partners) while the other students simply watched with fascination the common room eventually cleared out. Harry and Hermione put their stuff away and started talking.
"Don't worry, Mine," promised Harry in between kisses, "The muggle devices are new to people right now. There'll be a lot of people wanting them, and you'll make some money, but then the rush will be over."
She smiled, "I know, Hero. Anyway, I don't think people will be directly bothering us about it, anyway. I think now everybody in Gryffindor knows to talk to the twins."
"So what do you think, Mine? Should we bring our laptops to class tomorrow, or our books?"
"Well, er, I was thinking that tomorrow we should bring both, and just use the laptops. If one of the teachers has a problem with them, then we'll have the books with us," suggested Hermione.
"Well, I know that Moony and Padfoot won't have a problem, so we can leave those books in our dorms."
"Then it's settled?" asked Hermione. Harry nodded, and then she leaned her face to be about an inch from his and asked, "Whatever shall we do now?"
-MITAB-
The next morning, Harry and Hermione woke up an hour before everyone else so they could exercise. Sirius was to meet them in his office and show them a place they could work out. They met him and said their, "Good morning's," sleepily. Sirius then told them to follow him.
After leading them to a certain seventh floor corridor, Sirius explained, "You need to walk past this place three times thinking, 'I need a place to exercise,' over and over again. If you do it right, a door will appear and you'll find a perfect exercise room."
Harry and Hermione did as they were told, and to their astonishment, a door did appear. Hermione asked, "What is this place?" as she looked around at the exercise equipment.
"Dumbledore calls it, 'the room of requirement.' It will fulfill the requirements of everyone who uses it. When I told him about your training, he suggested using this room. Just don't abuse it and do something I wouldn't do with it."
Harry smirked. "And what exactly wouldn't you do with it?"
Sirius' ears turned slightly pink. He barked, "Just don't disobey school rules in here, okay," and walked off. "Enjoy your workout. Meet us back here after dinner." (The plan was to do the physical exercises in the morning before breakfast, and then to practice with Remus and Sirius after dinner.)
At breakfast, when they got their schedules, for the first time in his life Harry was glad to see they had Potions first period with the Slytherins. He glanced at Hermione to see that she was pleased as well. They had History of Magic with the Hufflepuffs as their second class of the day. A few minutes later, when the mail was coming, Hermione was surprised to receive a package from her parents carried by a Hogwarts owl. She opened up the attached note and read it out loud for Harry,
"Dear Hermione,
We shipped this overnight to the Hogwarts mailing address, and hope you got it on your first day. It's a cell phone. We hope that you can charm them to work magically like you've been able to charm everything else, including Harry." Hermione blushed at this point, but continued. "If you can charm it to work, call us tonight. If not, send the phone back by owl.
Sincerely hoping we can hear your voice soon,
Love from
Mum & Dad
P.S. Tell Harry, Professor Black, and Professor Lupin we said hi!"
"That's great!" exclaimed Harry. "I know you mentioned cell phones last night."
"Yes," replied Hermione. "I researched how to charm them last night. I don't know why I didn't ask for one myself. I think that every muggle-raised student will end up getting one of these. They don't need to pay for minutes or anything. I've just got to charm them so they don't go off during lessons."
"I'd say it's better to just make sure the customers know to turn them off during lessons," remarked Harry.
"You should get one for yourself, Harry," she suggested enthusiastically.
"You're with me all the time, and the only other people with phones I might call are your folks, and I think you'd let me borrow your phone for that."
"If you say so, Harry," responded Hermione, sounding a bit sad. "I just thought you'd want a way to keep track of me when we are separate, so that I could call you if I'm in some kind of trouble," she fake-sobbed, "But if I'm not that important to you…"
"Fine," agreed Harry, giving in. "Ask your parents to pick up a good phone for me, and make sure it's a flip-phone, so I don't end up accidentally calling people. I think I left them with enough money to take care of it." (Harry had left a thousand pounds with her parents, in case he needed them to pick anything up for him while he was at school.)
All of the sudden, Hermione's countenance changed back to excited as she grabbed him for a quick kiss. "Now, let's see if I can get this phone ready before breakfast is over."
-MITAB-
She did manage to finish breakfast, charm the cell phone, get her supplies, and make it to Potions class on time with Harry. There was a small amount of chatter going on until the side door opened and Sirius Black stepped into the room. Most of the students didn't know what to make of him yet, so they didn't want to get him upset. He was grinning ear to ear.
He walked to the front of the classroom and announced, "Hello, class. As you all know, I'm Professor Sirius Black. As you also know, I was falsely accused of murders that Peter Pettigrew committed and spent some time in Azkaban, where I know some of your parents are right now." He shot a quick glance at Malfoy, whose smirk faded momentarily. "Now I understand that your previous professor favored his own house tremendously. I want you to know right from the start that I'm not going to show any favoritism in this class…"
"Except to Potter," muttered Malfoy, apparently unaware of how good Sirius' hearing was, due to his Animagus form.
"Mr. Malfoy," replied Sirius, "I have no intention of favoring Mr. Potter over anybody else, but I won't be harassing him unfairly the way Snivelous Snape used to!" At this, all the Gryffindors, even Hermione, started laughing. "Excuse me, slip of the tongue. I meant to say Severus," Black claimed, smirking so that the entire class knew he didn't regret what he said.
"Now, according to Professor Snape's records, Mr. Malfoy here is tied with Miss Granger as the best potions student." Malfoy smiled at the recognition. "For our first class, we'll observe these two master potion brewers compete in mixing this potion individually." Draco's smile immediately disappeared. Sirius flicked his wand toward the blackboard, which showed the process for making a potion that Harry and Hermione had practiced together at his house. Judging by the look on Malfoy's face, he hadn't. "Well, both of you come up to the front of the class so we can watch." Hermione happily took her supplies to a front desk while Malfoy, looking very nervous, did the same.
While those two were working, Hermione quite calmly and Malfoy quite panicky, Sirius began his lecture. "This will take them about an hour to brew. While they're working, I'm going to teach you a little bit about this potion. As I understand it, putting the instructions on the board was Professor Snape's idea of teaching. It's not mine. I'm going to explain how and why different ingredients work together. Starting with the first ingredient of this potion…"
Sirius lectured in a way that was easy to understand, and about a half hour later when he told them all to start working with a partner, even Neville wasn't nervous about the potion. He was a bit nervous when he asked Ginny, who'd planned on partnering Hermione, to be his partner. She accepted and they began to work together. Harry got Dean to work with him for that class.
When Hermione and Draco were finished, Sirius had the class pause for a few minutes (this particular potion could wait) while he inspected the pink substance in her cauldron. "This looks perfect, Miss Granger!" Sirius declared. "Ten points to Gryffindor. Now, let's inspect Mr. Malfoy's. Based off of his Potions grade from last year, we should expect the same results." He held up a beaker of Malfoy's blood red potion that appeared to have specks of dirt in it. "Not quite perfect, is it, Mr. Malfoy?"
The blonde boy looked ready to kill. "I guess not, the mudblood was distracting…"
"Fifty points from Slytherin for the use of that word, as well as five detentions with Mr. Filch!" interrupted Sirius, "and five points for trying to blame someone else for your own mistakes. If you were too busy looking at Miss Granger, that's your own fault." Draco's face went white. "Your excuses aren't going to work with me." He then turned to the rest of the class. "As I've demonstrated with Mr. Malfoy, past grades don't mean anything if you didn't earn them. Everybody will have to earn their grade in this class, and yes, Mr. Malfoy, that includes my godson, Mr. Potter."
The class resumed mixing their potions, and many of the Gryffindors, including Harry, Dean, Neville, and Ginny, received Outstandings. Still more got Exceeds Expectations for their potions, while most of the Slytherin's, including Draco, earned an Acceptable, although Crabbe and Goyle, who'd foolishly partnered together when Draco was called up, got Troll as their grade when they turned in a green potion.
"Wow!" exclaimed Harry, grinning ear to ear, "That's the first time I ever got an O in potions class!"
"You earned it!" declared Hermione, giving his a quick kiss.
"I loved the way you humiliated Draco today! I never had any doubt in my mind that you would!"
She blushed, "That's nice of you to say, but…"
"That's not being nice, Mine. You are brilliant, in every sense of the word!"
"Thank you. Oh, there's something I wanted to show you," she said, dragging his arm and pulling him with her into a small door.
He looked around. "Well, you pulled me in this broom cupboard, what did you want to show me?"
"How much I love you," she answered, and then proceeded to snog him senseless until they heard a beep. They separated and Hermione remarked, "That's my phone. I set the alarm so we wouldn't be late for class."
They then left the cupboard and noticed Ginny and Neville standing there grinning at them. "We saw you go in there, and wanted to make sure you made it to class. We were just about to get you when we heard beeping in there," explained Ginny. She then added sarcastically, "Was that a smoke alarm?"
"Er," answered Hermione, "It was a watch alarm to let us know it was time to stop." They then started walking toward their history class. "Thanks for waiting for us, though. We really do appreciate it, although it won't be necessary anymore."
"It's no problem," replied Neville.
They then proceeded to the History of Magic class, where the young brunette teacher was sitting at the desk in navy blue robes. "Hello, everyone," she began. "My name is Professor Brooks, and I've had the honor of finally replacing that deadbeat teacher." Everybody chuckled at that. "Now, here's my question for you. Has anybody here ever learned anything in this classroom? I'm not talking about reading the book while Professor Binns was boring everybody. I mean, did he teach you anything? I'm not gonna make you answer that. As I understand it, the only thing he taught you was history from long ago, like goblin rebellions. Am I right?" The whole class nodded in agreement. "Has he ever taught you about recent history?" The whole class shook their head. "What is the single most important event to happen in the wizarding world in the past fifty years?" The whole class looked dumbfounded except for Hermione, who characteristically held up her hand. "Yes, Miss?"
"Granger, ma'am. Hermione Granger. The most important thing in recent history was the Vold-, er You-Know-Who war, which ended on Halloween thirteen years ago with the attack on the Potter family, which resulted in You-Know-Who's disappearance." Hermione gave a quick glance at her boyfriend, who nodded that he was okay.
"Correct, Miss Granger, and I think you should use the name, Voldemort." Almost the whole class flinched. "There is absolutely nothing to fear from speaking the name that Tom Marvolo Riddle fabricated for himself." Most of the class was astonished at this news (obviously not Harry, Ginny, or Hermione). "Oh yes, didn't you know? The man who calls himself Lord Voldemort was actually a student that came through here by the name of Tom Riddle. He was the son of a muggle man named Tom Riddle and a witch by the name of Merope Gaunt, whose father was named Marvolo. That family was the last of the Slytherins…"
She then gave the most complete lecture on the origins of Voldemort that anybody had ever heard. She covered all the way until he graduated from Hogwarts, mentioning the orphanage, the chamber of secrets and the death of his father's family, and his extreme fear of dying, among other things. Hermione and Harry took out their laptops to take notes early in the lecture, and Professor Brooks said nothing about it.
"Wow!" exclaimed Harry, as he, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny were walking out of class. "That was the most interesting history class I've ever had – here or in the muggle world!"
"I never looked at it that way before," commented Hermione. "Voldemort is a coward! He's as afraid of death as Ron is of spiders, and everything he's done, even his attempt to kill Harry, has had the ultimate purpose of letting him escape death."
"Tom would rather kill a baby than face his fear!" remarked Ginny, smirking (for the first time ever while discussing Riddle). "No wonder he wasn't a Gryffindor!"