Chapter 16 - The UnexpectedThe morning of the first of September was chaotic at The Burrow, except for three people. Hermione had made sure she, Ginny, and Harry had packed the night before. Ron and the twins had ignored her organizational prompting. Mr and Mrs Weasley were doing their best to get their children ready to leave on time.
As the time neared half-past ten, Ginny stopped her father as he stuck his head in the doorway to check on them.
"Dad? How are we getting to the station this morning?"
He smiled brightly, as if he had just solved a most difficult problem. "I thought we could take the Floo to the Leaky Cauldron, and then take a Muggle taxi."
"Uh, Mr Weasley?"
"Yes, Hermione."
"Considering what time it is already, I'm not sure we'll make it before the train leaves. Have you considered Side-Along Apparation for us to the train Platform? I know you and Mrs Weasley would have to take us one at a time and there are six of us, but that's only three trips each and it is a short distance Apparation from the Leaky Cauldron," Hermione suggested.
Mr Weasley looked surprised. "I've never considered that before. Molly doesn't like to leave any children on their own, but you're correct, it would speed the process up."
A devious smile came over Ginny's face. "If the others are going to take much longer, you could start by taking the three of us now so you won't be as rushed later."
Her father thought about that for a moment and then smiled. "Gather your things, I'll be right back."
He walked into the next room and they could hear him shout up the stairs. "Molly? I'll be back up in a few minutes." If his wife answered, none of the trio could hear her.
Arthur came back and pulled his wand out. A few quick waves and their trunks shrunk to the size of a Quaffle. Each picked up their trunk and put it into their book bag, which they slung over their shoulders. Arthur directed them to use the Floo. A minute later, all were at the famous Wizarding pub.
Thinking for a moment, Arthur selected Hermione to go first, then Harry, followed by Ginny last. That way, Harry would never be by himself. Arthur felt the boy needed to be protected, if Death Eaters were active again - although, admittedly, none had been seen since the Quidditch World Cup. Dumbledore had told him earlier in the summer that Harry had to be kept safe.
Each student in turn latched onto Arthur's arm as directed, and then they felt the squeeze only to reappear on Platform 9 ¾ a couple of seconds later.
When Arthur arrived with Ginny, he smiled at them and looked at Hermione. "This was an excellent idea." The brunette blushed slightly. "Please go and find a compartment on the train. I'll return as soon as I can with the others. I'm sure Molly will want to say good-bye to you then." He left with a crack.
"I think he had a good idea," Harry said as he led them towards the train. The platform was starting to get busy, but was not too crowded yet. They had no trouble getting a compartment in the last car, their usual place. Harry dug Sirius's tent out of his bag. All three expanded their trunks back to normal size to hold their places while they went back onto the train platform.
As they walked back towards the Apparation area, they saw Sirius pop in.
Harry grinned and hurried over to his godfather.
"Harry, how are you doing?" Sirius greeted him with an enthusiastic hug, which Harry returned.
"Better now," Harry said with a sheepish grin.
Sirius laughed. "You're not the first person to tell me that Molly is quite a character. I found your letter amusing."
"It's amusing as long as you weren't there," he muttered. "I brought your tent back. Thanks! You don't know how much it helped to give us a little space." Harry handed the bundle over.
Sirius stuck the tent under his arm as he looked at the two girls. "And how are you two young ladies doing?" he asked as he led them across the platform.
"Better, just like Harry said," Ginny spoke up quickly.
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Sirius, why are you leading us towards the Portal to the Muggle side?"
"Because I have a surprise for you two." He grinned at Hermione and Harry.
Hermione's face lit up. "Really?" She walked faster and hurried through the Portal. Harry was not far behind her.
Ginny looked indecisive, so Sirius put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her gently forward. "I'm sure they'll want to say hi to you, too," he told her.
She shyly walked through the Portal as well.
Harry hugged Dan while Hermione hugged her mother as if she never wanted to let go.
"Did you really miss us that much?" Dan asked.
"You have no idea," Harry drawled with much emotion.
"Oh? What happened?" Emma asked as she got Hermione to let go so she could give her son a hug.
"My mother," Ginny said with disappointment. "She can be very nice in public, but it was a very long week at home." She almost mentioned wanting to go back to the Grangers, but decided that was probably best left unsaid. It would raise too many questions they did not want to answer.
"I believe," Sirius quickly added, "that the difficulties at the Quidditch Cup probably caused her extra worry, and I doubt she reacted well to that."
Ginny nodded; it was the easiest thing to do.
"Well, I'm glad you're all right," Emma told them. "I was a little worried when Sirius suggested we come meet you here to say good-bye."
"We'll be fine, Mum, really, but it was good to see you even for a few minutes after this last week," Hermione confessed. "It makes me appreciate you that much more." Her mother gave her a caring smile.
"Time for a hurried good-bye, the train will be leaving soon," Sirius reminded them.
The Granger parents and Sirius hugged all three teens before Sirius escorted them back through the Portal. The train blew a warning whistle, causing them all to step lively.
"Ginny! There you are!" called an exasperated Molly Weasley. "I've been looking all over for you." She hurried over, followed by her husband and Ron. The twins had presumably already boarded the train.
"I took them out to say good-bye to Hermione's parents, Molly," Sirius bravely said. "It was my fault."
Molly frowned at him, but did not say anything else on the topic. When she looked at her husband, Sirius winked at Harry, who had to control himself not to laugh.
Ginny gave her mother a quick hug and her father a longer one. While she was hugging her father, he whispered, "Thank you for telling me to talk to Percy. I have a difficult charade to play, but better that than losing a son." He gave her a tight squeeze before letting her go. Ginny wondered if that was a tear in his eye, but she thought it better not to ask, so she gave him a big smile, which he returned.
The trio and Ron hurried onto the train and went to their compartment. Harry saw Neville on the way and waved for him to join them. The trio took one bench, with Harry in the middle, while the other two boys took the other bench.
"Did you have a good summer, Neville?" Harry asked.
"Yeah I did. How about you?"
"Most of it was spectacular…" They spent the rest of the train ride talking about their summer.
They were sitting at the Welcoming Feast enjoying the food and getting reacquainted with some of their friends after the summer holidays. Harry thought his new observations on the way some of the girls, like Lavender, had changed over the summer were due to seeing Ginny change. Not that he planned on mentioning that to his bond-mates. He was not that stupid.
The Headmaster stood as the time of eating ended to make his usual announcements. "I would like to welcome back our returning students, and welcome our new students for the first time. I believe this will be a truly wonderful and unique year."
All heads spun as the main doors to the Great Hall opened suddenly. A somewhat gnarled-looking older man walked in, the peg in place of his lower left leg making him lurch distinctively. He was half bald, and what remained of his hair was long and thinning; he also had a bright blue magical eye that moved crazily, never sitting still.
"Ah, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. Everyone, please welcome Professor Alastor Moody, who recently retired as an Auror." Dumbledore started to clap politely, the other teachers soon following suit. Most of the student body made a polite attempt that did not last nearly as long as their staring.
The man stumped his way to the head table and sat on the end next to Hagrid. Everyone was looking him over. The first impression was not a friendly one.
"As I was saying," Dumbledore carried on as soon as he could, "this should be a wonderful and unique year. We will be sharing our Halloween Feast with a contingent from two other schools." Murmurs broke out, but Dumbledore barely paused. "This year, we will be resuming the Triwizard Tournament. Fame and one thousand Galleons will go to the winner." He smiled through his white beard as the student voices rose. He let them carry on for a moment before he raised his hands.
"While indeed exciting, this is a very serious thing as contestants have been gravely injured in the past. Therefore, I will restrict entries to those who are seventeen by Halloween, as that is when the contestants are to be chosen."
Harry heard Fred and George Weasley, among others, protest. He assumed the sixth-year twins' seventeenth birthday was shortly after that.
When he could get everyone's attention again, Dumbledore continued his announcement. "To allow this tournament to be properly hosted, I'm afraid I shall have to cancel the inter-house Quidditch games this year." That brought a bigger protest than the announcement of the age limit for the tournament.
"I'm sorry," the Headmaster said when he could be heard, "but it must be this way."
Angelina, the obvious choice for her house's Quidditch captain after Oliver Wood finished school last year, pulled up her Gryffindor courage and swiftly stood. "Headmaster, I must protest. For those of us who plan to seek a career in professional Quidditch, you are hurting our chances to succeed."
Dumbledore turned to the sixth-year Gryffindor. "Miss Johnson, I sympathize with the position I've put you and others in, but I'm afraid the teachers do not have time to help with that and with the Tournament too. The Tournament will take precedence," he said firmly.
Angelina did not give up. "Headmaster, what if we helped run the games. What would it take for us to have a season anyway?"
The Headmaster smiled at her. "Obviously, Madam Hooch would have to be convinced to referee, but the students would have to take on the tasks of setting a schedule that does not interfere with classes or the Tournament, getting everyone to the games and arranging security, hosting our visiting students, as well as several other minor but important tasks. You would also have to finish the season by the end of April."
Angelina looked at the Ravenclaw table next to her. "Davies?"
Roger Davies looked around his table and saw several nodding heads. "We're in."
"Diggory?" She called.
Cedric Diggory did not check with his table, but said, "We're in, too."
"Pucey, or whoever would be captain for the Slytherins?" She called to the furthest table from her.
Pucey took charge and looked around. There was hoarse whispering for a moment, sounding almost like hissing snakes, before he replied in a loud voice, "We'll play."
"Very well," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Miss Johnson, I leave this in your hands to organize a meeting with the other captains to make arrangements. Please coordinate your plans with Professor McGonagall."
"Thank you, sir," Angelina said with a smile as she sat down and most of the student body clapped loudly. Her fellow Chasers and neighbours at the table hugged her in their congratulations.
"As usual, the Forbidden Forest is still off limits, and I remind you that a basilisk now resides there. There is also to be no magic in the corridors: see your student handbook or your head of house if you need further clarification. Prefects, you are in charge of helping the first-years to find their dorm rooms. I hope everyone has a pleasant evening. Be back here at seven in the morning for breakfast and to get your timetables to start class at eight. Good night!" Dumbledore sat down looking very pleased.
"Wow, did you hear him?" Ron asked loudly. "A thousand Galleons for the winner."
Harry shook his head. "A tournament which we can't enter, and I don't want to enter even if I could."
"But think of the fame!" Ron argued, as the group of friends walked towards the Gryffindor Tower.
"I have enough fame already and I don't like it, and I certainly don't want more," Harry said firmly. When it looked like Ron was going to argue, Harry changed tack. "Besides, if this was so special, name one previous winner."
Whatever Ron was about to say stuck in his throat. After a moment, he quietly said, "I, uh, I can't think of any."
"Then there's not really any fame, is there," Harry rhetorically asked, and Ron wisely did not try to answer that.
"OK, but there's the money. A thousand Galleons is a lot of money," Ron said with a gleam in his eye.
Ginny shook her head, well aware of why her brother was saying this. "Ron, didn't you hear what the Headmaster said? People in it have been seriously hurt before."
"But magic can fix things," he argued.
Hermione looked at the thick-headed boy. "Ron, I'll have to research it, but if I correctly remember what I've read about Tournaments in the past, contestants have died. Magic can't fix that. Also, did you see our new Defence Professor? Magic didn't totally fix him."
"Just think, I could get a Firebolt and a new set of Quidditch pads…"
Hermione started to argue again, but Ginny put her hand on her bond-mate's arm. "Don't bother. He didn't hear anything once you mentioned 'research' and he's not listening now. Fortunately for him, he can't enter."
Ron was still mumbling to himself with a goofy grin on his face.
Harry looked at Neville and they both shook their heads at their dorm-mate. "You couldn't pay me to enter," Neville said.
"Me neither. We'd be three years behind the others." Harry looked at Ron, who was still mumbling about winning the Tournament. He had to agree with Ginny. It was a good thing Ron could not enter if he could not understand how dangerous the competition was.
A week later, Harry and friends were having lunch. The upcoming Defence class held most of their attention.
"I wonder what he's going to teach us today," Hermione excitedly asked.
Harry shrugged. "Last time he said it would be special. For a retired Auror, maybe that means duelling."
"I don't think so. We only learn a couple of offensive spells this year, and probably not until near the end," Hermione countered.
They talked about it a little more until Ginny asked, "What do you think will happen next year with Snape?"
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
Hermione answered. "I think she's pointing out that since Professor Tonks has her Potions Mastery now, and she's taking over the classes one year at a time, next year he'll be down to only two classes."
"Exactly," Ginny said brightly. "At what point do the school governors say he's not needed any more?"
"How about now?" Ron suggested with a grin before he finished his lunch.
Everyone except for Hermione laughed. She only smiled. "It's time to go," she announced and stood. The others followed her lead. Ginny left for her classes and the fourth years went to Defence.
Moody surprised them all and talked about the Unforgivable Curses. He furthered the surprise by demonstrating the Imperious Curse on an enlarged spider. Then he cast the Cruciatus Curse on it, and everyone cringed when it hissed piteously. After the torture curse, the professor put it out of its misery with the Killing Curse. The class was very quiet after that.
"That's what you have to look forward to if you go face-to-face with Death Eaters," the grizzled Auror told them. "Those curses are among their favourite tools, so you must practice CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He yelled his catchphrase while slapping the nearest desk with his hand. Every student in the room jumped in surprise.
"Now, we certainly don't want to teach you those, but we do want to teach you to survive those curses." Moody looked around the room with his magical eye. "The Killing Curse … well, only one person has been hit with that and survived." He fixed Harry with his natural eye. "No one knows how that was done, so you can discount doing the same thing.
"There are only two known ways to survive it: evade or block it. Spells move fast, but they aren't instantaneous. If the caster is not too close, you may have time to move out of its path. When at a medium range or closer, this is your only hope: don't bother trying anything else, you won't have time. If the caster is further away, you can try to block the spell with something very solid, like a good sized rock, a piece of metal, or even something very solid that's conjured - if you are very good and very fast at conjuring. But at this point in your life, just jump.
"The Torture Curse is like having knives stuck into your body, everywhere at once." Many in the class cringed at that description. "If it's not held too long, you will survive, but it's best to treat it like the Killing Curse and don't get hit by it if you can help it.
"The Mind-Control Curse is not painful at all, and as long as you aren't ordered to do something that gets you killed, you'll live. Better yet, those of you who have a strong will can break the curse and then it won't affect you anymore." There were several whispers in the class when they heard that.
"Now, being an Auror and a teacher, I have special permission to do this for one class. Today, you are all going to experience the Imperius Curse."
Everyone started talking at once, so Moody fired off a Cannon Blast charm, causing the noise to instantly stop. "This is a double period, but we'll still have to hurry to get everyone in." He looked over the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. "We start at the front. You, uh, Brown?"
"Yes, Professor?" Lavender said timidly.
"Please come up to the front of the room and dance for us."
"Sir?" she asked, eyes going wide.
Moody jabbed his wand at the girl. "Imperio! Come up to the front of the room and dance."
Without hesitation or complaint, Lavender slid out of her chair and walked to the front of the room without a word and started to dance to music only she could hear.
"Imperio! Join her in dancing."
Parvati Patil stood up and walked over to Lavender. The two girls danced: Lavender in a free style and Parvati in the more flowing style of her ancestral country.
Moody waved his wand over the two of them. "Go sit back down." The two girls blushed deeply in embarrassment and rushed to their seats. "They obeyed and, as you saw by their expressions when I released them, they knew what they had done, even if they couldn't stop it.
"Longbottom, Imperio! Come jump up on the desk."
Neville got up and obeyed the command, and did it without tripping or any hesitation. He hurried back to his desk once the spell was removed.
Moody looked at the next boy, who turned out to be Ron. "Imperio!I noticed that you feared the spider, go and pick one up out of the container, it won't hurt you."
Ron got up and went to the container of spiders and without hesitation he pulled one out. He let it crawl over his hand, turning his hand as the spider tried to run off it.
"Put the spider back and go sit down." Ron complied and then Moody removed the spell.
Ron instantly started freaking out. Moody hit him with a Cheering Charm, which helped a little, but Ron was still jumpy and looking for spiders to stay away from.
"Potter, Imperio! Come up here and jump up on my desk."
Harry felt a wave of soothing calmness come over him. A voice told him to get up, so he did. As he walked to the front, part of him wondered about the voice and realized he did not really know that voice. When he reached the teacher's desk, he mentally pushed back and felt the voice leave him. He looked at Moody and smiled. "No thank you, sir." He turned to go back to his desk.
"Galloping gargoyles, he did it! Imperio! Jump up and down!"
Harry stopped walking in front of his desk as he felt the soothing calmness hit him again, but this time he knew what it meant. The voice spoke and Harry pushed the foreign intrusion away. With it gone, he took the last step and sat down again.
"Bravo, Potter! Bravo! Twenty points to Gryffindor."
"Harry?" Hermione quickly whispered.
"Question the voice and push back," he hurriedly whispered.
"Imperio! Granger, stand up and jump up and down."
Hermione stood up, but it was with jerky movements. Instead of jumping, she just stood there for a couple of seconds before she shuddered. With a smile at Harry, she sat back down.
"Great Merlin! Two in one class! Imperio! Yell an insult at Potter."
Hermione sat there for a moment before she calmly said, "No, sir."
"Bravo, Miss Granger, good show! Twenty more points to Gryffindor."
Moody looked at Dean Thomas and continued to work through the rest of the Gryffindors at the front of the class. Everyone else did what was ordered of them: various innocent but embarrassing things.
He then started on the Slytherins. If Moody had been a Slytherin as a student, he did not show any bias. If anything, he was a little crueller.
"Malfoy, Imperio! Come up here and let's hear if you were taught to sing. I want to hear you sing I'm A Little Teapot, complete with motions."
Draco Malfoy complied and did the song perfectly, including the arm and body motions. When Moody released him, Malfoy hurried back to his desk, his usual smug act nowhere to be found.
Harry could not resist so, as the Slytherin walked past him, he said quietly, "I guess not being able to resist that curse runs in the family."
Malfoy looked angry, but before he could retort, Moody asked, "Is there a problem, Mr Malfoy? Do you need a magical order to sit down?"
"No, sir," Malfoy said through clenched teeth, clearly having to restrain his temper. He walked back to his desk and sat.
Moody resumed his testing. No one else could resist the curse, only Harry and Hermione could. He sent them on their way at the end of their time with no homework except for reading the next chapter.
Ron practically ran out of the classroom.
Harry looked at Hermione as they walked out.
"That wasn't very nice of Professor Moody. Ron is really afraid of spiders," Hermione said.
"But it proved a valuable point, for anyone who noticed," Harry commented.
"What?" she asked.
Harry looked at Neville, who was walking beside him, giving him a chance to answer if he wanted.
"That the curse is so strong, it can make you do things you wouldn't possibly do otherwise, including things that can make you hurt yourself or those you love," Neville quietly said.
None of them said anything else on the way to Herbology. Ron was there waiting on them, but he did not do anything in class other than stand with the others and continually look around in a paranoid fashion. Harry motioned to Neville, who nodded and they covered for Ron. If Professor Sprout noticed Ron's lack of action or Harry's and Neville's actions of covering for their friend, she did not say anything.
After dinner, Hermione grabbed Harry and Ginny by the arm and guided them out of the portrait hole and to an unused room. She locked the door and silenced it. Harry and Ginny looked at each other as they sat, knees practically touching in the centre. Neither had a clue as to what was going on.
"Hermione?" Ginny asked.
"There's something important we need to discuss…"
"What?" Harry asked, concerned.
Hermione glanced at them both and hesitated briefly. "The Triwizard Tournament."
"What?" Harry asked cluelessly. "I promise, I'm not going to try and enter."
"That's very good," Hermione said seriously. "I checked and found there's an approximately twenty-three percent mortality rate among the contestants over the life of the Tournament."
"Bloody hell!" Ginny could not stop her reaction and Hermione glared darkly at the other girl.
"I know you don't like to hear it, Hermione, but she's got a point. With that kind of outcome, it's a wonder anyone enters," Harry said, trying to sooth the brunette.
Hermione thought for a few seconds and then gave a quick nod to Ginny, tacitly forgiving her outburst. "I know you're not going to try to enter, Harry, but that's not what we need to talk about."
"Then what?" he asked, seeing no clues from her expression.
"My research shows there is a Yule Ball that traditionally accompanies the Tournament…"
Harry blinked owlishly as he tried to process that.
Ginny lit up for a few seconds, then her expression turned sad and she sagged in her seat. "It's not fair," she said quietly.
"What?" Harry asked, still not understanding.
"Harry, we won't have the details until it's officially announced, but the Ball is normally for the older students. That means fourth year and up, although they could make it third year and up as that's when electives and Hogsmeade visits start, but probably not." Hermione now looked at Ginny with a pitying look.
He finally caught on. "Oh. Well, it's going to hit one of you. I mean, I can't take both of you, can I?"
"No, not without declaring ourselves," Ginny informed him.
Only seeing Hermione closely watching him stopped Harry from letting out his own expletive. "So what do we do?"
Hermione looked pensive. "I have two ideas, unless the announcement gives us details that contradict my assumptions." She looked at the other girl. "Ginny, do you have any ideas before I tell mine?"
Ginny shook her head. "Not a one, other than one of us not going, and I'm sure you want to go as badly as I do."
Hermione said, "I probably do." She now looked at Harry carefully. "Harry, if one of us volunteered to go with someone that was safe and that you approved of, how would you feel about that?"
Harry felt confused and wondered if she was asking what he thought she was. "What do you mean?" he asked slowly.
"Since we know that Neville is trustworthy, what if you took Ginny and I asked him to take me. How would you feel about that?" Hermione asked meekly and held her breath as she waited, hoping Harry did not explode.
His doubt was confirmed, she had said what he thought, what he was afraid of. He ignored the question and went after the more important one. "Do you not like me anymore?" He tried to keep his voice level, but it betrayed him and wavered slightly.
Hermione had been afraid he would see it that way. None of them had any real dating experience, so doubts were easy. She instantly reached out and grabbed his hands. He tried to pull them back but she held on tightly. "I'll never leave you, Harry, never ever." He stopped trying to pull away, but he still looked like he did not believe her. "Harry, I was only mentioning one possible way for both Ginny and me to go, but if you're uncomfortable in any way, we'll throw that idea out. It's gone, never to be considered again for any reason at any time." She felt her emotions churning and tears coming to her eyes; she hoped their relationship did not suffer because of what she had asked. "I love you Harry and you're my mate. I'll always be with you and no one else."
Harry relaxed more and finally nodded.
She could not take it anymore and launched herself at him. "I'm sorry, Harry. I wasn't trying to hurt you." She felt relieved when she felt his arms go around her and hold her tightly. He was not the scared little boy as he was when they first met, but he still was not fully healed from the Dursleys either. She would have to talk to Ginny about this later. When he loosened his grip, she did too and then kissed him on the cheek as she sat back up. He gave her a small smile, which made her feel normal again.
"What was your other idea?" Ginny quietly asked, as if afraid to speak in the looming silence after the awkward moment.
Harry looked at Hermione critically, as if afraid of getting burnt again.
Hermione did her best to give him a reassuring smile. "There probably will be no requirement to have a date to go, so you can take Ginny, who otherwise wouldn't be able to go. I can go by myself and then the three of us can spend time together and dance with each other as we like."
Harry thought about that and looked at Ginny to see what she thought. She had a hopeful look on her face. Hermione had a point. If the Ball was for fourth-years and up, Ginny could not go if he did not take her, and he did not want anyone else to take her. "I guess that would work," he conceded.
Ginny happily gave him a hug. "Thank you," she whispered to him. She let him go and then gave Hermione a hug and a "Thank you".
"Harry?" Hermione sounded unsure so Harry's head whipped around to look at her again. "I will abide by whatever decision you make, and I think Ginny will too, but you do have a question you have to think about."
"What?" he asked nervously, wondering what this one would be.
"Since you can only dance with one of us at a time, what do we do if someone else asks us to dance?" She heard him sigh and then saw him start to think very hard. "I mean, some people are a definite 'no'…"
"Like Malfoy, eww!" Ginny interjected.
Harry smiled, as did Hermione.
"Totally agree. There are others I'd also quickly reject, and I'd tell all the boys I don't really know very well 'no' as well. But again, what about someone who's your friend, Harry? What if Neville asked Ginny or me for one dance? What if Ron asks me for one dance? What if Dean asks Ginny for one dance?"
"Why would Dean ask Ginny?" Harry asked, wondering where she got that from.
She looked at Ginny and saw a tiny shake of her head. She agreed, some observations were best left alone. "I'm just grabbing at examples of guys you know, Harry." It was mostly true, but she and Ginny had noticed Dean giving the redhead the occasional thoughtful look this year. Fortunately, he was a fourteen year-old boy, and so he probably would not say anything too soon.
Harry leaned back in his chair. "Damn, you ask the hardest questions sometimes."
Hermione almost chastised him, but realized she probably needed to let that one slide. It was pretty mild - even her mother said it.
"I don't know. I've never tried to tell my friends what they can or can't do, but you're not just friends either - you're so much more." He paused for a moment. "As I can't be with both of you at once," he slowly said, thinking out loud, "I suppose it would be all right to dance with someone we all trust, as long as you think it's all right, too." He became more confident again. "I won't dance with any other girl," he declared, sounding more like his normal self. He looked at each of the girls.
"Ron wouldn't ask me and I wouldn't even if he did, because Malfoy would tease us mercilessly about that, even with it being innocent. Neville is the only one I'd trust," Ginny said, "but I think I'll turn him down if he asks me to dance. I really only want to dance with you, Harry," she told him lovingly.
He smiled and nodded his understanding, before turning to his other bond-mate.
Hermione considered how to answer the question. It would be hard to avoid trouble. She was looking at her hands in her lap as she said, "I agree that Neville is the only trustworthy one. If he asks me, I guess I'll leave it up to you, Harry. We're all friends so I know it wouldn't mean anything, but I don't want to hurt you either, Harry. I'd rather tell him 'no' if you're uncomfortable and risk hurting his feelings than hurt you." With her head still mostly down, she looked up with her eyes and saw him giving her a slight smile. She let out a breath she had not been aware she was holding.
"What about if Ron asks you?" Ginny asked her.
Oh Merlin, she thought. As calmly as she could, she said, "I hope you don't think badly of me, Ginny, but I'd rather not."
Ginny shrugged. "I don't, but why?"
"Because, while I know he's a friend, I'm not sure I can fully trust him during the Ball." She looked at Ginny, who sadly nodded.
"I understand and agree. You don't have the protection of being his sister like I do."
Harry glanced back and forth, wondering. It was as if they were speaking in code. "What are you talking about?"
"Ron is one of your friends, right?" Ginny asked while Hermione looked at her hands and kept quiet.
"Yeah, so?"
"You've also noticed that he has a tendency to sometimes speak without thinking about what he's saying, making those around him angry while he doesn't have a clue as to what's wrong?" Ginny asked delicately. When Harry said nothing, she tacked on, "Like he did in your first year? He almost did it again once last year before I stopped him. Then this summer, he came really close again when he asked why you didn't seem to like being around my mother. It was like he didn't see what else was going on right in front of him."
"I understand your examples. Are you suggesting he would say something he and Hermione would both regret, and there would be a big scene?" Harry asked bluntly.
Ginny bit her lip as she quickly decided what to say. "Yeah, that's probably a good way to put it," she said after a few seconds. For her brother's sake, it was probably best not to mention that he might do something that would cause a scene as well as cost the two boys their friendship. Ron normally would not do anything to Hermione, but Ginny thought that a special occasion almost begged for a disaster. If Ron were to do something like try to kiss Hermione, she suspected Harry's reaction would be talked about for a long time. The look on Hermione's face told Ginny that she had the same concern. Fortunately, it looked like Harry was not "reading between the lines" in this conversation, otherwise, he would have become angry.
Harry finally nodded. "OK, I think I understand." He looked at Hermione. "I'll think about it and we'll talk before the Ball. Is that all right with you?"
"That's fine, Harry. I don't have a strong opinion on this, so whatever you want is all right with me. We… we do have to learn to work together," she told him.
He looked at her carefully for a moment. "You make it sound like you want to dance with him."
"No, no, not at all," Hermione quickly said, trying to prevent any misunderstandings. "Let's back up. I really don't care, either way." She looked him directly in the eyes. "You're the only one for me, Harry, but it's only practical to consider how the three of us have to be flexible, just like a normal couple has to be. It's just a little harder with three of us. That's all I meant, really." If they were only a couple of years older, this probably would not be a problem, she thought.
Harry looked at her for a moment, thinking about what she had said, and he had to agree. They were going to have to work together, the three of them. He gave her a smile and a quick kiss on the lips. When he heard a throat clearing, he smiled a little more and turned to give a quick kiss to the other girl. He stood and held out his arms and the girls stood and they shared a three-way hug. They were bond-mates for life.
The trio walked into the Great Hall with Neville accompanying them. Harry led the way to the Gryffindor table, looking around as he walked. Professor Flitwick and Hagrid had really done a marvellous job of decorating for Halloween. Harry took a seat, with Hermione on his left and Ginny on his right - as usual. Ron and the rest of his male dorm-mates sat across from them. The other female students of the fourth year sat to the left of Hermione.
Harry looked across the room and saw the Durmstrang students were already sitting at the Slytherin table. Their arrival on a boat rising out of the Black Lake yesterday had been really cool. Most amusingly, Ron had almost hyperventilated when he saw Viktor Krum, the Quidditch star they had seen at the World Cup, arrive with the other fifteen Durmstrang students. Harry thought the Quidditch star had been trying to hide as he walked with the others. Harry understood, he tried to hide from his fame too.
There was a small stir as the Beauxbatons students walked in and sat at the Ravenclaw table. Harry had to work hard to contain his laugh to only a grin as Ron's head almost twisted off as he swivelled to follow one of the French girls from the door to her seat. He supposed he should not tease his friend too much about it, as almost every boy in the room that was not staring at the girl was at least glancing at her. It had not taken long at the Welcoming feast for the two visiting schools last night for Hermione to work out that the girl with the silvery-blonde hair was at least part Veela.
Harry leaned over to Ginny. "Your brother's so funny to watch sometimes."
Ginny gave him an almost predatory smile before she whispered back, "You keep on ignoring her and you may find yourself very lucky, Mr Potter."
He gave her a questioning look along with a lopsided grin, and she nodded ever so slightly as the tip of her tongue appeared and wet her lips. He grinned even more and said, "Deal."
The sound of a knife hitting a goblet drew everyone's attention to the head table. Dumbledore stood and everyone became quiet. "Everyone, please tuck in and enjoy the meal. We shall have the drawing of the names for the Tournament contestants after everyone is filled." There were a few groans, but most students happily started reaching for the food that suddenly appeared.
The main topic at dinner was the Triwizard Tournament and who might get picked as the Hogwarts champion. The slight favourite was Roger Davies from Ravenclaw, although Cedric Diggory from Hufflepuff was a close second. Both were in seventh year. A more fun topic had been Fred and George Weasley's attempt to enter, and how the age line Dumbledore had created had tossed them back and put long white beards on them to show the infraction.
As dinner ended and most of the students were watching the head table, waiting for the main event of the evening, Dumbledore made a motion to Argus Filch the caretaker. The old caretaker left through the door to the room where the Goblet had been set up. A moment later, he returned, struggling to carry it. His return instantly quietened the whole room and all eyes were upon him. Filch set the Goblet at the front of the room and everyone turned in their seat to watch.
Harry turned and straddled the bench to see more comfortably. A moment later, he felt someone snuggle up behind him and place their chin on his right shoulder. With a smile he turned and saw Ginny's face right there. He smiled at her and looked back to the front, but not before seeing Ron giving them a slightly unhappy look.
Ginny had been a little more forward about small touches and gestures since school had started. They were the sort of things a girlfriend might do, but not everything a girlfriend did. To his credit, Ron had never said anything to Harry since the last time months ago when he had asked if Harry liked Ginny "in that way". Harry had wondered if Ginny might have had a word with her brother about it in private, but if so, neither had mentioned it to him.
To Harry's amusement, Hermione had not changed much at all. She still sat very close to him on the couch when they were both reading, so their arms were touching, but that was about it. Hermione also did not mention anything to him about what Ginny was doing, but Harry had to assume the two girls had talked about it; Hermione would have had to have been blind not to see the change in Ginny's actions around him, and he knew Hermione was very observant.
He had seen just the two of them talking privately a number of times, most of which ended in embarrassed looks and giggles when he walked into the room. It did not take a genius to figure out they had been talking about him. He thought that was a bit unfair at times, but he decided it was best ignored and treated as "one of those girl things" he would never understand.
Dumbledore came out from behind the Head Table and stood next to the Goblet of Fire, the chooser of the champions.
"Welcome again to the Triwizard Tournament. I hope that besides being an interesting event, everyone here uses the time to get to know one another. This can be a time of making new friends and learning about other schools and cultures.
"Before the names come out, I feel I should introduce the judges for this tournament. Head of The Department for International Cooperation, and chief organizer for this Tournament, Mr Bartemius Crouch." Dumbledore held his hand out towards a thin man who stood to light applause.
Harry looked the man over carefully. He was the one who had sent Sirius to Azkaban without a trial. At the beginning of the summer, Crouch had been arrested for failing to follow the law in regards to Sirius's stay in Azkaban. The man had spent a week in a Ministry holding cell while the charges against him were investigated and he had a trial. In the end, he and former Minister Bagnold had been found guilty of failing to follow the law, but because it was "war time", they had only been handed medium-sized fines. Bagnold was no longer in office, but Crouch had only received the fine and no other punishment. He had not even been sacked from his present job. Sirius had been livid for several days at that.
Dumbledore continued, "Head of The Department of Magical Games and Sports, Mr Ludo Bagman." A portly man with blond thinning hair stood and waved as he smiled broadly. He was a famous former Quidditch star who obviously enjoyed the attention of a crowd.
"The final three judges will be the heads of the three schools: Headmistress Olympe Maxime from Beauxbatons, Headmaster Igor Karkaroff from Durmstrang, and myself, Albus Dumbledore from Hogwarts." The crowd applauded politely.
Dumbledore pulled his watch out and looked at it for a moment before smiling. "Now for the moment you've all been waiting for." As he put his timepiece up, the Goblet of Fire sent up a few sparks to draw everyone's attention to it.
The Goblet brightened and started spewing many sparks out of the top. After a short moment, a piece of parchment was sent up into the air and the sparks died down to only a few random sputters. Dumbledore's hand snapped out and grabbed the fragment of parchment with ease. He looked at it and smiled. "From Beauxbatons," he paused for a few seconds, "Miss Fleur Delacour."
The pretty witch with silvery-blonde hair stood in a very poised manner and walked to the front and stood next to her Headmistress as the crowd applauded.
When Dumbledore started to point towards a door on the side, Headmistress Maxime quickly spoke up. "We'll wait for a moment to see the drawing of the other champions."
Dumbledore calmly nodded, as if the change had been the original plan. The Goblet started spewing more sparks and everyone returned their attention to the artefact. Another piece of parchment was sent out and Dumbledore caught it. He had to unfold this one. With a grandfatherly smile, he looked towards the Slytherin table and announced, "From Durmstrang … Mr Viktor Krum." The crowd applauded as Krum shuffled to the front and stood next to Karkaroff.
After a few seconds, the sparks started to spew and the third parchment was expelled. The Goblet went back to a neutral glow with only the occasional spark as Dumbledore grabbed the last contestant's entry out of the air. "And for Hogwarts…" He paused even more dramatically this time and looked around. His gaze around the room finally ended at the Hufflepuff table. "Mr Cedric Diggory."
Even the Slytherins were applauding for Diggory as he walked forward. He was one of those "nice guys" that everyone liked. Harry had guessed Davies would get picked, but he had nothing but respect for his fellow Seeker from Hufflepuff and he was genuinely happy for him.
As the applause died down, Dumbledore smiled and looked around the room again. "Well, we have our three Champions, who I'm sure will give us a good showing. The first task…" Dumbledore stopped and stared at the Goblet of Fire, like everyone else, because the Goblet had started burning brightly again and was spewing forth many sparks.
Like the other three times, it expelled a piece of parchment, which Dumbledore snagged out of the air. Unlike the other times, the sparks totally stopped and the glow from the Goblet slowly dimmed until it was barely visible.
Dumbledore looked down at the parchment in his hands and slowly unfolded it before he turned it around. He looked up with a slightly shocked expression and stared at the Gryffindor table. "Harry Potter."
Harry was shocked into silence, but almost no one else was. The Great Hall instantly erupted into pandemonium. He felt Ginny's chin leave his shoulder and saw Hermione turn and look at him, with both surprise and shock. Upon seeing his expression, her expression changed to one of concern and puzzlement. He turned and looked at Ginny. She kept glancing between him and the Goblet, as if trying to work out what had happened.
"Harry Potter, please come forth."
He turned back to the front as Dumbledore called his name. He saw that his dorm-mates looked upset, except for Neville, who looked almost as puzzled as Hermione.
"Mr Potter!" Dumbledore called.
Harry slowly stood and walked forward woodenly as his mind raced trying to figure out what was going on and what he was going to do about it. He knew he had not put his name in the Goblet.
"Mr Potter, if you join us in the trophy room. We need to discuss how your name came out of the Goblet of Fire." Dumbledore held out his hand in the direction of the door he had started to send Fleur Delacour to.
"Headmaster, I believe that discussion needs to take place here," Harry quickly said, not moving anywhere. He had learned a few things about Hogwarts in his three-and-a-bit years here. Rumours figuratively flew around the castle, and the rumours were almost always unkind to him.
"Harry," Dumbledore said in a softer voice, "I believe it would better for this discussion to happen in private … please." He waved his hand slightly towards the door.
Raising his voice slightly to be heard by everyone, although no-one was now talking so they could listen, Harry said, "Headmaster, I respectfully disagree. This concerns everyone in the school and the school should be privy to the investigation as to how my name was illegally entered." A low murmur rose in the crowd for a few seconds, until Dumbledore started to talk.
"Please follow us; this could take some time." Dumbledore again urged Harry to come with him. In fact, the Headmaster started turning to walk away, expecting the fourth year to follow him.
Wanting to stop as many problems as possible and remembering something Sirius had told him this summer, Harry quickly pulled out his wand and held it high, pointing straight up. "Ego fides. I, Harry James Potter…"
Dumbledore spun around so fast his robes rose six inches off the floor. "Harry! No!"
Harry looked at Dumbledore with determination and did not pause. "…do swear this Wizard's Oath on my magic, that I did not put my name into the Goblet of Fire, that I did not ask anyone to put my name into the Goblet of Fire, and at this moment I have no knowledge of how my name was placed into the Goblet of Fire; so I swear, Ego fides." After only a slight pause, Harry shouted, "Lumos!" The tip of his wand lit like a beacon. "Nox," he said quietly before putting his wand away.
"Do you realize what might have just happened?" Dumbledore said gravely.
"Completely. However, I believe I've also just put to rest any doubt about me putting my name into the Goblet," Harry declared with confidence.
The murmurs came back strongly for a moment while Dumbledore took a deep breath.
"Headmaster, now that I've proven I do not belong in the Tournament, I assume my name will be removed from the list of contestants?" Harry looked at him expectantly.
Dumbledore turned slowly and looked at Crouch. Harry noticed that Bagman looked gleeful at the situation. Maxime and Karkaroff were glaring daggers at Dumbledore.
Crouch stepped forward. "I'm sorry, Mr Potter, but because your name was issued by the Goblet of Fire, you are bound to compete in this Tournament just like the other three as it was defined and entered into the Goblet of Fire. It's the rules."
"That seems to settle it then," Bagman said loudly, still with a gleeful look.
Harry could hardly believe what he was hearing. "But, but surely there is a way I can be removed from the Tournament. I don't want to be in it." That started the murmurs again.
"Again, I'm sorry, Mr Potter," Crouch said in his normal solemn voice, "but the rules state that you may be excused from the Tournament only because of a medical injury suffered in the Tournament that prevents further involvement. You must compete or suffer the consequences of breaking a magical contract - which would be loss of your magic."
Harry had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something what would have landed him in a long detention. When he did not say anything more for a moment, Dumbledore waved him towards the room. Having nothing else to protest, Harry looked back at his bond-mates and saw their sad but supportive looks. Now he shuffled as he walked towards the room Dumbledore was herding everyone into. Besides the judges and contestants, only McGonagall entered. Moody and Snape tried to enter, but McGonagall did not let them.
"Dumbledore, I demand the opportunity to enter another of my students," Karkaroff said after the door was closed.
"Oui!" Maxime chimed in.
"I'm sure you noticed the Goblet is no longer lit as it was when it was accepting names; it will stay as it is until the three predefined tasks are complete," Crouch answered. "Attempting to leave would also be futile, as your students would be in the same position as Mr Potter if they tried to leave."
"We will investigate what has happened, but it seems as if there will be four champions this time," Dumbledore said, effectively ending the argument.
"Very good then," Bagman spoke up, now that the problem was settled. "The first task will be on the twenty-fourth of November. It will test your bravery, courage, and quick thinking. As the rules plainly state, you may wear whatever non-magical clothing you deem appropriate; the only magical thing you may bring with you is your wand. Also, there is to be no help from any of the judges or the staff of any of the schools. Are there any questions?"
Harry looked around and the other three contestants were shaking their heads. "I would like a copy of the rules for the Tournament."
"I can give you a copy of the ones I have tomorrow," Dumbledore volunteered. Harry nodded.
"Since there are no other questions, I bid you all a good evening," Bagman told them with a smile.
"Students, if you would please return to your quarters," Dumbledore directed. "Everyone else, I believe we have a Goblet to investigate."
Harry walked back out into the Great Hall and was happy to see Hermione and Ginny waiting for him. Other than Flitwick and Vector standing near the Goblet, as if guarding it, the room was empty. Delacour and Krum had not spoken to him and had barely even looked at him; Harry could not really blame them.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Cedric giving him a grim smile. "Bad luck, Potter, but I do want you to know that I appreciate what you did earlier."
"Thanks, Diggory. Good luck in the Tournament; I truly hope you win."
"Thanks, Potter." The older boy clapped him on the shoulder again and walked off.
Harry walked over to the girls. Ginny threw herself at him and hugged him tightly. When she let go, Hermione hugged him too. "I'm sorry," she told him softly.
"Yeah, me too."
"What did they say?" Ginny asked as they started to walk to Gryffindor Tower.
"I have to compete and the first task is on the twenty-fourth," he told them sullenly.
"We can help you, you know, to train, right?" Hermione asked helpfully.
He nodded. "Yeah, the teachers can't help, at least not directly. If I asked how to learn a spell without telling them what it's for, I suppose that will be all right, but that's about it from them."
"Don't worry, Harry," Ginny assured him, "we'll be there every step of the way."
"Every step," Hermione echoed, sounding very determined.
Feeling a little better, he gave them each a small smile. "Thanks, I don't know what I'd do without either of you. Oh, and Dumbledore is supposed to give me a copy of the rules tomorrow. The three of us need to look over them to see what I can and can't do."
Hermione nodded. "We should also look to see if there is a loophole somewhere that you can take advantage of to get out of competing."
"That was one of the things I wanted to search for," Harry admitted as they walked.
"We should also write to our parents tonight," Hermione told him. "I think there is a good chance this might be in the newspaper tomorrow morning, and I'd hate to have them learn about it that way."
Harry gulped. "No, that would not be good." He looked at Ginny and then Hermione with an expression of a man having to do something he would rather not. "You know that this means that our promise about changing schools is even more important now. This is definitely big enough to count as 'something dangerous that should have been prevented' and will really upset our parents."
Ginny started to mutter.
"What?" Hermione snapped, not at all happy with the situation.
"I was expressing my anger at the situation; and no, you don't want to know what I was saying," Ginny said darkly.
"It's all bloody Dumbledore's fault," Harry swore. To his surprise, Hermione did not reprimand him for his language.
They gave the password to the Fat Lady and walked into the common room of Gryffindor Tower. There was an impromptu party in progress and it was a noisy affair. Everyone cheered when Harry walked in.
It took nearly a full minute, but Harry finally got them calmed down enough he could talk. "Thank you for your support," he said with genuine appreciation for their show of support, "but as far as I'm concerned, Cedric is the real Hogwarts champion. Please support him." He gave a one last small smile of thanks to his bond-mates, who returned the look, and then he headed up to his dorm room.
Harry was glad he was alone for the moment. He changed into his pyjamas and slipped into bed and closed the curtains for privacy. Why did all the bad things seem to happen to him? He could come up with no answer for the question.
Hermione wrote a hasty letter to her parents, telling them the major facts, as well as saying they should be ready to change schools after this year. Taking Ginny with her for company to the Owlery, she gave the letter to Hedwig.
"Please take this to my parents as quickly as possible, Hedwig. Give it to them when the sun comes up." The owl hooted and the brunette watched the owl fly into the night.
"This whole Tournament really sucks," Ginny said.
Hermione had to agree. She also planned to do her best to keep her bond-mate alive. Damn that Dumbledore!