Chapter 18 - Here Be DragonsAfter the Quidditch game when Harry was cleaned up, the trio decided now was the time to take care of a little school business based on an idea Emma had suggested. As inconspicuously as possible, they walked around the school grounds as if they were enjoying the cool day until they came near the Beauxbatons carriage. Summoning his Gryffindor courage, Harry knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened and there stood Headmistress Maxime. She was very tall to begin with, and the carriage floor was three feet off the ground. The cumulative effect made the woman look like a small giant - literally. "May I help you, Mr Potter?"
"Err, yes … yes you can," he said a little nervously. "We'd like to talk to you about your school, as well as, uh, possibly get your help on something else … that's related to school as well," he quickly tacked the last part on.
She looked the three over for a brief moment. "Come in." She stood back so they would have room. Once they had climbed up the steps and entered a corridor so narrow that it did not allow them to pass her, she drew her wand and used a spell to close the door behind them, since she could not reach it with them in the way. "Follow me - please."
The carriage was not small on the outside, but the inside showed that space expansion charms had definitely been applied to it as the corridor was far longer than the length of the carriage. Inside, there were at least a dozen doors on each side.
The Headmistress led them to the room at the end of the corridor. It was a tidy room that seemed to be both a bedroom and an office. The bed was tilted up against the wall to save space and there was a painting on what would be the bottom of the bed to make the room a little nicer. There was the usual furniture around the edge of the room, but a desk and two chairs took up most of the middle. The Headmistress conjured a third chair for them before she took a seat behind her desk.
"What can I do for you?" she asked with an accent, but one that was easier to understand than what they had heard in the Great Hall a week or so ago.
Harry took a deep breath before speaking. They had decided that he should be the main speaker. "Headmistress, we have had a number of difficulties here at Hogwarts and we are investigating transferring to another school. We wanted to know if you would allow us to come to Beauxbatons next year."
Maxime's eyebrows rose in surprise. "All three of you?"
"Yes, madame."
"While transfers have not happened in recent memory, they are possible." She looked at the each of them for a few seconds, before returning her gaze to Harry. "Before we discuss your question, I would like you to answer one for me."
"If I can…"
She smiled. "I hope you can. Mr Potter, I saw your oath denying the entry of your name. It has been more than a week now. Have you learned any more information about how your name was entered?"
He could understand why she would ask, but suspected she was about to be disappointed. "I have not been told who entered my name, although I have been told someone put a Confundus charm on the Goblet of Fire so it would accept my entry. I doubt we'll learn anymore."
The Headmistress considered that. "I had heard that as well, but I was hoping…" She waved the thought away after a short pause. "I can approve your transfer assuming you are able to meet the entrance requirements. Good grades are the most obvious requirement."
"We all have good grades," Hermione told her as she pulled out three folders. "Here is a copy of our records if you want to see."
"Please." Maxime took the folders and quickly skimmed the first one.
"Miss Granger, you rank first in your entire year and you are taking the academically challenging courses. Hmm, all positive comments from your teachers. Overall, very good." She put that folder down and opened the next, quickly skimming it.
"Mr Potter, you rank fifth in your entire year and you are also taking the challenging courses. The only negative mark I see here is from a Professor Snape, but there is a note from Professor McGonagall to discount that." She smiled at him. "Professor Snape's reputation precedes him, so you have no worry on that account, especially as Professor Tonks adds her own positive note." She put that folder down and opened the last.
"Miss Weasley, you also rank first in your entire year and you are taking mostly academically challenging courses. I think you will find Muggle Studies at Beauxbatons much more challenging than your class here."
"It is not a difficult course here, Headmistress," Ginny agreed, "but I've also been spending a lot of time at Hermione's house and with her family who are Muggles, so I have experience in the Muggle world."
"Then you may not have such a hard time adjusting." Maxime returned to the folder. "All the comments about you are very positive and a few of your professors note that you could probably move up to the next year if that was allowed - very high praise." She looked at the girl carefully. "I assume that is because you study ahead with your friends?"
"Yes, Headmistress."
"I see." Maxim put the folder down on top of the other two. Hermione picked them back up and put them away. "Academically, I see no problem for any of you." She smiled and then started to talk in French. «Miss Granger. Do you speak French and how well do you speak it?»
Hermione wet her lips a little nervously before she slowly replied in the same language. «I can speak enough French for talking about common things. I have been taking lessons for more than one year and I am still learning. I read and write more than speaking. Some of magical terms are still a little hard, but I am getting more.»
Harry was surprised by her small mistakes, but assumed they were caused by nervousness.
Maxime looked at Harry. «Mr Potter, how would you answer my question?»
Harry replied in French as well, speaking a little faster than Hermione. «I do speak basic French. It has been fun to learn. I have been working very hard because I know I need it. Our tutor says I am doing well, but I also know I have much to learn before next year. I believe I will be ready.»
She smiled at him before looking to Ginny. «Miss Weasley, do you speak French?»
Ginny smiled at her and spoke at almost normal speed. «Yes, I speak French, and I have enjoyed learning it very much. It has been a good surprise to find that it has been easy to learn. French poetry has been my favourite thing to read. I also know that I have much to learn. Like Hermione, I find the magical words to be the hardest because I want to think of them in English. I speak French better than I read and write it.»
The Headmistress switched back to English. "Very good, all of you. You have a good start, but you will find it very difficult in school if you do not learn the magical terms very quickly. As you are now, I'm not sure it would be good for me to admit you as your limited French skill may make it very difficult."
"Headmistress, that was our other reason for coming to see you. We wanted to know if you could find a student who could tutor us. We will pay a reasonable rate," Harry told her. "Hermione's parents are also my guardians, and they hired a tutor for us during the summer holidays. That was very helpful and we'd like to have a tutor while we are here at school this year."
Maxime nodded slightly. "I think that would be very helpful." She considered the question more for a moment. "I can think of one or two students who might do it. A Sickle an hour and three hours of instruction per week… How does that sound?"
"Would that be each or for all of us?" Hermione asked.
"That would be for each of you. It is not that much if you do truly wish to do this, but enough money that your teacher would take you seriously." She looked at them, as if wanting to know just how serious they were.
Harry looked at Hermione and then at Ginny. Each nodded once, which he took to mean that they wanted to, but it was up to him. "We'll do it."
"Perhaps one hour in the evening during the week and two hours on Sunday afternoon?" Hermione suggested.
"That sounds reasonable and I will suggest it when I ask. Now, back to your earlier question. You said there were some difficulties here. Exactly why do you wish to transfer? I would like to know that you will not have the same problems at my school." Maxime asked and leaned forward slightly, placing her elbows on the desk and listening intently.
Harry sighed and hoped he could avoid most of the details. "It seems that every year, something happens to one or more of us," he said as he waved his hand to indicate the three of them, "that almost kills us. One year it was a troll in the school, the next year it was a basilisk, last year it was Dementors, this year it's the Triwizard Tournament. My parents, and now we ourselves, are tired of it. My parents want us to be safe while at school and that does not seem to be possible here."
The Headmistress's eyebrows had been rising slowly through Harry's speech and she was now sitting up very straight. "That's… And Dumbly-dorr is still 'Eadmaster?" she asked incredulously, her French accent suddenly becoming very strong in her surprise. She shook her large head several times as if unable to believe it all. Her speech went back to "normal" after she had taken a deep breath. "I understand why your parents would be upset. You have nothing to worry about at Beauxbatons. Nothing like that has ever happened at my school."
"That is very good to hear," Harry told her.
"It is unfortunate that I can not give you a tour of the school," the Headmistress said.
"Harry and I have already taken a small tour, last summer. The campus was very nice," Hermione told her.
"You have?" Maxime was surprised. "How did I not hear of it? Who gave you the tour?"
"Professor Lamore, your History of Magic professor," Hermione answered. "She was the first person we ran into when we visited."
The Headmistress closed her eyes and wilted slightly. "If I were to pick people for you to meet, she would be the very last. You have my apologies. She is a very good teacher, but her…" Maxime waved her hand around as she searched for the right word, "personality is not the most friendly."
"She didn't seem very happy to talk to us," Harry said. "I also had the feeling that she ended the tour as quickly as possible."
"That is probably true." Maxime sighed. "I shall have to talk to her before you come. She is very biased against the English. Unlike how your Headmaster tolerates that sort of unprofessional behaviour from your Professor Snape, I do not tolerate that from my professors. Of course, this has not been a problem before now. I will correct that, one way or another."
"Thank you, Headmistress," Hermione told her, pleasantly surprised and pleased to hear of the Headmistress taking such an active role at her school.
"Do you have any other questions that must be answered now?"
"No, Headmistress," Harry replied.
"I shall search for your tutor and send her to you. We will talk again at the end of the year and see if you still wish to transfer, as well as assess your progress in learning French," she said with a smile.
"Thank you for your time," Harry said. The girls also said "thank you" before they left the carriage.
"I think that went fairly well," Harry said.
"If you don't count our French not being good enough," Hermione said somewhat disappointedly.
"But we showed that we had been working hard," Ginny said, "and she seemed pleased that we were actively trying to get better."
"True," Hermione agreed. "I'll write Mum and have her contact Maria and try to get her to tutor us again over the Christmas holidays - perhaps as many days as possible."
"Sounds like a plan," Harry said with a smile.
When the trio left dinner two days after talking to Madam Maxime, a short dark-haired girl with a Mediterranean complexion approached them. «Hello. Can we talk somewhere alone?» she said in French.
Harry was surprised. He had expected Madam Maxime to come and talk to them first. After taking a few seconds to recover, he replied softly, «Yes. Come with us.» He led the small group to a nearby classroom. Inside, Hermione put up privacy charms before the trio looked at the French girl.
She switched to English, in which her accent was noticeable but not strong. "I am Lucie Morel. Headmistress Maxime said you were looking for a tutor in French and were willing to pay."
"We are," Harry said with a nod. "We had agreed with the Headmistress on three Sickles for three hours a week for each of us. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that is what she told me."
Harry smiled. "You would teach me and my two best friends, Hermione and Ginny." He indicated each girl in turn.
"Hello," they said as he did so, and Lucie returned their greetings.
"The Headmistress said you already know some French. How much?"
"We have been tutored for the last two summers and we've been doing self study during the last school year and for the last few months. We understand many common words and can hold simple conversations. We can also read and write some. We need to learn enough to go to Beauxbatons next year."
Lucie raised both eyebrows in surprise. "That will be very hard. Perhaps if you lived with us and spoke nothing but French all day until then…" She thought about it. "I do not know if you can make it, but I will try very hard to make it so you can join us at Beauxbatons next year. You must practice as much as possible. Speak it to each other as much as you can. You must be able to think in French, like I am thinking in English now. It must be natural to you."
The trio looked at each other and nodded in mutual agreement. "We will," Harry told her.
"Good. Then I suggest Thursday immediately after dinner and Sunday immediately after lunch. You can follow me from the eating hall to our carriage. We will hold the lessons in my room. It will be a little crowded, but we will not be disturbed there, and I have my books there, too." Lucie thought for a moment. "We will start this Sunday. You will pay on Sundays. I will also give you work which you must complete. If you do not, I will stop the lessons."
"We understand," Hermione said. "We are serious about this and will do the work."
"Good. Then I will see you on Sunday." Lucie nodded good-bye and left.
The Saturday before the first task was a Hogsmeade weekend. All the fourth-year Gryffindors plus Ginny and Luna went together. A few would break off for a short while to visit a shop only they wanted, but they eventually came back together into a group. Harry and Hermione thought it had been a great trip. Ginny had thoroughly enjoyed her first official outing to Hogsmeade.
That evening as it was getting late and the common room was clearing out, Ginny went over to the big window to pull it closed, as it was starting to get quite cool outside. She looked out and saw spell flashes in the distance. She waved Harry and Hermione over.
"What do you suppose that is?" she asked.
Hermione looked out and noticed something. "Do you see that they are really coming from two different places? They're close together, but still different."
Harry looked out. "I think you're right. That one on the left is near Hagrid's hut, but the other is probably behind his hut and in the edge of the Forbidden Forest."
"I wonder…" Ginny stopped and looked at him. "Harry, I bet that's for the first task since it's in a few days. If you could go take a peek, you'd know how to prepare better."
"That's cheating, Ginny," Hermione said with indignation.
Ginny gave her sister-mate an "I can't believe it" look. "Hermione, that area is not far from the coach the French school is using. It's not that far from the lake either. I'd be willing to bet they've already had a look. So it's not cheating if everyone knows about it."
"Maybe," Hermione drawled as she thought about it. "However, you're making the assumption that the other schools do know, when they might not."
"I'm with Ginny on this," Harry told them as he continued to watch the light show. "I'd bet they know." He started to grin. "Guard the window to keep the others away; I'll be right back." He dashed up the stairs to his dorm room before either of the girls could say anything.
"I hope he's not planning what I think he's planning," Hermione told Ginny quietly.
Ginny chuckled softly. "I think he's going to do exactly what you're thinking. I would if I were in his place."
Hermione just shook her head in long suffering.
Harry came back down a minute later, his Firebolt in hand. "I wish I could do the Disillusionment charm, but it's been too hard so far." He looked at Hermione.
"You know it's not for lack of trying. It's supposed to take a lot of power, so we may simply have to wait until next year to learn it," she told him.
He put a warming charm on himself and then looked at the girls. "Can one of you put a temporary charm on me to turn me completely black for an hour or two? I need it on my clothes and skin."
"I can do that," Hermione said, "although I do wish you wouldn't go."
"I need to know." He handed his glasses to Ginny and then held out his arms. Hermione pulled her wand out and cast the charm on him, waving her wand all over him as if directing spray paint. Harry closed his eyes and held his breath as she came up to his face. When she finished, he opened his eyes again, put his glasses back on, and looked down at himself. He was willing to bet he could stand in a shadow and be completely invisible. "Thanks! Oh, and this is temporary, right?"
Hermione chuckled. "It's a little late to be asking, isn't it?" At his glare, she told him, "It should last an hour or two."
"Good, I shouldn't be gone more than half an hour or so." He opened the window just wide enough so he could crawl out.
"We'll be here," Ginny told him.
With a "Thanks" thrown over his shoulder, he jumped out the window, mounting the broom as he started to fall seven stories above the ground.
"I hate it when he does something like this," Hermione complained as Ginny closed the window and then took a seat in the wide window ledge. Hermione joined her.
"Why?" the redhead asked. "You know he's got to do this, and it's not even all that unsafe."
"I know, and that's part of the problem. I know he needs to do this, but I don't like it as we can't go too." Hermione looked really put out.
Ginny smiled and did not argue. In a way, she agreed, because she did not want Harry to get hurt. It would be too easy to run into something. On the other hand, while the moon was playing hide and seek with the clouds, it had been a full moon last night, so it was not completely dark out there even if the light was sometimes limited. She also wondered if the reason they had started the work tonight was because of the full moon last night. If they had started last night, they might have to also defend against werewolves.
The two girls talked about classes to pass the time, with Hermione remaining the more nervous of the two. Ginny asked her about her Ancient Runes class, since she was trying to stay a year ahead in that class too.
About forty minutes later, there was a quiet tapping on the window. Despite the fact that she had been expecting it for the last twenty minutes or so, Hermione still jumped and did not scream only because she slapped her hand over her mouth. Ginny smirked at her and opened the window. Harry landed on the window ledge and crawled in. The only other people in the common room now were four seventh years, who were divided into two couples. They were so involved with snogging over by the fireplace that they paid no attention to the trio by the window.
Hermione pulled her wand out and cast a Finite on Harry to remove the camouflage rather than just wait for it to wear off. "Well?" she asked very quietly as she put her wand away. Ginny looked very anxious too.
Harry set his broom down and then sat on the window ledge next to Ginny. He also cast a privacy charm around them, having learned it from Hermione. "It looks like Flitwick and McGonagall are building something like a small stadium or maybe an outdoor theatre over near Hagrid's. It should seat everyone plus a few more."
"That will be where it's held then," Ginny offered.
"Yeah, I'd agree." He winked at Ginny and then looked at Hermione. "I saw Hagrid and Maxime taking a walk through the forest together, near all the excitement. I also saw Karkaroff sneaking away."
Ginny chuckled and Hermione looked down for a moment. "I never said I didn't make bad guesses."
Harry put one arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him. "No you haven't, and your guesses are usually better than everyone else's." She blushed a little but looked pleased.
"So what did you find at the other place?" Ginny asked with much curiosity.
He looked at her with amusement. "Remember Charlie saying that he might see us later this year?"
"Yeah. I assumed he meant at Christmas," Ginny replied.
"Perhaps, but he's here at Hogwarts right now." That got their attention. "There are four dragons in a clearing in the forest," he said far too calmly.
"No…" Hermione whispered hoarsely in horror as Ginny exclaimed "Bloody hell! That's not fair." Hermione did not say a word about Ginny's language.
"Yeah," Harry said quietly. "I almost fell off my broom when I saw them." He sighed. "I can't see Dumbledore requiring us to kill them, so I think I'll have to get past a dragon, or more likely get something the dragon is guarding."
"Charlie did say they like to guard shiny things," Ginny said, still having trouble believing what they were going to make Harry and the other champions do. "Do you have any idea how to get past one? Charlie also said it takes a team of handlers to stun a dragon."
"Not a clue," he said with a depressing sigh.
"That means we have a new research topic," Hermione announced, but not with her normal excitement. The thought of what might happen to Harry dampened her enthusiasm.
Harry thought for a moment. "You know, they said the staff can't help me, but they never said anything about other adults." The girls looked at him questioningly. "Sirius."
Ginny grinned. "Good one. Do you think McGonagall will let you talk with him?"
"I think so. I'll try tomorrow. For now, I think it's late enough to go to bed." Harry looked over and saw that the two couples were still oblivious to the world, so he leaned over and gave each of the girls a quick kiss on the lips. "Thanks for the help."
They each gave him a smile and a "Good-night", which Harry returned.
The next day, Harry talked to Professor McGonagall. She grudgingly let him go via the Floo network to visit Sirius for one hour, after she talked with his godfather and made him promise to keep to the time limit.
When Harry returned, he gave his Head of House a formal bow. "Thank you, Professor."
"Was it a successful visit?" she asked, looking over the top of her glasses at him, as if evaluating him.
"Yes, it was. The family matter has been resolved. Again, thank you," he said formally before he left. He considered that she might have thought he lied to her about visiting his godfather to resolve an urgent family matter. To him, it was not a lie. He had desperately needed to talk to someone to find a way to keep his future family alive. If that was not urgent, he did not know what was.
Near the Gryffindor common room, Harry entered his training room and saw his bond-mates waiting for him. He put a privacy spell over the door.
"Well?" Hermione asked anxiously. Ginny looked just as eager to hear what he had to say.
"He could only come up with two ways, and both of them involved injuring the dragon severely," Harry told them disappointedly. "I guess we're going to have to do this the hard way and come up with an idea on our own."
"To the library then, we have all day," Hermione said as she took down Harry's privacy spell and led them to her favourite room in the castle.
Harry considered that he need not panic yet. It was only Sunday morning and the task would be held on Thursday, so he had time to work out a plan.
On their way, he saw Cedric Diggory walking down the hall with Cho Chang. There were not holding hands, but he could see the interest each had for the other by their expressions and body language. He almost hated to do this, but Diggory would probably thank him in the end. "I'll meet you two in the library in a few minutes," Harry quietly told his girls. They saw Diggory and understood, so they gave him a nod and continued on.
Harry turned and walked towards the other Hogwarts champion. "Diggory, a moment for a word, if you please?"
If looks could kill, Chang would have slain him right there. She obviously had not wanted her time with Diggory interrupted.
Diggory whispered to her for a moment and she nodded unhappily before glaring at Harry again. The important thing was that she stood where she was as Diggory walked over to him.
"Err, sorry about ruining the moment," Harry apologized, "but I need to ask if you know what the first task is about."
Diggory's sense of fair play immediately made itself known. "Are you trying to cheat, Potter?" he asked with surprise in his voice.
"It's not cheating if everyone else already knows. I'm only asking to make sure you do know so you aren't the only one caught by surprise," Harry told him, ignoring the implied criticism from the older boy.
"And why do you think I'm the only one who doesn't know?" Diggory continued to stand on his moral high ground.
"Because when I found out, Maxime and Karkaroff were both there, so you can bet Delacour and Krum know." Harry tried to look as serious as he could. "Diggory, you need to know or you may get killed. I don't know if you've heard, but Hermione researched past tournaments and almost a quarter of all contestants have died."
"I have heard that others have died, but I didn't know it was that many," Diggory said with uncertainty, his firm stance wavering as he considered what Harry had said. "All right, what do I need to prepare for?" he finally asked.
Harry was relieved. He had no desire to see anyone killed or seriously hurt in this stupid Tournament. "If you knew where to look, you'd find a clearing in the forest with four dragons it in. I'll let your imagination take it from there. Mine's running wild right now."
Diggory swallowed hard as panic came to his eyes. After a moment, he softly said, "Thanks, Potter. I owe you one for that. It's Cedric." He stuck out his hand.
With a smile, Harry took it. "Feel free to call me Harry."
The Hufflepuff glanced back over his shoulder and saw Chang still scowling. "I better go, but thanks again - Harry."
"Anytime, and please give my apologies to Chang, but I thought you should know this as soon as possible."
Diggory chuckled. "I'll make sure she understands you are trying to help me stay alive." With a smile, he returned to the girl.
His good deed done, Harry turned and rounded the corner that was right behind him and almost knocked Professor Moody over.
"Professor, I'm sorry, I didn't see you."
The Professor waved the apology off. "That was a noble thing you did, Potter," he said, embarrassing the boy. His magical eye spun around for a few seconds. "I take it you don't have a strategy yet?"
"No, sir. I just found out last night and, well, it's pretty overwhelming at the moment," Harry honestly told him.
Moody nodded and motioned Harry down the corridor in the direction of the library. He stumped along slowly, making Harry shorten his steps to keep pace. "While I'm not supposed to help you, Potter, I will give you some advice. When you find yourself in a difficult situation, whenever possible, play to your strengths."
"My strengths, sir?"
"What do you do well, Potter?" Moody asked in his gravelly voice.
"Not much, Professor. I've got a few spells down that I can do almost without thinking, and I really like Quidditch." He was not sure what else to say.
The retired Auror grunted. "That's a good start. Think about that and see what you can come up with. Borrow, adapt, and conquer, Potter." He stopped at another crossing corridor. "I believe your young ladies went that way," he pointed towards the library. "Good luck."
"Thank you, sir." Harry went on his way, wondering what the old Auror meant. What could Quidditch do against a dragon? Even a Beater Bat and a Bludger would not do a lot of good against the huge tough animal. The Dragon could breathe fire and fly… Harry stopped walking for a moment. A Dragon could fly, but so could he if he had a broom, and he thought he would be more manoeuvrable. He sighed and started walking again. The thought was all very well, but he could not bring a broom.
He found his bond-mates at a table and joined them. Ginny looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow.
"I told Diggory and he was grateful." He chuckled. "I also ran into Moody. He apparently overheard and thought I was noble, so he gave me some advice."
"What did he say?" Hermione asked as she flipped through a book, skimming it for something useful.
"He said I should play to my strengths, but I don't do much really well except for Quidditch and a few spells," he replied. "I considered that if I had a broom, I could fly like a dragon does and I'd be more manoeuvrable, which might help, but I can't bring a broom."
Hermione paused in her research and looked at him. "Harry, the rules said you couldn't bring anything magical but your wand, but that doesn't mean you can't create one or summon one."
"And you do summoning spells quite well, especially if I put your broom somewhere nearby," Ginny added with a big smile.
Harry saw a ray of hope for the first time since he had found out about the dragons and his smile was suitably wide. "Brilliant, both of you." They returned his grin.
"I think that should be 'Plan B', Harry. There's still a high degree of danger doing that and there may be a simpler way," Hermione suggested.
"Maybe," Harry conceded, "but at least we have one way now." He grabbed a book from the stack Hermione had collected from the shelves and started searching for useful information himself, feeling a lot better than he had an hour ago.
After lunch, the trio saw Lucie get up from the Ravenclaw table and glance at them before she started to walk out of the Great Hall. The threesome quickly excused themselves, telling their friends they had to go do some spell research. They caught up with the French girl right outside the main doors to the castle.
As they started to enter the French carriage, the Beauxbatons champion - Fleur Delacour - was leaving. She looked at the three Hogwarts' student briefly before walking on, her glance landing on Harry only fractionally longer. Lucie led them into the second room on the right. She put locking and privacy charms on the door.
"So you know, I have promised Fleur that I will not talk to you about anything she says or does." Lucie looked very determined.
Harry nodded. "That is the way it should be. Of course, I would ask you not to talk to her about us. I don't believe anything about the Tournament will come up, but that only seems fair to me."
Lucie studied him for a moment before she gave him a single nod. "I agree. Business first." She held out her hand.
Understanding what she wanted, Harry pulled out his money sack and counted out nine Sickles on her hand, which she put on her desk. When she turned around, she had a small smile. "Our lesson will start now and go for the next two hours. There will be no more English - none."
Lucie picked a small stack of books up from her desk and handed the first one to Harry. «Do you have one of these?» It was a French/English dictionary, except that it also had magical terms in it.
«Yes,» Hermione said. «But no magic words in ours.»
Lucie rolled her eyes. «Order one like this by owl and then give this back to me.» She handed the rest of the stack to Hermione. «Use these for practice. They were my books in first year. You will return them. Headmistress Maxime can help you order yours. Now we talk like in class…»
The next two hours went reasonably well for Ginny, a little less so for Harry, and very frustratingly so for Hermione. It seemed even worse when Lucie told them she was using only words that were used in first year classes at Beauxbatons. They felt they had a long way to go.
On Wednesday evening, Harry was about to lose it; he was quite sure of that. Their French lesson, which had been moved forward one day because of the first task, had not gone well because he could not keep his mind on what they were doing. His two best friends, his bond-mates, seemed to have an idea of what he was going through. So immediately after the lesson, each of them grabbed an arm and steered him out the front door of the carriage and headed for the lake, going the opposite way from the Durmstrang ship.
«What are you doing?» Harry asked as they walked him away from the castle.
«Harry, you're not helping yourself now,» Hermione told him.
«She's right,» Ginny agreed. «You need to relax.»
"Relax? Are you daft? How can I relax with what I have to do tomorrow?" He glared at the two of them, not even realizing he had replied in English.
Ginny thumped him on his upper arm.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Harry rubbed his arm as Ginny glared at him.
"That was for calling me daft," she said pointedly.
"OK, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it literally, but I've got the first task tomorrow and there's a reasonable chance I'll get killed." The terror in his voice was obvious.
As they reached the lake, Hermione pulled him behind a large tree near the water. A quick check showed no one was visible, so she pulled him into a hug. «Harry, you have a plan and it's a good plan,» she assured him, trying to build some confidence in him. "You were just like this before most of your Quidditch games for the first couple of years, and yet, when the games started, you put it behind you and played very well. You'll do fine tomorrow."
Harry sighed and patted her back. «Thanks,» he told her quietly and let go. The trio continued walking around the lake, the sun not far over the mountains to the west. «I know you're trying to help, and I really appreciate it, but this Tournament is so … big. You read what that Skeeter woman wrote about me after my name came out of the Goblet. She made up all kinds of cruel stuff about me.»
«Ignore her, Harry. Everyone here at school knows you weren't supposed to be in the Tournament and that you support Diggory,» Ginny reassured him. She stopped Harry and pulled him into an alcove of trees. Before Harry could do anything to stop her, she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him thoroughly. When the two broke, all three of them were flushed.
"Uh, wow," Harry said softly.
«Don't forget that, Harry. That's what you have waiting on you when you finish the task. We'll go find somewhere private and spend some time, just like that,» Ginny told him with an impish grin.
«If that's not enough of a motivation…» Hermione stepped forward and put a hand on Ginny's shoulder. The redhead moved over casually to let Hermione take her place. «I'll make you the same promise, but only if you relax tonight.» Hermione leaned towards him and captured his lips in a soft but lingering kiss. «If it helps, think only of that for the rest of the evening.»
Harry gulped. He could not help but stare into the light brown eyes of the brunette in front of him, just like he had not been able to help staring into the chocolate brown eyes of the redhead. «Well, when you both put it that way…» With a grin, Harry quickly leaned forward and stole a kiss from Hermione.
Hermione was not fast enough to avoid him, but she pulled back as soon as she could. «No fair, Harry. That's your reward for being good now; you have to wait until tomorrow to collect.»
Harry did not get to retort because a high-pitched screeching interrupted them. The three stuck their heads out from among the trees and saw the top part of a Merperson in the lake shaking his trident at the giant squid.
"Now there's something you don't see every day. I think I've seen a Merperson only once before," Hermione commented, before turning back to Harry, who was still holding her.
"True, but who cares," Harry said as he pulled one arm from Hermione and waved Ginny over. The girl quickly stepped forward and they had a three-way hug. "Thank you, both of you." He placed a kiss on the cheek of each of them. "I know I was being a moody prat. Thanks for reminding me of what's important."
They both kissed one of his cheeks at the same time. "You're welcome," they said in stereo and they all laughed.
«We need to go in, the sun is going behind the mountain and it will be dark very soon,» Hermione pointed out.
Harry took a deep breath and grabbed one hand from each girl. With him in the middle, they started walking back towards the castle. «So, what do you think our OWLs might be like?» He hoped this topic could keep his brain off the first task tomorrow.
Hermione chattered for the next hour about the important exams she and Harry would be taking next year, and Ginny added multiple comments about what her much older brothers had said about them. Harry's mind was kept very busy until it was time to go to bed. Even though they occasionally lapsed into English, the trio worked on their French as much as they could in the conversation.
Harry's fears were rising to new heights as he had breakfast. He only ate because Ginny practically force-fed him. His dorm-mates made fun of him for that, but he hardly even noticed their teasing. On the other side of him, Hermione was whispering the spells he would probably need today, reviewing them so he would not forget.
When the time arrived, Professor McGonagall came over and collected him and Cedric, escorting both boys from the Great Hall and out of the castle towards a large tent in the vicinity of Hagrid's hut. They walked silently and Harry noticed that Cedric looked as nervous as Harry himself felt. He did his best to remember Hermione's and Ginny's promises for afterwards to keep himself calm.
In the tent, he and Cedric saw Fleur and Viktor were already there, as was the reporter, Rita Skeeter. Skeeter saw Harry and zeroed in on him.
"Harry, how do you feel about this task today? Do you think you'll be able to keep up with the older students? Are you scared? Do you…"
"Silencio!" Harry softly cast at the reporter, having pulled his wand out while she hit him with the barrage of questions. With a restrained voice, he said, "Madam, you are not wanted here. Go … away."
Skeeter looked outraged, and even more so when three pairs of hands started clapping. She turned and stomped out of the tent.
"Merci, 'Arry," Fleur said softly.
"Danke," Viktor half said, half grunted.
"And my thanks as well," Cedric added with a grin.
Harry gave them a lop-sided grin as the five judges came in.
"Good, you're all here on time," Crouch said as he opened the drawstring on a bag he was carrying. "Please reach into this bag and pull out one of the objects it contains. The number attached to your…object will determine your order of participation."
Fleur went first, and pulled out a miniature dragon about the size of her fist: it had a "1" on it. Krum pulled out the one with a "3" on it. Cedric pulled the "2". Harry pulled the last one with a "4" on it.
"As you can probably guess now, you'll be working with dragons for the task," Bagman said with far too much glee. "Each dragon is a nesting mother and has a clutch of eggs. Among the ivory-coloured real eggs is a fake egg that is golden. Your task will be to retrieve the golden egg and then leave the arena. You will be scored on a scale of zero through ten, with deductions for getting hurt, hurting the dragon, and for damaging her eggs. You must complete the task within one hour, or get a zero score. If you complete the task in less than ten minutes, you can ensure a high score. If you do notcomplete the task by retrieving the egg, you will have difficulty preparing for the second task, as the egg contains a clue to help you. Are there any questions?"
All four students looked slightly sick, as if they wished they could be anywhere else. None of them said a word.
"Very good, then please come out when your name is called. Miss Delacour, you have a few minutes to prepare your strategy." Bagman turned and left, as did the other judges.
Fleur started pacing and mumbling to herself. The other three found chairs and sat. Harry was fidgeting, but forced himself to stay seated to conserve his energy. To stay calm, he closed his eyes and did his best to remember the kisses he had received last night, the soft lips, the warm and soft bodies pressed against him, the…
"Miss Fleur Delacour from Beauxbatons," Bagman's magically-enhanced voice called.
Harry looked up and watched the young witch stand a little straighter and walk out of the tent. He looked at the other two and saw that they had retreated back into their own world; Harry did the same. But Bagman's occasional comments that seeped in from outside from time to time made it hard for him to concentrate.
It took nearly twenty minutes, but they all heard Bagman scream, "She's done it! She has the golden egg!" His magically-loud voice carried into the tent. Lots of shouting and applause followed. A few minutes later, he heard a loud booing before Bagman said, "And that gives Miss Delacour a score of thirty-three." He did not sound entirely happy for some reason.
A moment later, Fleur came rushing back into the tent and into the other side. While this half of the tent had been for waiting, the other half was for medical treatment. Harry noticed a burnt smell and did his best not to think about what that meant.
A few minutes later, Viktor Krum was called out. It was more of the same for Krum, except that he finished in twelve minutes. Bagman announced that he had received a score of forty. There was a slight booing as Krum gingerly walked back into the tent and disappeared into the medical area.
Harry looked at Cedric who could only shrug. When Cedric's name was called, Harry was able to offer nothing more than a rather weak "Good luck." His nerves were working overtime.
Cedric told him, "Thanks, good luck to you too, and be careful." Cedric's voice was louder, but there was still a touch of self-doubt in it.
Again, Harry did his best to think of Hermione and Ginny. Cedric finished near the fifteen-minute mark and received a score of thirty-eight. Harry was pleased for the Hufflepuff until he saw someone helping Cedric into the tent to see Madam Pomfrey. He was almost sick to his stomach at that point. He probably would have lost his breakfast if he had eaten a little more. Instead, he found some water and quickly drank it.
Suddenly, his name was called. Remembering Fleur and how she had looked like a champion as she left the tent, he stood as straight as he could and walked out. The wall of the arena stood twenty feet in front of him and he could see some rocks through the opening, as well as a huge dragon on the other side of the arena. As he walked to the edge of the arena, he saw the stands making a semi-circle around it and they were high for the audience's safety.
"Here's our fourth champion, Harry Potter. Mr Potter, your time begins - NOW!" Bagman's amplified voice shouted.
Harry quickly climbed the nearest rock to stand about four feet higher. He watched the dragon, a Hungarian Horntail if he remembered correctly, very carefully. The dragon watched him equally closely but did not move yet. He could see the golden egg now. With a flick of his wand, he silently tried a Summoning charm on the egg, but nothing happened. He would have tried to break the Anti-Summoning charm on it, but he had been unable to master that over the last five days.
"Looks like he tried something, perhaps summoning the egg, but that didn't work. Good try, Potter, but we thought of that," Bagman said jovially. He was more descriptive with Harry's work, since there were no others after him.
"Plan B then," Harry muttered to himself. Thinking very hard about snakes, he spoke in Parseltongue, "Do you understand me, O Great One?" He hoped the dragon was close enough to the snake family that he could talk to it and reason with it, but the dragon made no indication that it understood Harry's hissing. He had not amplified his talk, so the audience had not heard. It was possible the dragon had not heard either, but Harry was not going to remind everyone he could speak Parseltongue.
"It's now Plan C." He transfigured a rock near the dragon into a rabbit, but kept it the same size as the original rock. There was now a three-foot-tall bunny near the dragon's feet. Professor McGonagall had given him a few private Transfiguration lessons when he had asked her how to turn rocks into animals.
The dragon roared and breathed fire on the bunny, roasting it to a very burnt crisp.
"Oh, good try, Potter, but it doesn't appear to like large rabbits." Bagman's comment got a number of laughs.
Harry was not laughing. He had not accomplished this next spell well in practice, but he was willing to try now. Pulling up his magic, he transfigured a rock farther from the dragon into a cow. The cow looked right, but did nothing other than stand there, so Harry had not done it completely correctly. However, for his purposes, it was exactly what was needed as the dragon moved towards the cow and bit its head off. The crowd screamed "Eww!" at the gross sight, but he was pleased. It kept the dragon busy eating the cow while he silently Summoned his Firebolt. Ginny was supposed to have hidden it on top of Hagrid's hut. He hoped it was there.
As the dragon finished off the cow, his broom arrived and he caught it with a smile.
"Oh, good show. Potter kept it busy with a cow while he summoned his broom. That is within the rules, ladies and gentleman. Let's see what he does with it."
Harry transfigured another "cow" a little farther away. The dragon went after it and stretched its chain that kept it confined to the arena almost to the chain's limit. Harry noticed that, even while eating, the dragon kept an eye on him.
He mounted his broom and started flying at medium speed for good manoeuvrability towards the eggs. The dragon roared, leaving the half-eaten cow to chase Harry and breathe fire at him. Harry pulled hard right to avoid the flames before circling around. He would have to get the dragon to one side and then very quickly come around and grab the egg, like it was a dropped Quaffle.
"Yes, I see, he's trying to lure it away so he can grab the egg. Can he do it?" Bagman asked rhetorically.
Harry flew around to the other side near the cow and the dragon chased him. As the dragon stretched the chain to capacity, Harry quickly switched directions. Unfortunately, the dragon moved faster than anticipated and lunged towards Harry. It flapped as it lunged and Harry heard the chain go taut and then snap, releasing the dragon from its position. Another flap of the wings and it was coming after him.
Panicking, Harry pulled up towards the top of the wall, hoping he really was more manoeuvrable. Before he realized it, he was flying only a few feet over the crowd. Seeing the judges nearby, he turned slightly, heading right for the judges. A little payback for forcing him into this farce suited him just fine. He could have kicked Dumbledore's hat off as he flew by he was cutting it so close. As soon as he cleared the top of the stands, he shoved the nose of the broom down and pulled left hard.
He heard Bagman shout, "Look out! Everyone duck!" Waiting one more second, Harry pulled up and then hard left as he came back up to the top of the stands. Zooming back down over the crowd of students and towards the arena, he looked left and saw the tail of the dragon over the other side of the stands as well as a huge bluish shield in the area. Dumbledore was the only one standing and he had his arms raised with a wand in his right hand, so he must have cast it; but Harry returned his attention to his mission.
Dropping back into the arena, Harry braked as he approached the nest to lean over and scoop up the golden egg. Without waiting to see where the dragon was, he zipped across the arena and out the opening, landing at the entrance to the tent.
"He's done it! Potter has the egg! And …yes, in only eight and a half minutes!"
Bagman had barely finished screaming his announcement when the dragon flew back into the arena to try to find Harry. As it did, ten Stunning spells flew towards the dragon from the ground to Harry's left, followed by a dozen more from the Hogwarts professors in the stands less than a second later. The dragon hit the arena floor in a belly flop, skidded to a halt, and did not move.
The applause was immense. Harry was not sure if the applause was for him or for the dragon getting stunned - either worked for him. He was just glad the stupid task was over.
"Mr Potter, if you'll come in here, I'll get you healed."
Harry turned to the school nurse with a smile. "There's nothing for you to do, Madam Pomfrey. I don't have a cut or a burn on me."
The nurse gave him a disbelieving look and did a diagnostic charm on him anyway. She looked amazed at him. "You really don't! Congratulations, Mr Potter."
"Mr Potter, if you'll come out for your scores?" Bagman called.
Harry walked out, still carrying his broom and the golden egg.
"Headmaster Karkaroff, if you'll score him first."
Harry was surprised at the scathing look Bagman gave the man. Karkaroff did not look happy either, but he used his wand to draw a fiery "4" in the air. The crowd booed and Bagman exclaimed, "A four? He did it in less than ten minutes and he wasn't hurt!"
"He made the dragon attack the crowd. Very bad!" the Durmstrang Headmaster shouted back. He had not used a Sonorus, but everyone heard him.
"It wasn't his fault the chain broke!" someone in the crowd yelled. Harry agreed, glad someone was sticking up for him.
"That is my score!" Karkaroff yelled back.
Headmistress Maxime harrumphed and drew a "10" as she shouted, "Perhaps this will balance it!" People cheered.
Dumbledore gave him a twinkling smile and a "10", as did Crouch.
Bagman glared at Karkaroff again and drew a "10" with his wand. "That gives Potter a score of forty-four and puts him in first place." The crowd cheered and Harry was happy with his score as well as very surprised he was in first place. "Champions, remember that your egg has a clue to help you with the second task, which will be on the twenty-fourth of February. Good luck with your eggs! Quietus."
The announcement was barely over when he saw his bond-mates sprinting towards him, hair flying behind them. Ginny actually got there first, skidding to a stop before she gave him a crushing hug. Hermione also gave him a hug that almost bruised ribs.
"I was so scared for you, Harry," she breathed in his ear before she let him go.
"But I made it," he pointed out with a grin. "Let's go see the others." He led them into the tent.
"Good job, Harry!" Cedric told him while sitting on a bed, his burned arm a sickening sight. "You didn't get touched at all, did you?"
"Nope. I had a close one, but I escaped. Will be you be all right?" he looked at all three of them.
"I'll be fine by tonight, I'm told," Cedric said with an easy grin. "This burn isn't as bad as it looks and my leg only has some deep bruises. Krum said his dragon hit him with his tail and busted a few ribs." The Bulgarian grunted. "I think Delacour got it the worst in burns. Madam Pomfrey says it'll be a few days before she's fully healed."
Harry noticed the girl was not facing him and she would not even look in his direction as she lay on her stomach on the bed. He also saw that the upper half of her robes were burned away with a nasty burn on her upper back, which was covered in burn salve. Her beautiful hair had also been singed and partially burned away. It would only just touch her shoulders after it had been trimmed straight again, instead of going halfway down her back as before. He cringed, glad that was not him.
"I hope you feel better soon, all three of you," Harry called out. Cedric told him thanks and waved, while Krum grunted and nodded. Delacour just lay there, and since Harry could not see her face, he figured she must be unconscious. Nudging Hermione and Ginny to get their attention, he walked them out and back towards the castle, after everyone else.
"I thought I was going to die of fright, but you were incredible, Harry," Ginny told him as she grabbed his broom from him and then held his hand. He looked at Hermione to see if she was going to do something similar, but she only smiled and whispered, "Later."
Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville came running over and offered their congratulations. Luna sauntered over and also told him he did well.
In the Gryffindor Tower, a mini-party sprung up. Fred and George seemed to be behind it, but that did not stop anyone from joining in. Harry put his egg away, not wanting to deal with it at the moment. Everyone spent the afternoon joking, talking about what happened, and having fun.
After dinner, Hermione pulled Harry to their training room and put silencing and locking charms on the door so she could sit sideways on Harry's lap and give him his reward kisses. When she was through, she smirked at a glass-eyed Harry and opened the door. As she walked out, Ginny walked in and reapplied the two charms to the door. She then straddled his lap and gave him another dose of reward kisses. When her time was up, Hermione had to come and help Ginny guide Harry to his dorm room. He had forgotten about the Tournament and he was definitely feeling no pain.
(A/N: I let Viktor use German before the first task because I've always felt that Durmstrang is in Germany, even if the books don't tell us, and their classes would be in German. Also, I suspect far more people will know what 'Danke' means instead of the Bulgarian equivalent.)