945It takes less than a minute after waking up for the anger to rush back to me.
Being forced to participate in the tournament.
Hermione, and her total fucking betrayal.
I shake my head and take several deep breaths. I can't get rid of the anger, but with a little help from occlumency, I can put it aside for later. Being filled with blind rage won't help me with anything.
Once I feel clear-headed enough that I can think rationally, I try to take stock of my priorities. I'm sure Tam will have her own input to offer, but I can feel her sleeping in the back of my mind, and I'm in no rush to wake her. She deserves what rest she can get given how busy this year is shaping up to be for the two of us.
I don't feel like showering this morning, so I cast some cleaning and freshening charms on myself and make my way down to the common room. No one else is awake yet, or those that are aren't hanging around here. I need to say… something to Ron as thanks for taking my side. With Hermione gone turncoat on me, I really can't afford to lose what few allies I have. For now, though, I should get breakfast. After that…
Well, the smart thing would be to study up to maximise my odds of surviving the death tournament I've been forced into, but I'm inclined to do something a bit more personally motivated first. Breakfast can wait.
Tam finally wakes up once I enter the library.
Mmmmm… Morning, Harry. I don't suppose there's any chance that yesterday was a terrible nightmare?
'You know we can just use occlumency to block those out.'
Can't blame a gal for hoping. So what are we doing?
'Studying to survive the tournament, but that can wait. I want to do a little investigation first.'
I walk up to Madam Pince's desk and catch her attention. "This is a bit of an odd request, but are there any student records for prior years?"
She looks down at me. "I'm afraid that any personal information about students is classified, even if they've graduated."
I shake my head. "No, I'm not interested in that. I'm more curious about… class records? Seeing who took what class?"
She gives me an odd look, so I just sigh. "I'm hoping to get a list of everyone who took Binn's NEWT level History of Magic class in the past few decades. Whoever entered me in the tournament against my will, and it was done against my will, did so with knowledge that most likely came from one of those classes, if Bertha Jorkins is to be believed."
"Bertha has a good head on her shoulders." Pince says as she looks through some filing cards. "A bit gossipy, but she knows her stuff." She pulls out one of the filing cards and scrutinises it. "Well, luckily for you, we do keep that information in the archives and I can't see a reason why you can't take a look. You cannot remove it from the library, though. Give me a moment to retrieve the documents."
Trying to track down our saboteur?
'Yeah. Better to clean up any loose ends while we can, and it won't take long to check attendance records.'
Smart.
'Well I had to pick it up from you eventually.'
Tam laughs in the back of my head. It's a nice sound. It doesn't take her long to get serious again, though.
I'm… actually worried about the tournament. I mean, I'm ninety-nine percent sure that we'll be fine if we really commit to it, but…
'You can't totally account for that last one percent, right?'
Yeah, I really don't want to die… and I don't want… Nevermind, I'm sure we'll be fine.
'We'll sure as hell be trying our best.'
Yeah, I just-
Madam Pince comes out of the backroom with a bound volume. "Here you are, Mister Potter. I do ask that you take a seat somewhere in sight of me, just as a precaution."
I roll my eyes once I'm turned away from her and take a look at the volume. It seems to be just a list of attendance sheets for each year in Binns class going to nineteen-forty. I take a look at the beginning, flipping past the early years to get to the NEWT classes.
Unsurprisingly, it's blank. I flip through the next year and find it blank, too.
'Wow, people really hate his classes, huh? I figured there'd at least be one or two weirdos each year.'
Harry, even my overachieving had limits. If someone like me didn't volunteer to take more of his classes, why would you think anyone else would?
'Fair enough.'
It isn't until nineteen sixty eight that I find any names in his upper level classes.
'Bertha Jorkins… and Irma Pince.'
Well, this confirms that Jorkins wasn't lying about taking his class. Doesn't mean she's not guilty, though.
There isn't anyone else until seventy-seven. It is not a name I want to see.
'Bartemius Crouch Junior.'
Of course he shows up here. Wasn't enough that he tried to kill us, he had to be involved in this too.
'We don't know that it was him, but he definitely is the most likely candidate. He sure as hell has the motive, though I have no idea how he'd have had the opportunity.'
Another mystery for the books.
I skim through the rest of the pages, not expecting to find anyone else. I nearly miss the last page, showing that there was one final attendee to Binns's classes.
'Percy Weasley, huh? Well isn't that interesting…'
I'm not sure where I should go after finishing up in the library. It would be nice if I could just confront Percy Weasley about this, especially in light of his seeming ignorance of the subject last night, but everything I have is circumstantial. There's no way I'm going to confront any of the tournament judges without some hard proof. As it is, I'm not even sure if he's staying in the building.
'Any ideas, Tam?'
Well, as useful as it will be to track down the culprit, I really do think that our highest priority should be staying alive. No matter how good we are, I don't want to take any chances with our life.
'I mean, you know a lot of magic, right?'
Harry, I mostly know dark arts and a lot of theory around soul magic and rituals. For all my skills, I am only eighteen and had seven years to study magic. I know everything that was taught to us in class, but my expertise beyond that is unfortunately much more limited than I'd like. Immortality took up a lot of my time.
'Yeah, I suppose it would.'
…
'…Wait, are you actually eighteen?'
Of course I am, what kind of question is that? You saw my most recent memory and it was when I was eighteen.
'Yeah, but you were missing a lot of context. Like, are you actually eighteen if you can't remember much of the time between when you were sixteen and when you were eighteen?'
…I'm going to say yes.
I'm not entirely convinced, but she has a point. If we're going to make it through this tournament, we'll need every advantage we can get. Especially since all of the other contestants are older than me and are the best their respective schools have to offer.
'So, no using dark magic during the tournament, then?'
Most dark magic is illegal, so I think that using it during a public event would be a bad idea, yes.
'Moody said it was legal to use dark magic against creatures if our lives were in danger, right? Our life is certain to be in danger in a death tournament, so we might be able to get away with it.'
True, but we might want to check the exact wording of the law to be sure. Besides, that's contingent on us fighting creatures, and not us being engaged in a duel to the death against the other participants.
'Has that actually happened before?'
Yes, in the eighteen-sixty-two tournament. I mean, if they're trying to reduce casualties then they probably won't do that again, but still.
Right, so we definitely need to learn more magic. Normally, I'd rely on Hermione, but with her having an absolute fit, there's only one person I trust for that.
Flitwick is just leaving his office when I make it there. I flag him down as he's locking his door. "Excuse me, Professor?"
He turns to face me. "Ah, what can I do for you, Mister Potter?"
I pause to catch my breath. "Well, in light of, uh, recent developments, I am realising that my spell repertoire may be somewhat… lacking. I was wondering if it might be possible to receive some extra tutoring?"
Flitwick gives me a serious look. "Mister Potter, surely you are aware that contestants are not allowed to receive any special aid from their teachers?"
I grin. "Well, according to Bertha Jorkins, those rules only apply to tournament judges and organisers, and unless I'm mistaken, you don't fall into either of those categories."
I can see Flitwick suppressing a smirk. "While I am not involved in any official capacity, as the resident charms master, I am responsible for overseeing many of the protections and safeguards put in place for this tournament. As such, I'd prefer to play it safe. That said… I have felt that my fourth year curriculum is a tad outdated and would benefit from a greater emphasis on practical work, don't you agree? And while I could hardly engage in full-time tutoring with you, I could teach you a trick or two on occasion. It would hardly be the first time, after all."
I fail to hold back my smile. "Of course, Professor."
"Good, now, why don't we head down to the great hall? I am feeling rather peckish and I suspect that you've yet to eat breakfast as well."
I am feeling rather hungry, now that he mentions it. "That sounds like a good idea."
After a short silence, Flitwick speaks up again. "While I cannot personally tutor you, I can recommend tutors from the upper years, if you'd prefer?"
That's… definitely an option, though I'm not sure how much I'd trust most of the upper years. "I'll consider it."
Hardly ideal options but we'll take what help we can get.
'Well, you're hardly a stranger to self-study, right?'
True, and that cloak of yours will make it easy to get into the restricted section.
'Actually…'
"Say Professor, do you think you could give me a pass to the restricted section for the year? It would make studying much easier."
He gives me a glance. "I suppose I could do that, yes. You wouldn't be one to abuse the privilege, would you, Harry?"
I grin innocently. "Of course not, Professor."
We'll totally abuse it, though.
'Shut up, Tam.'
Ron is already seated at the table when I make it to the great hall. Hermione is there too, but she's sitting away from Ron and shoots me a death glare when I walk in. I ignore it and take a seat across from Ron.
He sees me and does his best to finish chewing before speaking up. "Doing alright, Harry?"
"As well as I can be, under the circumstances." I reply. "Which is not very good."
"Right, I guess that makes sense. Where were you this morning, anyways? Your bed was empty when I woke up."
"Studying." I admit. "I need to figure out how to survive this tournament, and I'd also like to figure out who put me in it in the first place."
Ron leaned in conspiratorially. "You think it might have been You-know-who?"
I would really like to know how I got stuck with that name.
'Yes, because that's clearly the biggest question that your adult self has raised.'
Shut up.
"Maybe." I reply in a subdued tone. "My biggest suspect right now is Barty Crouch Junior. He's an ex-Death Eater and he's the one who tried to kill me at the Quidditch World Cup. But we don't know our culprit's motivation, so we can't rule anyone out. There's a frustratingly high number of potential suspects given that the culprit used knowledge from something as obscure as Binns's NEWT level class."
Ron blinks. "Blimey, I didn't know anyone took that."
"Your brother, Percy, did."
"Huh. Wait, you don't think…?"
"I can't rule him out but I don't think he's the likely culprit."
Ron nods. "Yeah, as much of a swot as he is, I don't think he's the type to stoop to murder."
I scoop some eggs, bacon, and toast onto my plate. "Well, I could always try to rule him out. Does your brother know any occlumency?"
He snorts. "Unless he paid for a tutor himself, I doubt it. I mean, isn't it super hard to learn?"
"It is a bit… painstaking." I probably never could have managed it as fast as I did without Tam's help.
"Right, and legilimens are super rare. I mean, how often do you run into one?"
I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Er… present company excluded, that is."
"Hermione knows a little bit of occlumency." I add. "She was able to eject me from her head last night. If she could learn enough occlumency for that, then Percy could absolutely do the same."
"Yeah, but…" Ron pauses to gather his thoughts. "They're both swotty, but not in the same way, you know? Percy's more about authority and rules and, uh, what's the term… social climbing! He studies but it's more about keeping his grades up so he can keep himself in a position of power and authority, you know? Hermione, on the other hand, she's bloody obsessed with learning. Sure, she follows the rules, but she knows when they're holding her back and you've seen how mental she can get when she cuts loose. Hermione is absolutely the sort to learn occlumency for the hell of it, and she's been a lot more secretive ever since the end of last year."
I sometimes forget just how good Ron can be at reading people. "You think that secrecy has to do with that whole… incident last night?"
Ron shrugs. "Beats me. I can't read minds, so who knows what's going on in her head. But my point is that Hermione is absolutely the sort of person who would learn some obscure and mostly useless discipline just for the hell of it, but Percy wouldn't do so unless it got him extra credit or was needed for a promotion."
"I will say, occlumency has been more useful than I thought." I comment. "I mean, sure, knowing that people like Dumbledore can't read my thoughts is nice, but it also really improved my memory, and I can prevent myself from having dreams or nightmares unless I want to."
"I don't see why you'd want to stop having dreams." Ron says. "Last night I had a dream that we were back at the sorting ceremony except the hat was some kind of giant salamander — the amphibian kind, not the fire kind — and instead of being placed on our heads it just sort of stuck the top of our heads in its mouth and sucked on them for a bit and you were sorted when the salamander took on one of the colours of the houses. I was sorted into Ravenclaw but the Ravenclaw tower had been destroyed so instead the dorms were just floating on the clouds instead. Weird, right?"
What the hell? "Yeah, weird."
"I'm just saying, you can't get that sort of stuff anywhere else."
I do not miss dreams, especially given how many of mine were bad ones.
'Same.'
The Sorting Salamander thing is hilarious, though.
"We talking about dreams?" A new voice says. I look up to see Katie sliding into the seat next to me. "I had a dream last night where everything was the same except birds had human genitalia. Not even scaled down, either. I looked outside and there was a sparrow flying past with a human sized dick just dangling there, wobbling with each flap of its wings."
Ron looks somewhat grossed out by the prospect but I just feel exasperated. "Of course you'd have that kind of dream, Katie."
Katie looks at me with mock outrage. "Why Harry, are you slandering my character? Me?"
I give her a look, prompting her to giggle.
"Okay, yeah, fair enough." Her expression sobers. "More seriously, though, are you doing okay? I heard that through the grapevine that you're denying having entered yourself, but I wanted to hear it from you."
"Katie, no matter what form my self-sacrificing or self-destructive impulses may have taken in the past, I can promise you that I did not enter myself in the tournament. I'm not that stupid."
"Harry, didn't you chase Peter Pettigrew into the Forbidden Forest last year and nearly get your soul eaten by dementors?" She asks.
"That doesn't count." I hiss. There were extenuating circumstances.
"Mate, when some crazed Death Eater tried to kill you at the Quidditch World Cup, you jumped off the stadium and chased him into the woods." Ron adds. "Seems pretty reckless to me."
That one wasn't even me, not that I can say that aloud.
…You know, come to think of it, that was pretty reckless of me.
'You think?'
I think that you've been a bad influence on me, Harry. You and your Gryffindorish ways have tainted me.
That gets a snort out of me, which gets odd looks from Ron and Katie.
"Sorry." I blurt out. "Unrelated."
"Actually, I think Harry has a point." Katie says. "While our little Harry here-"
"I'm not that short." I complain.
"-may have a reckless streak, this isn't the sort of recklessness he goes for. Usually, Harry is only reckless when it's to protect someone or, more recently, to fight off or capture Death Eaters. There's a method to his madness."
I roll my eyes. "Right." I eat the last few bites of my breakfast and stand up. "Well, as lovely as it's been to catch up, I need to figure out how to survive a death tournament that I was entered in against my will."
"Oh, I wanted to make an offer, Harry." Katie says. "If you ever need someone to help with spell practice or whatever, feel free to hit me up. I figure I'm probably closer to your level than someone like Ron is." She turns to face him. "No offence."
Ron stops chewing and covers his mouth. "None taken."
"I might take you up on that offer. Thanks, Katie."
"Hey, no problem! What are friends for?"
"Well, based on your past interactions with me, I'd say that friends are apparently good for flirting with, making bad puns and suggestive comments at, and begging them for money."
Katie nods sagely. "That is so true. That is what friends are for. But hey, no reason spell practice can't be a part of that too."
"Right. I'll see you two later." I say as I head out of the hall.
So, anything else you need to take care of.
'No, I think that takes care of it. So what now?'
Well, now we should probably get some practice in.
'Should we do some alchemy or try to go for something new?'
I think it would be best to solidify our grasp of alchemy. It would get us closer to getting me a body and you're pretty good with it in a fight, so we'd get more out of it.
'Alchemy it is.'
If I'm going to practise using alchemy in combat, then I think it's best to avoid the Room of Requirement. The stones of Hogwarts are far too steeped in magic for me to alchemise them properly, and I'm pretty sure that most of the materials it creates are somehow part of the castle too.
Unfortunately, I've barely made it onto the grounds when I'm accosted by Malfoy and his crowd of cronies.
"Hey Potter!" He shouts at me. "Looking forward to the tournament?"
I raise an eyebrow at his antics. "Not particularly."
My lacklustre response takes some of the wind out of his sails, but he quickly blusters up again. "You know, I was speaking with my father-"
"What a surprise." I mutter.
"-and he bet you wouldn't last ten minutes in this tournament. I took that bet, and I bet you wouldn't last five."
I really forgot how childish schoolyard bullying could be.
'It's almost pathetic how hard he tries.'
"Well, five minutes is a strict time limit for finishing the first task, but I'll see if I can manage."
"What!? No! I meant that… that you'd…" He sputters.
"Of course, it really depends on the task, doesn't it? Five minutes might not be remotely doable." I continue, ignoring his attempt to regain control of the conversation.
"I meant that you'd die! Or fail, or… or whatever!"
"I see."
My approach here is definitely getting to him. Malfoy isn't getting to Vernon's level of red-faced anger, but I can see the beginnings of it on his cheeks. He grabs part of his robes where he's pinned something to the fabric. "Like our buttons, Potter?"
I lean in close, seeing that it's a simple button that says "Cedric Diggory is the REAL Hogwarts Champion".
"I think your font choice could use some work." I say. "I really have to lean in to even read what it says."
"That's just the half of it!" Draco says, sounding irrationally proud. He presses the button in, and with a click, the text blurs into a new form simply reading "Potter stinks".
"Wow, Malfoy, I'm impressed." I deadpan. "You must have been up all night thinking of such a scathing insult."
That gets some snickers out of Malfoy's crowd, pushing his face to a three out of ten on the Vernon scale. "I did not! I was up all night because I was getting the enchantment to work!"
"That's not something to brag about, Malfoy."
"Well.. well what would you know, Potter?"
"Well, I know when not to try too hard. When you talked to your father, did you or did you not mention that you spent all night awake making enchanted buttons with the most childish insult imaginable? I've heard worse from my muggle cousin."
"Oh yeah? Well, I'd like to see you act so smug after you get burned to a crisp by a dragon!"
"A dragon?"
"Yeah, the dragon that the Ministry's bringing in for the first task! I'm going to enjoy watching you run like a scared baby!"
"So the first task is against a dragon?" I ask.
Malfoy snorts. "So much for the boy who lived getting special treatment. They didn't even tell you what the first challenge is?"
"They didn't tell any of us what the challenge is." I smirk and pat him on the shoulder as I walk past. "Thanks for the tip, Draco. This puts me at a real advantage now."
Malfoy sputters in place, his face firmly at a five out of ten by this point. "Well… well what chance do you stand against a dragon, anyways!? What can you even do!?"
"This." I say, finally having had enough. I pull out my wand and sweep it at the earth beneath them, causing all the Slytherins to sink into the ground until they're submerged to their waists.
"What are you…? Let us go!"
"It's simple alchemy, Draco, I'm sure someone as obscenely talented as you can escape, no issue. If not, well, maybe I'll remember to get you when I'm finished. Ta!"
I ignore Draco's shouts of protest as I walk further into the forest until at least his incessant squeals are drowned out.
Gods, I can't get over how pathetic he is.
'Right? I can't believe I ever saw him as anything more than a nuisance.'
It's really making me re-evaluate all my experiences with Abraxas. I don't think I ever truly appreciated the undertone of… pathetic desperation to all his attempts to put me down.
'Yeah…'
I still wish I killed him, though.
'Truly, it would have made the world a better place.'
So… we have to fight a dragon, huh?
'Apparently. I don't suppose you have any tips or tricks for something like that, do you?'
Gods no. Any knowledge I might have would be on avoiding fighting a dragon to begin with.
'Great. I don't suppose Moody's "lesson" on the unforgivables would be workable here?'
Not likely. Dragons are considered a protected species and killing one would probably get us in quite a bit of hot water. At worst, we might even get disqualified, and I don't want to imagine how the Goblet would handle a disqualification.
'I hadn't even considered that… What about the imperius?'
Not possible, unfortunately. Dragons are immensely willful creatures, and successfully quashing one's will long enough to take control is something that no one has come close to managing.
'Well, it might be worth trying, but we'll definitely want a plan B.'
And that's why we're practising.
I look at the forest around me. Lots of earth, and lots of trees, so I have plenty to work with. I have noticed that earth and wood are both the easiest for me to control with alchemy, which makes sense, since they are both categorised together under some classifications of the classical elements. I guess the term "geomancer" isn't such a bad fit after all.
I start shifting the earth around me, starting with large ripples and moving on to haphazardly shaping it, raising rounded pillars from the earth and letting them sink back down.
As impressive as this is, it doesn't seem like you're pushing yourself too hard.
'Warm-ups are important, Tam. Besides, I want the experience to be fresh in my mind before I try the next step.'
Which is?
'Trees.'
The wood is more resilient and resists all of my attempts to control it. I take a deep breath and try again.
"Wood is not earth. Wood is alive." I say to myself before coaxing the wood into action.
It's less satisfying to control the wood. Sure, it's technically more versatile, but it's not as fun to actively coax it into doing what I want instead of having absolute command over it like I do with earth. Still, I try to challenge myself, to push my control of the wood as far as I can without losing my grip on it. I raise walls of roots, whip the branches above me into a latticed dome, and even try to coax a sapling into growing larger.
Mixed success on that last one. It did indeed grow, but the bark covering it looks haphazard and stretched, and some of the leaves appear wilted.
'Ugh.'
You really have improved.
'I couldn't get the sapling to grow into a tree, though.'
Yes, but your general control is substantially improved. While you didn't meet with complete success on that last front, your general control over the material is easily on par with your control of earth around the end of last year.
I hadn't thought about it like that, but she does have a point. Still…
Of course, it would help if you had better control over water, since blood is mostly water.
'Yeah, well that's the classical element that I'm the worst with.'
Is that so? Let me try…
Tam takes control of my body and presses my left hand into the dirt, feeling out its texture. With a flex of my wand, she pulls a stream of water out of the moist ground, desiccating it in the process. She forms the stream into a small orb, hovering in front of me, before sending a quick swish of my wand, duplicating the orb.
Doesn't seem too hard to me.
'You're just showing off because you're mad I upstaged you.'
I will neither confirm nor deny those allegations.
'Uh-huh. Well, just because you were able to master control of water with a single flex of your wand doesn't mean that I can do the same, and it's not like we can just combine our separate skill sets here.'
I feel the idea occur to both of us the moment I finish thinking that thought.
Well…
'Okay, yeah, we can explore that idea, but… later. I don't want to push myself to magical exhaustion.'
Fair enough.
I turn around to make my way back to the castle, only to stop abruptly when Neville steps out from behind a tree. "Harry?" He says incredulously. "That was you controlling all those trees?"
"Yeah, I was trying to get some alchemy practise in." I say as casually as I can. "What are you doing out here?"
"Oh, um… I was trying to get some cuttings from plants that I can use for some projects in the greenhouse. I have some really interesting ideas about how to make certain crossbreeds without hybridising the fruiting bodies so you can harvest twice as many crops from the same plant, which would have great effects for-" He cuts himself off awkwardly. "Well, you're probably not really interested in the fine details."
I'm really not, but I don't say that out loud.
"Anyways, I was on my way back when I saw the trees moving and growing on their own and I wondered if there was a rare magical plant causing it or something."
"Just me." I say. "I was actually about to head back to the castle myself, if you'd like to head back together?"
Neville's face brightens briefly. "Yeah, that would be great! I, uh, also wanted to, um, mention something to you…" He says as we start walking back. "It's, well, um…"
I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah?"
"Well, Hermione kind of… started talking to me today? Like, in a friends way or something? And, well, I know that she sort of had a big spat with you and Ron, and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay with me… maybe sometimes hanging out with her?"
That's what this was all about?
"Just because Hermione decided to be a total bitch to me doesn't mean I'm about to start policing who can or can't hang out with her." He just shouldn't be surprised if she stabs him in the back too.
Visible relief crosses Neville's features. "Okay, that's… that's good. I always thought Hermione was kind of, um… Well, I'm glad to know you don't mind. I mean, I know we're not really friends or anything like that but we do talk occasionally and I think I'd miss that if it didn't happen."
Dear gods, this kid is so awkward.
'Yeah, he seems even more awkward than normal right now. Probably nervous about how I'd react to him interacting with Hermione.'
You aren't worried that Hermione will… I don't know, try to get at you through him or something?
'Honestly, if Hermione was willing to drop me over nothing after three years of friendship, then I'd be more worried about Neville. Still, it's his mistake to make.'
I must have been outside for longer than I realised. Most people are already done with lunch by this point, leaving just a few stragglers behind. Neville splits off from me as I make my way to where Katie and Angelina are sitting. Angelina is currently eating a rather large slice of chocolate cake, while Katie is skimming what seems to be… a law book? That's not her usual fare.
And what is her usual fare? Smutty, trashy romance novels?
'Only about half the time. The rest is usually sci-fi or a textbook.'
Angelina swallows her current mouthful of food as I take a seat next to Katie. "Hi, Harry!" She says. "How are you holding up?"
I shrug. "As well as can be expected. What are you two still doing here?"
"I got wrapped up in my reading." Katie says. "Angelina couldn't resist an opportunity to pig out."
"I am not pigging out!" Angelina exclaims. "I am giving myself a special treat."
"Angie, that's your fifth 'special treat' this week."
"So?"
"It's only Tuesday, Angie. You keep this rate up and your clothes will be even tighter than they already are. Unless that's what you're trying to do~." Katie says, her tone crossing over into flirtatious as she finishes.
Angelina flushes and crosses her arms. "Hmph."
"So, what are you reading, Katie?" I ask, desperate to interrupt their… whatever is going on between them.
"I'm skimming some law stuff. I was originally trying to see if there was a way to get you out of the tournament, but that turned up no leads."
That gets a laugh out of me. "Yeah, I appreciate the effort, but that's not going to work since the Goblet of Fire is currently a rogue Faerie artefact."
Katie puts her book down. "Are we talking tiny, sparkly, Tinker-Bell fairies, or are we talking the terrifying, eldritch, steal-your-name Faeries?"
"The latter."
"Yeah, the first ones are called pixies." Angelina says with a mouthful of food. "And while they originated from the realm of the Fair Folk, the two are distinct entities."
Katie fixes Angelina with an iron glare. "Angie, you grew up in the magical world. On a scale of one to ten, how much do I have to worry about terrifying creatures that are uncannily unhuman stealing my name?"
"Uh… a zero? They aren't really around anymore. They lost some big battle with humans and retreated to their own realm over a millennium ago."
"Well, that's one less thing to worry about. Still, you'd think they'd teach this in history class."
"Well, there are two issues with that." I add. "One, is that the class would be taught by Binns. Two is that they actually do teach this, but only in NEWT level history, and apparently only a handful of people have done that within the past few decades."
Katie groans. "I'd wish that he would die, but he already did and he's still teaching!"
The conversation dies down as I start eating lunch and Angelina finishes her slice of chocolate cake before grabbing a second, smaller slice of chocolate cake. Katie gives Angelina a look but neither of them say anything, which I'm grateful for.
I'm taking the last few bites of my sandwich when Hedwig swoops down and drops a letter on my plate. I don't recognise the handwriting at a glance so I cast a few diagnostic charms, surprised when everything comes back clean. With nothing else to lose, I open the letter.
Harry,
What the actual fuck is going on at Hogwarts? I mean
Oh, right, this is Sirius. Sirius Black. Your godfather. Sorry if this letter is a lid little haphazard but thirteen years in Azkaban left me really out of practise practice and I'm trying to get this letter out to you as soon as possible.
So what the fuck is going on at Hogwarts? How did you get entered in the Triwizard Tournament? Everything I've heard says that you're denying it, but James would have denied it too even if he actually did enter. Please tell me you didn't enter yourself? I know you're capable, what with you chasing down Pettigrew last year, but the Tniw TWT is a whole other beast. Hell, I'd have discouraged James from entering if he got the idea, and I was usually the reckless one.
I know you've probably got better stuff to do than listen to an old dude like me ramble about safety and the like (and good gods, how weird is ot it to be the old dude lecturing others about safety for once). But I want to make an offer to you, and this is open whether of or not you enters entered yourself in the tournament. I have some family libraries on some properties, and they contain a lot of obscure magic in them, including a few that can't be found in the Hogwarts Library. If you're not too busy, you can stop buy by over the winter holidays and I can give you some books and maybe even provide a little tutoring. I was actually a member of the order of the phoenix, you know. It was a group dedicated to fighting Voldemort, if you didn't know. Anyways, I was pretty good at it and I can give you some combat tips and maybe do some training with you to make sure your skills are up to snuff. Apparently Hogwarts is hosting an event over the holidays, so you wouldn't be here for the full winter break, just in case you were worried about spending a few weeks in an old house with a guy whose who's basically a stranger to you. Obviously it being over the holidays means that I wouldn't you'd have to handle the first task on your own, but if you need anything to help, just ask.
If you didn't enter yourself in this tournament, there then there's a decent chance that someone did it to try and kill you, so I'm sure you could use every advantage you can get.
Take care of yourself
Sirius Black
Well, he wasn't lying when he said it was haphazard.
'Yeah, but I don't really care when he's making an offer like that. I mean, tutoring from someone not under Dumbledore's thumb?'
I wouldn't be so sure that he's not under Dumbledore's thumb, but he definitely seems more loyal to you — or your father, anyway — than he does to Dumbledore.
'Yeah, I'll write out a reply to him.'
And the Black Family Libraries… I remember trying to get access to those for years, but if I ever succeeded, then I don't have the memory of it.
I pause as soon as I take out the parchment.
'You really do seem to be lacking in a lot of later memories, don't you? Even ones that you think would be useful to have.'
I mean, it makes sense. You need to remember that I was trying to create a fully sapient replica of myself. While a lot of the later memories contained important information, it was much more critical that I possessed most of the formative events and experiences that led me to have a more complete picture of who I was, or at least who I was when the diary was made. Besides, it wasn't as though the old memories could just be swapped out for new ones. This shard of my soul — me — had to steep in those memories for decades before I properly internalised them as a fundamental part of myself. Hell, I don't even know how long the process took since I wasn't even aware until Ginny started writing in me, but for all we know, the diary would have been useless as recently as five years back.
'So what I'm hearing is that you are the world's most luxurious cup of tea, steeped for five decades to achieve the perfect flavour.'
Given that it's me we're talking about, it had better be luxurious.
'Well, luckily for you, I like a good cup of tea.'
I turn my attention back to the letter and scribble out a response confirming that I did not enter myself in the tournament and that I'd love to spend the holiday break with him. I pause for a moment, then add a further detail that the first task is against a dragon, so any advice he can give towards that specifically would be greatly appreciated. I turn to give the letter to Hedwig, but she's already buggered off.
"I'll be taking this up to the owlery." I say to Angelina and Katie as I stand up. "See you ladies later."
"Cheers, Harry!" Katie says, her attention having gone back to Angelina. Angelina's too busy eating cake to reply.
They are such weirdos.
'You get used to it.'
Hedwig is standing on a perch in the owlery, looking very smug.
"Yeah, yeah…" I mutter. "You wanted me to deliver the letter to you for once, huh? Well, here you go. Take it to Sirius Black, at… Well, I don't know where he is, but you delivered his letter to me, so I'm sure you know."
Hedwig lets out a small bark and grabs the letter before flying off.
"Hello, Harry Potter." A voice says from behind me, startling me enough that I jump.
"Oh, uh, hello Luna. What are you doing up here?" I ask, trying to calm myself.
"Oh, I'm hiding." She says serenely. "I just have to wait for them to go before I can leave."
"For… for who to go? Is someone trying to ambush you or something?"
She shakes her head. "Oh no, nothing like that." She leans in closer to whisper. "There are a lot of shadow people out there right now. They don't like it when you get too close or look at them too hard, so it's best to just wait for them to move along."
"Shadow… people?"
"Oh yes, you might think that the shadow creatures are the threat, since they scrabble along on all fours like an enormous animal, but they're really quite skittish and don't pay much mind to you no matter what you do. It's the shadow people you have to watch out for."
'Tam?'
No. I am not involving myself in this insanity. Literal insanity…
"That's… that's nice." I reply, not sure what else to say.
"One time the shadow people played a trick on me and trapped me in a maze full of shifting corridors that kept changing to keep me from reaching the exit, and when I finally made it out, it turned out I was in my closet the whole time."
"That's very… tricky of them."
"Isn't it? Thankfully they only ever did it the one time."
"Right, well… I'm going to be going now, Luna. Good luck… evading the shadow people, I guess."
I am unsurprised that there are no shadow people at the bottom of the stairs. What the hell is wrong with that girl?
A/N (Tendra): I'm trying out this radical new writing strategy called "not burning myself out". It involves pacing myself as I write chapters and not blowing through several of them in the span of a week. Hopefully, this revolutionary new strategy will help me update more regularly. Only time will tell.
This chapter focused heavily on Harry's relationship with other characters, which I wanted to do mainly as a change of pace before the first task, which will be in the next chapter.
Katie is definitely a favourite character to write. Someone did at one point mention that they felt the sexual behaviour from her got a little flanderized, but that is somewhat on me. When I wanted to write Katie's character, I went at it with the intention of creating a sexually liberated bisexual teenager with an above average libido. After establishing her character and writing several scenes with her, I learned that I'm a nymphomaniac (more commonly known as being hypersexual), so my perspective of an "above average libido" is a bit skewed. I have no regrets about this portrayal, but it does very much explain why some people felt that it was a bit much. So yeah, Katie's also hypersexual. She's a hypersexual bisexual teenager who found herself in a world with perfect contraceptives, no taboo against homosexuality, and literal magic cures for STDs. She went a bit nuts.
I tried to capture dream logic in Ron's dream with the Sorting Salamander. I'd like to think that I succeeded. Katie's dream about birds with human genitals is based on one that my gf has had repeatedly, and I acquiesced to her request to add it to the chapter.
I asked my gf if it was funnier if Luna was schizophrenic, or like that. She said she thought it would be funnier if Luna was just schizophrenic. The "shadow people" bit is based on the most common hallucination that my gf experiences. I don't have schizophrenia, so I only hallucinate during really intense manic episodes or on weed. I see shadow people on occasion when that happens but they disappear when I look at them. I don't think they like it. The shadow creatures I see a lot more, but Luna's account is accurate — they really don't care what you do.
E/N (Xgenje): "Not burn myself out" Ngl, Ten be either putting out 6 chapters in a month or 6 months between chapters. I do hope she finds a nice medium.
But that scene with the dream Ron be Wilding.
E/N (MANNAT): I LOVE the sorting Salamander. This chapter did such a great job showing so many small details of so many characters and it was beautiful. Not much happened all things considered, but it was still a great read. Super excited to see the changes that Ten makes to the tasks!