Summary:
Three of Swords
This card shows three people on it, two boys and one girl, sectioned off into three different places by the frayed edges of torn parchment. The first is a boy in a silver jacket, leaning against a wall and looking out a window, the silhouette of an owl can be seen carrying a coat of some kind against a full moon while the boy holds a sword of silver in his hand.
The second segment shows a mocha skin girl with a large head of bushy hair in front of a bookshelf, she stands on her tiptoes as she reaches for a book on the top shelf, she has another, larger tome in her other arm with a sword sticking out of it like a bookmark, up top her head sits a small owl.
The third shows a redhead boy looking intently at a chess set, his brow is creased but his eyes said, across from him is placed on another seat is a sword, but on his shoulder sits a crow.
Notes:
Welcome back once again to The Heir and the Champions, in this chapter we get a peek into each of the main trio's heads and the reason why for the split from each of their prospectives in a, Hopefully, satisfying chapter.
So, before we even get into this, I wish to point out this is a knee-jerk reaction from Hermione and Ron that they kinda have a point on, and also the fact that THEY ARE DUMB TEENAGERS.
Now, on with the show.
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Harry Potter, November 3rd, Hogwarts Owlery.
Harry Potter hasn't had a good day, it was like back in his second year, whispers followed him in the halls wherever he went with eyes and pointed fingers following soon after. He could feel their eyes on him like crawling ants no matter where he went, no matter what back corridors he took, it was like most of Hogwarts had agreed with Madame Maxime and Headmaster Kakaroff on his guilt, even some of the Gryffindors seemed to believe that he entered himself, asking how he made it past the age line to submit his name.
The only ones that seemed to believe that he hadn't been Angelina, Headmaster Dumbledore, Sirius, Remus, Professor Moody, and surprisingly Snape. Harry wasn't sure about the twins, then again he was never sure when they were Serious or not, but like most of Gryffindor, they just seemed Happy to have two people from the house of the brave and the bold to represent Hogwarts, and Harry always pointed out that he didn't enter willingly the only true Champion was Angeline Johnson; a sentiment that most of Hogwarts shared.
Harry stands in the owlery looking out the barred window with a deep frown, he had been here for over an hour and was currently skipping transfiguration, he had been calling for Hedwig for the entire time he had been here and he hadn't seen or felt her yet. Harry sighs as he leans against the wall looking over the grounds of Hogwarts. He really needed his owl right now, because now, she was his only friend left, other than Hagrid.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Ron had asked when Harry had made it past the well-wishers and who wanted to congratulate him for getting into the tournament, some he had silenced with a glare before they could even approach before Angeline had stood up and told them to leave Harry alone so he could escape to his dormitory.
"Tell you what?" Harry asked, it meant to come out as confused but with everything that had happened in the past two hours it came out more of a growl, and Ron's eyes narrowed into a glare at him.
"That you entered the tournament, without me, or Hermione," Ron accused him with a heated glare, "You could have at least told us that you were doing it!" the redhead says.
"I didn't enter the tournament," Harry defends himself with gritted teeth, "Why would I do that? Why would I want any part of this bullshit?!" Harry yells at Ron.
"You know why, but fine, whatever, do what you want," Ron had said as he climbed into bed before shutting his currents.
Harry didn't understand what Ron had meant, but when he tried to talk to him again in the morning, Ron had brushed by him without even a word and left. He had sat with Dean and Seamus for breakfast ignoring Harry and anything he had to say to him when he tried to explain to Ron about what had happened.
Hermione, however, was never one to mince her words, never one to censor herself when she spoke. The calm, collected, and ever-curious bookworm hadn't held back when Harry had caught up with her after charms the day before, she had turned on him and given Harry a piece of her mind, and that, that had stung.
"Hermione, wait up!" Harry had called out to her as she had taken to the main thoroughfare of the castle, the route she knew for a fact Harry hated to take. She had been avoiding him all morning, sitting with Neville or Lavender in classes all-day not even looking in his direction as Harry had sat alone.
Even as Harry calls out to her she keeps moving, ignoring him, and it hurts. Harry forces his way through the suffocating crowds and all the noise of students yelling around him, he could feel his nerves on edge with so many so close to him, his head begins to pound as a headache starts to come on but he thankfully makes his way over to Hermione.
"Hermione, can we please take the back corridors, please," Harry says with grinding teeth with far too many people far too close, pressing him in and talking far too loud.
"Go away, Harry," Hermione says stiffly, her eyes forward, not looking at him.
Harry stops for a moment, looking at her in surprise and confusion as she continues to walk away from him, "W-what?" he asks.
"I said, go away, Harry, Please," Hermione reiterates herself just as stiffly as the first time.
"W-what did I d-do?" Harry asks, as he flinches as someone screams in the hall.
"You know exactly what you did, Harry," Hermione says, heat entering her voice for the first time, aimed at him for the first real-time.
"N-no," Harry says before someone bumps into him, and he growls, trying not to lash out at everyone one touching him, "I really fucking don't," He hisses at her, his patience with everything around him wearing thin. But Hermione doesn't answer him as she quickly tries to maneuver through the crowd to leave Harry behind, seeing his chance coming up, Harry shoulders and elbows people out of the way, finally done with all of this as he makes it to Hermione and grabbing her by the shoulder and pushes her into an empty side corridor.
Hermione pushes Harry's arm away before looking at him with a glare, "Hermione, what the fuck did I do!?" Harry growls in her face, right before Hermione slaps him.
Harry takes a step back in shock before looking at her, his hand covering his cheek when her blow had landed.
"You entered the tournament, you didn't even discuss it with me or Ron," Hermione says, her voice full of pain and betrayal, "But that's what you always do, isn't it? Always chasing after your next hunt, never caring about who gets hurt in the process, never caring about how I or Ron feel watching you run and jump into deadly situations feet first with a smile on your face," Hermione tells Harry, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Hermione, I didn-" Harry tries to tell her, his voice coming out soft, but she cuts him off.
"Think?" Hermione asks with a heated glare, "That much is obvious, Harry," she says with a bit of venom, "You've always been like this, the catacombs, the Chamber, running after Sirius, the Death Eaters, it's always been about your hunt, always been about your chase, you never think things through, never go to an adult," she says breathing deeply, tears starting to fall, " you never consider us or how we feel watching you throw yourself into certain death every chance you get all because you want to chase a high, I can't do it anymore, Harry, I just can't, so if you want to hunt then do it, but I won't watch you kill yourself for it," she says, her face red with anger and wet with tears as she walks past Harry and back into the crowded corridor she knew he wouldn't follow him into.
Alone, that's all Harry ever wanted to be, Alone. He wanted to be left alone, to not be bothered, to not be talked to, yelled at, or touched. He wanted to crawl back into the cupboard so the world would leave him be, but he couldn't do that anymore, not any longer no matter how much he wanted to. But he had forgotten how cold it was when you were alone, for the past three years he had had Ron and Hermione every step of the way, he went from a cold cupboard to the warmth of friendship and reveled in it without even noticing it. All the laughs they shared, all the games of chess with Ron, how Hermione was always so patient with him while studying with him, putting up with his antics and waning attention span, how they were together through the last three years of his life with so much upheaval in it, they always stuck by his side and now, now they weren't.
Had he really been that thoughtless? What Hermione had said did have some truth to it, he never really considered them or others when he was hunting, and it was only after the hunt did they become a concern. But they also didn't understand either the want, or the need for the hunt, in the middle of the chase it was the only thing that mattered, and after it, it was the only thing to look forward to. They couldn't understand because they never had the Hunt in their heads pushing them to hunt and how hard it was to ignore the call of it.
So Harry sighs again looking out the window, adjusting the stupid robe he was forced to wear because of the stupid tournament, the button he had taken off of Malfoy knocking on the stone wall, the memory of what happened this morning bringing a smile to his face.
Harry had just sat down to eat after a fitful night of sleep, his dreams and nightmares getting worse as the stress started to pile on, he looks down the table, seeing Hermione sitting alone with a book propped open on a jug of milk, Ron sitting with the twins, laughing about something. Harry had just piled some eggs and toast on his plate, he was looking at it as his stomach tightened and twisted, he sighs before pushing it away, Harry didn't feel hungry anymore.
"Hey, Potter," says the most annoying person Harry had ever met, Harry sighs and rolls his eyes before turning around on the bench to look as Malfoy and his tag-along walk up to him, two were new to him, they looked a few years older than Harry but had the same sneers he would get from any Slytherin, so Harry immediately dismisses them before turning to Malfoy.
"What Malfoy?" Harry says in a hard voice, which made Malfoy stop dead, fear flickering in his eyes for a moment before they dart up to the high table and then back to Harry, assured that the professors would protection if he started anything, which Harry honestly thought was funny.
"Just stop by to show you something me and a few friends made last night," Malfoy says sticking out his chest where a large gold and red button sat, "Support Angelina Johnson, the REAL Hogwarts champion," it read in black letters.
"and look what else it does," Malfoy says before pressing the button, and Harry watches as the words and colors spin until it stops saying something new, "Potter stinks!" in the same black letters with a putrid green and pus-colored background, "Want one?" Malfoy says with a mocking sneer as his cronies all laugh, right until Harry stands up, Harry vaguely notices Pansy palling slightly as Crabb and Goyle take a step back and the two older students take a step forward.
Malfoy tries to stand tall, his nose up in the air trying to look defiant, but Harry could see the slight shake to his frame, he was scared. So with a bored look on his face, and moving slowly, Harry reaches out and takes the button off of Malfoy's robes, watching the blonde hair menace flinch a bit as Harry does. Harry presses the button, turning back to how it first looked before pinning it to his own robe and looking back at Malfoy with a smirk.
"Thanks for the button, Draco," Harry says before picking up his bag and turning to leave the Great Hall, he wasn't hungry anymore.
The slight smile fades as he whistles again for Hedwig and his owl is nowhere to be seen, his heart falls into his stomach as he frowns wondering where his feathery friend was. His attention is drawn away from the neverending blue sky as he hears the door to the Owlery open, and a set of footsteps behind him.
"Ichabod, come here boy," the female voice calls out behind Harry.
Hermione Granger, Hogwarts Library, November 3rd.
"There was something wrong with Harry Potter", this was neither the first nor the last time Hermione Granger has had or will have this thought. But it is the first time it's thought with such scorn, and for Hermione, not without good reason. To her, Harry had no self-control, no consideration for how others felt, and an appalling lack of communication skills with the ones he had called friends, he was like a drug addict chasing a high that was whatever hunt was in his path.
Hermione had found herself alone in the Hogwarts library, her fingers running over the spines of ancient books looking for the right tomb, Spindles, and Sequence: a litany of numbers for her Arithmancy project. She was trying to prove the correlation between the banishing and vanishing charm, but needed the hard numbers for the variables of each spell. She wanted the facts and hard evidence, not baseless speculation.
"Like what you've done with Harry?" a treasonist's voice whispered in her mind.
"That's different, he had the means and motive to do so, all evidence points to it, as does everything we know about him," Hermione says back.
"But no opportunity?" The voice asks.
"Redundant, Harry had ample opportunity to do it, He doesn't sleep well as we well know while Ronald sleeps like a rock, he could have snuck out whenever he wanted," Hermione says back, as she walks slowly down the stacks looking for her book.
"But the age line, you know, the one Dumbledore himself set up, surely that would stop him," the voice argues back.
"Would have not stopped Harry if he was wearing his cloak, you know, the one that can slip through wards," Hermione points out, Harry's cloak of Invisibility was one of the bigger magical mysteries Hermione had stumbled across. The Invisibility Cloaks, while rare, were prone to wear and tear over the years that would wear the magic down to nothing, but Harry's seem to be special in that regard and a few others. Not only did his father own it before him, but also had the almost impossible ability to slip past any wards put up, she had found that out when Harry had told her that he snuck into the restricted section under it, bypassing the wards one would need a teachers pass to get through without alerting Madam Pince. How it did this, Hermione had no clue, how whoever was under it still showed up on the Marauder's map was also unknown and Hermione wanted to ask Sirius and Remus this so she could figure it out as well as the cloak.
"Well, what about motive? Harry has never been interested in being in any sort of spotlight, even if it is deserved," The voice points out.
"Once again, elementary, it's not about the spotlight or the attention that it would bring, it's about the hunt for him," Hermione points out, before stopping pulling down the book she was looking for, "It doesn't matter what the hunt is, so long as he's hunting, he does care about anything else," she thinks to herself as she walks back toward the table she had set up at.
"And what hunt would that be? He's not the type to do historical research on anything, he wouldn't know the first task always includes a dangerous magical animal," the voice points out.
"Once again, it doesn't matter, he has a nose for trouble, he would have entered anyway, besides Fleur is in it," Hermione says to herself as she sits down and opens her book.
"Harry doesn't look for trouble, we know this, and he couldn't have known Fleur was going to be picked before that night," The voice says.
"It doesn't matter, if there is even a chance of a hunt, Harry would go after it," Hermione says as she thumbs through the book, her inner voice is hard with anger.
"Now look who's speculating," the Voice says with a scoff, and Hermione can't help the sinking feeling in her gut, that maybe she was wrong.
Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor Common Room, November 3rd
"Rook takes Pawn, Bishop has checkmate in two moves," Ron Weasley mutters to himself as he sits in one of the red and gold high-back chairs facing a chessboard as he moves the pieces back and forth by himself. He had started this game and restarted this game four times now, black had started the game with a handicap, and white was missing its queen and both of its knights.
While not impossible to win a game like that, white was at a huge disadvantage right out of the gate. It was missing its strongest piece and both of the most maneuverable pieces, which cut its offensive power down by more than half, and unfortunately, white didn't know how to play defensively, all it knew how to do is attack, or well, hunt in this case.
Ron moves the black Bishop across the board to get around the white's own Bishop, he already had the white King pinned at the back corner with his own Knights, and as soon as he got his Bishop in place, that would be game. Ron sighs and rubs his face before resetting the board, White still missing the Queen and Knights.
"Did he not trust me enough? Did he think I'd get in the way? Why didn't he tell me?" Ron thinks to himself as he opens with the Pawn at H-2, wanting to get his Rook on board as fast as he could, he personally hated the castling rule. "Did he think I'd get picked over him? Did he not want me to get in his way? Or did he just not want to share the glory?" the thoughts came to Ron's mind, his hand hovering over his Rook he shakes his head, discarding that last thought, which didn't sound like Harry at all.
Ron moves the white pawn at H3 up a single square, pressing his lips together, unsure of what to do, how to move forward, and what piece would be best to use. He was working with Hermione all day on Halloween digging up information about the Vila so he could devise a strategy on how to deal with her if needed or how to get away from her if needed for Harry, they had found a few interesting things about them, such as slipping in between the hidden places of the world to shorten the distances between steps. The book had called it "Fae-Step" which, from what he read, was a pain in the ass to deal with. It was as if the knight could teleport into the perfect position before you moved it, not to mention the Mithril weapons and armor they used sounded just busted, the fire stuff was true too, as well as hypnotic singing, thankfully, while full Vila could fly the half-vila only had one wing and were grounded. Then Harry had to go and put his name in the Goblet and put himself right into a blood-hungry Fae's path, Ron could help protect Harry if he always jumped in without any forethought or strategy, all hunting and no trap.
Still, Ron sighs and knocks over the white King, it had lost before the match even started. Because battles weren't won of strength or men, it was won off of information and anticipation, and Harry had neither of them, and Ron can't help but to hate himself a little for leaving a friend behind.
Notes:
Chapter done!
I wanted to write this chapter to try and explain why the trio split like this. Ron's reasoning in the books always felt stupid to me, so I decided to do it this way.
Harry is slowly slipping back into the dark place he was in during the first few months of his first year at Hogwarts, but don't worry that train is about to stop before it even starts.
Hermione is upset because she's watching Harry constantly throwing himself into dangerous situations to chase a hunt without thinking about those who care about him, is she being logical, no, but emotions are rarely ever based on logic.
Ron is upset because he's been with Harry through thick and thin and he thinks Harry left him out of this because he didn't need him or because Harry thought Ron would just get in his way and not help. This isn't true, but once again, dumb teenagers and logic rarely mix that well.
Where's the best girl? I hear you asking, well, Hedwig isn't about to sit around and do nothing while Harry is in trouble and Artemis has a mission for her snow-white Hunter.
The next chapter:
Ace of Cups