Summary:
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The Queen of Swords
On this card, it depicts a beautiful garden at twilight, the sun setting on the left-hand side of the card as the moon rises on the right-hand side. A huge fruit-bearing tree can be seen in the middle of the card almost as if it was splitting the card in two, wrapped around the base of the tree is a large dragon-like creature with countless heads snoozing away. On either side of the card stands two women, the same, but also very different. The one that stands on the left-hand side wears a pure white toga with golden accents, a wreath setting upon her head with her dark hair spilling down her back is a golden wreath and she holds a bronze sword with crashing waves and swirls running up the blade. The one on the right side has her hair tied into a high ponytail with a silver tiara and jacket, and in her hands is a silver sword marked with the full moon.
Notes:
Welcome back to another chapter of the Heir and the Champions. This will probably be the last chapter before I return to work and then I'm going to be busy for the week because of the holidays.
Anyway, in this chapter, we meet the Queen of Swords and the last piece is placed on the board to kick off this shit show.
I'm not doing accents, those are a nightmare to me.
On with the show!
Harry Potter, Hogwarts, 13th of November.
When McGonagall said she was gonna be a harsh taskmaster, she wasn't lying, for four and a half hours she had drilled Harry in rudimentary battle magic techniques focusing mainly on defense while mixing in misdirection schemes. Harry could now say, with a smile, he could create a stone wall from four different mediums, those being granite, oak wood, wet sand, and dirt. She also wasn't lying about the amount of magic one would need to filter through their core to achieve it, McGonagall had worked Harry to near exhaustion the first night, and caused him to pass out near the end of the second from the strain of the spells. It was a fine line that Harry was walking, his need to master a powerful branch of magic in a short amount of time and not over-tax his core while doing it. It was a challenge, but, then again Harry always thrived when challenged. McGonagall gave him a small, handwritten book with the names of all the common and uncommon elements that are used in transfiguration along with a few muggle elements for Harry to look over, Harry had no idea what Tungsten was or why he would need to know about a metal that was three times denser than iron, but McGonagall said she would give him practical demonstration the following weekend.
Harry was looking forward to it, exhausting or not, McGonagall had foregone any lectures about how and why something was happening and stuck strictly to practical application, which was loads better in Harry's opinion. But that didn't matter as he dragged his feet behind Colin Creevey who was chatting away about something while leading him higher and higher in the castle. He had appeared mid-lecture in Potions knocking on the door and telling Snape Harry was needed in another part of the castle for some interview and pictures, which Harry internally groaned at, and by the Poisonous look that Snape had given Colin, the boy was gonna have a very bad time next Potion class if Snape had anything to say about it, which he did.
It wasn't that Harry didn't like Colin, Honestly, he was a good kid, he just talked far too much in Harry's opinion, and loudly. Which did nothing to help Harry's already irritable mood, Ron and Hermione still weren't talking to him, even if the two kept sending him worried looks that almost seemed apologetic. Harry had to be paired up with a Slytherin during the lecture, thankfully it was the one Slytherin that wasn't afraid of him, Daphne Greengrass. How the girl was able to sit across from him and run a foot up the inside of his leg, while keeping a straight face, taking notes, and making sure no one else noticed Harry had no clue, but he was pretty sure she was a fan of riling him up for no reason other than to do it. That was oddest thing about whatever was happening between the two of them, she never seemed to want to talk about, always silencing him with a long snog till Harry forgot about the question he was going to ask.
Harry sighs in relief as Colin stops in front of a door, and turns to him with a large grin, "Here we are, Harry!" he says loudly, and Harry mumbles a thanks before reaching out for the handle and opening it, he vaguely catches a "Good Luck!" from the photograph taking boy as Harry walks in the room, shutting the door behind him.
The small room was already crowded, which almost had Harry turn around and leave right then and there, it seemed to be a gathering of the Champions and the Heads of each school. Krum was looking out a window in the back room as Kakaroff was standing next to him trying to talk to the brooding Quidditch star, Harry thinks that Delphini might have had a point about Durmstrang boys and brooding, but Krum was ignoring whatever Kakaroff was talking about.
Madame Maxime was sitting down on a large comfy-looking chair with scrolled arms next to Fleur the Fae who was standing next to Madame Maxime in her odd military garb, she had turned her head to look directly at Harry as soon as he walked through the door. Fleur's eyes flicker between blue and yellowish-orange as she smiles at Harry, showing off the fangs in her mouth and the Hunt pumps painfully through him. Harry wanted to put his Spear right throw the smug bitches face or pin her down by her throat and-
Harry shakes his head and forces the Hunt down through force of will before he looks away from the Fae in the room, spotting Angelina looking at him with a bit of concern in her eyes, Harry nods to her, and she returns it. Angelina seemed to be alone with no Dumbledore in sight, there seemed to be four sets of chairs in the room, but Harry had to stop and wonder who the extra chair was for before a new voice that says his name draws his attention.
"Harry Potter," The female voice says as Harry looks over at her, she was tiny, only a head bigger than Harry was, and her dirty blond hair was done up in painfully styled curls, she had horn-rimmed glasses and an ugly robe of lime green and gold swirls that was meant to catch attention, Harry smile politely as she left the small gathering of Crouch, Bagman, some guy holding a camera, and herself as she walked up to him, "The boy who lived," She finishes, and Harry's smiled dropped and he immediately wanted to head-butt this woman.
"A pleasure to meet you," the woman says, extending her hand, "Rita Skeeter, the correspondent for the Daily Prophet," she says with a slick smirk as Harry just stares at her hand with a frown before looking the woman in the eyes.
"Can I help you?" Harry asks, confused by what this woman wanted.
Rita stands there with her hand out for a few moments before letting it fall awkwardly to her side, "Well, I was hoping you could give me a few moments of your time for an interview," She says sweetly, blinking her eyes at Harry as he slowly sits down his bag by the door.
"Umm, I don't know, I was told we were supposed to meet here and the Headmaster isn't-" Harry begins to say as he inches towards Angeline a few feet away, but Miss Skeeter was having none of it as she reaches out and grabbing him by the shoulder before she opens the door and starts to drag him out of the room.
"Nonsense, Harry, you don't mind if I call you Harry, do you?" Rita asks, as Harry's mind stutters and his body moves reflexively to be dragged along, the whispers of the past echoing painfully in his ear, What did I tell you, bo- Harry tries to say something, to tell the woman to fuck off, but his voice chokes him as he feels his hands shake, "Excellent!" Rita says, heedless of Harry's reaction as she drags him down the hall, "No need to drag old Dumbledore into this, it's just a few questions my readers are just Dying to know about the boy who lived," she tells him.
But Harry wasn't listening to her, because his eyes were locked on what she was dragging him to, a cupboard. up! Get up Freak! I told you! I told you, boy! echoes in his head, and down the corridor as the halls begin to tilt as the cupboard looms closer and closer, "N-N-, S-St-" Harry tries to say, but his chest feels too tight, his breaths come out in short bursts, Harry could feel the color draining from his face as the shaking crawls up his arms and the Hunt begins to feed on his emotions, calling itself to action as Harry's hearts beats so fast he wonders if it's echoing down the corridor like it is in his ears.
"It will be painless, I promise, a few quick questions, in and out I prom-" Rita Skeeter tries to say, but Harry never saw the cupboard as anything but a painful protective memory.
"We are prey to nothing and no one," the girl with amber eyes burning with pride says.
And Harry cuts her off, "I SAID STOP!" He yells, ripping his shoulder out of her grasp, and backing off a few steps, "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Harry roars, his breaths coming out in short gasps, he could feel his pupils split as his eyes are locked on the cupboard in a tunnel vision as he continues to shake, the Hunt whispering sweetly in his ears to kill the bitch.
Rita paused only for a second before she reaches out again to grab Harry, "Now don't be like that Harry, I'm not going to hurt you, so be a good boy, and come with me," Rita says with a force sweetness, like poison on the tongue, but all Harry hears is the word Boy! bouncing around his head in the looming anger of his Uncle.
As Rita reaches out to grab him again Harry weakly knocks her hand away as he backs away from the cupboard, "I SAID STOP, I'M NOT GOING BACK IN THE FUCKING CUPBOARD!" Harry screams as he feels his back hit a wall behind him and clenches his teeth and screws his eyes shut trying to get the shaking to stop, to stop the hallway from spinning.
"I said I'm not going to hurt-" Rita begins to say as she tries to grab Harry again, but is stopped when another hand grabs her wrists and twists her arm back.
"And if you touch him again, I will hurt YOU," the soft voice of Zoë Nightshade growls out at the now bugeye reporter who is looking into the quickly darkening eyes of the hunter, Harry's eyes snap open and look at the Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis in surprise, she looked exactly as she did the last time Harry had seen her a few months ago, even the look of anger on her face.
"Rita Skeeter!" called out the voice of the Headmaster in an angry tone, "I thought I had told you, you were to stay in the room and wait for my return before you tried to interview any of the champions," Dumbledore says as he sweeps down the hall with an angry look in his eyes.
As Rita opens her mouth to make her excuses Zoë tosses her hand down like some foul thing before turning her attention to Harry, "Harry," she says, softly, "Harry, it's me, Zoë, open your eyes, please," she asks, and with effort Harry does, confusion dancing in his slitted eyes as Zoë sighs before turning back to Dumbledore, who was talking sharply to Rita Skeeter, "Headmaster," Zoë calls out gaining the man's attention, "We will need a moment if you can buy us a little time," she says, and Dumbledore looks between Harry and Zoë before nodding.
"Of course, Lady Nightshade, but try not to dally too long, we are on a rather tight schedule," The Headmaster informs her before turning back to Rita, "I will escort Miss Skeeter back to the meeting room," he says before stepping aside a gesturing to down the hall in a way that left no room to argue from the reporter who quickly shuffles off throwing curious looks behind her.
"Come on, Harry," Zoë says, throwing an arm around Harry's shoulder and gently guiding him to an unused classroom as he was still shaking, and to a seat at a desk. "Breath, Harry," Zoë says calmly as she shuts the door, "In through the nose, out through the mouth, deep breaths," she says softly.
Harry does as instructed while closing the tap to the Hunt slowly, his arms spasming in slight pain as he does, after a few minutes he gets his breathing under control, and his heartbeats settle down as well. Harry looks up at Zoë with equal parts relief and confusion, "W-wh-w," he tries to say but can't quite get it out.
Zoë sighs in relief as she looks at Harry, "Are you okay?" she asks and Harry nods quickly, "Good," Zoë says before leaning on the large desk in the front of the room, "As for your question you were no doubt trying to speak, I thought the answer would be obvious," she says looking at Harry with a soft smirk.
"I-I thought it w-was gonna be Atalanta," Harry admits, looking up at the Lieutenant.
"Oh, she wanted to come, and throw a nasty tantrum when she was informed she wasn't," Zoë says with a shake of her head, "But Lady Artemis agreed with me when I said that Atalanta wouldn't blend in well with the Wixen," the Lieutenant says.
"She ordered you to come?" Harry asks in shock, he and Zoë didn't have the best of history with getting along.
"No," Zoë answers flatly, "I volunteered for this," She says to Harry's shock, to which Zoë smirks at the gobsmacked look on his face. "None of our sisters has the skills to blend in well with the Wixen, namely casting magic, I, however, can manipulate the mist to a great degree, more than enough to fool a few Wixen," she says with a confident smirk.
"Atalanta, Brittany, and Sophie all pass along their love, however," Zoë says pushing herself off the desk and walking over to where Harry sat, "They would be here if they could, but our Lady didn't think it wise to lose so many of her best Hunters for a good portion of the coming year," She tells him, "Are you feeling better, Harry?" Zoë asks, and Harry nods.
"Y-Yeah, it was just, the, the dragging and, and, ah, Yeah, fine," Harry says nodding, unsure how to explain what just happen, but Zoë doesn't pry, merely nods her head before turning back around and walking over to the desk, and that's when Harry noticed two things. First was the large pale white box with a silver ribbon wrapped around it, and the second was that Zoë was missing something from her person.
"Where's your tiara? Did Hedwig steal it again? In fact, where is Hedwig?" Harry asks, and he could practically see Zoë roll her eyes at his questions even with her back turned.
"I do not know where she is, she flow off as soon as we got to the small town outside of the school, but no, the tiara is a symbol of rank in the hunt, she who wears it is the Lieutenant and second only to Lady Artemis in the field, the Lieutenant is to watch over and lead the Hunters in our Ladys absence, I can not do that if I am here, foolish brat," Zoë explains before she begins to unwrap the bow from the box while shaking her head, and before Harry could ask why she had given up her place in the hunt to just come across the sea to make sure he, of all people, didn't die, she speaks again, "Now stand up and take that ridiculous thing off," Zoë says in a flat tone.
"W-What thing?" Harry asks as he gets back to his feet, his legs still a bit shaky.
"The bathrobe," Zoë says, opening the box, and pausing at what was inside.
"I-I can't," Harry says, as Zoë turns to look at him confused, "I'm representing Hogwarts, and, um, guests are here," He explains with a grimace as Zoë looks at him like he had just told her that a bow fires from an arrow.
"No one has told you, have they?" Zoë asks with a raised brow.
"No one tells me a lot of things, Zoë," Harry says hotly, glaring at her, as Zoë sighs before pulling something out of the box and walking over to Harry.
"You're not representing Hogwarts, Brat," She tells him, "As far as I know, your school already has a champion, and your name came out of the cup of burning-"
"Goblet of Fire," Harry quickly corrects her.
Zoë glares at him half-heartedly, "Your name came out of the stupid cup without a school attached to it, so, Lady Artemis has made it very clear to the Headmaster that you would not be representing Hogwarts," Zoë says, before holding up what she was holding, a silver jacket, Harry's Jacket, "You will be representing the Hunters of Artemis," the Lieutenant says in a solemn voice while handing Harry his jacket.
It wasn't really silver, more of a steel gray in color with the original dark black leather bleeding through in a few spots, but it was undoubtedly Harry's jacket, he had memorized every crease, every frayed edge, every small scar on the leather jacket that had protected him in the dark of the cupboard for so long, his first and greatest gift from Sirius. But the coat of spray paint on it wasn't the only thing new about it as Harry unfolds the jacket, there were new buckles and straps at the shoulder that looked like they attached to something, across the shoulders, looking like they were stitched by hand and in ancient greek was the words "Heir to the Hunt" with a large stags head just below that in the middle of the back, the horns splayed out proudly in black leather.
And the feeling of being alone all left Harry at once while holding his jacket, because he realized he wasn't alone anymore. That he would never be alone again, Sirius, Remus, McGonagall, Scáthach, his sisters in the Hunt, and Artemis all had his back. That he would never be the lonely broken boy left unloved in the dark cupboard ever again.
"You are loved far more and far deeper than you know, Harry Potter," Aphrodite had told him, and she was right.
Harry quickly pulls off the stupid robe he was forced to wear for the last few weeks before tossing it aside and pulling on his jacket, finally feeling normal for the first time in weeks. He looks up and smiles at Zoë, who was looking at him with complicated emotions dancing in her eyes as she was looking at him in the (almost) silver jacket, but nods to him.
"It looks good on you," Zoë whispers, "As if it belongs," she says with a soft smile before shaking her head, "There is more, mainly armor, but we can go over that later for I fear we have wasted enough time here, come, we need to meet up with the rest of the schools and get this silly ceremony over with," she says, her tone reflecting what she thought about the whole tournament.
They left the room shortly after that, Zoë and Harry making their way into the small meeting room of the three schools and one group, as they step inside, Harry sees Dumbledore sitting next to Angeline and the two free seats, which makes a lot more sense now. Zoë and Harry take the open seats, and Harry sees Angeline catching his eye with curiosity in her own eyes, and she wasn't the only one, the heads and champions looked over at the two with the same curiosity and confusion at Zoë and him sitting apart from Dumbledore.
"Excellent, it seems we're all here now, so we can finally get this underway," Ludo Bagman says as he steps forward rubbing his hands together.
"Excuse me, but just who is she?" Kakaroff asks, jerking his chin at Zoë with his arms crossed, looking decidedly grumpy.
"Ah, yes, I was just about to get to that," Ludo Bagman says, before gesturing to Zoë, "This lovely young lady is Miss Zoë Nightshade, of the Hunters of Artemis from the Magical Congress of the United States of America, she will be acting as the representative of the group and our fifth judge," Bagman says with a grin, but by the frown from Madam Maxime and sneer from Kakaroff, no one had told them of it beforehand.
"This is preposterous, I thought the boy was representing Hogwarts after he cheated his way in," Kakaroff says angrily.
"Harry did not cheat his way in, Igor, as I've explained multiple times," Dumbledore states calmly, "And, while I do not doubt that Mister Potter would make for a fine champion for Hogwarts, we have our fine Champion in Miss Angeline Johnson," He says with a nod to said the girl who blushes lightly and sits up a little straighter from the praise.
"I've never heard of this group, these Hunters before, they are not a school, why is this even being allowed," Kakaroff snaps back.
As Crouch opens his mouth, Zoë cuts him off to explain herself, "That is probably because we do not go to northern Europe very often unless asked by the ICW personally, we tend to stick to the America's, but you are correct, Igor Kakaroff, we are no school," Zoë says as she turns to look at the man, her eyes narrow at him, "We are an organization that takes out threats to the statute of secrecy, wherever they may come up, though more often than not in the form of monsters," Zoë says.
"and ou are ze leader of zis group?" Madame Maxime asks politely.
"No," Zoë answers back, turning to look at her, "Our leader, Lady Diana Phaesporia, is a busy woman, and the Hunters a full-time commitment, she could not leave it for the better part of a year with such short notice, so she has sent me in her place I am her right hand and Lieutenant when with the Hunt," Zoë explains in a flat tone.
"And why has this, Diana, chosen to sponsor Harry Potter in the Tournament?" Rita Skeeter asks, a blue quill hovering over a piece of parchment.
"That is Lady Diana to you," Zoë answers in a hard voice turning to glare at Rita Skeeter, who flinches slightly, "As for why…" Zoë says, trailing off a bit, glancing at Dumbledore who sighs a bit but nods his head, "Over a year ago, Harry came to the attention of My Lady after slaying a Basilisk single-handedly, beneath this very School in fact," as Zoë says this, most of the heads in the room snap to look at Harry with wide eyes and the quill by Rita just about exploded in excitement, "After hearing of this, Lady Diana approach Headmaster Dumbledore to confirm it, while at first, he would not, do to protecting the privacy of all those involved in the incident, My Lady explained why she was interested," Zoë says, before Dumbledore picks up the explanation.
"And I relented, Lady Diana was looking to hopefully recruit young Mister Potter for her hunters, and seeing that it was a great opportunity for him I did indeed confirm it," Dumbledore says, crossing his legs and clasping his hands to place on them, "She had sent one of her Hunters to the school to evaluate and train the boy to see if he could join after graduation," He says simply and with a shrug.
"I remember her," Angeline speaks up, "That was the girl in the silver jacket, she came to check on Harry after a nasty fall last year in the hospital wing, what was her name again?" Angeline asks, looking over to Harry.
"Atalanta," Harry says with a small smile and a ping of sadness in his chest, Harry missed the wild tomboy.
"Yeah, that was it, right scary she was," Angeline says with a smile.
Zoë rolls her eyes before she speaks again, "While Atalanta didn't find Harry's skills wanting in any respect, he sadly didn't meet certain qualifications to join the Hunters, though he is always welcome among us," she says turning to Harry with a nod, and The Heir to the Hunt smiles a little.
"And what qualifications were those?" Rita asks, leaning forward with a hungry gleam in her eyes.
"The kind that is neither your business nor concern," Zoë says returning her glare to the reporter, "but when Harry's name came out of the cup of flame," Zoë says, just before half the room, including Harry, all correct her by saying "Goblet of Fire", she huffs and rolls her eyes, "Whatever it is called, when his name came out of it, Headmaster Dumbledore immediately contacted us asking if we would be interested in sponsoring Harry in the tournament, My Lady accepted just as soon as she heard about it and sent me here," Zoë finishes telling everyone as the room falls quiet with only the sound of Skeeter's quill scratching away.
"How did Mister Potter Kill a Basilisk if I may ask, and what's the story behind it all?" Rita asks, her eyes flickering between Zoë and Harry, licking her lips as if she was hungry.
"I believe the incident in question was labeled classified by your own DMLE due to it involving a minor, so out of respect for those like the MCUSA own Auror department, I will be keeping those details to myself," Zoë said in a very polite way of telling Rita Skeeter to fuck off, Harry would have just told her to fuck off. The reporter looked a little put off but relented as she leaned back in her seat before Bagman spoke up.
"I think that's enough questions, for now, we can get to the interviews after the weighing of the wands, and why Master Ollivander is here after all," Ludo Bagman says as he gestures to the man standing next to the window looking out onto the grounds of Hogwarts with an entertained look about him, apparently listening to the conversation but making no comments about it before turning to face everyone with a lazy but polite smile.
Apparently, the weighing of the wands was just Mister Ollivander checking over each one, making sure each was in working order by casting spells from it, First up was Victor Krum, and it was Gregorovitch, whatever that meant, Mister Ollivander didn't seem a fan of the Hornbeam wand but after conjuring a few birds, he produced it to be in working order before moving onto Fleur the Fae.
"Blackthorn," Ollivander says, spinning the wand between his fingers, "nine and a half inches, and the core?" he asks, looking at Fleur with a raised brow.
Fleur smiles at him, "A hair from my Great-Grandmama," she says, amusement dancing in her eyes as Ollivander frowns.
"I never work with Veela hair," the wandmaker says off-handedly, "I've always found them far too temperamental," he offers, but the smile remains on Fleur's face.
"I never zid zhe waz Vila," Fleur says, her smile giving Ollivander pause before he returns his gaze back to the wand.
"Ah," Ollivander says, with a bit of awe in his voice, "Then it a rare pleasure and honor to handle one," he says before conjuring silver smoke rings and handing it back to Fleur, "You have my thanks for the experience, Miss Delcour, it is in fine working order," He tells her as Fleur takes her wand back before walking back over to Madame Maxime.
As Angelina walks up to Mister Ollivander, the man smiles at her, "Ah, now this one is one of mine, ten and three-quarter inches, Alder, unicorn tail from a particularly-"
"Kind specimen," Angelina finishes with a smile, "I remember, sir," she tells Olivander as she turns over her wand for inspection, Ollivander turns it over in his hand and inspects it with a nod before conjuring a bouquet of roses for Angelina with a smile before saying everything was in working order.
Then it was Harry's turn, he gets up from his seat and walks over to the elderly wandmaker before flicking his wrist to draw his wand before spinning it in his hand to hand it to Ollivander handle first, the man, however, looked into Harry's for a long moment. "Curious," Ollivander says, "Always so curious, Mister Potter, where once your eyes were once filled with nothing, I now see something more," He simply states as he takes Harry's wand and looks it over, "Holly, eleven and a half inches, phoenix feather, and as curious as the wizard it picked," the wandmaker says before creating a spout of wine to come out of his wand before nodding and handing it back to him before announcing it was in working order.
"Um, S-Sir, m-may I ask you t-to take a l-look at another w-wand?" Harry asks, "Only If you have the time, of course," He says quickly, as Ollivander merely raises a brow at him, but holds out his hand nonetheless. Harry slips his wand back into its holster before reaching under the holster, where it was pressed against his skin and slips out the wand he had found in the nursery a few weeks back, and watches Ollivander's eyes light up in recognition as they land on the wand.
"Mister Potter," Snaps Mister Crouch as Ollivander takes the wand in hand carefully, "Are you aware that it is illegal to carry more than one wand on your person at any given time?" he says angrily as he steps forward.
As Harry turns to answer him, Ollivander speaks for him, "Oh, I doubt you'll find that law pertaining to this wand," The Wandmaker says as he turns the wand over in his hands, "This wand is dead," Ollivander says solemnly.
A few people in the room look taken aback at that, but it was Dumbledore who asked, sounding curious himself, "I've never heard of a wand dying, Garrick, how would that come about?" his eye sparkling as he spoke, Ollivander looks from Dumbledore to Harry, before his eyes travel up to Harry's scar, "Extraordinary circumstances," he says, looking back into Harry's eyes, "Though I expected nothing less from the extraordinary witch who wielded it," Ollivander says with a tilt of his head and a soft smile before handing the wand back to Harry, "The core is dead Mister Potter," he informs Harry.
Harry nods, taking the wand and slipping it back into place, "Is there any way to fix it?" Harry asks, and watches as the Wandmaker's face becomes mournful.
"I'm sorry to inform you, Mister Potter, but to bring the wand back to life after it died is not only exceedingly rare, but it's almost unheard of," Ollivander says, "It would take a core of equal or greater power to do so, and power is such a difficult thing to define, and even if you do, there is no telling if the core and wand wood would bond and even if we were to beat such astronomically high odds, it could take many many years for the bond to truly form," he explains to Harry, who nods sadly.
"Kinda figured it wasn't going to happen," Harry says with a shrug, "Just had to ask, you know?" he says, and Ollivander just nods.
"If it was my own mother's wand, I would ask as well, Mister Potter," Ollivander says with a soft smile before Harry turns around and walks back to take his seat next to Zoë.
In short order, Ollivander takes his leave with a bow and a goodbye before the interview starts for the champions, asking things like Why did you enter the tournament?" Krum said he wanted to prove himself more than a Quidditch star, Fleur wanted a challenge, and Angelina wanted to represent Hogwarts. When Harry was asked the question he had said he didn't enter by choice so ask the actual Champions, Rita Skeeter didn't seem to like that answer but Harry couldn't care less. Every question that he was asked he had simply restated his answer, that he didn't have a choice to enter or not so ask the real Champions, which by the end of the interview had earned him a glare from Rita Skeeter.
When the subject of pictures came up, Harry stood from his seat and grabbed his bag, intent on leaving, but the annoying reporter had something to say about that, "Harry, dear, where do you think you're going, we have pictures to take?" she says with a polite smile but in a strained voice.
Harry turns back to her with a bored look on his face, "Take the pictures of the real champions, not me," Harry says, tired and drained from this whole thing, he opens the door and leaves.
"Dumbledore!" Harry hears Rita say, but all the Headmaster does is chuckle before commenting that Harry wasn't his champion so it wasn't up to him, and seeing Zoë was right behind him in leaving the room, no one was gonna make his stay to do something stupid as taking pictures he didn't care about.
Harry and Zoë walk back to the room where they had left Harry's Robe and the box Zoë had brought with her, Harry was only going back for the button that he had taken from Malfoy, As they enter the room Zoë speaks.
"The girl, the blond one, she's fae, " Zoë says as she walks over to the box and picks it up, and turns to Harry who was picking his robe off the floor, it wasn't a question but Harry answers anyway.
"Yup," Harry says, popping the P at the end.
"Di Immortals" Zoë curses under her breath, "They let one of those creatures in here? With children?!" She asks, sounding pissed, as Harry turns back to her.
"Well, she's half-fae, I think," Harry says walking back over to her.
"Does not matter," Zoë snaps at him, "Those things should all be put to the torch," she says, anger lacing her voice as she turns to look at Harry, "You are to avoid that thing as much as possible, Harry, if it tries anything, lead it to me and I'll take care of it," She tells him.
"I'm guessing the hunters have come across them before?" Harry asks.
"Yes, but not for the last two hundred-odd years since the flame moved to America," Zoë says with a nod, "But I have fought them on more than one occasion and Lady Artemis has fought an Arch-fae before, they are extrodernaly dangerous," she says looking at him.
"The Hunt doesn't seem to like her, like at all," Harry says, as he takes off the button from the robe and puts on his jacket.
"And for a good reason," Zoë says, "They are age-old enemies that once fought over the same food source, which doesn't help with the fact that they see Demigods as not only a good challenge to kill but to feed on too," she says as Harry's head snaps to her with wide eyes.
"So she does want to eat me!" Harry yells.
"More than likely," Zoë says with an angry sigh, "They see Demigod blood as fine wine, to be savored, it also allows them to leech off of the divine domains to empower them, the parasites," Zoë spits in distaste.
"Well, that's off-putting," Harry says with a face twisted in worry, "Where are you staying while you're here?" Harry asks, hoping to change the subject because he really didn't want to deal with any of that right now.
"The Headmaster has offered me a room inside the castle, which I have accepted, however…" Zoë says, trailing off, looking a bit unsure of herself.
"You don't know where your room is, do you?" Harry asks, smirking at Zoë.
"Shut up, Brat!" Zoë tells him with narrowed eyes, "I was a bit busy with making sure you didn't rip some bimbo Wixen reporter apart, you're welcome for that, by the way," she says hotly back at him.
"Hey, at least I know when to ask important questions, like what's the gender of Artemis' kid, you know, the Goddess you've sworn yourself to?" Harry says with a smirk, watching Zoë cheeks color in embarrassment.
"Brat," she calls him before swatting his arm.
"Don't hit me because I'm right," Harry says, swatting her back, which led Zoë to shove him, so Harry shoves her back, and it dissolves from there, later on, neither one would remembers who throw the first punch, and the fight last until Dumbledore opens the door leading into the room to bare witness to the carnage and chaos that had unfolded as siblings fought one another. Most of the desks were flipped over if not outright destroyed by the two fighting, Zoë had Harry in a headlock pulling his hair and trying to pry him off the hand he was biting, her nose was bleeding as one eye was black, Harry's lip was busted and looked like he couldn't put all his weight on his left leg.
"Stop biting me Brat!" Zoë yells as she pulls at Harry, trying to stomp on his last good foot.
"Mhmuph moo!" Harry yells as he clamps down harder.
Dumbledore sighs, but smiles at the display, "Children," he says, as he folds his hands behind his back, amusement colors his tone as Angelina pokes her head in and snorts at the sight of both of the Hunters looking up at the Headmaster in surprise and embarrassment before separating from each other quickly enough.
"Gotten it out of your system?" Dumbledore asks, with a slight smile looking between the two, who both look away from each other. With a wave of his wand, Dumbledore sets the room back in order before with another he fixes the damage that the two hunters did to one another as they both mumble out a thanks to the Headmaster whom just chuckles, "Ah, Sibling bonding, I remembered it well with my own brother," The Headmaster says with a twinkle in his eyes.
Angelina looks at the Headmaster, before looking at Harry and Zoë with questions dancing in her eyes.
"So, what started this fight?" Dumbledore asks in a tone that spoke of how he was expecting more fights to come.
Harry immediately points at Zoë before saying, "She never asked where her room was like an idiot," before Zoë slaps his hand away.
"Don't point at me, it's rude, Brat!" Zoë snips at him before Harry sticks his tongue out at her, and Zoë draws her fist back to hit him again.
"Children!" Dumbledore calls out again, stopping them as they both look back at him before apologizing again, much to the amusement of Angelina, "I'm also guessing you forgot the name of the house elf I had assigned to you, Lady Nightshade?" the Headmaster asks, looking at Zoë with clear amusement on his face.
Zoë looks away, face flushed with embarrassment, "Yes, Headmaster, I did," she says, her nose in the air.
Dumbledore just chuckles and shakes his head, before looking over at Harry, deep humor and amusement in his blue eyes, before he says a name Harry wasn't expecting, "Dobby!"
Crack!
"Yes, Mister Headymaster-" but that was as far as the house elf got before he saw who else was in the room, "Harry Potter, sir!" he yells right before Harry is tackled to the ground by a house-elf-shaped bludger named Dobby, as Both Angelina and Zoë laugh at the spectacle before them.
Notes:
Chapter done!
Backup has arrived in the form of the Lieutenant of the Hunt and she's not about to take anyone's shit.
Did you guys see that scene where Zoë, the girl who had threatened multiple times that she would strip any jacket belonging to the Hunt off the boy she wouldn't accept, only to GIVE HIM A FUCKING JACKET OF THE HUNT!
That, that right there, is what we call masterful storytelling. *Chiefs kiss* So good.
Okay, enough tooting my own horn. Yes, I changed Fleur's wand to something more fitting to her in this fic, I didn't change Harry's, which still pisses me off, but oh well. Rita got pushy and Harry had an attack but was able to, kinda, push through it. Zoë basically just handed out a cover story for those not in the know, but Krum and Fleur know differently, why does Krum know? We'll get to that after the first task.