Jake awoke after two hours of sleep; he had felt restless the entire two hours and barely got any sleep anyway. He looked over to Hermione and Ginny, and they both looked sound asleep. Regardless, he quickly removed his night clothes, put on casual Muggle clothing and sat outside on one of the logs around the unlit fire.
Arthur came out of the tent about twenty minutes later and looked ready to get out of there. He woke up the girls after having woken up the guys and afterwards, he packed up the tents with Magic. Jake stood in front of his tent once more, "Don't worry, when I go back to work I'll show them the state of your tent and you'll get reimbursed for the destruction of it. Anyone that had their tent destroyed will."
Jake nodded and they left the campsite quickly after that. Mr. Roberts, the Muggle and his family that were suspended by those Death Eaters, had a strange and dazed look about him. He waved them off with a vague, "Happy Christmas."
He had to have his memory modified so much that this was a minor side effect. They marched for the location of the Portkeys and found that there were many Witches and Wizards wanting away from there quickly.
Basil, the man who was the Keeper of the Portkeys, looked over at them, specifically at Jake. After a quick talk with Arthur, Basil got them a Portkey quickly and allowed them to get out of there well before the sun was set to rise. It was only after they used it that Jake realized why. He was really beginning to hate his newfound fame, and he understood why Harry did as well with his own. The one thing he didn't understand was why his fame was so much more than Harry's, 'Is being the Last Living Descendant of Merlin more noteworthy than defeating Voldemort?'
They appeared back at Stoatshead Hill and began the march back to the Burrow. The way back was much easier, so Hermione didn't have to bother him for another piggyback ride. Although she was tempted to, just to be close to him.
As the Burrow came into view, a familiar cry rang out, "Oh thank goodness, thank goodness!" The voice of Molly Weasley was heard from well over fifty yards, and that was because she had begun hurrying over to them when they came into view. They still had at least Seventy more yards to walk towards the house. Molly was holding a rolled up copy of the Daily Prophet and Jake could only assume it was about what happened last night, "Arthur, I've been so worried - so worried !" Molly flung her arms around her husband.
The Daily Prophet fell limply to the floor. Hermione read the headline: TERROR AT THE WORLD CUP; SAVED BY MERLIN'S DESCENDANT? , and it was complete with a shot of both Jake with his wand aimed forward, firing a spell, 'Probably the Blasting Curse...' Hermione thought to herself, and a shot of the Dark Mark up in the sky. The one thing Hermione didn't understand was the question mark at the end of the headline.
"You're alright," she heard Molly say as she went around, giving every one of them a hug, especially Fred and George. "I shouted at you before you left!" She started sobbing as she hugged the Twins, "It's all I've been thinking about! What if they'd got you, and the last thing I'd ever said to you was that you didn't get enough O.W.L's? Oh Fred... George..."
"Come now, Molly, we are all perfectly okay... if it wasn't for Jake stopping that group, it could've been so much worse," Arthur said, prising her off the Twins and leading her back toward the house, "the only ones that did get hurt was Bill and Percy, but their injuries are more or less healed up. Bill, can you hand me the newspaper? I want to see exactly what it says."
Bill picked it up and walked in behind his father, everyone else followed suit. They all piled into the kitchen, except for Jake; Hermione didn't see where he went. She'd follow him after she heard what the paper had to say. In the meantime, she made a strong cup of tea for Molly to help calm her a bit, throwing in a shot of Fire Whiskey upon Arthur's suggestion.
"Let's see," Arthur said, opening it to the first page, " Ministry blunders... lax security... Dark Wizards running unchecked... Jake Kidd mercilessly kills former You-Know-Who followers... Who wrote this? Ah... of course... Rita Skeeter..."
"That woman's got it in for the Ministry," Percy said, fuming, "Last week she was saying we are wasting our time quibbling about Cauldron thickness, when we should be stamping out Vampires! As if it wasn't specifically stated in paragraph twelve of the Guidelines for the Treatment of Non-Wizard Part-Humans-"
"Do us a favor, Perce," Bill said with a yawn, "and shut up. But at least that confirms now who they were."
"I'm mentioned," Arthur suddenly said.
Hermione turned back to look at the door, missing the next bit of conversation. Her attention was brought back once she heard Jake's name mentioned.
" -the supposed Descendant of Merlin was seen by a few Ministry Officials completely slaughtering the Dark Wizards with a dangerous spell known as the Blasting Curse. If left unchecked, this supposed Descendant of Merlin could be our undoing- " Arthur read, but suddenly stopped when the breaking of a mug was heard. Everyone had turned to look and see that Hermione had crushed a mug in her hands, and was now bleeding. She was visibly shaking with frustration, and when asked about it, she turned and left the kitchen to find Jake.
She walked up to his room and found him sitting on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands covering part of his face. He looked up and saw the blood dripping from her hand, "Hermione..." he stood up, wand in hand, and grabbed her wrist gently. He lifted her arm and turned her hand palm upward. He said nothing when he saw a few shards from the mug sticking out of her palm. He gently pulled them out and began to use the basic spells he knew from the Book she had gotten for him, "I um... I-I won't be able to keep them from scarring..."
"It's okay," she said as a few tears fell, "we'll be matching, in one sense," she said with a nervous laugh.
He couldn't help but smile, "Yeah..." he looked at his arms, which were visible from the elbow down, and all the scars that could be seen. His hair was never growing back in those places, "So... why was your hand bleeding, and why were there shards in your hand?"
"The paper... The Daily Prophet ... an article was written... you were mentioned... and not in a good way..." Hermione said, a spiteful undertone in her voice.
"I don't care what that damn paper says about me..." he trailed off a moment, "Do you think... Do you think I could... Never mind... I shouldn't ask," he said, stopping himself from asking.
"What is it?" She urged him.
"No, your hand is injured, it was foolish of me to even think to ask you," he said, looking at the wall behind her.
"Just ask me," she insisted, giving him a look that he actually couldn't read.
"I was just gonna ask for you to make me a cup of tea, but I'm not asking that because your hand is injured, I'll do it myself," he said, pocketed his wand, and stepped past her. She followed him out of the room and down the stairs in time to see Arthur and Percy leaving.
"Mrs. Weasley," they both heard Harry, "Hedwig hasn't arrived with a letter, has she?"
"Hedwig?" Molly asked, distracted, "no... no, dear, there hasn't been any post at all."
Harry looked at Ron, Hermione, and Jake meaningfully for a moment, "Alright if I go and dump my stuff in your room, Ron?"
"Yeah... think I'll go help you," Ron said and looked at Hermione and Jake, "You both coming as well?"
"Yes," Hermione said, intrigued.
"I'll join you after I've made myself a cup of tea," Jake said and ventured into the kitchen.
Molly looked at Hermione, "Oh, let me take a look at your hand," she said, walking over to see that her hand was already taken care of, "Who did this?"
"Jake did," Hermione smiled, feeling her cheeks burn slightly.
"But - he's out of school - he's out of Diagon Alley-" Molly was not sure what to think.
"Well, I think if the Ministry had an issue they'd have already sent him a letter. They are usually fast about that sort of thing," Bill said, walking into the room.
Harry and Ron had since already gone to Ron's room, and Hermione turned to follow them. She arrived and Harry was going to wait, but Hermione insisted he could quickly be brought up to speed, "There's something I haven't told you yet," Harry said after the door was closed to Ron's room, which was in the attic, "On Saturday morning, I woke up with my scar hurting again."
Hermione had immediately begun to make suggestions, mentioning a number of reference books, and everybody from Albus Dumbledore to Madam Pomfrey. Ron simply looked dumbstruck, "But - he wasn't there, was he? You-Know-Who? I mean - last time your scar kept hurting, he was at Hogwarts, wasn't he?"
"I'm sure he wasn't on Privet Drive," Harry said, almost scoffing at the possibility, "But I was dreaming about him... him and Pettigrew - you know, Wormtail. I can't remember all of it now, but they were plotting to kill... someone."
"You, Harry," Jake said, walking through the door, "Voldemort is obviously plotting to kill you," he disregarded Ron cringing from his use of the name.
"How long were you out there?" Hermione asked.
"I just got out there, I didn't even stop to knock. I could hear y'all down the hall at the top of the steps," he informed them.
"So, Harry, why were you asking if Hedwig had come or not?" Hermione shifted gears, "Are you expecting a letter?"
"Well, I told Sirius about my scar hurting," Harry said, looking out of the small window in the attic, "I'm waiting for his answer."
"Good thinking!" Ron said, his expression clearing, "I bet he'll know what to do!"
"I was hoping he'd get back to me quickly," Harry sounded dejected.
"But we don't know where Sirius is," Hermione said, "he could be in Africa or somewhere, couldn't he?"
"I doubt that," Jake said suddenly, "He wouldn't leave the British Isles, not when his Godson's here. It's probably too dangerous right now to send her from where he is. She is a recognizable Owl, after all."
"Yeah... I know..." Harry said, his face sullen.
"Come and have a game of Quidditch, Harry!" Ron said, getting to his feet, "come on - three on three, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George will all play... you can try out that Wronksi Feint!"
"Ron, Harry doesn't want to-" Hermione was about to speak, but Jake put a hand on her shoulder.
"Let 'em go, I need to talk to you alone anyway," Jake said and Hermione's heart began racing.
'He wants to talk to me? What could this be about?' She thought to herself as they left Ron's room behind them as they ran out after Harry grabbed his Firebolt. Hermione followed Jake to the room he was staying in, "So what did you want to talk about?" She asked as calmly as possible, closing the door behind her.
"You know the nightmare I had?" He asked, making sure to not let on that he still experienced it. He wished he could understand why he experienced it still, even over a month after it started.
"Yes, I remember it... I'm so glad you don't have that anymore," Hermione said, walking over and sitting down beside him on the bed, making sure to be on his right, like always.
"Me too... but there's something I want to talk to you about that was in it..."
"Okay, whatever you say will obviously be kept between us. You can trust me on that," she smiled at him, okay with the fact he was facing the other way and didn't see it.
"I know... I know I can tell you anything and it'll never be breathed to anyone else," he faced her with his own smile, "but in the nightmare... I don't remember a whole lot besides the name of that group, the Brotherhood of Grim ... the things I do remember... a Prophecy..."
"A Prophecy? Do you remember what it says?" She asked, now thoroughly intrigued.
"I do... I'll explain that in a bit... but the only other thing I can remember from it... this is gonna sound crazy, even for me, but I'm ninety-five percent positive that the Nightmare is about my birth... and my biological parents death..." his stare looked distant to Hermione, even from the side.
"Your mum and dad?"
"Yeah... the leader of the Brotherhood... I don't remember what his name was supposed to be, but he killed them, I know that for certain..." he said, clearly struggling to remain calm.
"Oh, Jake," Hermione placed a hand on his shoulder, "I'm so sorry to hear that this nightmare has yielded only bad things for you... if there is something I can do, just say it."
"Thank you, Hermione... that means so much more to me than you know," he smiled weakly at her. His face turned serious as he spoke again, "The Prophecy... it was told before I was born, this is what it says: The Brotherhood of Grim grows more powerful with each passing day... They appear unstoppable, but they do not know of the child that is not yet born of this world... The Child that will bring about their downfall as he grows into a man... The Brotherhood of Grim will be outmatched and their reign of terror will cease... The Boy, Merlin's True Heir, will bring about Prosperity and Salvation to us all... " he gauged her reaction as he finished talking, and just like with Trelawney's Prophecy that she gave to Harry last year, from what Harry said, Pettigrew escaping and going back to his master was all part of what she had said, so it being an actual Seer moment isn't entirely unbelievable.
"Are you sure that it's true, though? I mean, Trelawney was a joke, and she revealed to the whole class about your ancestry, which now all of Britain basically knows," Hermione had never forgiven Trelawney for that and hoped Dumbledore did something about her for breaking the trust she was sure every teacher had sworn to not tell anyone.
"I'm not saying Trelawney was right all the time, but I can think of at least two so far," he explained, "and I'm not sure, to be honest, if the Prophecy about me is even valid now that I no longer live in America."
"Well... let's just let it rest for now... there doesn't seem to be a lot we can do about it," Hermione said, looking at him caringly.
"Yeah, alright... when do you think our letters will show up?" He changed subjects.
"Hopefully not too much longer from now. Not that I need an excuse for going to Diagon Alley, but I'd like to get everything in one trip, you know?" Hermione asked him, knowing he agreed.
"Yeah, I don't think it'll be that much longer of a wait," he smiled at her, finding her smile at him to be incredibly captivating.
*******
Over the next week, since Jake didn't get much rest lately, he was always up to see off Arthur and Percy as they went into the Ministry. He was never awake to see them return home, though, as they always got home late.
Oddly enough, their letters arrived a few days before the First of September, which seemed later than usual, but Jake didn't complain. Hermione complained a bit, because that left them little time to get things for the new year, especially since they apparently needed dress robes for the year, and Hermione couldn't understand why they would need them, but this left her with so little time to find a dress that worked for her.
'Clearly the dress robes are for some formal event... I wonder what Jake would like to see me in?' She thought to herself as they all lined up in front of the fireplace, using Floo Powder to get to Diagon Alley. Hermione went Third, but Jake came through last; she wouldn't get an answer as to why, though.
They walked around Diagon Alley, spending well over two hours with how long it took Hermione to choose a dress she actually felt somewhat good in. It took about a dozen or so dresses, but she had eventually found something. She wanted so desperately to ask Jake what he thought, but she decided it best to wait for whatever the event was that they would be needed for, no matter how much she didn't want to.
Jake spent the least amount of time getting a nice set of dress robes. They weren't overly showy, but they weren't horrendous. Regardless, he would have had to go to Gringotts and withdraw a few hundred Galleons to get even the cheapest set. He didn't realize just how expensive they were, and given the conversion rate for Galleons to Pound Sterling, Wizarding Dress Robes were expensive.
The Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione also had to go to Gringotts, and they stopped at Hermione's Vault first, which showed a nice sizable amount of Galleons and Sickles in it. Her parents had been making monthly deposits of twenty Galleons, which came out to one hundred pound notes per month.
The Weasley Vault was after that, and it always had a pitiful amount of money in it. Harry looked away in shame at having more than them. Hermione didn't have nearly as much as Harry, and no one in the world had nearly as much as Jake, but to avoid anyone seeing it up close, he always asked them to wait back at the minecart while he got out however much money it was he needed.
One thing he had noticed was that the Weasley Vault was incredibly small, even compared to Hermione's. Before they left he asked the Goblin, Griphook, why that was, "Well, to put it simply," Griphook cleared his throat, but Jake didn't think it helped any, "A Vault will grow or shrink in size accordingly depending on the amount of money in the Vault. Your Vault works a little differently, though. Because it is the Vault of the Ambrosius name, it physically moves to the country that the current Head of House resides. If there is no bank, then the Vault will be below the residence you currently reside, with some sort of door that only you can open. This is according to documents that date back before the Wizarding Banking System was formed."
Jake thanked Griphook for his time and set about leaving the Bank. He then had procured his dress robes and then meandered around Flourish and Blotts for the rest of the time Hermione was getting her dress, looking for the next Healing Magic book, as his was for Beginners, but he had no luck in finding it. He was sure it existed, but it must have only been available in Hogsmeade.
He saw the robes Molly had picked out for Ron, and needless to say, if they were for Jake, he'd have torched them and just not gone to whatever they were meant to be worn for. He didn't voice this opinion to Ron, though, because he was still peeved about his behavior last year.
When he next saw Hermione, his eyes were drawn to her hand, the two scars she had were visible for a moment as she waved to him. He could only imagine what her parents would say when they saw it.
It wasn't until well into the afternoon, almost evening hours, when they finally returned to the Burrow. Jake carried his dress robes out of his pouch until he got back to his room, and everyone else still in Hogwarts got books for the coming year. Molly had given him a strange look, and had asked him where his books were, "Mrs. Weasley, I've had the Grade 4 book since Second Year. I bought Grade 6&7 first day of summer break, trust me, I'm good."
"Well, alright then, dear," she conceded and they all Floo'd back to the Burrow.
When he Floo'd back last, he went straight up to his room to pack his Dress Robes. When he got back down the stairs, he saw Hermione completely engrossed in the Grade 4 Spell Book. He smiled and went and sat beside her, "What spell are you reading about?"
"The Severing Charm, Diffindo ," she looked at him briefly, "I remember you using it last year, good to know I've finally caught up to this at least," she smiled and went back to the book to read up on it more.
He pulled out his Grade 7 book, as he already got through Grade 6, and continued reading beyond the Blasting Curse, occasionally glancing over at Hermione to see her focused, and he found it incredibly cute.
*******
The morning they were set to leave, heavy rain was splattering against the windows in a rhythmic way that could put the right person back to sleep. Jake had been sitting on the couch, reading his Potions book, when Molly hurried past him towards the stairs, "Arthur!" She called up the staircase, "Arthur! Urgent message from the Ministry!"
Jake went back to reading, but his attention was brought out of the book upon hearing a name, "What does Mad-Eye say happened?" Arthur asked Amos in the fireplace.
"Says he heard an intruder in his yard. Says he was creeping toward the house, but was ambushed by his dustbins."
"What did the dustbins do?" Arthur asked, scribbling away on a piece of parchment.
"Made one hell of a noise and fired rubbish everywhere, as far as I can tell," he heard Amos say, "apparently one of them was still rocketing around when the please-men showed up."
"Policemen," Jake said under his breath, "Purebloods..."
"And what about the intruder?" Arthur asked.
"Arthur, you know Mad-Eye," Amos said, pausing a second, "Someone creeping into his yard in the dead of night? More likely there's a very shell-shocked cat wandering around covered in potato peelings. But if the Improper Use of Magic lot get their hands on Mad-Eye, he's had it - think of his record - we've got to get him off on a minor charge, something in your department - what are Exploding dustbins worth?"
"Might be a Caution," Arthur said, still scribbling away quickly from what Jake could tell. "Mad-Eye didn't use his wand? He didn't actually attack anyone?"
"I'll bet he leapt out of bed and started jinxing everything he could reach through the window," Amos said, "but they'll have a job proving it, there aren't any casualties."
"Alright, I'm off," Arthur said, standing up and stuffing the parchment of notes into his pocket.
'Mad-Eye Moody... I've read about him, he's an incredibly accomplished and retired Auror... most of the people in Azkaban are there because of him... I guess being a prime target for any Dark Wizard over the course of his life would make him paranoid... it would be great to meet him one day,' Jake thought to himself as Hermione sat beside him with a plate.
"Toast?" She asked, holding the plate out in front of him.
"Huh? Oh - uh... thanks," he smiled and took the toast, this being the only thing he'll have eaten all morning, but he dare not let Hermione know that.
"Did you hear what Mr. Weasley and Mr. Diggory were talking about?" She asked him.
"Yeah, they were talking about Mad-Eye Moody, it sounded like he got into some trouble," he said as Molly came into the room.
"We'll be leaving in a few minutes, make sure you both are ready," she said and they both went up to Ginny's room as she shared it with the red-headed girl. Jake had all of his stuff already packed, so he had nothing to worry about. He walked in behind Hermione and sat down on the bed designated for her.
"What do you think the Formal Event is that they needed us to get Dress Robes for?" He asked her.
"I don't know... I'm rather nervous about it, honestly," she said quietly. 'I'm just going to make a fool of myself... I just know it.'
"Why are you nervous about it?" He asked her.
"Well, I guess because, even though I like the dress I picked out, I just don't feel that pretty in it..." and it was true, Hermione didn't feel pretty in it, because she knew there were going to be girls that had better dresses and looked far prettier than her in them.
"You may not feel pretty in it," Jake got her attention, "but I'm sure you'll look great in it, Hermione," he smiled at her.
She felt flustered all of a sudden and her stomach filled with butterflies. 'He knows exactly how to make me feel more special than I really am.' "That's kind of you to say," she smiled with burning cheeks.
"I-" he started to say, but Molly hollered up at them and told them to get moving.
Hermione quickly filled her remaining trunk, with Jake's help, and they hurried down the stairs. They shuffled out of the house quickly, Jake released Chloe, upon her insistence to get out of the cage, and told her that he would meet her at Hogsmeade Station. She didn't care that it was raining horribly, she would fly in any weather.
Molly had to get them some Muggle Taxis, which took her longer than it honestly should have, and after a multitude of complications, they made it to King's Cross with minimal damage; except Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as they all got scratched up by Crookshanks when a firework from Fred or George went off, scaring the Cat into a frenzy. Jake managed to calm the cat in a way similar with Buckbeak in their first Care for Magical Creatures class. Crookshanks ended up curling into his lap the second half of the trip.
They got out of the taxis and into the pouring rain, which they silently agreed was better than dealing with the cramped taxi space, and they hurried up under the canopy covering to then get on Platform 9¾. One-by-one they all went through the barrier onto the platform and were greeted by the magnificent scarlet steam engine. Jake was always in awe at the sight of it. They all stowed their stuff into a compartment and then disembarked to say goodbye to Bill, Charlie, and Molly, "I might be seeing you all sooner than you think," Charlie said cheekily.
"Why?" Fred asked.
"You'll see," he couldn't help the grin on his face, "just don't tell Percy I mentioned it... 'it's classified information until such a time as the Ministry sees fit to release it' after all."
"Yeah, I sort of wish I was back at Hogwarts this year," Bill said, hands in his pockets, looking longingly at the train, wishing to board it one more time.
" Why ?" George asked impatiently.
Jake realized they weren't going to say, no matter how much they were asked, so he got back on the train, waving back to them once again.
He walked back to the compartment and settled into the seat next to the window, which was on his left. He already said his goodbyes, he wasn't going to lean out the window to say any more. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all joined him moments later and continued talking to the three Weasley's not on the train, but he paid little mind to the conversation. He felt the initial jerk of the train, indicating that it was now on the move.
Soon, they all settled into the compartment, Hermione on his right, like she always was. Ron stood back up, undid his trunk, and pulled out his hideous robes, throwing them over Pigwidgeon's cage to muffle his hooting.
"Bagman wanted to tell us what's happening at Hogwarts," Ron said, sitting back down next to Harry, "at the World Cup, remember? But my own mother won't say. Wonder what-"
Hermione shushed him quietly and suddenly, pressing her finger to her lips, and pointing towards the compartment next to theirs. Jake had already been listening to the Blonde Haired brat while Ron was talking, "-ther actually considered sending me to Durmstrang rather than Hogwarts, you know. He knows the Headmaster, you see. Well, you know his opinion of Dumbledore - the man's such a Mudblood lover-"
Jake stood up in a heartbeat and was hell bent on destroying the compartment beside them, but Hermione had anticipated it and was on her feet and in front of him, "Jake, please... just let it go... please?" Her hands were on his chest, and she felt her cheeks burn with how toned it felt under her fingers. He glanced down at her for a second before looking back up.
He sat down, but he never took his eye off the compartment beside them. Hermione shut the door gently to block out Draco's words. She looked over and saw that Harry and Ron were looking at him; they probably thought along the line she had been, but she was surprised Jake had actually stopped, given what he'd said at the World Cup. She fully expected him to just shove her aside and blow the doors off their hinges, then proceed to crush Malfoy's windpipe while ripping his intestines out to strangle him with. That was a horridly gruesome image that she shuddered at.
"So, Durmstrang is another Wizarding school?" Harry asked as a change in topic.
"Yes," Hermione said, thankful for him asking something, "and it's got a horrible reputation. According to An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe , it puts a lot of emphasis on the Dark Arts."
"I think I've heard of it," Ron said vaguely, "where is it? What country?"
"Well, nobody knows, do they?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Er - why not?" Harry asked.
"Don't waste your time, Hermione, they'd still be in First Year if it weren't for us," Jake said, finally having calmed down.
"Oi! What are you on about?" Ron asked in a nasty tone.
"Remember how you both barely passed?" He looked at them and they both couldn't argue, "I rest my case."
They descended into a silence, not awkward, but not comfortable, as the rain became heavier and heavier. The train continued its trek north towards the Scottish Highlands, where Hogwarts resided. The sky was so dark and the windows so steamy that the lanterns were lit by midday. The lunch trolley came rattling along the corridor and Harry and Jake split the order; Harry bought Cauldron cakes, Jake bought Pumpkin Pasties, much to Hermione's great satisfaction.
As the afternoon progressed towards the beginning of the evening hours, several of their House-Mates at Hogwarts looked in on them to see how they were doing. Seamus, Dean, and Neville were all in Gryffindor and in their year, and they came to talk about the World Cup, or in Neville's case, listen to them talk as he wasn't able to go to the Cup this year. More than a few girls passed by their opened door, Katie Bell being one of them, Hermione had noticed; none of them stopped to talk, but they all looked in, and Hermione knew who they were looking at. Jake had been mentioned in the Daily Prophet again, and he was responsible for the Deaths of many Death Eaters. Naturally, if any of the dead had kids in Hogwarts, those students couldn't very well call him out, but she had no doubt they now hated him.
She huffed spitefully after the Eighth girl passed them, gawking at Jake, and pulled out The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 , and started on the Summoning Charm. Neville was still in there, and Ron was showing him the miniature figure of Viktor Krum, "We saw him right up close, as well. We were in the Top Box-"
"For the first and last time in your life, Weasley," Draco Malfoy said, appearing in the doorway. Behind him stood Crabbe and Goyle, his enormous, thuggish cronies, both of whom appeared to have grown at least a foot during the summer. Evidently they had overheard the conversation through the compartment door, which Dean and Seamus left ajar.
"Don't remember asking you to join us, Malfoy," Harry said coolly.
"Weasley... What is that ?" Malfoy asked, pointing at Pigwidgeon's cage. A sleeve of Ron's dress robes was dangling from it, swaying with the motion of the train, the moldy lace cuff very obvious. Ron made to stuff the robes out of sight, but Draco was too quick for him; he seized the sleeve and pulled, "Look at this!" Malfoy said in ecstasy, holding up Ron's robes and showing Crabbe and Goyle. "Weasley, you weren't thinking of wearing these, were you? I mean - they were very fashionable in about eighteen ninety!"
"Eat dung, Mafloy!" Ron said, the same color as the dress robes as he snatched them back out of Draco's grip. He howled with derisive laughter, while his two cronies guffawed stupidly.
"So... going to enter, Weasley? Going to try and bring a bit of glory to the family name? There's money involved as well, you know... you'd be able to afford some decent robes if you won!" Draco laughed again. What he saw brought Jake's attention from the rain on the window, to the conversation going on beside him.
'Enter what? Some sort of competition... this is what Mrs. Weasley wasn't going to tell us...' he thought and turned to put his full attention on Draco.
"What are you talking about?" Ron snapped at him.
" Are you going to enter ?" Malfoy repeated in the way you would for a child, "I suppose you will, Potter? You never miss a chance to show off, do you?"
"Either explain what you're going on about, or sod off, Malfoy!" Hermione said angrily, looking up from her book.
"Oh, he doesn't know what's going on," Jake said calmly, "Draco always likes to talk a big game, but he's really quite useless when it comes to actually being helpful."
"Shut up, Kidd!" Draco said, his brow furrowing, "I know exactly what I'm talking about, but it sounds like none of you do."
"No, see," Jake stood up, "I know you, Draco. I know you can't keep your fucking mouth shut about anything, so if there was something going on, we'd know about it because you can't stay quiet about it."
"I know what I'm talking about!" Draco started to sound whiny, "There is the Triwizard Tournament going on at Hogwarts because my father told me!"
Jake smirked when he saw the look of horror on Draco's face. He casually walked up to him, leaned right up to his face, and said quite loudly, "Gotcha bitch." Jake then took a step forward, causing Malfoy to take a step back, "Now get the fuck back to where you came from," he took another few steps, backing Draco up to the compartment behind him, which was his own, "before I rip you limb from fucking limb!"
Draco, Hermione saw, struggled to quickly open the compartment door he was leaning against and he scurried inside with Crabbe and Goyle entering only after Jake walked away from the opened door. He walked back into his compartment, slid the door shut, and sat back down, his fellow members of their Quartet looked at him in awe. Neville had seen Jake angry, but nowhere near the level of anger he was trying to contain. The poor boy let out a whimper, and Hermione calmed him, saying that he was in no danger. "Jake?" She got his attention, "What's the Triwizard Tournament?"
"A horrible thing that has caused the death of many students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, the three Wizarding Schools that always participated in it back when it was held regularly every five years. It was disbanded because the body count became too high... why the fuck they are restarting the Tournament, I have no idea... explains the Dress Robes now..." he trailed off.
"What does it explain about them?" Harry asked him.
"The Yule Ball. It was always held on Christmas Day the year that the Tournament took place, and the Champion's open the Ball with a dance," he explained.
"Mrs. Weasley said something about there being restrictions this year, what did she mean by that?" Hermione asked him.
"Probably an age restriction, if I were to guess. Probably only Witches and Wizards Seventeen and older... there was never an age restriction in the past. One year, Durmstrang had a Twelve Year old boy participate, and during the First Task, he died from being inexperienced with magic..." Hermione gasped upon hearing this, "This damn Tournament should not be brought back, by any stretch of the imagination." The whole compartment went quiet after that, no one knew what to say, and Jake had nothing else to add.
They soon changed into their School Robes as they neared Hogwarts, and Hermione kept looking at Jake as he read more of his Grade 7 Spellbook. She was a little worried about him, given how powerful he was, he could kill probably anyone in Hogwarts without giving it much thought, but she also knew he was never violent or angry towards someone without reason. There was the exception for when he was still calming down and he lashed out at someone that didn't let him calm down all the way, but that hadn't happened as often as one would've thought.
When at last the train stopped at Hogsmeade Station, it was pitch black outside, and Jake had missed seeing Chloe perched on the gate, letting the rain pelt her without a care in the world. When he acknowledged her, she cawwed and flew up towards Gryffindor Tower.
"Hi, Hagrid!" Harry yelled suddenly.
"All righ', Harry?" Hagrid bellowed back, waving, "see yeh at the feast if we don' drown!"
"Oh... I wouldn't fancy crossing the lake in this weather..." Hermione said fervently, shivering as they inched their way to the carriages that were pulled by Thestrals. Hermione walked closer to Jake, but not up against him so as to not make it awkward. The five of them climbed into a carriage and Hermione sat close to Jake to try and warm up from the freezing cold rain. She saw his fingers and saw that the tips were off color, but he otherwise wasn't shaking with coldness. She wondered what he did over the summer before going to the Burrow to be the man he currently was. He said he had disciplined himself with spells ricocheting off a reflective surface, but what else had he done? She'd have to ask him if she ever remembered too.
They soon arrived up at the castle and stepped back out into the rain, walking quickly up the stairs to escape the cold.