CHAPTER TEN -
Hostage Situations
During the Defence class the next week, Professor Moody discreetly dropped a book on Occlumency on Harry's desk without further comment. But aside from that incident, Harry had no further interactions with the retired Auror over the next weeks. Harry was glad about it. He really could have done without knowing that the relationship between Moody and Crouch was even more unconventional than he had thought.
Still, he was also grateful for the book on Occlumency. He wondered if Dumbledore had told Moody that he and Hermione were studying the subject. The book contained some useful instructions on Legilimency that weren't included in any texts from the library, probably because Legilimency was often considered to be somewhat dark. But for him and Hermione, it was very useful material, as it allowed them to test each other's Occlumency shields.
During their training, they inevitably caught some glimpses from each other's mind. While this might have been a recipe for disaster for many other couples, it only caused Harry and Hermione to become even closer. Harry was sickened when he realised that he had been Hermione's very first friend her age – and a rather lousy friend at that, initially. He also had to console his either crying or raging girlfriend whenever she saw some memories of his childhood with the Dursleys. Still, he was glad for the shared experiences.
Beside the emotional impact, their Occlumency training progressed well, especially as they could dedicate a lot of time to it. With Hermione being well prepared for the next task of the tournament already, they could easily afford the time.
#
The next weeks passed quickly, and soon the second task of the Triwizard Tournament was only days away. In the evening the day before the task, Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Gryffindor common room on 'their' couch in front of the fireplace. Harry was quizzing Hermione on the water creatures in the Black Lake. He knew that his girlfriend knew the answers to all his questions already, but he suspected that she had only insisted on revising to keep herself from worrying too much.
That was where Colin Creevey found the couple, carrying a message from Professor McGonagall.
"Hi, Harry, McGonagall wants to see you in her office," the boy announced cheerfully. "Bye now, I have to find Angelina and Alicia, too."
Harry shared a meaningful glance with his girlfriend while the excitable third-year left to search for the two girls.
"All right, I guess they want to choose the hostages today already," Harry said. "They probably won't let me come back today after they've informed me of the task."
Hermione hugged him tightly and gave him a deep kiss. "Be careful. Only agree to participate if Dumbledore personally takes charge of your safety!"
"I will," Harry confirmed and gave the girl in his arms another kiss. "You'll be careful, too, tomorrow! And I have the fullest confidence in you to rescue me from the lake in record time."
"I'll try my best," Hermione replied with a smile that couldn't quite hide her concern.
After one last kiss, Harry got up from the couch and left the common room.
A few minutes later, he arrived at Professor McGonagall's office. His Head of House and the Headmaster were waiting for him in the room.
"Good evening, Professor, Headmaster," Harry greeted them.
"Good evening, Mr Potter."
"Good evening, Harry."
"I guess you want to ask me to be the hostage for Hermione tomorrow?" Harry asked.
"Ah, so you and Miss Granger have figured out the clue in the golden egg? I expected nothing less of you, of course," Dumbledore said brightly. "Yes, we would like to ask you to be the person that Miss Granger will have to retrieve from the lake."
The Headmaster then continued to explain, "If you agree, I shall cast extensive protective spells on you, of course. You would also be put under a stasis charm. You would be unresponsive while underwater, but the merpeople will also be tasked with protecting you."
"And all the charms on the hostages will be cast by you personally, Sir?" Harry inquired.
"Indeed," Dumbledore confirmed. "I hope that isn't a problem?"
"No, Sir," Harry said, much relieved. "Actually, I would have made it a condition for my participation. I wouldn't trust Crouch or Bagman with that."
Dumbledore chuckled slightly. "I can't say that I didn't understand that. So, you agree?"
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "And just out of curiosity: Will you put any other spells on me except the stasis charm and protective spells against the water and water creatures? And will I be wearing the same clothes that I'm wearing now?"
Dumbledore gave him a curious look before he chuckled. "No, Harry, no other spells will be put on the participants by me. Only what's needed to ensure their safety. That's the extent of my role in the task, aside from being a judge. And yes, you'll be wearing your school robes."
"And all the protective spells will be cast on me, not my robes?"
"Yes, Harry," the amused Headmaster confirmed.
"All right then. I guess I won't return to my dorm for tonight?" Harry then asked the Headmaster.
This time, it was Professor McGonagall who answered, "No, Mr Potter, you will stay in the hospital wing for tonight with the other participants. Early in the morning, the Headmaster will put the charms on you there, and then take you to the Black Lake. That will-"
There was a knock at the door of the office.
"Ah, come in," McGonagall called, and Alicia and Angelina entered the room.
The two girls winked at Harry as they approached the Professors. Harry knew that the girls were aware of why they were here, too. After Harry and Hermione had passed Cedric's hint about the golden egg on to the twins, Fred and George had also quickly figured out what the task would entail.
"Mr Potter, please wait outside while we speak to Miss Spinnet and Miss Johnson," McGonagall requested.
Harry nodded in response. "All right."
"See you in a minute," he said to Alicia and Angelina as he left the office.
While he waited, Harry thought about what Dumbledore had told him. He couldn't help but grin about the Headmaster's answers. Things were looking very promising for Plan A.
#
Hermione frowned when she woke up after a restless sleep the next morning. Something wasn't right. Not only was she missing the warmth of her boyfriend lying next to her, but she also found herself lying in an unfamiliar bed.
It took her way longer than she cared to admit before she realised that the unfamiliar bed she was lying in was her own bed in her own dormitory. Her confusion only stemmed from the fact that she hadn't slept in it since Halloween, almost four months ago.
Hermione shook her head, amused by her initial confusion. She had really gotten used to waking up next to Harry – Harry, who was right now at the bottom of the Black Lake, waiting for her to rescue him! All her tiredness immediately vanished at that thought.
Quickly, she got up and got ready for the day. She had a quick breakfast and then used the remaining time until the start of the second task for some last preparations.
At nine o'clock, Hermione left the castle and walked towards the Black Lake. At one side of the lakeshore, large stands had been erected next to a pier leading into the water. The stands were already filling with students.
Hermione was wearing the dry-suit that her parents had sent her, but it was concealed under her usual school robes. It was rather uncomfortable to walk with the bulky diving suit under her now even bulkier robes, but she could manage.
In her pockets, Hermione had several dosages of Gillyweed, and in her hand, she held a bag that contained a full face dive mask. She didn't really expect that she would need any of it, if the first task was any indication. But she felt much better being prepared, in case the tournament organisers had unexpectedly wizened up.
As Hermione approached the stands and the pier, she could see many spectators throwing curious glances at her. Clearly, people wondered why she was still in her Hogwarts uniform, unlike almost all the other champions that had already assembled at the pier.
Fred and George were clearly wondering the same thing as she approached them. Both twins wore only swimming trunks and a shirt and were wrapped in blankets to protect themselves against the wind of the cold February morning.
"Hi, Hermione! Why are you in your school robes?" Fred asked as she joined them at the pier.
"Oh, I expect my attire to be perfectly adequate to complete the task," Hermione replied with a grin and dropped her bag on the ground next to her.
Fred and George both frowned at her response.
"If you think that you can just repeat your exploit from the first task, you should know that the Summoning Charm doesn't work on living beings," George said, "You can't just summon Harry!"
"Oh, I know," Hermione chirped with a smile, not elaborating further.
The twins shrugged and resumed their own preparations, whispering to each other and revising some wand movements.
Hermione, in the meantime, surveyed the other champions on the pier.
All of the participants were there already. Cedric was standing closest to her and the twins, a determined expression on his face. He wore a black swimsuit that was similar to what mundane swimming athletes usually wore.
A few yards further down the pier, Fleur was nervously walking up and down, appearing extremely agitated. She was wrapped in a thick blanket and was wearing only a tight one-piece swimsuit under it.
Furthest down the pier stood Minister Fudge, brooding and seemingly cursing under his breath. The Minister wore a swimsuit similar to Cedric's, but it looked much less flattering on the overweight man.
Crabbe and Goyle stood apart from the other champions and from each other. Interestingly enough, both of them were also still wearing their school robes. Both boys had blank expressions on their faces, but that almost identical expression still gave them a vastly different appearance. While it caused Crabbe to display an almost eerie cold determination, Goyle simply looked as if his brain had been hit with a Vanishing Spell.
Karkaroff and Krum were standing close to each other and away from the other participants. Krum looked out onto the lake with a rather annoyed expression while Karkaroff was whispering to the Durmstrang champion, indubitably giving him some last hints and instructions.
The Durmstrang Headmaster was the only judge who hadn't yet taken his seat on the elevated platform in front of the stands. All the other judges were sitting there already.
Hermione let her gaze wander further and noticed a small white tent had been erected a short distance away from the pier at the lakeside. A man and a woman in healer robes stood at the tent entrance. Hermione hoped that the healers wouldn't be needed this time.
She also noticed that unlike for the first task, only a hand-full of Aurors were present to secure the proceedings. Hermione frowned slightly, annoyed by the Ministry's negligence. However, she knew that Professor Moody equipped with the Marauder's Map would make a much better guard than even a dozen Aurors, anyway.
Hermione was brought out of her musings when Bagman raised his magically enhanced voice.
"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!"
Hermione paid no mind to the rest of the announcements, choosing to focus on the task ahead instead. She closed her eyes and concentrated on how Harry had looked when he left the previous evening, trying to precisely visualise the picture in her mind.
Finally, Bagman's introductions came to an end, and he got ready to start the task. "Well, it seems that all the champions are ready now! We will start on my whistle. On the count of three, then. One... two... three!"
The crowd in the stands erupted in cheers and applause as the blow of the whistle echoed shrilly in the cold, still air.
Hermione was the only one left standing at the shore-end of the pier as all her competitors rushed towards the end of the structure. But she wasn't in a hurry, as she knew that she could only enact her plan once the pier had cleared of the other champions. It wouldn't do for the others to observe her and then just copy her. Therefore, she didn't move and just observed her competitors.
Both Cedric and Fleur cast a Bubble-Head Charm on themselves and jumped into the lake, quickly diving below the surface.
They were immediately joined by Viktor Krum, who transfigured his torso and head into that of a shark as he jumped into the lake. Hermione raised her eyebrows at the impressive partial human transfiguration.
There was a large splash of water as Goyle landed in the water next. Hermione was surprised that the boy still wore his school robes and that he didn't swim away from the shore but towards it.
With another huge splash of water, Fudge entered the water behind Goyle. He had also cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself and made some clumsy swimming strokes to move away from the pier. He tried to dive underwater repeatedly but always floated back to the surface despite his best efforts.
Hermione realised that the overweight man probably had too much buoyancy, especially with the air bubble around his head making matters even worse for the Minister.
After his fifth try of diving underwater, the Minister apparently came to the same conclusion. While trying to remain steady in the water, he waved his wand and conjured some metal weights that he held on tightly, the weights finally dragging him underwater.
In the meantime, Crabbe had walked to the end of the pier. He waved his wand and conjured a small wooden rowing boat on the water before him. Hermione's eyes widened at the impressive piece of transfiguration. She herself wouldn't be able to do that, and even most seventh-years should have difficulties conjuring such large objects. Were Crabbe and his new Slytherin cronies engaged in dark rituals to boost their power?
Crabbe stepped onto the boat and waved his wand again, causing the vessel to accelerate away from the pier towards the middle of the lake.
Now, only Fred and Gorge were left standing at the end of the pier. They looked back at Hermione, who still hadn't moved. She waved at them with a smile but didn't advance.
The twins gave her one last questioning look and then turned towards each other, both drawing their wands. They aimed their wands at each other and simultaneously waved the wands in the same intricate pattern.
They hit each other with their spells at the exact same time. There was a flash of light, and in the place of the twins stood two penguins. King penguins, to be precise, that had a height of roughly four feet.
Even though she hadn't heard the incantation, Hermione was sure that the twins had used a variant of the spell Professor Moody had used to transfigure Malfoy into a ferret at the beginning of the school year. It was less difficult to transfigure another person than yourself, but it still was an impressive feat of magic for the two sixth-years.
She laughed along with many spectators when the two penguins gakkered and fluttered their wings before diving from the pier into the water.
Still, Hermione also felt a slight pang of guilt as she watched Fred and George implementing another unnecessarily complicated plan. But she reminded herself that the twins had wanted to come up with their own solution and wouldn't have appreciated her and Harry's help. Besides, she really wanted to win the tournament. A fifteen-year-old Muggle-born winning against all the other older, mostly 'Pureblood' competitors would just send such a wonderful message!
With all other champions in the water, it was time for her to get going. The audience turned quiet as Hermione slowly walked along the pier. The only sound was the splashing of water a few yards away, where Goyle was swimming towards the shore.
When she reached the end of the pier and looked out onto the Black Lake, Hermione could see that Crabbe had reached the middle of the lake in his boat and was about to jump into the water. Once he dived off the boat, Goyle was the only champions except her still to be seen.
Then, at last, Hermione drew her wand.
She raised her wand, focused on her objective and cast her spell, pushing all her power into it.
"Accio Harry Potter's clothes!"
While it was impossible to summon a living person, it was possible to summon the clothes a person was wearing. The effect would almost be the same. If Harry was somehow tied down in the lake, Hermione hoped that his binds would break before his clothes ripped apart. If the ties were too strong, she knew that Harry's clothes would rip before he was in danger of being hurt by the pull between the binds and the summoned clothes. They had tested that extensively. Therefore, in the worst-case scenario, some empty clothes would fly out of the lake towards her soon. Then, she would have to switch to Plan B. But if that happened, at least she could look forward to rescue her naked boyfriend from the lake, which would also be nice.
"And... uhh... and Miss Granger uses a Summoning Charm... again?" Bagman commented from where he sat with the other judges. He sounded very subdued, even though his magically enhanced voice still boomed over the stands. "She... she's not supposed to do that!"
Hermione chose to ignore him, as well as the excited whispers of the audience.
Now, she could only wait. As the seconds passed, she couldn't help but worry. Hadn't her spell worked? Should she try it again?
Just when she was about to raise her wand for a second time, she finally noticed a disturbance in the water a few dozen yards in front of her.
There was a splash of water as some large, wet object emerged from the lake. Relief flooded Hermione when she identified the object flying towards her as her boyfriend. Harry was unconscious, and his skin rather pale, but he appeared otherwise unharmed. His legs were tied together with some seaweed that had apparently been ripped. Clearly, the bindings had been less robust than Harry's clothes.
In her relief, Hermione's concentration slipped slightly, and she didn't notice that Harry was flying towards her much faster than he was supposed to. Far too late did she realise that she must have had overpowered her Summoning Charm. Hermione's eyes widened for a brief moment before Harry barrelled into her, causing both of them to fall down on the wooden planks of the pier.
They landed on the ground with a loud thump, facing each other. Luckily unhurt herself, Hermione worriedly surveyed her boyfriend's face as he was slowly gaining consciousness.
#
Harry's eyes fluttered open and he blinked as his eyes adapted to the sudden brightness around him. The last thing he could remember was him lying in a bed in the hospital wing, and Dumbledore aiming his wand at him.
When he was able to open his eyes fully a few moments later, he was greeted by the beautiful brown orbs of his girlfriend looking right back at him. Their eyes met, and he broke into a smile.
"Hi, Mione," he said groggily. "Nice of you to join me lying on the ground."
"Hi," Hermione whispered back and moved closer, giving Harry a peck on his lips.
They both rose to their feet, and Harry cast off the seaweed ties around his legs, looking around at the same time. Only then, he became aware of the cheers and applause of the audience behind them. He glanced towards the judges. Dumbledore was clapping, an amused smile on his face, while all the other judges were scowling. Crouch and Karkaroff were seemingly the most furious, but their anger was clearly directed at Bagman, who seemed highly embarrassed.
Suddenly, Harry noticed that he was very wet and very cold. He grimaced as he began to shiver.
"Oh, sorry!" Hermione exclaimed when she noticed his discomfort. A moment later, she had her wand in her hand and was quickly casting a series of drying and warming charms on him.
"Thanks, Mione," Harry said with a grateful smile when he was dry and warm again. "So... Plan A worked? I'm back first?"
Hermione grinned and gave him an affirmative nod.
"Why aren't you wearing the dry-suit, though?" Harry asked. That hadn't been the plan.
"I'm wearing it," Hermione replied with a smirk, "but I decided earlier that I would wear my school robes over it. It looks more impressive if it seems as if I hadn't prepared at all. Better gets the point across that the organisers are incompetent fools."
Harry laughed out loud and pulled Hermione into a hug. Now that she said it, Harry noticed that Hermione's robes indeed looked and felt rather bulky, hinting at the dry-suit underneath them.
Holding each other, they looked out onto the lake.
"Only a few minutes have passed, right?" Harry asked.
"Yes, five minutes, maybe," Hermione replied.
"So... what are we and the audience supposed to do for the remaining hour?" Harry asked. "There's nothing for them to watch, except us standing here."
"Well, us and Goyle," Hermione corrected, motioning towards the shore close to the pier. Only now, Harry spotted Goyle wading through the shallow water at the coast of the lake.
"What is he doing?" Harry asked with confusion.
Hermione only shrugged in response. Clearly, she didn't know, either.
Just like the audience in the stands, Harry and Hermione watched with confused fascination as the Slytherin boy walked through the water. Every few steps, Goyle halted and bent down, dipping his face underwater. He was always staying in the shallow water, the water never reaching above his hips. Still, he was soon shivering from the cold.
Harry wondered what the Slytherin was doing but soon realised that Goyle was apparently hoping to find his hostage somewhere in the shallow water near the coast. It seemed rather desperate to Harry.
"He probably didn't figure out the clue in the egg," Hermione guessed.
Harry frowned. "I would have expected Snape to tell him."
"Right," Hermione agreed and glanced over the stands. Harry followed her gaze and spotted Professor Snape sitting in the audience, pinching his nose, observing Goyle with a very annoyed expression on his face.
Hermione chuckled. "So you figure that this... whatever this is... it's Goyle's plan? He's trying to find his hostage right there?"
Harry chortled, and Hermione also failed to suppress her laughter at that thought. A moment later, they were both laughing loudly.
A few minutes later, Goyle had to abandon his futile search for his hostage due to acute hypothermia. A healer escorted the shivering boy into the healers' tent near the shore.
After that, there was nothing else to watch. To Harry, this task was quickly turning into another demonstration of the Ministry's incompetence. He wasn't quite sure whether he should be annoyed or amused by that.
From where he stood with Hermione in the middle of the pier, Harry could see how the audience behind him got more and more restless. People were whispering to each other, annoyed expressions on most of their faces. Some students simply rose from their seats and left the stands to return to the castle, not willing to waste their time idly staring onto the calm, empty lake.
Among the judges, Karkaroff and Maxime were frowning, while Crouch was glaring daggers at the squirming Bagman. Dumbledore was calmly sitting in his seat, but even from this distance, Harry could spot the amused twinkle in the Headmaster's eyes.
Next to Harry, Hermione shook her head. "They clearly haven't thought this through," she muttered.
"You almost sound surprised at that," Harry replied with a raised eyebrow.
Hermione sighed. "I know; I really shouldn't be."
With an amused grin on his face, Harry then continued to watch out onto the lake while Hermione was incessantly muttering under her breath about the stupidity of wizards.
It was fifteen minutes later when, finally, something seemed to happen on the lake. There was some commotion in the middle of the lake near the empty rowing boat.
It was too far away for Harry to clearly observe what was going on, but he could spot several splashes of water close to the boat.
For once, the comments of Bagman were actually helpful, as the judge surveyed the happenings on the lake with a pair of Omnioculars.
"And... that's Hogwarts champion Vincent Crabbe and Miss Ismelda Rosier emerging from the lake!" Bagman shouted. "But what's this around them in the water? Good gracious! Are those dead merpeople? Indeed! The bodies of half a dozen dead merpeople are drifting on the water! Merlin!"
Hermione next to him gasped with a horrified look on her face, while Harry scowled. Merpeople were intelligent beings, but he knew that Crabbe would face no consequences for his actions. It was just one more injustice of the wizarding world.
Bagman groaned. "That's... that's not what we want to see here! And now... Crabbe and Miss Rosier are back on the boat!"
Once the two figures that Harry could vaguely make out as Crabbe and his hostage – Ismelda Rosier, as Harry now knew – were on the boat, the vessel began accelerating towards the pier. It hadn't gotten far when there was a massive disturbance in the water around the boat.
"What's this!?" Bagman yelled. "Look at the lake! They are chased, by- Oh my! Merlin!"
Harry watched on as several gigantic tentacles emerged out of the water near the boat, thrashing around and reaching for the vessel.
Crabbe pushed Rosier down and ducked under the swipe of a tentacle. Another tentacle splashed into the water right next to the boat, almost causing it to capsize from the resulting wave. Rosier fell flat down as the wave hit the small vessel. Crabbe, however, didn't lose his footing.
Harry watched as the Slytherin boy raised his arm, probably aiming his wand, even though Harry couldn't see it from afar.
Then, there was a flash of green light, and the tentacles splashed into the lake. They didn't emerge again.
Hermione slapped a hand over her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Fucking bastard," Harry muttered, appalled by Crabbe's actions.
Harry was even more sickened when he noticed the cheers and applause originating from some Slytherin and Durmstrang students in the audience behind him. At least, their support was drowned out by the boos and angry shouts from a vast majority of spectators.
"This... NO! ... This is NOT what we want to see," Bagman commented angrily. "No, it's shameful! And twice, now..."
Dumbledore openly scowled at Crabbe as he approached the pier in the boat, and Madame Maxime was visibly disgusted. Karkaroff, however, applauded enthusiastically. Never before had Harry seen such a genuinely happy expression on the face of the Durmstrang Headmaster.
Soon, the boat had reached the pier and Crabbe and Rosier stepped off the vessel and walked down the pier. From close-by, Harry now recognised Rosier as the sixth-year Slytherin girl that had also been Crabbe's Yule Ball date. Harry could also see that Crabbe didn't seem to care about the reaction of the audience, nor did he seem disturbed by the fact that he had just killed the Giant Squid and several merpeople.
As the Slytherin boy got closer to him and Hermione, Harry nervously palmed his wand and positioned himself between Crabbe and his girlfriend. However, Crabbe and the black-haired girl at his side passed Harry and Hermione without a second glance and then walked directly towards the castle.
"How can a person can kill so easily?" Hermione muttered, her dismay clear in her voice. "He gives me the creeps. At least, he no longer attends our shared classes."
"He's an evil bastard," Harry said bitterly, "But he's not breaking the law. They won't do anything about him."
He then thought about what Hermione had said and realised that his girlfriend was right. He had seen Crabbe in almost none of their shared classes since Halloween. But he guessed that as Triwizard Champion, Crabbe was not only exempt from exams but could also get away with skipping classes. It was a relief, actually, as Harry would have hated to have someone who could perform the Killing Curse that easily sitting behind him and Hermione in class.
Harry continued mulling things over for the next minutes until there was another disturbance in the water close-by.
Near the pier, a female body emerged from the lake, surrounded by several smaller forms. It was the unconscious Fleur Delacour, who was carried to the shore by several mermen. A healer received the French girl and quickly levitated her into the healers' tent. She was bleeding from several small wounds, but luckily, the injuries didn't appear to be very severe – not from afar, at least.
Harry shared a worried glance with Hermione after that. Apparently, the Black Lake was more dangerous than they had anticipated, and none of the other champions were back yet, even though over forty minutes had passed already.
Fortunately, they didn't have to worry for much longer. A few minutes later, two penguins emerged from the lake. In their beaks, they held ropes made of seaweed, that they used to drag along the unconscious forms of Alicia and Angelina.
A moment later, Viktor Krum emerged from the water on the other side of the pier, carrying the sleeping Padma Patil.
Harry and Hermione approached the shore to greet the twins and their girlfriends just as the two girls woke up in the water. Still a bit unsteady on their feet, the girls quickly stumbled out of the icy water. They were followed by two penguins, who gakkered excitedly.
Hermione and Harry greeted them with a smile.
"Well done!" Hermione said.
"I should have known that we would find you two waiting for us already," Alicia said, not quite able to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Harry shrugged. "Sorry."
"Oh, never mind. Congratulations, Hermione," Angelina replied. "How did you do it?"
"Should we maybe return the twin to their normal forms first?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know," Angelina said, "Don't you agree that they look much more handsome now? Why don't we keep them like this?"
"And they're better dressed, too," Alicia added mirthfully.
Harry chuckled, while the gakkering of the penguins sounded a bit angry now.
"Then we'll wait," Hermione decided with a grin. "I'd still like to see their faces when I tell you."
Angelina sighed dramatically. "All right. Let's turn them back. The spell should wear off any minute now, anyway."
She and Alicia raised their wands at the penguins, and a moment later, Fred and George stood in place of the birds.
"Welcome back," Harry said with a grin, while the twins were greeted with a kiss by their respective girlfriend.
"Hi," Fred answered. "So, how long have you been back?"
"I never went into the lake," Hermione revealed with a smile.
"What? How?" Fred asked. "What did you do?"
"I used the... Summoning Charm!"
Harry chortled at the flabbergasted expressions on the four older students' faces.
"What?" George exclaimed. "But... you can't... how could you summon Harry? It's supposed to be impossible!"
"I summoned the clothes on him. It had the same effect," Hermione explained with a smug expression.
The twins and their girlfriends blinked.
"Oh..." Alicia finally said flatly, "I suppose that would do it..."
A moment later, much to Harry's surprise, the twins burst into laughter.
"Oh, that's too good," George wheezed. "Winning two tasks in a row with only one fourth-year charm."
"Well, congratulations, Hermione," Fred said between chuckles, and George nodded along.
All their attention was then drawn back to the lake, where Cedric and Cho Chang emerged from the water. While they waded through the water to reach the shore, Minister Fudge surfaced a few yards behind them.
The Minister was dragging along a middle-aged woman in hideous pink clothes, who bore a remarkable resemblance to a toad.
"Oh, Cornelius," the woman screamed with a shrill voice as she woke up in the shallow water. "I knew you would save me!"
She threw her hands around the Minister, and Harry grimaced and quickly averted his gaze as the woman kissed the surprised Minister fully on his mouth.
"Not here, Dolores!" Harry heard Fudge hiss behind him, while at the same time a light flashed at the lakeside near the stands. A reporter that Harry hadn't noticed before had taken a picture of the Minister with a camera and now approached the shore.
"Minister Fudge," the reporter called out to the man in the water. "What can you tell us about the woman at your side? Why isn't your wife your hostage? Does your wife know about your relationship with this woman?"
"I- we- it's not what it looks like!" Fudge shouted angrily at the reporter.
"It's not?" the reporter replied. "Is that why you reacted to her kiss by saying 'not here' and not 'not at all'?"
"I- No more questions!" Fudge yelled, his complexion quickly alternating between ghostly white and crimson.
"Will the press please stop badgering our champions!" Bagman called from the stands, coming to the Minister's far too late rescue.
The reporter only gave a nod towards the judges and retreated towards the stands, a satisfied smirk on his lips.
"Oh, someone is in trouble!" Harry whispered to Hermione, who chuckled in response.
However, his girlfriend quickly got a more serious expression. "But let's hope that he's only in trouble with his wife, and not politically. Remember, his successor might be much worse."
"Right," Harry agreed, his mirth much diminished by that remark.
He surveyed the champions that had all arrived on the shore of the lake by now. Krum and Padma stood close to each other, whispering to each other while wrapped in the same blanket. A few yards away, Cedric and Cho stood in a very similar position.
Fudge and the toad-woman were standing the furthest away from the pier. They kept a few feet apart from each other; the Minister was scowling while the woman appeared highly embarrassed.
Harry returned his attention to the judges in front of the stands when Bagman raised his voice again. "Well done, very well done, everyone! A big round of applause for the great showing of the champions, please!"
After the applause had settled down, he continued, "Now, while we wait for the remaining hostages to be brought back to us, the judges will discuss the scores of the champions."
With that, the judges rose from their seats and engaged in what soon became an obviously very lively discussion.
In the meantime, Harry surveyed the lake, his girlfriend standing at his side. Soon, there was a disturbance near the shore, and two groups of mermen surfaced near the pier. Each group carried one unconscious hostage. Harry laughed out loud when he recognised one of the hostages as Draco Malfoy. He didn't know the small blonde girl that was carried by the other group of mermen.
Malfoy awoke from his enchanted sleep when a healer levitated him out of the water and towards the healer's tent. He immediately started to complain loudly about Goyle's incompetence and about having to spend time with some dirty creatures.
At the same time, another healer levitated the small girl towards the tent. As they had passed half of the distance to the tent, there was a scream from the tent entrance.
"Gabrielle!" Fleur screamed as she ran towards the little girl. "Sœurette! Es-tu blessé? Fille stupide! Pourquoi as-tu fait cela?"
Harry shot a questioning glance at Hermione as the two girls were blabbering to each other in French.
"What are they saying?" he wondered, knowing that Hermione was at least somewhat proficient in the language.
"She's annoyed that her sister volunteered to be her hostage," Hermione explained.
They both flinched when Fleur suddenly screamed, "PAPA? Quel imbécile! À quoi pensait-il!?"
"And now she's furious with her dad for allowing her sister to participate," Hermione continued to explain, "But her sister says that she begged to be allowed to take part and that her dad is always giving in to her demands."
"Well, I guess that explains how such a young girl ended up down in the lake," Harry commented with a chuckle.
"With Dumbledore's spells, she should have been perfectly safe. Still, wizards are a bit weird in their risk assessment. I mean, I certainly would never allow our childr- eep!" Hermione slapped her hand over her mouth, blushing furiously.
"Uhh... uhm... yes, weird risk assessment, certainly..." Harry said in the ensuing awkward silence, his cheeks also turning bright pink. At least, the twins and their girlfriends had walked a bit farther down the shore and hadn't overheard them.
He was very grateful when Bagman raised his voice again a few moments later to announce the scores.
Unlike for the first task, the scores for the second task were not given by the individual judges, but only as a sum total. Still, each judge had been able to score a champion with up to ten points, for a total of fifty obtainable points in the task.
Goyle received four points for the second task, for a total of thirteen points after both tasks. He would remain in the last place by a wide margin, which surprised probably precisely no one but himself and maybe Malfoy.
Crabbe scored twenty points, and Harry could easily guess what two judges had given Crabbe full marks. With forty-five points, Crabbe was still in the second-to-last place.
Then, Fleur received twenty-eight points. Bagman revealed in his announcement that she had been attacked by Grindylows, causing her to be unable to fulfil the task.
After Fleur, Fudge got scored forty points. Harry couldn't see many reasons for point deductions for Fudge, but he could guess which judge had scored the Minister unfairly.
While Fudge's result was announced by Bagman, Dumbledore shot an admonishing glance at Crouch, who just smirked coldly at Fudge. The Minister was glowering at Crouch in return, his teeth clenched, but he remained silent. The Minister stomped away with a furious expression on his face once he had received his scores, the toad-woman trailing right behind him.
Next, the twins also received forty-five points, taking the lead with a total of eighty points after the first and second task. The first place was immediately taken from them by Cedric, who had one more point than them after he received forty-three points for the second task.
Then, it was down to Krum and Hermione. Hermione had been much faster than any competitor, but Krum had the advantage of having the support of the biased judge Karkaroff. He received forty-six points, while Hermione only received forty-five. Still, with one point ahead of Krum, Hermione remained in the lead in the tournament.
Harry cheered along with most of the audience as Hermione's scores were announced, even though he couldn't help but scowl at Karkaroff for his unjust scoring. But as Hermione was still ahead, he was confident that she would win the tournament in the end. She would certainly have the best starting position.
After all the champions had received their scores, the stands slowly emptied as the students returned to the school. At the lakeside, Harry and Hermione were quickly joined by Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Dean.
"Congratulations, Hermione," Neville said as he approached them. "Though, it would have been nice to see your Plan B, with all the preparation you have put into it."
Luna disagreed. "I think it's good that you didn't go into the lake; it's full of Umgubular Slashkilters!"
"Uhh... yes," Hermione said hesitantly.
Harry chuckled. "Yes, Luna, that was our thought as well. Better safe and easy than loud and flashy but dangerous."
"Anyway, let's go!" Dean said, "You're still in the first place, Hermione, and Lee told us that he and the twins have arranged another victory party in our common room."
"Right," Harry replied. He took Hermione's hand and shared a glance with his girlfriend. "Let's go, then."
He was certainly looking forward to their victory party. And the celebration in the Gryffindor common room would probably be fun, too.
The group had just started to walk back to the castle when there was a call behind them.
"Potter, a word, please?"
Turning around, Harry spotted Professor Moody approaching him. Harry gave a nod towards Hermione and stayed back while his friends walked ahead.
Moody caught up with Harry, and once no one else was left within hearing range, the Professor began to speak with a low voice.
"You're really putting up a great show! Very impressive!"
Harry smiled in response to the compliment of his and Hermione's strategy.
"Thanks," he said. "By the way, Professor, have you noticed anything unusual on the map?"
"No, everything is in order, Potter," Moody replied. "But don't worry, I'll keep watch on all our enemies."
"That's good," Harry stated, unsure whether he should be relieved or disappointed that Voldemort had not tried to show up for the task.
"Have you started training Occlumency after I gave you the book?" Moody then asked.
"Even before that," Harry answered. "For the Headmaster, you know?"
"Ah, yes, I should have known." Crouch Jr, posing as Alastor Moody, nodded. Of course, Potter would train Occlumency to protect himself from the meddling old Muggle-lover. He had to admit, the boy was quite astute. With such cunning and smarts, the boy would soon be one of his Master's most valuable assets!
"Yes, but your book was very helpful nonetheless," Harry continued. "Thank you."
"Ah, that's good to hear," the older man said. "When do you expect to be able to protect your mind from intruders?"
"Probably by the end of the term," Harry replied with a shrug. "At least I hope so."
"Excellent. We'll talk then," the Professor said.
He gave Harry a nod and turned around, shuffling back to the stands. Harry quickly sped up to catch up with his friends ahead of him.
CHAPTER ELEVEN -
The best laid plans
During the breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning, students were still grumbling about how boring and disappointing the second task of the Triwizard Tournament had been for the spectators.
Neville, Ginny, and Dean, who sat with Harry and Hermione, were among the loudest complainants. Luna had also joined them at the Gryffindor table, but she remained silent as she was busy building a surprisingly detailed miniature model of Hogwarts out of scrambled eggs and bacon.
Harry shared many amused glances with his girlfriend while they silently ate their breakfast. He could see that she was just as amused by the many complaints about the Ministry's incompetence as him. Harry still couldn't fathom how the organisers could have come up with a task that took place out of sight of the spectators.
Eagerly, he awaited what the Daily Prophet would make of the event. The Prophet had resumed publishing in late January, once its printing press had been restored and its offices had been repaired after the mysterious attack in December. The female assailant had yet to be identified and was still at large. Unfortunately, the newspaper was still as trashy and useless as it had been before the attack. Or maybe it was slightly less so, thanks to Rita Skeeter's continued hospitalisation, but the articles could by no means be described as good, serious journalism.
Soon, the post owls flew into the Great Hall and delivered Neville's copy of the Prophet. The boy was visibly surprised when he read the headline but quickly handed the newspaper to Harry and Hermione on the other side of the table.
"Let's see what they wrote about the second task," Harry said, but then he laughed out loud when he saw the headline.
MINISTER FUDGE'S SECRET HEARTACHE
Shocking affair between Minister and his Undersecretary revealed during Tri-Wiz
A picture was plastered over almost the entire front page. It was the scene of Fudge and the toad-woman – apparently the Undersecretary, whatever that was – kissing each other in the water of the Black Lake.
Harry grimaced and pushed his breakfast plate away from him, having lost his appetite.
Trying to keep his eyes away from the picture, he looked over the newspaper again. On the bottom of the page was a short report on the second task of the tournament, that once more decried Hogwarts for allowing students to practise the Dark Arts. After the display of Crabbe, Harry couldn't really fault the newspaper for that.
Harry's attention was drawn back to his surroundings when Dean raised his voice.
"Harry, please put away the newspaper! People are trying to eat here!"
"Sorry," Harry chuckled. He folded the newspaper and returned it to Neville, who quickly put it in his bookbag.
"Sounds like Minister Fudge will be in trouble," Hermione said with a worried expression on her face. "Do you think he will be replaced?"
"Not quickly," Neville answered, "But I wouldn't bet on him being still in office by the end of the year."
"At least the Prophet has somewhat reigned in his fear-mongering against Muggles and Muggle-borns," Hermione said, "That would increase the chances of someone decent being elected as Interim Minister, right?"
Neville shrugged apologetically. "Maybe. But I fear the damage is already done. My grandma says that Malfoy is getting more and more support from the Neutrals in the Wizengamot lately."
"Ah, bloody hell," Harry muttered. "Well, at least Voldemort should no longer be a threat after yesterday."
He ignored the flinching of Neville, Dean, and Ginny as he said the name.
"Probably," Hermione replied, "I wonder if the Headmaster thinks so, too."
Harry agreed. "We should try to talk to him. Maybe make an appointment to talk about other stuff, too."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Good. But not now, classes are about to start. We have to leave."
"Oh, right," Harry said. Quickly, they rose from the bench and left the Great Hall, closely followed by their friends.
#
Harry thought it was a lucky coincidence when he and Hermione ran into Professor Dumbledore the next day. Though, knowing the Headmaster, maybe it actually wasn't much of a coincidence at all.
They were in the hospital wing, and Harry and Hermione had just been about to leave after their Potions lesson with Madam Pomfrey when Dumbledore opened the door from the other side and entered the infirmary.
"Ah, good afternoon, Harry, Miss Granger," Dumbledore greeted them. "I thought I might find you here."
"Hello, Professor, we were actually hoping to speak with you, too," Harry replied.
"How may I be of assistance?" the Headmaster asked amiably.
"After the task yesterday, do you have any news about Voldemort?"
Dumbledore sighed. "Alas, we know very little. But the Dark Mark on the arms of his servants is still getting darker, so we have to assume that Tom is not only alive but is getting stronger."
"Really?" Harry asked with a frown. "But he wasn't at the task. How could he not be affected?"
"I cannot say," Dumbledore said apologetically.
"Do we really know that the Dark Mark is a reliable indicator of Riddle's condition?" Hermione asked hopefully. "Do you know how it works, Sir? How would it affect the mark and his followers if he died? Maybe it's colouring is delayed, or something like that?"
"Well, that might be the case," Dumbledore admitted. "But I think it would be foolish to cling to such hopes. I don't know of the precise nature of the mark, but I think his followers would feel it if Tom died. My spy in his ranks reported a brief, intense pain originating from the mark when Riddle was defeated on the night he attacked your parents, Harry. He didn't die then, but I expect something similar to happen in that instance."
"So your spy would feel some pain on his arm if Riddle died, and he hasn't reported such a thing?" Harry asked.
"Precisely," Dumbledore answered, "Tom's death might even affect his former servants in other ways that I'm not sure of. Probably more so if Tom didn't die suddenly but slowly from having his magic stripped, which might have been the most probable outcome of breaching the Goblet's contract. It is likely that the Death Eaters would at least share the pain he would feel, or even be more seriously affected. I know for a fact that they could tell from their mark whenever Tom was in pain or especially angry. There was never a time delay, so such a thing seems unlikely, Miss Granger."
"All right," Harry conceded grudgingly, "so we'll just continue to stay vigilant."
"Unfortunately, that is the best we can do for now," the Headmaster confirmed.
"While we're speaking of vigilance, Sir," Hermione added, "are you going to do anything about Crabbe?"
Harry saw how Dumbledore's jaw clenched slightly at the question.
"The actions of Mr Crabbe are indeed very worrisome," the Headmaster replied. "Ever since the first task of the tournament, I have tasked Professor Moody to keep a close watch on the boy. Professor Moody has investigated the boy thoroughly, so at least we can rule out that something even more nefarious is going on. But until now, Mr Crabbe has broken no laws and no school rules, so I'm unable to penalise him in any way. However, as soon as he steps even the tiniest bit out of line, I will see to it that Mr Crabbe will be expelled."
"That's..." Harry sighed. "I get it, but I don't like it. I don't want him around Hermione or me."
"I understand," Dumbledore said. "But as there is nought to be done about it right now, let's maybe talk about more pleasant things. How is your Occlumency training coming along?"
"We're doing fine, Sir," Hermione answered, "At least we think so."
"Any questions so far?" the Headmaster asked.
"Uhm, no, I don't think so. We should be ready for our talk by the end of the term," Harry replied.
Dumbledore smiled at both of them and nodded. "Excellent. And do you know where you will spend your summer, Harry?"
"With Hermione and her parents," Harry answered, his mood perking up immediately. He shared a look with Hermione, who smiled back at him. That was something they were both really looking forward to.
"Ah, of course," Dumbledore said brightly, "I will have to arrange for appropriate security measures, of course. Maybe I could join you on the day you return home, Miss Granger, and set up some wards at your residency?"
"Uhm," Hermione began hesitantly, "Could you maybe do it sooner, Headmaster? So that my parents are protected already? With the supremacists getting bolder, and me outperforming their kids at every turn at school, my family might already be in danger."
Dumbledore's eyes widened slightly. "Oh... Yes, quite right, Miss Granger. That might be for the best. Could you write to your parents and ask them whether it would be agreeable to them if I visited them this Sunday in the early evening?"
"Yes, thank you, Sir," Hermione replied. "And, maybe... well, maybe it would be for the best not to talk about Harry with them. You see, I haven't quite gotten around to telling them that Harry and I are a couple yet, and..."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrows at her, giving her an amused look.
"They won't mind," Hermione added quickly. "I'm... just waiting for the right moment. And it would be better if they think the protection you're putting up is because of me, and not because of Harry. If they think I was in danger because of Harry... well, they might not like that very much. They won't even like it that I might be in danger at all because of the magical world... but it should be all right if they think that I'm safe at Hogwarts and at home... Well, those dangers here at school are probably another topic best to avoid in your conversations, Sir, if you could do that, maybe..."
Dumbledore shook his head slightly, but he seemed to be more amused than anything else. "So I suppose I also should not tell your parents that you're participating in the Triwizard Tournament, Miss Granger?"
"Uhm, well..." Hermione answered with a downcast look, "I haven't quite gotten around to telling them that, either."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Well, then please let your parents know that I would like to set up some wards at your home as soon as possible, Miss Granger. When I see your parents, I will confirm that these wards a mere precautionary measure to protect you from criminals, and that all wizarding families have similar wards in place already."
"Thank you, Sir," Hermione answered, visibly relieved.
"But I think you should aim to be more honest with your parents in the future," Dumbledore added with a stern look, "But I'll leave that conversation with your parents to you, Miss Granger."
"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione answered. Harry wondered if the Professor had also noted that Hermione hadn't actually agreed with him.
"Well," Dumbledore said after a pause. "I'm glad that you will have a good summer despite Sirius still being unavailable, Harry."
"And why is that, by the way?" interjected Hermione, "Couldn't you just push for him to get a trial?"
Dumbledore sighed. "I could get him a trial, but not the votes in the Wizengamot to declare him innocent."
"What?" Harry protested. "But he could take Veritaserum and prove that he's innocent!"
"Even if Veritaserum was allowed, which it isn't, the Wizengamot does care much less about actual evidence than one would like," Dumbledore explained. "It's foremost a political body and behaves as such. And in the case of Sirius, the Progressive faction has little reason to trust him, the Dark faction will follow Lucius Malfoy, who will vote for a conviction just so that his wife can inherit the Black estate, and half the Neutrals are in Malfoy's pocket. No, a trial would only cause Sirius to end up back in Azkaban."
"I can't believe it!" Hermione exclaimed. "That's just- why- Argh! Stupid wizards!"
Harry was equally angry, but Dumbledore just shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
"Sirius is safe and sound, and recovering nicely from his time in Azkaban," the Headmaster said, "As far as I know, he is still somewhere on an island in the Caribbean. It's the best we can do for now."
Harry nodded reluctantly and reached for Hermione's hand to give her a comforting squeeze.
Hermione, however, frowned at the Headmaster's answer. "For now?" she repeated. "Do you think this will change anytime soon, Headmaster?"
"No," Dumbledore admitted with a regretful expression on his face, "No, I don't. Quite to the contrary, actually. Things will probably get worse before they get better."
"You think that Malfoy will become Minister?" Harry asked. That didn't sound good.
"Fudge will almost certainly lose his job," Dumbledore replied. "And then, it will be difficult to stop the supremacists from electing the Interim Minister. But I promise that I will do my best to prevent it. And Hogwarts is still outside of Ministry control, so even if Malfoy becomes Interim Minister, we should be able to stall him long enough until the next public election is held. He won't be able to do too much damage."
Harry hoped that Dumbledore wasn't too optimistic there, but he also couldn't see the point in worrying himself sick.
"All right, thank you for the talk, Professor," he said and stepped towards the door.
"Yes, thank you," Hermione concurred, "Good day, Headmaster."
Dumbledore gave them a nod, and Harry and Hermione left the hospital wing to return to the Gryffindor common room. The Headmaster had given them a lot to think about.
#
In the following weeks and months, Dumbledore's prediction proved accurate. The criticism of Minister Fudge became more and more vociferous, mostly due to the highly critical reporting of the Daily Prophet. First, the newspaper published a series of articles on the Minister's Undersecretary that revealed that the woman was almost as cruel as she was incompetent and that offered many salacious speculations on how she had gotten her position in the first place. Next, the Prophet reported extensively on the Minister's divorce proceedings and rehashed the Minister's fights with Barty Crouch. And finally, the newspaper disclosed how blunders of the Minister during meetings with foreign dignitaries had caused several diplomatic incidents. When one such blunder almost caused Magical Uganda to declare war on Britain, it was the final nail in the coffin of the Minister's political career.
At the monthly sitting of the Wizengamot in May, the Wizengamot voted almost unanimously to remove Minister Fudge from office. The election of the Interim Minister by the Wizengamot was scheduled to take place at the next sitting on the twenty-fourth of June, which was also the date of the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. The vote would be between the nominee of the Progressive faction, Head of the DMLE Amelia Bones, and Lucius Malfoy.
Harry, Hermione, and their friends followed the happenings with uneasiness. All their schoolmates that were well-traversed with wizarding politics, Neville amongst them, agreed that the election would be extremely close.
However, the couple soon had other things to worry about. The end-of-term exams were approaching, and so was the final task of the tournament.
Four weeks before the third task was about to take place, Harry accompanied Hermione, Fred, and George to a meeting with the other champions and Ludo Bagman at the Quidditch stadium in the early afternoon.
As they approached the pitch, they saw that hedges had been planted on the formerly well-kept lawn in the centre of the arena. The hedgerows twisted and crisscrossed in every direction over the entire area of the pitch.
Both Harry and the twins were outraged about what had been done to the Quidditch pitch, much to Hermione's amusement.
Bagman cheerfully greeted the champions as they arrived one after another. Once all participants except Fudge were present, Bagman began to explain the task.
"You can probably see that we're building a maze," Bagman said happily to the students that had gathered in front of him, with Harry and Hermione staying at the back of the group.
Bagman gestured towards the hedges. "Growing nicely, aren't they? In a month, they'll be twenty feet high!"
Harry raised his eyebrows at that. Next to him, Hermione gave a small snort that she quickly covered up with a fake cough. She must have had the same thought as him.
Harry leaned towards his girlfriend. "Should we tell him that with all the action taking place within the tall hedges, the audience in the stands won't be able to see anything, again?" he whispered for only her to hear, ignoring Bagman's ongoing explanations.
Hermione shook her head, a smirk on her lips. "Hm... Nah... That's really not our job, is it?"
A few minutes later, Bagman had finished his speech, and he concluded the meeting.
The champions dispersed soon after that. When Fred and George also retreated back to the castle, whispering to each other, Harry and Hermione were the only ones left standing on the pitch.
"So..." Harry began, "Any ideas?"
"Besides the obvious Plan A, you mean?" Hermione replied with a smirk.
Harry chuckled. "Yes, besides the obvious Plan A."
"As they are about to repeat the mistake with the spectators, I don't see how Plan A could not work," Hermione said with amusement.
"Still, better be prepared, right?" Harry pointed out.
"Yes..." Hermione agreed. "I could do what had been our idea for the first task and summon your Invisibility Cloak. I would probably be able to pass most obstacles and creatures if I'm invisible."
"Good, that's probably something that you should do whatever additional plan we might make," Harry agreed. He snickered. "Also, it would give the audience even less to see. For that alone, it's worth it."
Hermione nodded in agreement.
"I could try to make a Portkey to the centre of the maze," she then pondered. "I'd have to look it up. Within the tournament, it probably wouldn't be illegal. But it's also supposed to be extremely difficult."
"All right, let's keep in the back of our minds," Harry said. "Could you maybe use fire on the hedges? Burn the hedges down and walk straight to the centre?"
Hermione laughed out loud. "You want me to go all Wicked Witch on the tournament? Laughing evilly while I burn down the maze?"
"Pah!" Harry said dismissively. "Do you want to win or not?"
"Fire or blasting curses might work," Hermione admitted. "But the hedges might also be protected against fire."
"Against fire or against magic?" Harry asked. "If the maze is only protected against magical fire, maybe you could use Muggle means, again."
"Like what?"
Harry smirked. "A flamethrower?"
"A flamethrower?" Hermione repeated incredulously.
"Ask your parents to send you one for an Ancient Runes project?" Harry asked. He laughed, amused by Hermione's exasperated expression. "I'm just kidding!"
"Honestly, Harry," Hermione grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"But... but maybe you could just use gasoline or something to burn down the hedges?" Harry suggested.
"The hedges and everything in it, you mean? And where would I even get that much gasoline? I can just imagine the letter to my parents: 'Hi, Mum and Dad, could you please send me five-hundred gallons of gasoline for an Ancient Runes project?' I'm sure they'd be delighted! And I guess Hedwig will deliver it to me?"
"Okay, okay, you've made your point!" Harry admitted. "No need to get sarcastic. I thought we're just throwing back and forth some ideas."
"Stupid ideas, you mea-" Hermione began before her expression suddenly turned regretful. "I'm sorry. You're right. We're just brainstorming."
"It's all right," Harry answered with a smile and gave his girlfriend a peck on her lips. "It was a stupid idea."
There was a small pause during which they were both trying to come up with other solutions.
Suddenly, Harry's eyes widened. "Okay, I have another idea!" he exclaimed. "Why even go through the maze at all? You could just fly over it! Summon my Firebolt!"
Hermione gasped. "Oh... that... that's so easy and obvious that it just has to work! Brilliant, Harry!"
"I'll have to teach you how to fly my broom, of course," Harry added.
Hermione laughed. "Oh, I see, you just suggested that because you want me to finally learn how to fly properly."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe. Come on, it won't be so bad!" he pleaded.
"Fine," Hermione replied. "So, I'll learn fire and blasting hexes to obliterate the hedges, and you'll teach me how to fly your Firebolt so that I can summon it and fly over the maze."
"Sounds like we have a good Plan A, B, C, and D," Harry concluded.
"Right," Hermione agreed. "I'll have to read up on some of those charms and train flying, but we have plenty of time."
With the plan made, they left the Quidditch pitch and started to walk back towards the castle.
"Hey, let's visit Hagrid for a bit," Harry suggested when they passed Hagrid's hut.
Hermione agreed and they approached the hut. Harry knocked at the door, that was opened by Hagrid a few moments later.
"Hi Hagrid!" both teens greeted the big guy simultaneously.
Hagrid looked at them and sighed. "The final task is gettin' through a maze, but yeh know that already, don't yeh? There'll be some traps and all kind of creatures in it, but nothin' ter worry about. Boggards, Blast-ended Skrewts, an Acrumantula, a Sphinx – that one I'm lookin' forward to talkin' with! The cup will be in the middle of the maze. I don' know more than that. Now off with yeh ter the library, good luck!"
"Oh, wow, thanks, Hagrid," Harry said, taken aback a bit. "But actually, we already have a plan. We're really just here to meet up and have a cup of tea."
"Ah, well, why didn't yeh say so? Come on in, then," Hagrid replied with a visibly brightened mood and stepped aside from the door to allow them entry.
For the remaining afternoon, Hagrid entertained Harry and Hermine with tales on the various creatures that would be placed in the maze. He apparently saw no problem with that after they had assured him that they weren't visiting him to gain information on the third task.
As such, it proved to be an enjoyable afternoon for Harry and Hermione. Still, Harry couldn't help but wonder why the Ministry was even putting up the effort of shipping in various exotic creatures. After all, the spectators would once more be unable to observe the actions of the champions, anyway, due to the hedges blocking the view. Provided, that was, that anything would be happening within the maze in the first place.
#
Harry and Hermione had their first flying session the next day. They started with Hermione accompanying Harry on his broom while he flew very low and very slowly. By the end of the week, Hermione no longer screamed in fear whenever they were flying higher than a few yards.
She still hadn't quite gotten over her fear of heights, but they were making progress. And luckily, she would only have to fly over the twenty-foot-high hedges for the task, so Harry was confident that she would manage. He planned to let Hermione steer the broom the next week, and have her fly alone the week after that.
As they were also busy with training incendiary and blasting curses and had to revise for their exams, the next weeks flew by very quickly.
One week before the task, Harry and Hermione returned from another of their evening flying lessons – Hermione was flying by herself by now – when they noticed a large pedestal at one side of the entrance hall. On it, the Triwizard Cup was displayed for the school to see before it would be moved into the maze. As it was almost curfew, the entrance hall was empty apart from them.
"Oh, look!" Harry said and walked towards the cup. "They finally put it up. Soon, you'll be holding that."
"Well, I definitely hope so," Hermione agreed as they approached the pedestal. She studied the cup closely, her brows furrowed in concentration.
"Oh, I have no doubts that you'll win. By the way, have you decided yet what you'll do with the prize money?" Harry asked his girlfriend.
"Hmm, not yet," Hermione answered, turning her attention back to him. "I guess I'll just save it. It might come in handy once I finish my education. But while a thousand Galleons is a lot of money for us, it's not really that much money for adults."
Harry was just about to answer when a voice called out behind them.
"Hi, Harry, Hermione!"
Harry and Hermione turned around and saw Fred and George approaching them.
"Admiring the Triwizard Cup?" Fred asked. "We heard that is was moved here and decided to investigate."
"Yes," Harry confirmed. "We were talking about what Mione will do once she holds it in her hands. I just asked her what she'll do with the prize money."
He lowered his voice and whispered to the twins, loud enough for Hermione to overhear, "She says she's gonna save it, but I'll take a huge gamble and bet that more than half of the money will be spent on books. Any takers?"
The twins chuckled in response while Hermione just rolled her eyes.
"That's a sucker bet, Harry," George said.
"That's definitely what- Oi! Wait! Who's to say she's gonna win? One of us will win, of course!" Fred protested.
"Right," George concurred, but he didn't sound quite as convinced as his brother.
"Well, you have to admit that she has the best chance at winning, starting ahead of everyone else," Harry pointed out.
Fred sighed dramatically. "Yeah, I guess. But one can always hope, right? It would be nice to have a thousand Galleons."
George shrugged his shoulders. "Well, we'll just have to look elsewhere."
Harry raised an eyebrow at them. "Look elsewhere? I hope you're not about to do something stupid?"
"No, no," George replied quickly, "We kinda have the money already. It's owed to us, at least. But Bagman won't pay."
"Bagman?" Hermione wondered, and Harry was equally puzzled.
"Remember our bet with him at the Quidditch World Cup?" George asked. "We won, over a thousand Galleons, but Bagman paid us with Leprechaun gold. It vanished a few hours later!"
"And it wasn't an honest mistake?" Hermione asked.
"No," Fred answered bitterly, "We informed him of it, but he refuses to pay us!"
"Oh... that's..." Hermione muttered.
George continued, "We tried to blackmail him, but-"
"Blackmail him?" Hermione repeated.
"Well, yeah..." George shrugged. Both twins were looking slightly embarrassed.
"With what?" Harry asked curiously.
"Yeah... that's the thing," Fred replied. "We tried to blackmail him, but then we noticed that we don't really have anything we could blackmail him with. We don't have any evidence that we could show the Aurors, and they would never go after a Department Head on our word alone. And the Daily Prophet would never listen to us, either."
"Why don't you have any evidence?" Hermione asked. "You have witnesses that saw you making the bet, including the two of us."
"Well, yeah, but we signed a receipt stating that we received the gold," George explained.
"Oh..." Harry said, unable to come up with helpful ideas. "What would you have done with that kind of money, anyway?" he asked instead.
"Those Galleons would have really helped us with setting up our own joke shop," George answered.
"So you're really serious about that?" Hermione asked.
"Of course! It's the only thing in our lives we've ever been serious about," Fred replied.
"Yes, it's been our dream since we've been five years old," George added with a wistful look.
"Well," Harry began hesitantly, an idea starting to take form in his mind. "If it doesn't work out with Bagman, I think I know someone who might be able to fund you."
"Really?" Fred asked sceptically. "Who would support someone like us?"
Harry smiled brightly. "Padfoot."
Both twins' jaws dropped while Hermione shot Harry a surprised look.
"No way!" George exclaimed. "You know him!? Who is it?"
Harry didn't respond immediately. He was relieved that the twins didn't know about Sirius. Despite their broken friendship with Ron, at least he could still count on his former friend to keep silent about their shared adventures.
Finally, Harry answered, "I really shouldn't say for now. He's in a bit of trouble with the authorities at the moment. Through no fault of his own, mind you. Once that gets cleared up, I'm pretty sure he'll be happy to help you."
"Oh, all right," Fred said, not quite able to hide the disappointment. "Is there really no way that we could meet him?"
"You know what, I'll ask him. Maybe during the summer hols. Or at least, I can relay some messages. I think he would be happy to talk to you."
"Thanks, Harry, you won't regret it!" Fred replied enthusiastically.
"Yeah, if that works out, you'll always get a huge discount on our products. Both of you!" George added.
"What are you going to sell, anyway?" Harry asked. "I suppose that Ton-Tongue Toffees and Canary Creams alone won't be enough."
"Oh, we have much, much more planned. But we need more money to really get started with developing and testing," Fred replied.
"In the end, we'll sell both our own inventions and the stuff that you might find at Zonko's in Hogsmeade," George added. "We'll have prank items, sweets, love potions, games, you know, the usual... maybe even expand into other areas..."
Harry frowned at the casual mention of love potions, and he noticed that Hermione's eyes widened slightly, too, before she quickly schooled her features.
Before he could think of a good reply, Hermione spoke with forced calmness, "That's a nice vision you have. Your own shop with your own inventions to make people laugh. I'm sure that you will be very successful. Just a small word of caution, if I may?"
"Sure," Fred said, and George nodded, both clearly unaware of the danger they were in.
Hermione's eyes narrowed, and with a sudden motion, her wand was in her hand, pointing at the two shocked redheads.
"If you ever attempt to sell date rape drugs such as love potions, if you as much as even mention it ever again, I'll transfigure you into Flobberworms and let Snape use you as potion ingredients," Hermione hissed. "Have I made myself abundantly clear?"
Fred and George nodded frantically.
"Crystal!" George blurted out with wide eyes. "No lov- no you-know-what's, gotcha!"
Hermione continued glaring at them. "Good. Now get out of my sight!"
The twins hastily scrambled away, and Hermione turned towards Harry with a worried look, deflating slightly. "Was that too much?"
"No, Mione," Harry replied with a shake of his head. "I completely agree. I don't get how the wizarding world can be so blasé about stuff like this."
He sighed. "It's sad to see that even our friends have their heads up their own arses on these matters."
Hermione nodded, still looking rather annoyed.
"Well, let's go, before it's past curfew," Harry suggested and offered his arm to Hermione. Together, they left the entrance hall and made their way back towards the Gryffindor tower.
They walked in silence for a while, before Harry stated, "I'll still help them to get in contact with Sirius. I think we've seen that it would be good if they had some adult supervision."
Hermione chuckled and raised an eyebrow at Harry. "Sirius? An adult?"
Harry laughed. "Maybe not. But I guess if we involve Padfoot, Moony might also want to join the team."
"Professor Lupin? That's actually a good idea!" Hermione agreed.
"He'd be more responsible," Harry said. "And he might be looking for a job, anyway. It's hard for him with his affliction."
Hermione nodded. "Now we only have to get Sirius cleared."
Harry sighed. "Yeah, that won't be easy."
"Let's think about it some more during the summer hols. One thing at a time," Hermione said. "Right now, we have to focus on our exams and the third task. I'm prepared for the task, so we should revise some more for the exams. This evening, we should read up on History, I think. I have lent out a fascinating book on the Goblin Rebellion of 1612. It details how Nagnok the Ugly..."
Harry rolled his eyes as he walked on alongside Hermione. Not for the first time he wished that Hermione had just opted out of taking the exams, as it would have been her right as Triwizard champion. He was very much looking forward to the end of next week when both the exams and the tournament would be over.
#
In the evening on the same day, Barty Crouch Jr carefully sneaked through the abandoned parts of the Hogwarts dungeons while polyjuiced as Alastor Moody. Finally, after taking many turns in the narrow, cobweb-covered passages, he arrived at the entrance of a large arched cellar.
A thick layer of privacy wards lay upon the entrance and Barty shivered as felt the magic sweep over him when he stepped through the barrier. The Dark Lord was already awaiting him in the dark room.
"You're late," Riddle hissed angrily.
Barty gulped fearfully. "Please forgive me, my Lord."
"Well, do you have anything to report?" Riddle asked.
"My Lord, I'm afraid that the Headmaster is guarding himself and his office very carefully. Even with the map we got from Potter, I don't see a way for us to catch him unaware. We won't be able to take him out without a fight."
Riddle gave an angry hiss in response. "I'm growing tired of this body. Only once I'm restored I'll be powerful enough to defeat the old fool... Fine. This is not unexpected. We will look for a substitute, then."
"Should we use one of the traitors? Lucius maybe?" Barty suggested gleefully.
"It would be well deserved," Riddle agreed. "But I know that once I announce my return, they will all come crawling back, begging for mercy. I will make them pay for their insolence, of course, but unfortunately, they are more useful to me alive than dead."
"Why not simply take Alastor Moody's blood, then?" Barty asked.
Riddle sighed. "You're forgetting that the crazy old man was hit with so many dark curses over the years that some are still affecting him even now. Using his blood might introduce a dangerous contamination."
"Ah. How about the Mudblood girl that has the impudence to show up real wizards in the tournament?" Barty suggested instead.
"Yes, I was thinking about choosing her," the Dark Lord replied slowly, "But isn't Potter fond of her? I wouldn't want to damage my alliance with the boy. He will be quite useful to me in the future."
"He's only toying with the naive girl to maintain his cover," Barty said dismissively and smirked. "And I guess she's pretty enough to offer him some entertainment... But the boy is dedicated to our cause. If he wasn't, he would have exposed us to Dumbledore a long time ago."
"You are right," Riddle agreed. "He has proven his worth to our cause by keeping our secrets and providing us with the incredible map of the castle. Very well, we shall take the girl, then."
"Potter's Occlumency should be sufficient to involve him by now. He would probably be eager to help us if we asked," Barty pointed out.
Riddle nodded. "That would make things easier. He could deliver the Mudblood right to us."
"Yes, my Lord. Shall I speak to the boy?"
Riddle shook his head. "Not yet. We will wait to see how the girl fares in the tournament. If she gets hurt or killed in the task, we would be tipping our hand for nought if we informed the boy now. There will be enough time for the boy to act once the tournament has ended."
"Yes, my Lord," Barty replied. "When shall the ritual take place?"
"As soon as possible. On the evening after third task," the Dark Lord decided. "The Headmaster will be at the Wizengamot sitting then, so he won't monitor the wards of the school. This will allow us to perform the ritual in the castle without having to worry about being detected."
"Yes, my Lord," Barty replied enthusiastically, "Your brilliance is unmatched! Soon, the world will tremble before you once more!"
Riddle nodded, a cold smirk appearing on his lips. "It will. Now go and prepare everything!"
"As you command, my Lord," Barty said, bowed before his Lord and quickly left the room.