Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

WARNING

This story is a German's attempt to be funny.

Proceed with caution!

- CHAPTER ONE -

How to fool a goblet

Harry and Hermione were sitting on a couch in the Gryffindor common room in front of the fireplace. It was late in the evening on the day before Halloween. Tomorrow, after the Halloween feast, the Goblet of Fire would select the champions of the Triwizard Tournament.

Harry was holding his Potions book, but instead of reading it, he watched the Weasley twins as they plotted how to get around Dumbledore's Age Line and enter their names into the Goblet of Fire. Currently, they were discussing Ageing Potions.

Hermione was reading a thick tome on Arithmancy, but she also seemed to listen in on the twins' discussion.

It was well past midnight, and the four students were the only ones still left in the common room when Hermione looked at Harry, sighed and shook her head in annoyance. "Really, wizards have not an ounce of logic or common sense."

Harry looked at her in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Those two." She nodded towards the twins. "Honestly, the solution is obvious, isn't it?"

This caught the twins' attention, but it was Harry who answered. "Sorry, but not everyone here is a genius like you," he said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That's the point: You don't have to be a genius. You just need a tiny little bit of common sense."

"Oh, please enlighten us, O Wise One," Fred – no, George, said as the twins moved towards the fourth-years and sat on the table in front of the couch.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at them. "And why should I help the two of you to break the rules?"

"Name your price," Fred – no, this one was George, said.

Harry looked sternly at the girl next to him. "Hermione, if you didn't want to tell us the solution, you really should have kept quiet. You can't say something like that and then not share your wisdom with us mere mortals."

"Oh, fine," the brunette answered. She tried to act serious, but her eyes twinkled with amusement.

Hermione turned towards the twins. "No pranks on Harry or me, or on any first-years, for the entire school year!" she demanded.

"No pranks on Harry or you, or the first-years, for the rest of the week," George – was it George? – offered in return.

"The. Entire. School year." Hermione insisted sternly. "Take it or leave it."

"Oh, a feisty one," Fred said and shared a look with his brother. "Fine, if this works, you have yourself a deal."

Hermione leaned back on the couch, a triumphant look on her face. "Very well," she said. "Tell me, why are you trying to enter your names into the Goblet?"

"The tournament-," George began, but Hermione interrupted him.

"You misunderstand. Why are you trying to enter your names yourself?"

The three boys looked at her gobsmacked.

"What?"

"You mean...?"

Hermione nodded. "Nothing prevents anyone from entering someone else's name into the Goblet. Anyone of age who gets past the Age Line could put your names in it."

"Are you sure?" Fred asked with a frown. "Wouldn't then simply the person who had entered the name be required to compete in the tournament?"

"That would make sense," Hermione agreed, "but it is not the case. Actually, this is not even my idea. This has happened before. Three times, a champion was selected who could prove that he hadn't entered his name into the Goblet: Randolph Plunkett for Hogwarts in 1246, Glover Hawksworth for Hogwarts in 1378 and Corvus Lestrange for Beauxbatons in 1610. Of course, there was no age limit back then, but that's beside the point. It is a fact that the Goblet creates a contract with the person who is selected, no matter whether that person has entered their name themself."

There was a long silence during which the twins looked at Hermione incredulously, while Harry took in the scene with amusement.

"What?" Hermione finally asked with annoyance.

"Don't mind them, Hermione," Harry said. "They are just a bit surprised how much you have read up on the tournament in just a few days."

The twins nodded in agreement.

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back towards Fred and George.

"Well, anyway, now you simply have to find an of-age student to enter your names for you. I'm sure you'll be able to convince somebody somehow," she summarised.

The twins smirked at that.

"Kenneth is of age, his birthday was a few days ago," George said.

"I'm sure he also wouldn't mind if we stopped pranking him," Fred continued.

Hermione tried to look at them disapprovingly, but the twitching of her mouth's corners betrayed her amusement.

After a pause, Hermione straightened up and started to talk again. "Okay. Great. Now that the first part is solved, the second part actually requires a little bit of more advanced magic."

"There's a second part?" George wondered.

"Honestly," Hermione sighed. "Obviously, the ultimate goal here is not your names to enter the Goblet. But your names to exit it. Wouldn't you agree?"

The twins stared at her with amazement.

"You can help with that as well?" Fred asked excitedly.

"I might," Hermione answered with a smug smile. She then continued in her lecture mode. "While enchanted objects or artefacts such as the Goblet are useful as unbiased judges, they can be very easily manipulated. Just think of the Hogwarts sorting of 1832."

"Uhh, what?" The twins and Harry said simultaneously.

Hermione huffed in annoyance. "Am I the only one who has ever read Hogwarts a History?"

"Yes," was the three boys' instant answer.

Hermione sighed. "In 1832, all new first-year students were sorted into Hufflepuff. Later it turned out that a seventh-year prankster had confounded the Sorting Hat into thinking that Hufflepuff was the only Hogwarts House. It caused quite a scene. Especially because it couldn't be undone afterwards."

Hermione paused for a moment and then continued to explain. "You see, the Sorting Hat is very good at what it does. It selects students for Houses, just like the Goblet selects the champions for the tournament. But at the same time, such artefacts are much more susceptible to manipulation than a human judge would be. They can be targeted with spells just like a human, but they cannot defend against it. They also lack the level of self-awareness to recognise and fight against mind alterations once they have been applied."

"So, anyone could cast spells on the Goblet and change the criteria of the selection?" Harry asked.

"Make it think that anyone named Weasley should be chosen before any others?" Fred suggested with glee.

"Well," Hermione started hesitantly, "it would be very difficult to change the core functions of an artefact. Only a wizard with the power-level of Professor Dumbledore could make the Sorting Hat think that brave people should be sorted into Slytherin and cunning people should be sorted into Gryffindor. Because the sorting criteria are just too ingrained into the Sorting Hat. Instead, you have to find a way around this, like making the Hat think that there is only one Hogwarts House."

The three boys nodded in understanding.

"For example," Harry began, "you could enter your name under another school name, and make the Goblet think that there was no limit to the number of participating schools?"

"Exactly," Hermione said with excitement. "And that's a great idea, Harry!"

There was a pause, during which the girl slumped back down into the couch and got a contrite expression. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether we could learn the Confundus Spell in time. I have only read about it, but never tried it out."

The twins grinned at that.

"A good thing that we are already quite adept at the spell, then," Fred said.

"It really is a spell that any decent prankster should know, after all," George elaborated.

The twins stood up from the table they had been sitting on.

"Please excuse us," Fred said. "We have to blackmail-"

"Politely ask," George interrupted.

"-politely ask our dear friend Kenneth to get up and join us," Fred continued without missing a beat.

With that, they exited the common room and ran up to their dormitory shouting for Kenneth.

Left in the common room, Harry eyed Hermione suspiciously.

"All right, spill it," he said. "Why are you doing this?"

"What? I am allowed to get up to some mischief from time to time as well, am I not?" Hermione replied defensively.

Harry raised his eyebrows at her.

"Fine!" Hermione huffed. "Age Line or not, it is completely irresponsible of the organisers to use the Goblet, seeing how easy it is to enter someone else's name into it. You know that there is a good chance that your name will come out of the Goblet tomorrow, especially considering your usual luck on Halloween?"

Harry blanched at hearing this, and Hermione continued to explain, "I see this as a form of protest, or civil disobedience, to encourage the ones responsible to be more careful in the future. If some names come out of the Goblet tomorrow that shouldn't, that would make this point quite well. And it would take the heat off you, too, if you really get chosen."

And as an afterthought, she added, "And honestly, is it so hard to believe that I might want to get up to some mischief occasionally, too?"

"No, of course it isn't. And I have to say you're even quite brilliant at it," Harry answered with a chuckle and then hugged her briefly. "But thank you for doing this for me. Partially at least."

He then rose from the couch and ran up to his dorm to fetch his Invisibility Cloak and the Marauder's Map. He didn't want to miss the fun. And he had some further ideas on how to prank the tournament, for which he needed to grab a few additional supplies.

When he returned, the twins and Kenneth Towler, their fellow sixth-year Gryffindor, were already waiting in the common room. Kenneth, wearing pyjamas and a dressing gown, didn't seem to be thrilled to be there.

To Harry's delight, Hermione was apparently determined to join them, too.

Harry then checked the map for any professors patrolling the corridors. Luckily, there were no movements between Gryffindor Tower and the entrance hall where the Goblet was situated. That was not surprising, considering it was almost two o'clock in the morning by now.

All professors and Filch seemed to be in their respective quarters. The map showed McGonagall in her private chambers close to Gryffindor Tower. The same was true for Snape, Sprout, Flitwick, and the other professors. Hagrid was in his hut. Moody was in his chamber, together with Barty Crouch.

Harry did a double-take at seeing that. Then, shuddering, he quickly folded the map together. Moody and Crouch? He would have been happier not knowing that. He really didn't mind what other people were getting up to. It was their business. But really? Moody and Crouch? He shuddered again.

"Are you all right?" Hermione asked worriedly. "You suddenly look so pale. Are the corridors clear?"

"Wha- yeah, yeah, everything is fine. We can go," Harry muttered.

Together, the five Gryffindors left the common room.

#

A few minutes later, Harry, Hermione, Fred, George, and Kenneth Towler stood in the Hogwarts entrance hall close to the Age Line that encircled the Goblet of Fire.

Fred and George aimed their wands at the Goblet and simultaneously yelled, "Confundo!"

For a brief moment, there was a weak glow around the Goblet, signalling that the spells had taken hold.

"Well done, now the Goblet will select one champion for any number of schools," Hermione said with excitement.

The twins then handed two pieces of parchment to Kenneth. One read 'Fred Weasley, Mahoutokoro School of Magic' and the other 'George Weasley, Uagadou School of Magic'.

Kenneth passed the Age Line and slowly walked towards the Goblet. Hesitantly, he held the two slips of parchment over the blue flames of the Goblet and let loose. He jumped back as the parchments fell into the Goblet, but apart from a flash of the flames, nothing unexpected happened. Apparently, the plan had worked.

The Weasley twins cheered and ran towards Hermione. They almost toppled her as they engulfed her in a strong hug.

"Let go of me, you rascals!" Hermione shouted, but laughing at their antics.

The twins stepped back and theatrically bowed before her.

"My slightly less handsome brother and I will be forever in your debt," Fred stated solemnly.

"If there is anything my slightly less intelligent brother or I can do for you, never hesitate to ask!" George continued.

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said with amusement.

The banter was interrupted by Harry.

"Shit!" he exclaimed while looking on the Marauder's Map. "Snape is coming this way!"

He unfolded his Invisibility Cloak. "Hermione, get under the cloak with me! Boys – RUN!"

The others didn't hesitate. Harry threw the Invisibility Cloak over himself and Hermione while the older boys sprinted out of the entrance hall back towards Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione clearly expected Harry to follow the others, but he didn't move.

"Harry, let's go," she whispered while tugging his arm. Harry couldn't help but laugh at her panicky expression.

"Harry, stop it! Be quiet! We have to leave!" Hermione whispered, now becoming agitated. Understandably so, as Snape was the last professor anyone would want to be caught by when breaking curfew.

However, Harry only smiled in response. "Don't worry. Snape is nowhere around," he revealed.

He chuckled while he lowered the cloak, folded it and put it back into his pocket. "I only wanted to get rid of the others."

"What?" Hermione wondered. "What for?"

"Well, as good as a prank it will be on the tournament organisers to have Fred and George's names come out of the Goblet, I think we can make the prank even better. But the twins might not like it, as it would steal their thunder," he explained.

"Oh," Hermione said with an arched eyebrow. "And how would we do that?"

"Well, first, I wanted to ask you if you would like to participate in the tournament?" Harry said.

"ME?" Hermione exclaimed, utterly flabbergasted. It was apparent that the thought had never entered her mind. "I might be near the top of our year, but I'm only in the fourth year. And book-smarts will only get you so far, and-"

"Hermione!" Harry interrupted. "You are not near the top of our year. You are at the top! Moreover, you are the most brilliant student in this school! I have no doubts that you would do great in the tournament. And I think you would really deserve the recognition. You have faced more dangerous situations than any other student in this school, apart from me maybe, and we have always prevailed."

He embraced her and looked into her eyes. "I really think The Brightest Witch of her Age could win the Triwizard Tournament," he said softly but with confidence.

"Oh, Harry, thank you!" Hermione whispered and hugged him with less force but somehow just as tightly as she normally did.

"But even if I was willing to participate," Hermione began as they finally separated, and Harry smiled widely at hearing that, "even if, how would we even enter my name? Kenneth is gone, with the twins, if you haven't noticed."

Harry smiled mischievously. "I don't think we need him. I have some common sense as well, you know," he answered.

"Is that so?" Hermione asked playfully. "And what exactly is your easy and obvious solution?"

"I won't tell. But I could show you, if I had a parchment with your name on it," Harry replied.

"I don't even have any parchment and-" Hermione started, just as Harry pulled some parchment and a self-inking quill out of his robes.

"You planned for this?" Hermione asked in surprise.

Harry smirked in response. "I might have," he said as he offered her quill and parchment.

Hermione took the supplies and walked towards a nearby table to write down her name.

A moment later, she looked down on the piece of parchment that read 'Hermione Jane Granger, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. Her excitement and anticipation was evident on her face.

"Okay, what now?" she asked Harry as he moved to stand next to her.

Harry smiled and aimed his wand at the parchment on the table. "Wingardium Leviosa," he cast.

The parchment rose into the air, and Harry levitated it past the Age Line, over the Goblet and let it fall into the blue flames.

Hermione watched on with an incredulous look on her face and shook her head in annoyance when the flash of the flames signalled that the name had been entered successfully. "Wizards are just so stupid. Not an ounce of logic or common sense!" she exclaimed with exasperation.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle over her irritation and nodded in agreement.

"How about entering some more names?" he then asked. "Maybe someone to make you look even better in comparison?"

Hermione smirked at that. "Malfoy?" she suggested.

Harry thought about it for a moment. "Maybe," he said, "but being selected as a champion would only stroke his ego... You know who we should enter? His bookends!"

Hermione burst into laughter. "You're right. And that's brilliant!"

Harry then quickly filled out two more pieces of parchment, with Hermione supplying the names of the magical schools.

He cast two more Levitation Charms, and the parchments for 'Vincent Crabbe, Koldovstoretz School of Magic' and 'Gregory Goyle, Castelobruxo School of Magic' soon found their way into the Goblet.

"All right, I think we pranked the tournament enough now, haven't we?" Hermione asked.

"I think we have," Harry agreed. "Let's go, before Snape shows up after all."

Together, the two Gryffindors left the entrance hall and walked back in the direction of their common room. But after a minute of walking silently, Harry suddenly stopped and grabbed Hermione's arm in excitement.

"Does it have to be a student?" he almost yelled at her.

"What?" Hermione asked in surprise.

"The Goblet. How does it know that a name entered is the name of a student? Could we enter someone who's not a student? Could we enter a professor? Could we enter any random adult wizard?" Harry questioned at a rapid pace.

Hermione's brows furrowed as she contemplated the question. "I'm not sure, but I think we could..." she said hesitantly.

Harry was almost jumping up and down in excitement. "Let's go back!" he exclaimed. "We have to put in more names! Who should we enter?"

"How about... Barty Crouch?" Hermione asked as they made their way back into the entrance hall. She still disliked the guy for what he had done to his poor elf Winky.

"NO, not Crouch!" Harry shouted immediately and very loudly.

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "Why not?"

Harry shuddered. "Not Crouch! I don't want to think about Crouch! End of discussion."

Harry was thankful that Hermione shrugged and didn't follow up on that.

"How about Professor Snape?" she asked instead.

"Or Dumbledore!" Harry suggested.

"You know he would easily win, right?" Hermione replied and frowned. "Come to think about it, Professor Snape would, too. As much as we don't like him, he is a capable wizard."

"Right, only pathetic wizards should be entered." Harry agreed. "No fun otherwise."

There was a slight pause.

"Cornelius Fudge!" both teens then called out at the same time.

"Okay, that's great," Harry said, and Hermione nodded in agreement. "Who else?"

"Too bad Lockhart lost his memory," Hermione muttered.

There was another pause before Hermione gasped.

"How about settling some personal debts?" she suggested. "How about Wormtail and Voldemort?"

Harry looked at Hermione in shock. For several long seconds, he didn't say anything before he broke into a broad smile.

"Hermione, I love you!" he exclaimed, embraced her and kissed the surprised girl fully on her lips. Before Hermione could react, Harry had pulled back and was now filling out parchment slips. In his euphoria, he didn't realise what he had just said and done.

"Does it have to be magic schools?" Harry asked.

"Wh-wh-what?" Hermione muttered.

"The schools. I don't know any more magic schools. Can we submit names for Muggle schools?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, yes, sure, no problem," Hermione replied absentmindedly.

A few moments later, she watched on as Harry levitated the parchments for 'Cornelius Fudge, Little Whinging Primary School', 'Peter Pettigrew, Smeltings School' and 'Tom Marvolo Riddle, St Brutus Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys' into the Goblet of Fire. Three flashes of the flames signalled the acceptance of the entries.

Harry then turned back towards Hermione, who for some reason he couldn't understand seemed to be a bit befuddled.

"Let's go!" he said happily and took her hand as they left the entrance hall for the second time that night.

#

Harry had a wide grin plastered on his face and a slight spring in his step as he and Hermione made their way back towards the common room. If their plan for the next evening was successful, Voldemort would no longer be a threat. Who would have thought that all you needed to defeat a Dark Lord was a piece of parchment and an enchanted goblet?

Unnoticed by him, Hermione also smiled contently as she glanced down on their interlinked hands.

It wasn't until they were back in the now completely abandoned common room that Hermione broke their silence. "So... that kiss...?" she said gently as she guided them both towards 'their' couch.

Harry followed along as his euphoric expression gave way to a confused look.

"Kiss? What kiss?" he asked with bewilderment as they sat down, facing each other.

"The kiss you gave me a few minutes ago," Hermione answered nervously. "I think we should talk about it."

"I- I didn't-" Harry protested as he tried to recall his actions in the entrance hall.

Then, his eyes widened in horror. "Oh, Merlin! Hermione, I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I didn't mean it! I was just so excited, but I know that's no excuse. Please, please forgive me!"

Hermione lowered her gaze to the floor. "You didn't mean it?" she asked with a hitched voice.

Harry had no idea what had suddenly changed, he only knew that he didn't want to see Hermione sad because of him.

"Please, Hermione, I'm rubbish at this," he pleaded. "You seemed to be happy. And now I apologised, and now you're not. This is confusing. Are you mad at me for kissing you? Or something else? Please, help me make it all right."

Hermione seemed to calm down a bit and turned back towards him. "Tell me, did you really mean what you said? Do you like me as more than a friend? Or did you only say it because you were excited?"

"I did say it because I was excited," Harry began and immediately saw in her sad brown eyes that this was the wrong answer. "But that doesn't mean that I didn't mean it. I do like you. Maybe more than I should as a friend."

Her smile was back, and Harry cheered inwardly for a good save. Even better, all of this almost sounded as if Hermione might actually fancy him a bit, too.

He had never allowed himself to entertain the idea of having any relationship with his best female friend beyond mere friendship. But now that he thought about it, and saw that it might indeed be possible, he realised that he very much wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with the brilliant, pretty and amazing girl who had always been by his side.

Deciding that Gryffindors charge ahead, he gathered his courage. "So, uhh, Hermione... willyoubemygrlfrnd?"

Hermione blinked. "What?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Instead of answering, Hermione lunged herself at him. Unlike their first kiss, the kiss that followed wasn't short and wasn't chaste. But it was perfect.

It was followed by some more kisses, but soon the tired teens just cuddled together and held each other tight. They didn't talk about what had happened or what would happen. With a content smile on their lips, they both fell asleep in each other's arms on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.

#

In the early hours of the morning, a disillusioned figure sneaked into the Hogwarts entrance hall and crossed the Age Line.

A piece of parchment appeared over the Goblet of Fire. Written on it were the words 'Harry Potter, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry'. The flames flashed as the parchment fell into the Goblet.

Then, a voice muttered, "Ilvermorny is participating in the Triwizard Tournament. Confundo!"

A brief glow engulfed the Goblet, and the invisible figure mumbled, "Oh, I'm looking forward to the selection of the champions in the evening. The fools will have no idea what hit them."

The figure left the entrance hall, not knowing how right they were.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER TWO -

We are the champions

Harry was woken up by a flash of light. He blinked as his eyes adapted to the light but noticed that his view was blocked by a mane of bushy brown hair. Hermione had fallen asleep on top of him and was hugging him like a giant teddy bear.

He checked and was relieved that his hands were at no inappropriate places. Then, slowly, he sat up and looked around.

He was greeted by what seemed to be half of Gryffindor House gathered around the couch on which he and Hermione had been sleeping. Almost all of his housemates wore stupid grins and were whispering to each other. At the front stood Colin Creevey, holding up his camera.

"Good morning, Harry! Why are you sleeping with Hermione in the common room?" the ever-excited boy shouted cheerfully, to the raucous laughter of the assembled Gryffindors.

Harry groaned, his cheeks heating up in embarrassment. At the same time, he felt Hermione stir on his chest.

"Hm-mmh-hmmmm?" the girl muttered groggily as her eyes fluttered open.

"Eloquent as ever. Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Harry whispered and placed a chaste kiss on his girlfriend's lips. "Looks like we have an audience."

"What?" Hermione said and looked up, now becoming fully awake. She flushed crimson as she noticed their company, but Harry noted that it suited her fine and wondered how far downward her blush extended.

He was brought out of his reverie when a small girl with curly black hair stepped towards him with tears in her eyes and an angry expression on her face.

"Harry, how could you!? I thought we had something special!" the girl shouted and gave him a light pat on his left cheek. Though, Harry suspected that maybe it was supposed to be a slap, but the girl was probably in her first or second year and rather small at that.

"And you are?" Harry asked in confusion, which caused the girl to break out in tears.

Another small girl with blond hair tugged the wailing girl away. "Sorry, sorry, please ignore Romilda here," she said with an apologetic look.

Harry shook his head with amusement and then turned his attention towards the assembled crowd. "Well, what are you guys gawking at? Never seen two people falling asleep in the common room before? Go find yourselves your own girlfriend instead of ogling mine!"

Most of the students dispersed with that, some even offered their polite congratulations before they left, and the Weasley twins chased away the rest of their classmates and the Quidditch team. Harry hoped that the twins did this because they felt indebted to them, but he strongly suspected that they just wanted to be able to tease the new couple mercilessly without interference.

Hermione groaned as she caught the eyes of the smirking Fred and George.

"Teasing counts as pranking!" she yelled just as George opened his mouth, clearly in the vain hope of reminding the twins of the agreement of the previous evening.

"Nah, I really don't think it does," Fred said after a pause.

"We were worried when you didn't arrive in the common room after us, you know," George took over.

"But we are happy to see that you weren't caught by Snape, but were simply otherwise occupied for a while," Fred finished, wiggling his eyebrows at the blushing couple.

Hermione sighed. "I guess we deserve this for falling asleep in the common room." But then she smirked. "But actually, we didn't follow you because we were busy improving your prank on the tournament."

"Oh, do tell," George said, visibly intrigued.

"Nope, you'll have to wait until the evening like everyone else," Harry informed the twins. "That's what you get for teasing us."

He got up from the couch and helped up Hermione as well. "Now, if you excuse us, we have to freshen up a bit."

With that, Harry and Hermione turned and went up the stairs to their respective dormitory.

#

Hermione had just entered her dorm when she was accosted by a squealing Lavender and Parvati.

"Ooohhh, you have to tell us everything!" Lavender demanded, hyperventilating. "How was it? Is he good? How big is he?"

Lavender held up her index fingers close to each other and then slowly moved them apart. As the distance between her fingers got wider, so got the girls' eyes.

"NO WAY!" Parvati exclaimed when Lavender's fingers were more than a foot apart.

"STOP IT!" Hermione shouted with annoyance. "We only cuddled and fell asleep. And you're the last persons I would tell anything if anything had happened, anyway."

"Ooohhh, so you're admitting it! You did it!" Lavender shrieked.

"I don't, and we didn't!" Hermione said indignantly.

"That's exactly what you would say if you had done it," Parvati said with a triumphant look.

"I- I- AAArrrggghhh," Hermione screamed in frustration and fled into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind her.

#

Harry and Hermione met in the common room half an hour later and left for the Great Hall for breakfast.

"Were your dorm mates as nosey and irritating as mine?" Hermione asked Harry with an annoyed look as they made their way towards the ground floor.

"I don't think any boy could ever be as nosey and irritating as Lavender and Parvati when they're in one of their moods," Harry replied, chuckling. "And no, the boys didn't bother me at all. Seamus and Dean are already at breakfast, Neville simply told me that he wished us well, and Ron is still sleeping, luckily, it's Saturday after all..."

Harry got a slightly pained expression at the last part of his statement, and Hermione also started to look worried.

"Ron..." she sighed. "He won't be very happy with us..."

Harry shook his head. "No, he won't be. I don't know what will bother him more: Us entering your name into the Goblet but not his, or us two getting together. But both of those things and at the same time... yeah, it will be bad."

"Wait, why would us becoming a couple bother him?" Hermione wondered.

Harry looked at her in surprise. "You know that he has a small crush on you, don't you?"

"What?" Hermione exclaimed disbelievingly.

"Well, he has a weird way of showing it," she stated after a pause.

"He has a weird way of doing most things," Harry qualified.

"Fair enough," Hermione conceded. "Well, anyway, I really don't think that we can be expected to not offend Ronald Weasley's delicate sensibilities indefinitely. If he can't be happy for us, he really isn't much of a friend at all."

Harry could only nod in agreement, but Hermione wasn't finished yet. "And if he really believes that he would have any chance at winning the tournament, he's even dumber than one of his chess pieces. Honestly, he does realise that competing in the tournament will require an obscene amount of studying, right?"

"No, I don't think he does," Harry agreed, but then his eyes widened in horror, and he stared at his girlfriend with a frightful expression.

"We will be doing an obscene amount of studying to prepare you for the tournament, won't we?" he said with a hollow voice.

"Yes, we will," Hermione answered cheerfully and with a slightly vicious grin. "And because this whole operation was your idea to begin with, you will help me every step on the way."

Harry couldn't really argue against that, but his formerly bright mood had definitely taken a few hits by now.

#

During breakfast, Harry noticed that Hermione's mood had also become more sombre. "Let's take a stroll around the lake," he suggested when they were done eating. "Then we can have some privacy to discuss recent and future events". Hermione readily agreed.

"What is it you're worried about?" Harry inquired as he and Hermione were walking along the lakeside, holding hands.

"You know, the more I think about it, the more I realise that entering my and the other names into the Goblet was a pretty bad mistake," Hermione said. "For a start, I'm only a fourth-year student. The other champions will know much more spells than me, and they'll be magically stronger, too. More importantly, while the Headmaster said that the tournament would be safer than in the past, it might still be rather dangerous. Especially for someone younger. My parents will be furious at me for entering! And what if I get seriously hurt? What- what then?"

Hermione was becoming frantic, and Harry hugged her to offer some comfort. "Hermione, please calm down!" he whispered in her ear.

"Okay, maybe we were was a bit reckless yesterday," he admitted. "I guess we're Gryffindors for a reason." Hermione gave him a small smile, but it seemed rather strained.

Harry continued, "But please don't worry too much, Hermione. It's a friendly tournament for school children. Or for of-age students, but students, still. What's the worst they might let you do? It's not as if you'll have to fight a dragon or something."

They both chuckled at that.

"Besides, you are forgetting the most important fact," Harry said after a pause. At his girlfriend's questioning look, he elaborated, "And that is: Wizards. Are. Stupid. That will be the corner-stone of your winning strategy. You will win the tournament by finding easy and obvious solutions that the organisers overlooked because they, like everybody else in the magical world, possess not an ounce of logic or common sense."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh at that. When she had calmed down again, she hugged her boyfriend tightly. "Thank you, Harry," she whispered. "And you know, that might even work."

But then she bit her bottom lip and once more got a worried look. "But what about Minister Fudge and the others? People will be furious. The Minister will be furious. Haven't we broken all sorts of laws?" she said with a frightened voice.

Harry just laughed. "How would they even find out that it was us? That would require some kind of investigation to be carried out. Things being thoroughly investigated at Hogwarts – come on, pull the other one! If there can be a Basilisk roaming through the halls and petrifying students without a proper investigation happening, they won't start investigating a harmless prank like this."

After a while, Hermione nodded reluctantly. "I guess you are right," she muttered.

Harry noticed that she wasn't fully convinced yet and tried to placate her further. "Even if we were found out somehow, nothing would happen. If Fudge really gets selected, he can hardly back out without losing face. He can hardly say it's too difficult or too dangerous for him but not for children, right? And Crabbe and Goyle is an internal school matter and thus falls under the purview of Albus You-get-a-second-chance, You-get-a-second-chance, Everybody-gets-a-second-chance Dumbledore. At worst we get some points deducted and a detention. As for Wormtail and Voldy, they really ought to give us Orders of Merlin for that."

Hermione snorted and shook her head in amusement. "You really are incorrigible."

She gave Harry a peck on the lips. "Thanks for cheering me up, let's get back to the castle."

#

As they were walking back towards the school, Harry and Hermione spotted the one person that they had hoped to avoid for a little while longer.

"Wait!" Ron shouted as he ran towards them.

"Finally, I've found you!" the redhead panted when he had caught up with the couple. "You know, there are the weirdest rumours about you two! Everyone says that you two are boyfriend and girlfriend now. Can you believe it?" He guffawed.

"Well," Hermione said and turned towards Harry. She leaned in for a deep kiss that Harry happily reciprocated.

"I guess even the Hogwarts rumour mill has to be right once in a while," the brunette said with a smile once they had separated.

Ron was gaping at the couple with wide eyes, his ears quickly reddening. "Wh- what- when- how did this happen?" he exclaimed.

Harry guessed it would be best to just rip off the band-aid and answered, "I asked Hermione to be my girlfriend yesterday evening after we entered her name, the names of the twins and some other names into the Goblet of Fire."

Ron's jaw dropped even further. After a while, he seemed to have processed what had been said, and his eyes narrowed. "And did you think of putting in my name, too?" he inquired.

"No, we are sorry, Ron, but we didn't think that would have been a good idea," Hermione answered carefully. That, of course, was quite a stretch of the truth at best – they hadn't given the youngest Weasley brother any thought at all last night, but they weren't about to tell him that.

"I... see..." Ron said, his eyes flashing with anger. "I see how it is. Never mind me, then," he said coldly and glared at them. "Don't ever talk to me again, traitors."

With that, he turned around and stalked away.

"Huh," Hermione said, visibly pleased. "That works for me."

She then turned towards Harry with a concerned look. "I know he was your first real friend in the magical world. I'm sorry that you have lost that, even though I probably won't miss him."

"It's all right. It's not your fault, nor is it ours, really," Harry said with downcast voice. "I doubt that I could have stayed friends with him much longer, anyway, seeing how he always treats you..." He sighed and gave his girlfriend a guilty look. "For which I'm very sorry, by the way. I really should have stood up for you much more, I- I-"

"Don't worry about it, it's all right," Hermione interrupted with a soft voice and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "Though I do appreciate the sentiment. Come on, let's get back inside now."

#

The couple spent the rest of the day finishing their homework in the library, where they could avoid Ron with absolute certainty and were safe from other students harassing them, too. They also planned what their reaction should be when the selection of the champions would descend into chaos later, and what they would say when they would be questioned. As the dinner and the subsequent selection ceremony neared, they got increasingly nervous. Only after an extended visit to a Hogwarts broom closet were they calm enough to join the feast in the Great Hall.

Harry and Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table next to each other and opposite of Fred and George. They tried to make small talk during the meal, but all four of them had difficulties containing their excitement. The twins repeatedly begged the couple for hints on how they had 'improved the prank', but Harry and Hermione didn't budge.

At last, the food vanished, and all the attention turned towards the head table and the Goblet of Fire on a pedestal in front of it. Bright blue flames flickered out of the wooden cup, and the excited murmur in the Great Hall rose every time the flames flashed upwards.

Dumbledore stood and walked towards the Goblet. The other tournament judges also rose and assembled behind Dumbledore. The expectant and tense look of Headmaster Karkaroff and Madame Maxime was contrasted by the cheerful expression of Ludo Bagman.

The Headmaster made some announcements, but Harry ignored the old wizard when he noticed that Moody also got up from the head table and moved to stand next to Bartemius Crouch. Harry remembered what he had seen on the Marauder's Map the night before and threw up a little in his mouth at the thought of those two spending the last night together. Crouch resembled an overweight Hitler, and Moody was his usual self, looking as if he was competing (and winning) in a look-alike contest for a pile of two hundred pounds of ground meat. Harry was just glad that apparently, the two men didn't want their relationship to be known and were refraining from any public displays of affection. They were hardly even acknowledging each other as they silently stood next to each other.

Harry's attention was drawn away from the unlikely couple and back towards the Goblet when its flames turned from blue to red. A moment later, the flames shot high into the air, a charred slip of parchment fluttered out of the wooden cup, and the flames turned back to blue.

Dumbledore caught the piece of parchment and cleared his throat as he read it.

"The champion for Durmstrang," he announced with a solemn voice, "will be Viktor Krum."

The students applauded as the Bulgarian Quidditch star rose from the Slytherin table and slowly walked to the antechamber behind the head table. Especially Krum's female fan-club cheered for him, but no one cheered louder or more enthusiastically than Ronald Weasley, who sat with Dean and Seamus.

A few moments later, the Goblet's flames turned from blue to red again, and Dumbledore caught another slip of parchment.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," he proclaimed, "is Fleur Delacour!"

The pretty girl stood up gracefully and walked up towards the head table. Hermione was visibly pleased when her boyfriend's eyes were not glued to the girl's derriere as she disappeared into the antechamber, unlike the eyes of pretty much all other male (and quite a few female) students in the Great Hall.

Then, silence fell again as the students waited for the announcement of the Hogwarts champion.

Soon, the flames turned red once more, and another parchment was ejected from the Goblet and immediately caught by the Headmaster.

"The Hogwarts champion," he called, "is... Cedric Diggory!"

There were tumultuous cheers at the Hufflepuff table while Cedric got up and quickly walked into the antechamber. The frustrated groans at the other House tables soon gave way to polite applause.

Dumbledore was about to close the ceremony when the Goblet flared red again. There were shocked gasps all across the hall as another slip parchment flew out of the Goblet. The Headmaster reached for the parchment as it glided towards the ground. He read it and frowned in confusion.

After a long pause, the Headmaster sighed. "Fred Weasley," he called out, "very well, please step forward!"

There was a shocked silence in the Great Hall, but then the students at the Gryffindor table started to cheer loudly as Fred stood up and jumped onto the table, theatrically bowing to his housemates.

With all the attention drawn to the redhead, almost no one noticed that the flames of the Goblet had turned red again. Only when the flames rose, and the Goblet spat out another piece of parchment, at least a small part of the student body turned their eyes back to Dumbledore, who caught the parchment.

There was a flash of annoyance in the Headmaster's eyes as he read the parchment, and he sighed again. "And your brother, yes, I should have expected it. George Weasley, if you please," he said with exasperation.

George joined his brother on the table, and the cheers of the Gryffindors grew even louder, while at the other tables, students were muttering angrily.

"Messrs Weasley, please come forward and join us," Dumbledore demanded impatiently. "I hope you know what you have gotten yourselves into."

The twins stepped down from the table but froze when they noticed that the fire of the Goblet was red again.

The flames blazed, and another piece of parchment shot upwards, only to be forcefully fetched out of the air by the Headmaster a moment later.

There was another long silence during which Dumbledore looked on the parchment disbelievingly, until he called out with a strained voice, "Hermione Granger." A vein was pulsating at his brow.

Harry saw Hermione's face flush red as all eyes in the Great Hall turned towards her. The dead silence was interrupted by the twins bursting into laughter. The Gryffindor table, with the exception of Ron, started cheering once more as the twins helped Hermione up from where she sat. Standing at either side of her, they both put an arm around Hermione's shoulders, still laughing merrily.

Harry also rose to support his girlfriend. When he was at her side, he leaned towards the twins. "This is only the beginning," he said to them over the noise in the hall but still quiet enough to not be overheard by others. "Things should get even more interesting, but please stay cool and don't give us away."

The twins grinned in response and nodded their heads excitedly.

By now, the other judges and most of the professors had congregated around Dumbledore.

"What in Merlin's name is going on, Dumbledore?" Crouch asked angrily.

"All zese students 'ave to be excluded from ze tournament immediately," Madame Maxime demanded, and Karkaroff nodded in agreement.

"They should be expelled for this," Snape, who had also joined them, spat.

Any reply Dumbledore might have given was forestalled by the Goblet of Fire turning from blue to red again. Another piece of parchment was ejected and seized by Dumbledore.

"Dumbledore, this has to stop!" Crouch shouted when the flames of the Goblet didn't even revert to their usual blue colour but remained crimson red. The judges and professors watched helplessly as one more slip of parchment flew upwards a few moments later. It, too, was caught by Dumbledore.

The Headmaster looked upon the two parchments and Harry noticed a nervous tick in Dumbledore's left eye as he read the names.

"Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, please step forward," the Headmaster growled out.

No one seemed more surprised by this than the two Slytherin boys in question, but after a few moments, they stood up to the growing applause of their House. Only Draco Malfoy was seemingly enraged for being upstaged by his own minions.

Like Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George, the two Slytherin boys didn't come forward but only stood next to their House table to watch the unfolding chaos at the front of the Great Hall.

"Six Hogwarts champions? I won't haff it! Change it, Dumbledore, or Durmstrang will withdraw from the tournament!" Karkaroff yelled.

"Let's not be hasty, this could be very exciting," Bagman interjected.

"Non, zis is-," Madame Maxime began, but she stopped when she noticed the Goblet. There was a collective groan of the judges as the flames of the Goblet turned red again.

"Headmaster, you have to do something," Professor McGonagall pleaded, but the old man seemed to be just as much at a loss as everyone else.

Another slip of parchment rose in the air and was grabbed by Dumbledore. There was a tense silence as the Headmaster turned the parchment towards him and read it. His eyes grew wide before they narrowed in anger while his complexion turned almost as crimson as the Goblet's flames. The vein at his brow seemed ready to burst.

"Well, who is it?" Bagman asked cheerfully when Dumbledore remained silent for over a minute. "Which student shall we ask to join us now? Ravenclaw is missing a representative, still."

He laughed out at his own joke, while the other judges looked at him with disapproval.

"It's not a student," Dumbledore finally replied with gritted teeth, crumpling the piece of parchment in his fist.

"Not a student?" McGonagall asked aghast.

"But zat's not possible," Madame Maxime exclaimed.

"Who is it, then?" Crouch demanded to know.

Dumbledore took a few calming breaths and then revealed with a low voice, "Cornelius Fudge."

"WHAT?" all the judges, most of the professors and the student body shouted. Fred and George stared at Harry and Hermione with boundless admiration.

"This is outrageous!" Crouch shouted when the hall had quieted down slightly. "I won't stand for the Ministry to be made a fool of!"

"The Minister will never consent to this!" McGonagall pointed out.

"Alas, the Minister won't have a choice in the matter," Dumbledore said, obviously very upset, too.

"So, you won't do a thing?" Crouch asked angrily.

"I can't," the Headmaster said, "The guilty party shall be punished, of course-"

"Potter, no doubt," Snape interjected.

"But as for the Minister," Dumbledore continued, "his name came out of the Goblet. Thus, he has to compete. The consequences if he refuses would be most dire. As it is, the only thing we can do is-" He stopped and briefly closed his eyes in desperation. The Goblet had turned red again.

"Bloody hell, doesn't anyone have a fire extinguisher or something?" a girl at the Hufflepuff table close to Harry exclaimed. A few Muggle-borns chuckled at that, but most of the students who had heard her only gave her blank looks.

Furiously, Dumbledore snatched the next piece of parchment immediately as it shot out of the Goblet. He looked at it and blanched. The nervous tick in his eye was back.

There was another long silence until the Headmaster spoke again, "Peter Pettigrew."

"Who?"

"Who's that?" most of the students wondered, and the murmur in the hall rose as the few students who were familiar with the name told the others of one of the heroes of the Wizarding War, who had been brutally murdered by the deranged mass murderer Sirius Black.

The judges and teachers were arguing among themselves in the meantime. None of them noticed the horrified look on the face of Professor Moody before he quickly schooled his features.

"Impossible, Pettigrew's dead!" Crouch yelled.

"Six Hogwarts students, the British Minister, and now a dead man?" Karkaroff seethed and proceeded to curse in his native Russian.

Snape, too, was apoplectic with rage. "POTTER!" he shouted and turned towards the Gryffindor table. "I'll see you expelled for this!"

"Maybe it would best to leave these discussions for later and get on with things," McGonagall said, trying to calm things down.

"Yes, Minerva," a shaken Dumbledore agreed, "That would- oh no!"

The flames of the Goblet were turning red again.

"SOMEBODY STOP THIS!" Crouch yelled and aimed his wand at the Goblet, but obviously, he had no idea what spell he could possibly cast.

The red flames rose much higher than before. Soon, the Goblet was engulfed in a wild storm of crimson fire, and the judges and professors had to take several steps back to stay clear of the flames.

"Aguamenti!" Karkaroff, who had also raised his wand, shouted in panic, trying to extinguish the flames with conjured water, but the water dissipated as soon as it reached the flames, which seemed unaffected by it.

The flames got brighter and brighter and rose higher and higher until there was a sudden loud bang and the flames vanished completely. Everybody blinked as their eyes recovered from looking at the bright fire.

When his vision cleared, Harry was shocked at the sight before him. The wooden cup that had been the Goblet of Fire was completely charred, and the bowl of the cup was cracked in several places. Harry instinctively knew that the Goblet of Fire would never ignite again.

But from high above the Goblet, one last piece of charred parchment was slowly gliding towards the ground.

As if in trance, Dumbledore haltingly strode back towards the remains of the Goblet just in time to fetch the parchment out of the air before it hit the floor.

He looked upon it and immediately blanched ghostly white. His knees almost gave way, and for a moment, he had to grab hold of the pedestal to remain standing upright.

No one dared to utter a single word as all eyes rested on the Headmaster, who for several long minutes only stared on the parchment in his hands. Even the teachers and the judges didn't dare to approach Dumbledore, who seemed to have aged a few decades in an instant. The expectant and knowing smirks of Harry and Hermione went unnoticed.

Finally, after five minutes, Dumbledore looked up from the parchment. He then opened and closed his mouth several times. When he finally spoke, he only whispered, but in the dead silence of the Great Hall, he was still heard by everyone.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER THREE -

Bazinga

"Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Merlin!" McGonagall gasped.

Hagrid, too, wore a shocked expression, and all colour had left Moody's face. Snape and Flitwick also looked shaken, but the other teachers and the judges were clearly unfamiliar with the name and seemed confused.

Most students looked at each other and wondered why the Headmaster and the senior staff were so upset by the name of the last champion.

"Tom who?"

"Who's that?"

"Isn't that the barkeeper of the Leaky Cauldron?"

"What kind of name is Marvolo, anyway?"

The murmur rose again.

Harry noticed that Ginny Weasley was very pale – she obviously knew the name. Ron frowned, deep in thought, probably trying to remember where he had heard the name before. Fred and George looked at Harry and Hermione expectantly, clearly hoping for an explanation. Apparently, no one had told them the details of how the Chamber of Secrets had been opened two years ago.

Harry wondered why the origins of Lord Voldemort were not widely known. He had never thought of it before, but exposing the leader of a terrorist group fighting for Pureblood supremacy as the son of a Muggle seemed like a smart thing to do. Harry didn't understand why the Headmaster hadn't made this information public long ago. He decided to take action and took a few steps towards Dumbledore at the head table.

The Great Hall quieted down when The-Boy-Who-Lived addressed The-Greatest-Wizard-Alive. "Headmaster, Sir, won't you tell the school, and all those not in the know, who Tom Riddle is? What name he is more commonly known by, today?"

Dumbledore had a pained expression on his face as he answered, "Harry, I really don't think that would be wise-"

"Then I'll do it," Harry interrupted. He turned towards the hall and said with a raised voice, "Tom Riddle-"

"Harry, stop!" Dumbledore shouted, but Harry ignored him.

"Tom Riddle is named after his Muggle father. But he detested that fact and took another name. Tom Ri-"

He paused when he was distracted by a shocked gasp from Hermione. He followed her gaze and saw that back at the head table, Dumbledore had drawn his wand and aimed it at him. Hermione, too, had just pulled out her wand and was about to raise it in defence.

Quickly, Harry continued, "Tom Riddle is the birth name of-"

"Silencio!"

"Protego!"

"-VOLDEMORT!" Harry shouted just as Dumbledore's spell dissipated against Hermione's shield.

The students screamed. A young girl at the Hufflepuff table fainted.

Hermione and Dumbledore both lowered their wands. The Headmaster had a very resigned expression on his face, and Hermione gazed in shock upon the wand in her hand. She was obviously shaken by the fact that she had just (kind of) cast a spell against Albus Dumbledore, and then (kind of) won.

At the same time, many students at the Slytherin table jumped up in rage, among them several students from Durmstrang.

"YOU LIE, POTTER!" Draco Malfoy shouted.

"The Dark Lord is no son of a Muggle!" an enraged older Slytherin boy insisted.

"Мудак! Иди на хуй!" a boy from Durmstrang yelled at Harry, drawing his wand.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore hollered and created a loud cannon bang with his wand.

The Great Hall quieted down again, but the students at the Slytherin table remained standing.

"Sit down, everyone," Dumbledore ordered impatiently.

Harry glowered at the wannabe Death Eaters. "If you have a problem with the Dork Lord's heritage, I suggest you take it up with him," he shouted, causing all the students that were just sitting down to shoot up again.

"SIT DOWN!" Dumbledore yelled. "And Harry, please stop this! This is getting us nowhere."

Harry glared at all of them defiantly but remained silent. He had achieved his goal and expected the revelation to be on the front page of the Daily Prophet the day after tomorrow at the latest.

The Headmaster sighed and addressed the Hall, "Very well, the feast is over. Please return to your common rooms or your accommodations, respectively. All the students whose names came out of the Goblet, please join the judges, professors, and other champions in the antechamber. Harry, please join us, too. There is much to discuss."

Harry nodded and together with Hermione, Fred, and George, he walked towards the head table. At the same time, the other students rose and slowly left the Great Hall while talking to each other with low voices. Some looked angrily at Harry, Hermione, or the twins, some of the Gryffindors patted them on their shoulders as they passed by, but most students just looked confused or a bit frightened.

#

The four Gryffindors followed the judges into the antechamber. Snape, dragging along Crabbe and Goyle, was the last one to enter the room.

Cedric Diggory, Viktor Krum, and Fleur Delacour got up from the benches they had been sitting on, looking confused, annoyed, and curious all at the same time.

"What is going on?" Cedric asked the crowd, "We've been waiting for almost half an hour."

"What are ze leetle children doing in 'ere?" Fleur asked with an annoyed expression that was matched by Krum.

Any answer was forestalled by Snape slamming the door of the antechamber shut behind him. He then lunged towards Harry and grabbed him by the collar of his robes.

"FIVE THOUSAND POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR AND DETENTION UNTIL YOU GRADUATE, POTTER!" screamed the enraged Potions Master.

"Why?" Harry choked out.

"YOU KNOW WHY!"

"Severus, you will stop manhandling one of my students at once!" McGonagall demanded, coming to Harry's defence.

Grudgingly, Snape let go of him. Despite his shock, Harry couldn't help but be surprised that Snape was even bothering with points and detentions and didn't just demand his expulsion.

"Now, Severus," Dumbledore said sternly, "I think we should talk to the suspected culprits before we take any disciplinary actions."

Snape only wrinkled his nose in response.

"What is going on?" Cedric asked once more and turned towards his Head of House Professor Sprout.

Dumbledore sighed. "It seems that we have some additional participants for the tournament."

Karkaroff huffed. "That remains to be discussed."

"Oui, zat's true," Madame Maxime agreed with the Durmstrang Headmaster.

"Let's try to get to the bottom of this first, shall we?" Professor Sprout suggested.

"Quite right, Pomona," Dumbledore agreed and turned towards the four Gryffindors.

The four students remained silent and looked defiantly at the Headmaster and the other enraged tournament organisers that gathered behind him. Both Harry and Hermione couldn't hide their nervousness, but the twins appeared surprisingly relaxed and quite a bit amused – clearly, they found themselves in situations like this frequently.

"Now, please tell us what happened today," Dumbledore then demanded with barely suppressed anger.

"Gladly," Fred said, "Today, at around seven, I woke up from a rather pleasant dream involving three most charming Gryffindor chasers, then-"

"Enough!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for your disrespect and detention with Mr Filch tomorrow!"

Dumbledore nodded in agreement and turned his gaze towards Hermione.

"Miss Granger, would you be able to shed some light on this situation?" Dumbledore asked with an intimidating look, apparently going after what he presumed to be the easiest target.

Hermione gulped and squared her shoulders.

"I- I think I will exercise my right to remain silent," she informed the Headmaster and the other adults.

"So will I," Harry immediately concurred.

"There is a right to remain silent?" Fred wondered.

"It's a Muggle thing," Harry replied curtly.

"Oh, in that case," George said, "I will not exercise my right to remain silent, but my right to make loud wailing noises." And he proceeded to do just that, with his delighted twin brother joining in immediately.

"AAAAAAUUUUUUUU-aaaaaauuuuuuu-AAAAAAAUUUUUU-"

"UUIIII-uuuuiiiiii-UUUUIIIIII-uuuuiiiiiii-UUUIIIIII-uuuiiiiiii-"

"SILENCE!" Snape, Crouch, and Karkaroff all screamed at the same time as they drew their wands.

"Stop-!"

"-Infringing-!"

"-Upon our-!"

"-Rights!" the twins shouted as they dodged silencing spells cast by Snape and the two judges, but soon they were hit and could only move their lips in muted protest.

Harry had difficulties to suppress his laughter at the twins' antics, even though he could not quite see the wisdom in enraging the judges and professors even further.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor each, and a full week of detention with Mr Filch!" a seething Professor McGonagall informed the Weasley brothers and then turned towards Harry and Hermione. "You can start talking now, or join them in their detention."

"I'm sorry, we have no idea what happened," Harry replied. "I'm only here to support my girlfriend anyway. But we're just as bewildered as everyone else. Why is no one questioning Mr Crabbe or Mr Goyle, maybe they know something?"

"I think we can all see that no one here is more confused about this situation than these two gentlemen," Crouch said dismissively, and given the blank looks of the two Slytherin boys, Harry wasn't surprised that his attempt at diversion had failed.

"Now," Dumbledore spoke up again, his annoyance clear in his voice, "You have one last chance to come clean and admit to a prank that has gotten out of hand, and we shall show some lenience. Or, we will be forced to take further action, and the consequences for you would be much more serious. You would probably be facing expulsion."

Harry gulped and glanced towards Hermione. They shared a look and came to the silent agreement to stick to their story. They were pretty sure that there was no incriminating evidence.

"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but I don't know what happened," Harry said.

"Nor do I," Hermione concurred.

Crouch sneered. "Fine, then. I'm curious if that story of yours will hold up when you are questioned by the DMLE under Veritaserum."

Harry and Hermione tensed. This was it. Hermione had told Harry of the Truth Potion when they were discussing the possible consequences of their actions in the library a few hours earlier. She had also explained that the use of Veritaserum was highly restricted, especially its use on minors. It could only be used by Aurors and required the permissions of the Minister or the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the permission of the minor's guardians, and the permission of the Headmaster. The Minister would, of course, permit the DMLE to employ Veritaserum, and at least in the case of Harry, the guardians' permission would also surely be granted. The Dursleys would always be glad to cause him trouble.

But when Harry and Hermione had discussed things, the couple had been almost certain that the Headmaster would not allow for them to be questioned by the Ministry under the Truth Potion. Too many things could come to light that Dumbledore would not want to be made public. Things like him hiding the Philosopher's Stone that was hunted by Voldemort behind deadly traps in a school full of children. Dumbledore would not risk such information to surface during an interrogation. At least, they hoped so.

To Harry's relief, the Headmaster seemed to have come to the same conclusion, because he suddenly got a very concerned expression on his face.

"Let's not rush into things, Bartemius," he said. "I will question these four most troublesome students myself tomorrow. Let's see how things go from there."

Crouch protested, but Dumbledore didn't budge. "Don't worry, Bartemius," he said, "I'm sure the guilty party will be identified soon enough."

Snape snorted angrily at that, but Crouch nodded reluctantly. Then, the Ministry Department Head frowned and asked the Headmaster, "What about other forensic evidence? Should we ask the Aurors to examine what spells were cast onto the Goblet and by whom?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "I doubt that would have revealed any useful information. But in any case, the Goblet of Fire is utterly destroyed. We won't find any significant traces of residual magic on it."

Harry and Hermione shared a guilty look. That had not been an intended outcome.

Moody suddenly perked up. "Now that the Goblet is destroyed, doesn't that mean that the champions are no longer required to compete in the tournament?" he asked, looking very relieved for some reason.

Dumbledore looked at the old Auror quizzically. "I'm afraid that is not how this works, Alastor. You should know this. That would be like trying to get out of a contract by breaking the quill it was signed with. The contracts are still in effect. They cannot be revoked."

"Right, of course," Moody muttered. He looked very pale at hearing this. Harry wondered why that was. Maybe the retired Auror was worried that his secret lover Crouch would be blamed for the tournament's lack of security and get fired? Harry decided to put the matter out of his mind when Madame Maxime raised her voice.

"Mais Dumbly-dorr, clearly zese students cheated to get into ze tournament. We 'ave to exclude zem! And, naturellement, we should only allow students to compete! No ozzers."

"Alas, my dear," Dumbledore replied, "that is neither here nor there. The name coming out of the Goblet constitutes a binding magical contract. All the people selected have to compete; there is no way around it. And as the judges, we are bound by very similar contracts to allow their participation. There is nought for us to do about it."

"If the additional champions are not removed, Durmstrang will withdraw from the tournament," Karkaroff shouted angrily.

"So will Beauxbatons," Maxime agreed.

Dumbledore sighed. "Your students may of course return to their respective school, but your champions are just as bound to compete as the others."

In the meantime, Cedric approached Harry, an upset look on his face. "So, we will compete against each other once more?" the Hufflepuff asked.

"What?" Harry replied. "Oh, no! Not me. Hermione will compete. And the twins. And, well, Crabbe and Goyle over there." Cedric raised his eyebrows, and Harry continued, "And, well, for some reason some more names came out of the Goblet. Minister Fudge, and Peter Pettigrew, who's a Death Eater, and... Voldemort."

Cedric's eyes got wider and wider as Harry listed the names, and he flinched at the last one.

"You- you are kidding me, right?" Cedric asked and looked at Professor Sprout for some assurance.

"Nope." Harry grinned. "But don't be too mad. You're still the official Hogwarts champion."

"That's not really what I'm mad about," Cedric muttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

There was a short silence in the antechamber when all discussions had come to an end.

Bagman took this as an opportunity to speak up. "Well, shall we move on, then?" he said cheerfully, smiling at the assembled crowd. "Got to give our champions their instructions, right? Barty, want to do the honours?"

"Yes," Crouch said absentmindedly, "Yes... the first task..."

"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told the students who gathered around him. "You will not be told what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard..."

Hermione cleared her throat and Crouch looked at her briefly.

"Or witch, of course... yes, very important," he continued. "The first task will take place on November the twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the judges."

He went on to explain that the champions would face the task only armed with their wands and that they were not allowed to receive any help from their teachers.

Finally, he came to an end. "Last but not least, due to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from the exams at the end of the year."

Hermione gasped in horror.

"WHAT?" she shouted, utterly appalled. "That's unacceptable!"

Crouch gave Hermione a startled look, but McGonagall almost smiled despite her clear anger over the situation and answered, "While you are exempted from the exams, you may of course voluntarily participate in them if you wish, Miss Granger."

"Oh, all right then," Hermione answered, much relieved.

"Yes, well," Crouch said and turned towards Dumbledore. "I think that is all. Headmaster?"

"Quite," Dumbledore agreed, "I think we should end this meeting now, as Bartemius, Ludo, and I have a pressing meeting with the Minister." Both Crouch and Bagman grimaced in response but nodded.

Dumbledore then turned towards the four Gryffindor students. "Messrs Weasley, Miss Granger, Harry – this is not over. We will talk about this tomorrow. Messrs Weasley, I expect you in my office at eight in the morning, Harry and Miss Granger at nine, is that understood?"

Harry and Hermione nodded, but Fred and George gesticulated wildly in response.

"Oh, right," Dumbledore muttered and waved his wand. "Finite."

"Thank you, Headmaster," the finally un-muted twins chorused, uncharacteristically cowed.

Harry gave a curt nod towards Cedric and took Hermione's hand. Followed by the twins, they quickly left the antechamber to make their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

#

They had only made it to the second floor when Fred and George overtook Harry and Hermione and stopped before them, causing the couple to halt, too.

The twins knelt down in front of the couple and bowed.

"Never..." Fred started, and they began in their usual twin speak.

"...in the history of pranks..."

"...was or will there ever be..."

"...a prank as amazing..."

"...as astonishing..."

"...as perfect as this."

"In fact, I don't even know if we want to continue pranking people."

"How could we ever hope to top this?" George ended.

"Well," Harry said and shared a look with his amused girlfriend, "I'm glad that you liked it. So, you're not mad at us for stealing you the show back there?"

"Mad at him, he says!" Fred exclaimed.

"Never!" George said with conviction.

"Really, just to have been there and to have seen this," Fred said and slightly shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

"It was the most beautiful thing we have ever seen," his equally moved brother finished.

"Thank you," Hermione replied with a smile. "But you realise that this was not only a prank, but also a political statement, and a move in a war that now hopefully will never happen?"

"But those are the best kind of pranks," George answered as if stating the obvious.

"Fine," Hermione said, "now get up! If I'm not totally mistaken, there's a party waiting for us in the common room."

#

Indeed, the noise when the four students opened the portrait of the Fat Lady was deafening. Students were cheering, screaming, whistling and applauding as the three Triwizard Champions and The-Boy-Who-Lived walked into the Gryffindor common room.

As their 'prank' had been a full success, Harry was in quite a party mood as well. He enjoyed navigating the common room with his arm around his girlfriend, receiving congratulations and deflecting any questions on how they had managed to get around Dumbledore's Age Line. They also refused to comment on how the other names had come out of the Goblet.

However, they used the opportunity to spread the word that Pettigrew hadn't been killed, that he was the true betrayer of the Potters, that Sirius Black was innocent, and that Voldemort was most likely still alive. But since the couple wasn't willing to explain how they had acquired this information, many of their fellow Gryffindors remained unconvinced.

As the party went on, Harry tried to convince Hermione to share a glass of Firewhisky with him, but he quickly shrank under her disapproving glare and opted for a Butterbeer instead. He fetched them two bottles of the beverage and opened them, passing one to his girlfriend. Before he drank, he raised his bottle.

"To Hermione Granger, Triwizard Champion!" he toasted, eliciting cheers from the surrounding crowd.

Harry then leaned towards Hermione. "And to the downfall of Riddle," he whispered contently.

"To a Halloween that has been kind to you, for a change," she responded for only Harry to hear, clinking her bottle to his.

The party continued late into the evening. Harry was unsurprised that Ron was nowhere to be seen while he and Hermione made their rounds in the common room. However, they were soon approached by another Weasley.

Ginny also had a Butterbeer in her hand, but her expression was more sombre than those of the partying crowd as she faced the couple.

"Thank you – for doing this to Tom," she said sincerely. "And good luck in the tournament, Hermione, don't get yourself hurt, okay?"

Hermione smiled in response and nodded, and Ginny hesitated.

"And... Congratulations you two! I guess I haven't gotten around to say it before," she said with a slightly sad smile, but a smile, nonetheless.

"Thanks, Ginny, we appreciate it," Hermione said, visibly relieved that the youngest Weasley was not about to emulate Ron.

A little while later, Harry and Hermione found themselves standing in a comparatively quiet corner of the common room.

"Wow, so all that really happened, huh?" Harry said with a slight shake of his head.

"They really shouldn't have used the Goblet of Fire," Hermione replied with a smirk, but then she grimaced.

"Though I'm a bit sad that we destroyed it," she admitted, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"Well, anyway," Harry said after a while, "I think I'll head up to get some sleep. Last night was very short. I'm really knackered."

"Yes," Hermione replied, "Though, I don't know if I'll get any sleep tonight with all the excitement about what happened today."

"I know what you mean," Harry agreed but yawned at the same time.

Hermione blushed slightly. "You know... I slept really well last night snuggled up to you on the couch in the common room."

Harry's cheeks also got a little pink. "Yes, so did I..." he said and looked at the partying students. "Too bad that this party will probably go on for quite a bit longer."

Hermione hummed noncommittally.

"Uhm, you know," Harry said hesitantly, "I could always lend you my Invisibility Cloak, and you could sneak up to my dorm, if you want, that is, not to do anything, just to snuggle up, just because, like you said, it-"

"YES!" Hermione interrupted his ramblings. "Uhh, I mean, yeah... yeah, maybe, why not, that sounds nice. Just to snuggle up, of course."

"Of course," Harry replied quickly.

There was an awkward pause between the blushing teens.

"Brilliant, I'll fetch the cloak," Harry then blurted out and ran up to his dormitory.

He returned half a minute later and handed the tightly folded Invisibility Cloak to Hermione.

They then made a huge spectacle out of saying goodnight to each other at the foot of the stairs to the dormitories, ignoring the crowd's whistles and shouts as they kissed.

"See you in a few minutes," Hermione whispered before they separated and walked up towards their respective dorm.

#

In a large manor house in the small village of Little Hangleton, a middle-aged man with grubby skin and patches of mousy brown hair stared frightened and disbelievingly at a short letter in his hands. After a while, he had gathered himself and entered a dimly lit chamber on the second floor of the derelict house.

"What took you so long, Peter?" asked a cold voice. It came from a small homunculus with pale skin, long fingers, and slightly reptilian features. "What is the message of my servant? Was the boy entered into the tournament successfully?"

"N-N-No, my Lord," Peter Pettigrew answered the Dark Lord with a squeaky voice.

"What? Crucio!" Riddle roared.

He lifted the curse a few seconds later and looked down on Pettigrew, who lay on the ground, still twitching.

"Explain," Riddle demanded coldly.

"Crouch reports th-that he entered the boy's name and confounded the Goblet according to plan. B-But he must have made a mistake. The boy was not selected," Pettigrew whined. "B-B-But other people were."

"Other people? What other people?"

Pettigrew trembled. "The sons of two of your former servants, Crabbe and Goyle. The Weasley twin brothers. P-P-Potter's Mudblood girlfriend. And a-and..."

"So speak!" Riddle yelled impatiently.

"M-M-Minister Fudge, a-a-and and and-"

"Crucio!"

Wormtail screamed in pain and thrashed around on the floor.

"Out with it!" Riddle shouted when he lifted the curse.

"M-M-Me, my L-Lord, my n-name, a-and-" Wormtail closed his eyes and whispered, "And you, my Lord, your name came out of the Goblet."

"CRUCIO!" Riddle shouted in rage.

While his servant was screaming on the floor in front of him, Riddle pondered his next moves. Obviously, his current plan lay in tatters. How could things have turned out so wrong? What had he ever done to deserve this? Why had all his servants have to be such bumbling idiots? Brain-dead dilettantes or spineless cowards, all of them! Except for dear Bella, of course.

Now, he had to compete in the Triwizard Tournament. He! That would require some planning. Luckily, he was stronger now than when he had possessed that fool Quirell. He didn't fancy another year of hanging out of the back of the head of some imbecile. No, he would do things differently, now.

Within a short while, Riddle had devised a rough plan. He smiled evilly and nodded in satisfaction, amazed by his own brilliance.

Then, he noticed that he had been holding Pettigrew under the Cruciatus Curse for the entire time of his scheming, but the screaming had stopped, nonetheless.

Riddle looked down and saw the lifeless, bloodshot eyes of his dead minion staring back at him. Wormtail's face was frozen in an expression of total agony.

"Well, that complicates matters," the homunculus muttered angrily.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER FOUR -

Plausible Deniability

It was half-past eight on Sunday morning, and Harry and Hermione were having breakfast in the Great Hall. Despite the impending meeting with the Headmaster, Harry couldn't help but smile contently.

After all, it had been a great morning so far. He had discovered that the only thing better than falling asleep cuddled into his beautiful girlfriend was waking up next to her. There had been a slight awkwardness, with him being a boy and waking up with a female body pressed against him and all, but Hermione hadn't been bothered by his condition, and so he hadn't been too embarrassed about it.

Hermione had retreated to her dorm under his Invisibility Cloak early in the morning. When they had met in the common room after they had showered and dressed, he had suggested that she might just keep the cloak for now. The enthusiastic kiss he had received in return left him hopeful that the last night's arrangement would be a regular occurrence from now on.

He was brought out of his musings by the post owls swarming into the Great Hall and descending upon the tables. Neville, who sat across Harry and Hermione and next to Dean and Seamus, received his copy of the Daily Prophet, and after a quick glance at it, he smirked and tossed it to the couple.

Expectantly, Harry and Hermione reached for the newspaper and began to read.

TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT SABOTAGED

Disgrace for Hogwarts and Ministry
By Rita Skeeter

The selection of the champions for the Triwizard Tournament on Halloween evening left Hogwarts and the British Ministry the laughingstock of the entire world. Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Ministry Department Head Bartemius Crouch, and the other judges of the Triwizard Tournament watched on like fools when the Goblet of Fire selected not three, but eleven champions for the tournament, among them Minister Fudge himself, and – if the shocking rumours are to be believed – He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. The implications of these events are still unclear.
We at the Prophet wonder: Who is responsible for this clear lack of security around the Triwizard Tournament? And was this fiasco caused by malicious sabotage, or was it the result of an ill-considered prank?
At the moment, all evidence points towards the Muggle-born witch Harmony Ranger (15), the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, and the twin brothers Fred and George Weasley (both 16), sons of Ministry official Arnold Weasley...

"Evidence? What evidence? And they didn't even get your name right. Nor Mr Weasley's," Harry muttered angrily.

Hermione took it in stride. "Are you cheating on me already, Harry? Who is this Harmony Ranger? I think I should have some words with her."

Harry chuckled and gave his girlfriend a small peck on the lips. "Never!"

He then glanced over the other headlines and was surprised that there were no articles on Tom Riddle's heritage.

"Why do you figure they didn't write more about Riddle?" he wondered.

Hermione shrugged. "Well, they probably wanted to verify the story first and investigate diligently," she speculated.

Harry chortled, and Neville, Dean, and Seamus all burst into laughter, much to Hermione's irritation.

It took several minutes for him and the boys to calm down again.

"But, seriously, why didn't they bring the story?" Harry asked again when he finally had gathered his breath.

"The Prophet would never waste two sensational headlines on a single edition," Neville explained, still chuckling over Hermione's hilarious joke.

"Ah, that makes sense," Harry said, nodding sagely.

The Gryffindors continued with their breakfast. At a quarter to nine, Harry noticed Fred and George entering the Great Hall. Their meeting with the Headmaster had apparently come to an end. Harry waved to the twin brothers, and one of them winked and the other gave a thumbs-up in response. From this distance, it was completely impossible to tell them apart.

Harry was relieved to see that the twins were as cheerful as ever as they sat down with Alicia and Angelina at the far end of the Gryffindor table. Their interrogation with Dumbledore couldn't have gone too badly.

However, as soon as Fred and George had sat down, a huge flock of owls descended upon them. Within moments, they were swamped with seemingly hundreds of letters, and howlers exploded all around them. Among those howlers, drowning out all others, were at least three sent by their own mother. As the howlers all went off roughly at the same time, Harry couldn't make much sense of Mrs Weasley's screeching, but she was obviously very upset with her sons.

Harry suddenly was very glad that the Prophet had gotten Hermione's name wrong. It meant that any howlers aimed at her would be addressed incorrectly.

But then he remembered that he himself had also been named in the newspaper article. He looked up and groaned when he noticed several owls heading towards him. A minute later, there was a pile of almost two dozen letters before him on the table. Thankfully, he had not received any howlers.

Very carefully, he reached for one of the envelopes and slowly opened it. He skimmed over the letter that was from an enraged wizard, who urged Harry to 'keep his woman in line'. Knowing Hermione, Harry was pretty sure that attempting such a thing might very well be the last thing he would ever do. Not that he had any inclination to try.

He shook his head and moved on to a bright pink envelope. It contained a letter on rose stationery, which informed him in a very girlish cursive hand that while he regrettably was only a half-blood, as a hero to the wizarding world, he still had an obligation to choose a girl of better breeding than some upstart Muggle-born. Harry was actually surprised that the sender didn't use the other M-word. He tore the letter apart and crumpled the shreds in his hands, not bothering to read further or look who had signed the letter.

Harry sighed. "Don't bother," he said to Hermione, who had also reached for an envelope. "Best to ignore them. Or if you have enough space in your bookbag, you could of course gather the letters to burn them in the fireplace later..."

His girlfriend glanced over the letters, but then she shrugged dismissively and returned her attention to her breakfast.

#

Shortly before nine o'clock, Harry and Hermione made their way to the headmaster's office.

"Stay calm and stick to the story," Hermione said nervously, and Harry had the impression she was telling this to him as much as to herself.

"Yes, and maybe try to keep him off-balance, just like the twins did with the judges yesterday," Harry added and squeezed the girl's hand. "Don't worry; he has absolutely no evidence against us."

Hermione nodded, and they walked in silence until they reached the gargoyle in front of the headmaster's office. The statue moved aside when the two Gryffindors neared and opened the way to the stairs to Dumbledore's office.

Harry and Hermione walked up the stairs and knocked on the office door, which immediately swung open.

Dumbledore was awaiting them behind his desk.

"Harry, Miss Granger, please enter and sit down," he said with a grave voice, and the couple took their seats on two comfy chairs in front of the desk.

Harry knew the situation was serious when they weren't offered any lemon drops.

"I can't say how disappointed I am with you," Dumbledore said with his trademarked disappointed-grandfather-look.

"We're sorry. We won't do it again," Harry said ruefully but then eyed Dumbledore with curiosity. "But how did you know that we were helping the Weasley twins to put itching powder into Professor Snape's underwear?"

Dumbledore blinked. "What?"

"What?" Harry replied, trying to keep the old man off-balance.

Dumbledore shook his head in annoyance. "You know that's not why you are here. You are here because you have embarrassed Hogwarts and the whole of Britain on the international stage. You entered not only Miss Granger's name into the Goblet of Fire, which was highly irresponsible, but also the names of others. You destroyed-"

"Allegedly," Hermione interjected.

"Excuse me?"

"Allegedly, Sir. Your evidence, for all of this, is circumstantial at best. You have no proof whatsoever that we are responsible."

"Messrs Fred and George Weasley already confessed and told me how you did it."

"Oh, please," Hermione said dismissively. "With all due respect, Sir, but that's the oldest trick in the world. The twins said no such thing."

"So, you will remain silent?"

Hermione only gave a decisive nod in response.

Dumbledore sighed and turned towards Harry. "Harry, do you have anything to say?"

After a moment of hesitation, Harry nodded.

"Yes, Sir. I want to unequivocally state that we didn't do nothing, and if, hypothetically speaking, we had done something, it would have been because we were put under the Imperious Curse."

Hermione snorted next to him.

The Headmaster looked at the couple with annoyance.

"This attitude is really most unbecoming to you, Harry, Miss Granger," he said with gritted teeth.

The teens didn't answer, and Dumbledore, too, remained silent for a while.

Then, he sighed, turned his attention fully towards Hermione, and looked her in the eyes. Hermione stared back defiantly, ignoring the slight headache she was getting as she looked into the Headmaster's twinkling eyes.

After a long while, Dumbledore blinked, straightened up in his chair and looked at the teens before him with a grave expression on his face.

"Now, I know for a fact that you two have entered your name, Miss Granger, the names of Messrs Crabbe and Goyle, of Minister Fudge, Peter Pettigrew, and Tom Riddle into the Goblet of Fire. I even know to which schools you assigned each name. St Brutus Secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys for Tom? A most fitting choice, even if I have never heard of the school."

"I- we- we don't-" Hermione stuttered, but Dumbledore waved his hand dismissively and continued.

"I'm also aware of the extenuating circumstances, Miss Granger, namely that you did this to make a point about the lack of safety in the tournament and that you expected Harry to get chosen as well... But that does not excuse what you did. You both will have to face the consequences of your actions."

Harry and Hermione shared a frightened look.

"I- I don't know what you mean, Sir. We were just as surprised as everyone else," Hermione replied very nervously. "Of course, even if, hypothetically speaking, I had entered my name into the Goblet, it would have broken no school rules. After all, there was no school rule that forbade such a thing. We were not forbidden from circumventing the Age Line. You, Sir, just stated that we wouldn't be able to do it. A challenge for inquisitive minds, if there ever was one."

"Be that as it may," Dumbledore said with annoyance, "the same cannot be said for entering other names into the Goblet, especially the Minister's. And what in the name of Merlin were you thinking when you entered the last two names into the Goblet?"

This time, it was Harry who answered, "Well, we- I mean, whoever did this thought – probably! – that this would force Riddle and Pettigrew out in the open and allow them to be captured. Why are you so upset about this, Sir? I think it was brilliant of u- uhm, I mean, of whoever did this!"

"So, what would you do if Tom shows up?" Dumbledore asked, visibly agitated. "You are endangering the entire school!"

"Oh, so we shouldn't use this school as a trap for a Dark Lord?" Hermione said with an arched eyebrow. "Is this truly where you want this discussion to go, Sir? Do you remember our first year at Hogwarts?"

The upset Headmaster brushed her comment aside. "These things are not even remotely comparable. And what about Minister Fudge? Why did you do this? The Minister is furious and is out for blood. Mr Crouch will probably lose his position at the Ministry over this, and I might have to call in quite a few favours if I want to prevent you two from getting expelled and having your wands snapped. And frankly speaking, at the moment I'm not very inclined to do so."

Hermione looked very frightened by now, and Harry felt similar. However, he wasn't ready to fold, yet. "Fudge is a spineless opportunist who tried to get Sirius killed by a Dementor. He deserved to be pranked like this. And all of that- it doesn't matter anyway, because you can't expel us without proof. And there isn't any."

Harry remained silent as Dumbledore turned his gaze towards him. Their eyes locked, and Harry winced when he felt a slight pain behind his forehead. But he ignored it, not wanting to be the one to blink first.

The Headmaster remained impassive for a while, but soon he got a hardly noticeable grim smile.

But then, suddenly, Dumbledore's eyes got wide.

"What?!" he gasped. He paled and got an anguished expression. "No! ... no... these... but Lily... how..."

Harry was completely bewildered, but he continued to stare back at the mumbling Headmaster.

After several minutes, Dumbledore slumped back into his chair. The shocked couple could clearly see the tears glistening in the Headmaster's eyes before he buried his face in his hands.

"I... I am so, so sorry, Harry," the old man said haltingly with a weak voice. "I didn't know... please... please, believe me... I should have never left you there... I should have checked up on you... I should have investigated when you asked to stay here over the summer..."

Harry realised that somehow, the Headmaster must have read his mind and had inadvertently discovered some of his childhood memories with the Dursleys. Hermione gasped and reached for Harry's hand, tears welling up in her eyes, too. Clearly, she had come to the same conclusion.

The Headmaster continued, nearly sobbing, "I am... beginning to understand how much I failed you... how much I failed James and Lily... how anyone related to Lily could ever behave in such a despicable manner..."

It took a while for Dumbledore to gather himself.

"I... I am deeply sorry, Harry... If you are willing to give me another chance, I shall try to do better, and maybe, in time, you can forgive an old man his foolish mistakes," he finally said.

Harry only nodded numbly.

With a much calmer voice, Dumbledore continued, "Thank you... Now, I think it is safe to say that Petunia and Vernon Dursley will very soon find themselves in deep trouble with the Muggle authorities. For this, there won't be any second chances. Naturally, you won't return to Privet Drive over the summer."

Harry gasped, and Dumbledore went on, "No, you'll never return there. Please inform me where you intend to stay instead, so that I can arrange for appropriate security measures. With Sirius out of prison, the matter of guardianship is easy to resolve. He will act as your guardian in every and all matters related to the school or Gringotts. For any dealings with the Ministry, I think my signature should suffice. In those matters, I will, of course, abide by any decisions Sirius and you make and shall only act as an intermediary."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry choked out.

"There is absolutely no need to thank me, Harry," Dumbledore said sadly. "It is I who has to thank you for being willing to still work with me."

Harry didn't know how to reply to that and remained silent.

After a pause, the Headmaster sighed.

"You may go. There is much I have to think about," he said.

Harry saw that Hermione was just as surprised as him by their sudden dismissal. They rose from their seats and remained silent as they made their way out of the Headmaster's office.

"And," Dumbledore spoke just as Harry was about to close the door behind him, and the teens turned around.

"Five points from Gryffindor. For a prank gone awry. The matter is closed."

Before the couple could reply, Dumbledore waved his hand, and the door closed in front of them.

#

They had only passed the gargoyle to the Headmaster's office when Hermione engulfed Harry in a bone-crushing hug and broke down in tears.

"I am sorry, too, Harry," she choked out between sobs. "I've been a terrible friend... I should have noticed... I should have done something..."

"No, Hermione," Harry protested, "I didn't want anyone to know. And it got better after I went to Hogwarts... not good, but better..."

Hermione sniffed. "At least you'll never go back there." She squeezed him again. "You don't have to say anything, but I'm there if you ever want to talk,"

"Thank you, 'Mione," Harry mumbled while he disentangled himself from her. "Not now, but eventually, that might be good."

He straightened up and took a deep breath. "Let's go to the library."

Those were the magic words for Hermione's mood to perk up immediately. Holding hands, they left the corridor to the Headmaster's office.

But then, Hermione halted again and looked at Harry with an arched eyebrow. "Mione?" she wondered.

"Oh, well, not good?" Harry asked, well aware of his girlfriend's dislike for nicknames.

Hermione frowned for a moment, but then she smiled. "No, I guess it's all right. It's sweet, actually. As long as it's only you who calls me that."

"Great," Harry replied, "So, Mione, what is it we shall do in the library? Look up spells that might help you in the tournament?"

"That, too," Hermione answered enthusiastically, "But actually, I thought that you might want to write a letter to Sirius and inform him of what Dumbledore has said. He might also be able to give us some advice for the tournament."

Harry agreed immediately, and when they arrived in the library, he began to draft a letter to his godfather.

He wrote that some pranksters – who might have been the son of Prongs and his girlfriend – might have confounded the Goblet of Fire and caused the champion selection that had been reported in the Prophet. He asked his godfather whether he could offer any advice for the tournament. Then, he also wrote that from now on, Sirius would be his guardian and that he might have to coordinate with Dumbledore on some matters.

Hermione next to him read the letter as he wrote it and chuckled. "With Sirius as your guardian, it will almost be as if you were emancipated. He will probably let you do anything you want."

Harry laughed and nodded, but then he got a thoughtful look.

"Hey, couldn't you claim to be emancipated because you compete in a tournament for of-age wizards and witches?" he asked excitedly.

Hermione looked at Harry with a mixture of concern and amusement. "No, Harry, that is not how this works. Why would you think that? That would be as if I went into a liquor shop, somehow managed to buy a bottle of Whisky despite being only fifteen, and then claimed that I, therefore, ought to be considered of age. Do you see how ridiculous that would be?"

"I guess," Harry admitted reluctantly.

He then finished the letter to Sirius by reporting that he no longer had to live with the Dursleys but didn't yet know where he would spend his summer.

"Too bad that you can't live with him while he's on the run," Hermione said. She frowned contemplatively and started to nibble on her bottom lip.

"You know," she began hesitantly, "With Sirius unavailable, you could stay with me over the summer."

"Really?" Harry wondered. "I would love to! But would your parents be okay with that?"

"Well, if I asked them if my boyfriend could stay with me for the entire summer, they wouldn't be. But that just means that I'll have to ask differently."

She grinned, fetched a parchment out of her bookbag and started to write.

Dear Mum and Dad,

I am feeling a bit sad today because I just learnt that a good friend who's an orphan was mistreated at home. The Headmaster learnt of it, too, and said that my friend's guardians would be prosecuted. But now, my friend has nowhere to go over the summer. You see, the wizarding world does not have any orphanages, nor a child protective service. It is all just so sad and depressing. Do you have any advice on what I might do to help?

Your loving daughter,
Hermione

"That should do," Hermione said, "No mention that you're a boy at all."

Seeing Harry's questioning look, she explained, "My parents are really nice people, if a bit conservative. I'm pretty sure that in their response letter, they'll say that I may invite this girl to spend the summer with us."

Smiling mischievously, she continued, "Then I'll answer: 'Thanks! I did that, and by the way, it's not a girl, it's a boy, it's Harry, I've told you about him.' But they won't be able to rescind their offer, then. And maybe a week before we leave for the summer hols, I'll write and say: 'And, by the way, Harry and I are a couple now!' But by then, they won't be able to back out."

"You would've made a fine Slytherin," Harry said, both impressed and amused.

The couple then left the library and headed to the owlery to send off the letters. Harry thought about lending Hedwig to Hermione and using a school owl for the letter to Sirius. Hedwig was quite noticeable, after all. But in the end, he decided against it. His letter just contained too much incriminating information to be entrusted to any other owl than his loyal and smart feathered friend.

The couple spent the rest of the day in the library, researching for the tournament. Harry's objections that the first task was still several weeks away, and that they didn't know what the task would entail, anyway, were thoroughly ignored by Hermione. Instead, she informed her boyfriend that he had gotten her into the tournament, so he would help her now, period. A disgruntled Harry then joined his girlfriend in combing through the fourth to seventh-year Defence and Charms books. They compiled a long list of spells that might be helpful for the tournament, to then select and try to learn the most useful ones.

Harry sighed, buried in a huge pile of books in the school library on a sunny Sunday afternoon. He had known that he would regret convincing Hermione to put her name into the Goblet, but he hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

#

Elsewhere, later on the same day

In a small cabin somewhere in the woods of the Canadian province of Alberta, 29-year-old witch Harmony Ranger, dragon handler at the nearby dragon sanctuary, was sitting at the breakfast table, enjoying her coffee and her pancakes with maple syrup. Apart from the rustling of leaves in the wind, it was completely silent.

She sighed contently. It was for this quiet peacefulness that she lived here in the woods, far away from society's usual drama and turmoil.

She looked out of the open window and was surprised to see what appeared to be a strange dark cloud in an otherwise clear morning sky.

Even weirder, the cloud seemed to be moving exactly towards her hut.

The unfortunate witch soon found herself under an onslaught of flocks upon flocks of owls from Britain, all carrying hate mail, howlers, or even booby-trapped envelopes. Until she managed to seal all entrances to her cabin, letters were exploding all around her, while howlers screamed abuse at her.

After a few minutes, the shell-shocked witch had destroyed or vanished all letters, and her cabin looked like a war zone.

Harmony had been too busy destroying howlers and protecting herself from explosions to really pay attention to the content of the howlers. She had only understood that people were upset about some tournament, and even more upset because they believed that she had hooked up with some boy who lived. Why would people be upset about that, when the only alternative to that would be to hook up with a boy who didn't live?

She shook her head with annoyance. People were weird. And her parents wondered why she had moved out here! Obviously, she still lived far too close to society.

Chapter Text

- CH APTER FIVE -

Keep calm and carry on

The next morning during breakfast, Harry found himself once more excitedly anticipating the delivery of the Daily Prophet. He and Hermione, who sat to his right, both perked up when the first post owls flew into the hall and watched out expectantly for the Prophet's delivery owls. Soon, Neville, who sat on Harry's other side, received his copy of the Prophet. Harry grinned when he spotted the headline.

TRUE ORIGINS OF YOU-KNOW-WHO REVEALED

He smirked with satisfaction, but then Harry's eyes grew wide as he read the sub-headline.

Son of Muggle lead respectable Pureblood citizens astray

With a sinking feeling, Harry continued to read. The article went on to decry how a pretentious Muggle-born had tried to usurp power by playing to the valid concerns of old, respectable Pureblood families and tricking them into fighting for his own ends, resulting in the loss of countless lives and the near or complete extinction of many respectable old families.

"I guess I can see now why Dumbledore kept this information to himself," Harry muttered dejectedly, and Hermione nodded with a concerned expression on her face.

"Look," Hermione said and pointed at another article. "Minister Fudge reluctantly agrees to compete... wants to see culprits punished... assures public that You-Know-Who is dead... Pettigrew, too, despite the names coming out of the Goblet..."

Harry sighed. "Well, that's pretty much what was to be expected."

He was still brooding over the Prophet's articles when classes began. Their first class of the day was Herbology, which the Gryffindors shared with the Hufflepuffs.

During the class, Harry and Hermione had to endure the hostile glares of the Hufflepuff students, and even Professor Sprout behaved much colder towards them than usual. However, it wasn't as if Harry or Hermione had been great friends with any of the Hufflepuffs before, so they weren't bothered much by the treatment.

Next was Care of Magical Creatures, shared with the Slytherins. Harry and Hermione went down towards Hagrid's hut expecting a confrontation with the Snakes, and they were surprised when the Slytherins ignored them just as usual. Crabbe and Goyle eyed Harry and Hermione resentfully, but since competing in the Triwizard tournament was considered a great honour, they could hardly complain about being entered. The two Slytherin boys had apparently not yet reconciled with Draco Malfoy, who stood clearly apart from them, still sulking. All by himself, Malfoy wasn't going to pick a fight, either.

Thus, the class would have been quite enjoyable, hadn't it been for Hagrid's planned lesson of the day. The students had to take Blast-ended Skrewts for a walk so that the horrid creatures could 'relieve some pent-up energy' in the hopes that they would then stop killing each other. Harry couldn't help but think that any Skrewt killing another was all good in his book, and judging by the facial expressions of his classmates, all of them agreed with him on that.

Over the next days, things continued as they were. Harry and Hermione were shunned by the Hufflepuffs and ignored by the Slytherins. The Ravenclaws remained neutral. Ron still refused to speak to the couple and continued sulking. Like Professor Sprout, Professor McGonagall also behaved noticeable colder towards Harry and Hermione. Harry wasn't much bothered by it, but his girlfriend was disheartened. Of course, Snape acted even more hostile towards Harry than usual. Harry would have been surprised by anything else.

Ignoring all the drama to the best of their ability, Harry and Hermione put all their effort into researching and training for the tournament. Keeping their distance from the general student populace, they spent all their free time holed up in the library or unused classrooms, and maybe the occasional broom cupboard.

#

On Saturday, Harry received an answer from Sirius. It was only a short note signed by Snuffles, telling him to be at the fireplace of the Gryffindor common room at one in the morning the same night.

That was how Harry and Hermione found themselves sitting on 'their' couch in front of the fireplace at close to one o'clock in the morning. They didn't know how Sirius was going to contact them, but they didn't let themselves be bothered by it. Sitting in front of the fireplace on the comfy couch, cuddled close to each other, was by no means a hardship, after all.

Harry was looking into the flames and frowned when he spotted a form that almost appeared to be a face. Could that be...

"Sirius!" he shouted, startling his girlfriend.

"Hello, Harry," Sirius said brightly from the fire. "And the beautiful Miss Granger, it's a pleasure to see you again."

"Hi Sirius, and call me Hermione," the brunette answered with a smile.

They exchanged some pleasantries, until Harry asked, "So, Sirius, have you read in the Prophet what we've been up to?"

Sirius laughed. "I did. And let me tell you, Harry: I'm extremely proud of you! Your father would've been so proud of you! Lily would've been horrified, of course. She would've grounded you until you were thirty. But James would have loved it."

They all laughed, and Sirius continued, "I'll say, with what you two have pulled there, pranking the entire school, Dumbledore, the Ministry, and Moldyshorts in one go, you two are not just worthy heirs of the Marauders. I hereby proclaim you King and Queen of the Marauders! I'll have to arrange some sort of coronation ceremony for you with Moony when we all see each other again."

Harry smiled, and Hermione looked as if she couldn't decide whether she should be flattered or annoyed.

"Well, have you any advice for us, or rather for Hermione, for the tournament?" Harry then asked his godfather.

Sirius frowned. "I'm afraid not. I've never heard of the tournament before, to be honest. And since you don't know what the tasks will be- you don't right?"

Harry shook his head.

"Well, then I don't know what I could tell you. Help and be there for each other. Play to your strengths, Hermione, but you know those better than I do."

Sirius hesitated. "However, I will advise you to be careful around some of the judges. Karkaroff especially, he was a Death Eater, once."

"What?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yes," Sirius said, "but he made a deal with the Ministry and sold out many of his fellow bastards, so they let him go."

He scowled and continued, "And be wary of Crouch, too. Try not to cross him."

Harry thought that it might be a bit late for that. "Why?" he asked.

Sirius grimaced. "He's a right bastard! He and then Minister Bagnold were the ones who put me in Azkaban and made sure that I didn't receive a trial. But at least he is a staunch enemy of the Death Eaters. Even put his own son in Azkaban for life."

"His son?" Harry blurted out, "How can he have a son?"

Sirius blinked and then got a mischievous smile. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation with your girlfriend present? You see, when a man loves a woman very much-"

"Stop it!" Harry yelled, flushed in embarrassment. "That's not what I meant. It's just that I thought that Crouch was... Well, I didn't want to spread it around; it's no one's business."

"What?" Hermione asked curiously.

Harry sighed. "The other day, I saw on the Marauder's Map that Crouch and Moody were spending the night together in Professor Moody's private quarters."

"Crouch and Moody?" Hermione and Sirius exclaimed simultaneously.

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly," Harry replied.

"I don't believe it, give me the map!" Hermione said forcefully.

"It saw that last week. Not today," Harry said defensively, but fished the map out of his bookbag and gave it to Hermione, nonetheless.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good," the witch stated with her wand pressed against the parchment and revealed the map.

A few moments later, her eyes grew wide. In Professor Moody's chamber, the names Alastor Moody and Bartemius Crouch were displayed next to each other.

"Maybe... I don't know... maybe they just like having sleepovers?" she suggested a bit desperately.

Harry snorted. "That seems even more unlikely to me."

"I guess it's not impossible," Sirius said from the fireplace after a pause, "I've never seen Alastor with a woman. That would explain it. The wizarding world tends to be quite prejudiced in things like this, so naturally, they would try to hide things. Even to the point of Crouch getting married for appearances' sake..."

He paused. "After all, that was the sole reason why James and Lily got married, too."

Harry and Hermione's heads snapped towards Sirius, their jaws dropping.

"HA!" the Marauder exclaimed. "Gotcha! Oh, you should have seen your faces!" he wheezed in between bouts of loud laughter.

"That was not funny, Sirius!" Harry complained with indignation while Hermione shook her head disapprovingly.

"Oh, but it was!" Sirius disagreed, still laughing.

The three continued to talk until almost three in the morning. When they finally called it a night and went to bed, Harry was in an excellent mood.

"It's strange to have some family that cares. But very nice," he said contently as he snuggled closer to Hermione, who had sneaked into his bed again.

"You'll always have a family that cares from now on," she whispered back and gave him a light kiss on the lips. "Good night."

#

The attitude of the students and professors towards the couple remained the same over the next week. The only thing that changed was that Malfoy had apparently reconciled with Crabbe and Goyle. On Friday before Potions, when the Gryffindor and Slytherin students were waiting before the classroom in the dungeons, he sauntered towards Harry and Hermione, his two goons in tow.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Potty and his little know-it-all," he said with a sneer.

"Sod off, Malfoy," Harry replied with annoyance.

"I bet you're both shitting your pants right now, with the first task coming up," the blond Slytherin said and glared hatefully at Hermione. "You will soon see that the likes of you have no chance of competing against real wizards."

Harry palmed his wand in his pocket, and only his girlfriend's hand on his arm stopped him from drawing it.

"I would be a bit more worried about your minions, if I were you," Hermione said calmly, "You do realise that these two real wizards rank at the bottom of our entire year group? While a Muggle-born like me outclasses you in every class we have."

"Don't talk to your betters like that," Malfoy hissed and turned towards Harry. "I hope you're making good use of your Mudblood whore before she expires on the task in two weeks!"

"Wow," Hermione said flatly, "that was crass, even for you."

But Harry's temper got the better of him. He drew his wand and aimed it at the Death Eater wannabe in front of him, who also raised his wand.

For a brief second, the boys glared at each hatefully, before they cast at the same time.

"Furnunculus!" Harry shouted.

"Densaugeo!" screamed Malfoy.

Malfoy was hit right between his eyes, and he screamed in pain and let his wand drop as big ugly boils sprung up in his face.

Harry stepped aside from Malfoy's spell, but that caused the spell to hit Hermione, who had reached for Harry to hold him back from fighting.

"Mione!" Harry shouted with dismay, as his girlfriend clutched her mouth and started whimpering. Her front teeth were growing rapidly.

Quickly, Harry cast, "Finite!"

It was one of the spells they had learnt in the course of the tournament preparation. Hermione's teeth stopped growing immediately, but they didn't shrink back.

Due to his diversion, Harry noticed too late that Crabbe had also drawn his wand.

"Flipendo!" the Slytherin yelled, casting the knock-back jinx.

Unfortunately for him, he had drawn his wand in such a haste that he didn't notice that he was holding it at the wrong end. Crabbe screamed in pain when the beam of light from his own wand hit him in the chest and knocked him over.

With his wand at the ready, Harry surveyed the Slytherin boys before him. Malfoy was holding his face, tears in his eyes, Crabbe lay on the ground, groaning, and Goyle was still trying to fumble his wand out of the pocket of his robe. Apparently, it was stuck.

"What is going on here?" a cold voice asked only a moment later.

Harry groaned. Great. Snape had arrived on the scene.

"Potter attacked us, Sir," Malfoy whined.

"Crabbe attacked himself," Harry retorted angrily, "And Malfoy attacked Hermione, as you can see."

Snape looked at Hermione, whose front teeth almost extended past her chin. With an indifference voice, he then said, "I don't see a difference."

Hermione whimpered, while Harry's eyes widened with rage. "WHAT?" he shouted.

Snape sneered at him. "Detention for instigating a fight, Potter, Granger. And fifty points from Gryffindor. Oh, and twenty points from Gryffindor for your disrespect, I think."

Harry had gotten used to Snape's behaviour towards him, but this treatment of his girlfriend he could not tolerate. He felt like pummelling the greasy git's face with his bare fists, but he knew he wouldn't get away with it.

With a last hate-filled look towards Snape, Harry took Hermione's arm and started to walk her towards the infirmary, so that Madam Pomfrey could fix her teeth.

"Come back here, Potter! You're not excused!" Snape screamed behind him. "DETENTION, POTTER, FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!"

Harry just walked on, tugging Hermione along.

#

Madame Pomfrey sighed when she saw Harry entering the infirmary. "Mr Potter, what happened to you this time?"

"Nothing, Madam Pomfrey, I'm just escorting Hermione here. She was hit with a spell; I didn't catch the incantation," Harry informed the school nurse, who relaxed at that.

"Oh, that's new," the woman said and turned towards Hermione.

"Ah, nothing to worry about, Miss Granger. We'll have that fixed in a jiffy," Madam Pomfrey said, pointing her wand at Hermione's enlarged teeth. "Mr Potter, please tell me when Miss Granger's teeth are back to their original size."

The nurse flicked her wand and Hermione's teeth started to shrink. Not missing this opportunity, Harry watched on carefully and let Pomfrey shrink Hermione's teeth a bit further than their original state. He knew how self-conscious Hermione had always been about her slightly larger front teeth.

"It's right now," he said when his girlfriend's teeth were at a perfectly even size.

"Thanks, Mr Potter," Madam Pomfrey answered and conjured a small mirror that she handed it to Hermione. "Is it all right?"

The girl looked in the mirror, and a surprised expression appeared on her face. She then looked at Harry conflicted for a moment, before shooting him a small grateful smile.

"It's perfect. Thank you, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione said.

"Great. Now, shouldn't you be at the Wand Weighing ceremony, Miss Granger?"

"Pardon?"

"The Wand Weighing Ceremony for the Triwizard champions. It's not compulsory to attend, but you should have been invited," Madam Pomfrey elaborated.

Hermione replied that she hadn't been informed, and after giving the couple the directions, the healer shooed them out of the door.

"For the record," Harry said while they walked along, "I never thought that there was something wrong with your teeth. I've always thought that you had a beautiful smile. But I know that it bothered you, so why not let Madam Pomfrey fix it?"

"Thank you, Harry," Hermione answered with a smile, "My parents won't like it, but they'll have to accept it. In retrospect, I've been a bit stupid about it. I should have asked Madam Pomfrey to do this long ago, and then thought up some excuse to tell my parents."

#

A few minutes later, Harry and Hermione entered the small classroom where the Wand Weighing ceremony was about to take place.

Dumbledore, the other headmasters, and Garrick Ollivander were standing in one corner of the classroom, engaged in lively conversation. Cedric, Fleur, and the Weasley twins were conversing in another corner. Viktor Krum stood by himself, brooding as usual. Crabbe and Goyle were also present and looked rather lost.

In the middle of the classroom, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was talking with Ludo Bagman, Barty Crouch, and a witch in magenta robes, that Harry didn't know. All four of them looked up when the couple entered the classroom.

"Miss Granger, finally! Where have you been?" Crouch asked with annoyance. "And what are you doing here, Mr Potter? This is only for Triwizard Champio-"

"Don't be like that, Barty," Bagman interrupted cheerfully. "Of course Mr Potter is welcome to support his girlfriend."

Fudge glared at the couple. "If you wanted to be here, boy, you should have entered your name into the Goblet, too. I know that you entered all the other names. Dumbledore might protect you, but I will see you-"

This time, it was Harry who interrupted, "Sorry, but we didn't do it. Innocent until proven guilty, remember? Oh, my mistake, obviously you don't. Just ask Hagrid or my innocent godfather Sirius Black, who you both carted off to Azkaban without a trial!"

Crouch and Fudge were both turning an angry shade of red.

"What's that supposed to mean, boy?" Fudge said with gritted teeth.

"Would you care to elaborate on that statement, Mr Potter?" the witch in magenta robes asked. "Rita Skeeter, by the way, Daily Prophet."

Harry was about to reply when he noticed Dumbledore looking at him with a grave expression. The Headmaster was slightly shaking his head.

Harry hesitated. It seemed like a good idea to him to make a public statement about his godfather's innocence. But the same had been true for his revelation about Riddle, and that hadn't turned out the way he had hoped. Maybe the Prophet would just portray him as delusional or as becoming dark, too? Harry decided to trust the Headmaster for now and to remain silent.

"No comment," he answered. "Let's just get on with things."

It took a while until things had calmed down enough for Ollivander to begin examining the Triwizard champions' wands. It was a rather dull and pointless affair, in Harry's opinion.

Afterwards, a photographer took pictures of the contestants. Bagman and Rita Skeeter insisted that Harry had to be included on the pictures, too, much to his dismay.

When they were done taking pictures, Skeeter grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him towards a corner of the classroom. Hermione followed them, holding Harry's other hand.

"Ah, so that's your little girlfriend, Harry?" the reporter asked. "Harmony, right? I've been planning to write an article about the two of you for some time..."

"Actually, it's Her-" Hermione began.

Harry interrupted. "Yes, that's Harmony Ranger."

Hermione gave Harry a questioning look but kept didn't contradict him.

Harry wasn't sure how this woman could have been present for the entire ceremony and still not have gotten Hermione's name right. But as long as it would protect Hermione from receiving any howlers and other hate mail, he had no intention to put the record straight.

Harry continued, "But unfortunately, we really don't want to talk to the press. If you'll excuse us, please."

The couple made a hasty retreat towards the other corner of the classroom, where they were approached by Dumbledore.

"Thank you, Harry, for not speaking to the press about Sirius," the Headmaster said. "It would really have made things much more difficult for all of us."

Harry nodded.

"And I have to thank you, Professor, for whatever you did to keep the Ministry off our backs," he said. And with a contrite look, he added, "And I'm sorry for not listening to you about keeping Riddle's heritage to myself. It certainly didn't work out in the way I expected."

"I don't blame you," Dumbledore replied. "I should have explained myself to you long ago. You saw an opportunity to humiliate the Pureblood supremacists like Lucius Malfoy and his allies. And you were right; this revelation did humiliate them. But in the broader picture, that matters little. They are just as powerful as before. Only now, they are angry, which makes them even more dangerous. Even worse, this gives them a convenient scapegoat and allows them to present Purebloods as the real victims of the war."

Harry nodded dejectedly, but Hermione frowned.

"That may be right, Headmaster," she said, "But I think it was still the right thing to do. The right thing strategically, too. We might not have damaged the political movement for Pureblood supremacy, but we have damaged Riddle himself. When he comes back, as you said you believe he will, he will be forced to fight on two fronts and will no longer be able to call upon some of his most dangerous allies."

Dumbledore looked pensively at her. "Perceptive as ever, Miss Granger. You may be right. Let us hope that you are right," he said slowly.

He then sighed and went on, "While we are on the matter of things I should have explained to you long ago... I have come to the conclusion that it is high time for me to share some other information with you. For example, the answer to your question in your first year, Harry, on why Tom was targeting you and your family."

Harry's eyes grew wide, and Dumbledore continued, "Unfortunately, I can only share this information if you can then keep it safe. As you have without doubt gathered by now, some wizards and witches are capable of picking information from your mind."

He handed a slip of parchment to Hermione. "This, Miss Granger, is a permission to access the restricted section of the library to study up on Occlumency, the art of secluding your mind. If you could somehow squeeze the study of the Mind Arts in your doubtlessly very busy schedule, I might be able to have a long talk with you by the end of the school year."

"Thank you, Headmaster, we will definitely include it in our studies," Hermione said enthusiastically.

There was a short pause before Harry spoke up, "However, one more thing, Sir: If you want to have a good working relationship with us, you'll have to allow Hermione and me to drop Potions with Snape and allow us to study the subject independently."

Hermione shot Harry a surprised look, and Dumbledore frowned at Harry, clearly taken aback. "What is this about, Harry? I have told you several times; I trust Professor Snape."

"That's great for you, but I don't. Snape is a childish bully who has been targeting me since my very first class. He's a biased, cruel, cold-hearted bastard that should have no business teaching children."

"Harry," Dumbledore replied disapprovingly, "I know you don't get along with Professor Snape, but-"

"Look in my mind!" Harry interrupted.

"What?"

"You don't have to take my word for it, Sir. See it for yourself. You even have my permission this time, as long as you stay focused on the event in question and don't go rummaging around," Harry said, looking the Headmaster in the eyes and trying to concentrate on the earlier altercation and on other instances of Snape targeting him.

Dumbledore frowned but met Harry's eyes. Harry felt a slight pressure in his head while he looked in Dumbledore's twinkling eyes.

A moment later, the Headmaster blinked and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Once more, I have to ask for your forgiveness," he said tiredly. "I shall have a long, honest discussion with Severus."

"I'm sorry, but that's not good enough, Sir," Harry insisted.

Dumbledore sighed. "Maybe not. I can see that your grievances are justified. However, Potions is a dangerous subject, so I cannot allow you to brew in self-study."

"But-" Harry protested.

"But," Dumbledore said, raising his hands in a placating gesture, "you will no longer have classes with Professor Snape. Maybe Madam Pomfrey could teach you. Otherwise, another tutor will be arranged. Until then, try to keep up with the theoretical part of the class."

Harry and Hermione nodded enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry said sincerely.

The couple then quickly left the classroom to avoid any more confrontations with Crouch or Minister Fudge.

#

Things continued as they were for the couple, only now without the weekly harassment by Snape in the Potions class. During meals in the Great Hall, the Potion Master glared at Harry even more hatefully than usual, but apart from that, there hadn't been any interaction between them.

A few days after their meeting with Dumbledore, Harry and Hermione were informed by a note from the Headmaster that they would start their tutoring in Potions with Madam Pomfrey after the first task. Their fellow Gryffindors were a bit miffed at them for not getting all of them out of Snape's class, too. But apart from Ron, they accepted that the extent of the animosity between Harry and Snape warranted the special treatment. Most Gryffs were just grateful that Snape was behaving at least slightly more professionally in his classes since his talk with the headmaster.

The next weekend was scheduled as a Hogsmeade weekend. During breakfast on Saturday, Harry tried to convince his girlfriend to take half a day off from the tournament preparations and relax a little, as she was getting more and more anxious. But Hermione wouldn't hear any of it.

"No, Harry. We don't have the time. I'm not nearly prepared enough," she insisted. "There are just way too many contingencies we have to plan and train for."

"If we could only find out what the task will be," Harry said, pondering the question. "The teachers probably know..."

Hermione sighed. "Well, yes, but they aren't allowed to tell us anything. We'll have to make do without that information."

Harry nodded resignedly, but then he perked up and grinned.

"Or... or we just go and talk to a teacher who can't keep a secret for his life!"

#

A few minutes later, the couple was knocking on the door of Hagrid's hut.

"Ah, Harry, Hermione!" the half-giant said happily as he opened the door. "Come in! How are yeh? Tea?"

Soon, the couple was sitting at the table in Hagrid's hut, drinking tea, with Harry carefully nibbling on one of Hagrid's rock cakes. After they had made some small talk, Harry decided to cut to the chase.

"I am of course a bit worried about Hermione, with her being in the Triwizard Tournament and all," he began.

"Ah, don' worry too much," Hagrid said, and turned towards Hermione. "Is not as if yeh'll have ter go against those dragons, just get past them, innit?

"Dragons?" Harry and Hermione exclaimed aghast.

Hagrid paled under his beard.

"Ah, I shouldn't have said that," he said with dismay.

"Dragons, Hagrid?" Hermione asked timidly.

"I'm not s'posed ter tell yeh. But don' worry, poor misunderstood creatures, they are. Though, I s'pose they tend ter get a bit antsy when they're nestin'."

"Nesting dragons?" Hermione gasped.

"Ah, I shouldn't have said that either," Hagrid muttered, but then tried to calm down the upset girl before him. "But don' worry, quite smart they are, those dragons. They won' fight yeh when they see the egg yer stealin' isn't one of their own."

"So, to sum up," Harry said, rather shaken, "Hermione has to steal a fake egg from a nesting dragon?"

"Ah, I guess yeh've got me outsmarted, there," Hagrid said, visibly upset with himself. "Please don' tell anyone that I slipped up."

"Of course not, Hagrid," Harry said soothingly while he helped his very pale girlfriend up from her chair.

"Thanks for the tea, Hagrid, but I think we have to get back to the castle and start planning."

"'Course," Hagrid answered as the couple hurriedly left the hut. "Good luck!"

#

After they had taken a few shaking steps away from Hagrid's hut, Harry and Hermione halted and turned towards each other. Hermione's eyes were wide, and Harry noticed that she was hyperventilating. He hugged her tightly in an attempt to calm her down.

"Okay, no need to panic!" he said loudly, his own panic clear in his voice. It didn't exactly help to alleviate his girlfriend's distress.

Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself down first and then instructed Hermione to do likewise.

"Okay, breathe, Mione! Breathe, just like me... breathe, in and out... in... and out... good!"

After a while, the girl was breathing normally again, and she started to disentangle herself from her boyfriend.

Harry was rather taken aback when he observed her panicky expression slowly giving way to an angry look.

Then, suddenly, Hermione started hitting Harry's chest. "What's the worst that could happen, you said!" she shouted as she weakly slammed her fists against him. "It's not as if you'll have to fight a dragon, you said! Great job, Potter, getting your girlfriend killed within less than a month of being together!"

She broke down crying, and Harry hugged her again.

"Mione, I can't say how sorry I am!" he said sincerely, "I really thought this would just be a fun, friendly competition."

Hermione buried her head in his chest and continued to cry.

Harry whispered soothing words to her, but the girl wouldn't calm down.

"I might die! The dragon might kill me!" she sobbed. "I don't want to get killed."

"Well, at least you won't get expelled."

Harry's eyes grew wide, and he gulped audibly. He had no idea what had possessed him to make that quip referencing her memorable line from back in their first year.

It did work in a way, as Hermione stopped sobbing almost immediately. However, now she took a step back from him and glared at him with an irate look that was much more frightening than her previous angry expression.

"Ah, I shouldn't have said that," Harry muttered under his breath. The irony of this statement was not lost to him, but given his situation, he found himself unable to appreciate it.

Hermione just continued to glare at him. Harry gulped again and gave her an apologetic look.

Then, suddenly, the witch's expression changed and she burst into loud laughter. She was laughing so hard that she had difficulties breathing once more. She leaned back towards Harry and hugged the boy again. Harry returned the hug happily, even though he was completely bewildered by his girlfriend's change of attitude. He shook his head with amusement. Girls! He would never understand them!

After a while, Hermione was calming down slowly.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione replied, letting loose of Harry. "Sorry for getting your robes wet."

Harry shrugged. "It's all right. And I'm sorry, too, for, well, you know..."

"Well, yes, it was rather insensitive..." Hermione said with a stern look, but then she smiled. "But I guess I really didn't have my priorities straight back then, so you're forgiven."

"So... Let's head to the library?" Harry suggested.

"I think we should inform the others, first," Hermione replied, and Harry nodded in agreement.

Together, they went back up to the castle to search for the Weasley twins.

#

Harry was surprised when he spotted the twins running towards him and Hermione just as they crossed the entrance hall.

"We have to talk!" George said with a worried expression on his face.

"But not here," Fred continued, looking equally troubled.

"Yes, let's find an empty classroom. We have news to share, too," Harry answered.

A minute later, the four students entered an unused classroom near the library. Just as the door fell shut behind them, Harry and George began to speak at the same time.

"You have to get past a dragon!"

"The first task is dragons!"

The four Gryffindors looked at each other with confusion.

"Yes," Harry said after a pause, "Hagrid inadvertently told us. How did you know?"

"Ah, Charlie told us when we met him in Hogsmeade," George answered. "But he didn't know what they would be used for. You said we have to get past them?"

Hermione answered, "Yes, we have to get past a nesting dragon to steal a fake egg from its nest."

The twins gulped.

"Well, at least we know now," George muttered. "Do you already know the kinds of dragons they have lined up for us?"

Harry and Hermione shook their heads.

"Charlie gave us a list. Let me give you a copy," Fred said. He pulled a parchment out of his robes and cast the duplication spell on it.

"Thank you," Hermione said sincerely when he handed her the list. Harry noticed that there were only nine dragons on the list – unsurprisingly, as the Ministry insisted that Pettigrew and Voldemort were both dead.

"So, what now? Any ideas? And are we even supposed to help each other prepare?" Fred asked after another pause.

"Since when do you care about what you're supposed to do?" Harry replied.

"Righto," Fred said with a smirk. "So... ideas?"

Hermione raised her hand.

The twins looked at her with amusement, and Harry arched his left eyebrow at her. "Mione, it's only the four of us brainstorming. You don't have to raise your hand."

"Sorry, force of habit," the girl said with an embarrassed look. "With us being in a classroom and all. Well, anyway, I thought about what we were told by Mr Crouch about the task. We are only allowed to bring our wands, but that doesn't mean that we can't summon other items during the task to help us."

"Brilliant, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed.

The four students were silently pondering for a while.

After a few minutes, Harry began hesitantly, "That's not for Hermione, but you guys could maybe summon your brooms and out-fly your dragons."

"Out-fly a dragon?" Fred asked sceptically.

"Well, it's what I might have done," Harry said defensively.

Hermione huffed. "Honestly, that's completely asinine."

"So, yeah, it's totally what Harry would have done," Fred said. "Though, I guess he might even have pulled it off."

"But I think we'll pass," George continued. "However, I think there are some nice inventions of ours that we could summon."

Fred smirked and nodded excitedly.

Harry noticed that the twins seemed eager to leave the classroom to begin testing whatever prank items they thought they might use.

"It's all right, you may leave if you want. We'll let you know if we need your input," he told them.

When Fred and George were gone, he turned towards Hermione.

"Okay, I have another idea, why don't you..."

#

Harry and Hermione spent the rest of the day deriving plans and backup plans for the task. They spent several hours in the library where they looked up the characteristics of the different kinds of dragons, and how to best subdue them. Then, they returned to the unused classroom, where Hermione practised the spells she might use. When they left the classroom for dinner in the Great Hall in the evening, Harry was confident that they had a solid plan that was likely to put his girlfriend in the first place.

"Don't you think we should inform the other champions of the dragons, too?" Hermione asked Harry during dinner.

"Maybe not the champions of the other schools. But yes, we should tell Cedric," Harry answered.

His girlfriend nodded. "Okay, yes. And should... should we tell Crabbe and Goyle?"

Harry frowned. "Huh... nah... Besides, haven't you noticed how Moody has asked Crabbe to stay back after the last class? I'm pretty sure he's helping them already. Why else would he have done that? And as I know Snape, he's probably helping them, too."

Hermione glanced over to the Slytherin table with a disapproving look.

"Of course," she said, "I would complain that they are cheating, but I guess those two goons-"

She gestured towards where Goyle was sitting at the Slytherin table; Harry didn't spot Crabbe.

"-They really need all the help they can get," Hermione continued, "I would complain that no professor is offering me any help, but I think we have a really good plan already."

Harry chuckled and nodded. They really did have a good plan. Or rather, several of them. He was really looking forward to the first task on Tuesday.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER SIX -

Ave Caesar, morituri te salutant

"Miss Granger, Messrs Weasley, it's time for the champions to assemble at the Quidditch pitch for the first task."

Harry, Hermione, and the twins had just finished their lunch at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. The four students turned around towards Professor McGonagall, who had spoken to them. The Professor had her lips pursed as she looked at the Gryffindor champions, though Harry thought that he could spot a hint of worry in the older witch's eyes, too.

"Thank you, Professor," Hermione answered politely. "We'll best be on our way, then."

The four students got up and left the Great Hall under encouraging calls from some of their fellow Gryffindors. There weren't many students left in the hall, though, as most of the school was down at the arena already.

As they neared the Quidditch pitch and the huge tent next to it, Harry was surprised at the sight before him. The whole area was swarmed with dozens of red-robed Aurors, and the entrance to the champions' tent was heavily guarded.

Harry gave a relieved sigh. Fudge might have been insisting that Peter Pettigrew and Voldemort were dead, but apparently, the DMLE was still present with almost the entire Auror Corps to guard the happenings.

He grinned. With this kind of security, there was no way that Riddle would be able to show up today. Not even to quickly step into and out of the arena, which might have been sufficient to satisfy the magical contract created by the Goblet of Fire. Voldemort was about to get defeated today, without even being present for the happy occasion.

Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George passed the guards at the entrance of the tent and stepped inside. Harry spotted the schools' headmasters in one corner, together with most of the champions. Fleur was talking to Madame Maxime, and Krum and Karkaroff were whispering to each other. Dumbledore was talking to Cedric and one of the Aurors. Crabbe and Goyle watched the proceedings with their usual blank expressions. Like the four Gryffindors, the two Slytherins wore their ordinary school robes. Only Cedric, Krum, and Fleur wore more extravagant uniforms which prominently displayed their school crests.

Cedric looked up at the Gryffindors as they entered and gave them a polite nod, and Harry could see that the Hufflepuff was relieved and grateful that they had told him of the dragons the day before.

Crouch, Bagman, and Minister Fudge stood in another corner of the tent, with Rita Skeeter and her photographer hanging about close-by, trying to appear inconspicuous. Minister Fudge wore deep blue duelling robes with a formfitting dragon hide vest, which seemed rather out of place on the unathletic, overweight man.

The three Ministry officials approached the four Gryffindors as soon as they had stepped into the tent. Bagman was cheerful as ever, but the other two men were visibly upset.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you have caused us?" Crouch asked them with a loud, angry voice. "The Ministry had to search the whole world to find nine nesting dragons and then had to transport them here. The costs for the tournament have gone through the roof, and I'm holding you four personally responsible."

"Well, I'm holding responsible whatever imbecile came up with this idea for the task in the first place," Harry replied with a shrug.

"Besides, couldn't you have just changed the task to something else?" Hermione inquired.

"Changing the task completely would have been even more difficult," Bagman said dismissively.

"More difficult?" Hermione repeated with an incredulous expression. "Changing the task to something innocuous like a duelling competition would have been more difficult than finding and hauling in six additional nesting dragons?"

"Uhm, well," Bagman said uneasily, "I guess if you put it that way..."

Hermione's temper erupted. "What kind of idiot thinks 'What would be a good challenge for three school children? Hey, how about this: Let's have each of them fight a dragon! What, now there are much more competitors, some of them even younger than expected? Oh well, no problem, let's not change the task – nooo! Let's just find a bunch more dragons!' Idiotic wizards, not an ounce of logic or common sense!"

Upon hearing this, Fudge exploded, too. "What is this, Ludo? Crouch?" He turned towards his colleagues. "Are you telling me the task could have been changed so that I wouldn't have to fight a dragon!?"

Bagman fidgeted. "Well, you see..."

Fudge rounded on Crouch. "You! This is your doing, Crouch! Oh, I see it now! You're trying to get me killed because you want my job!"

"Preposterous!" exclaimed the other man.

"Oh no, I know how you feel about me!" Fudge insisted furiously, "You think that you should have become Minister instead of me back in 1990!"

"This has nothing to do with the task!" Crouch replied with indignation.

The complexion of both men was slowly turning purple from rage. Rita Skeeter, in the meantime, was gleefully scribbling down notes on her notepad.

"Bah! You don't fool me!" the Minister exclaimed, "Let me tell you, Crouch, the minute this tournament is over, I'll have your resignation on my desk!"

"We'll see about that!" Crouch replied coldly.

"Ohh, no!" Fudge shouted while gesticulating wildly, "When this is over, you'll have much more free time to spend with that 'secret mistress' of yours!"

Harry's eyebrows rose at that. Did Fudge know about the relationship between Crouch and Moody, too?

"Oh, will I? Well, at least my 'secret mistress' doesn't look like a toad!" Crouch shouted scathingly in reply.

Harry had to suppress a chortle at that, even though he wasn't sure if Moody was necessarily better looking than someone who looked like a toad. He and most of the other attendants in the tent watched with gaping mouths as the two irate Ministry officials continued screaming at each other.

"Oh, yes? Well, at least I didn't put my own son in Azkaban!"

"Well, at least I was man enough to at least father a child!"

"At least my wife didn't die out of shame for being married to a loser!"

"At least I'm not fellating Malfoy for his money!"

"At least I didn't shit myself at the last Ministry New Year's reception!"

"That was chocolate ice cream, and you know it!"

"Gentlemen, please!" Dumbledore finally interjected loudly, "Is this really necessary?"

Madam Maxime wrinkled her nose disdainfully. "Oui, when ze Messieurs from your Ministrie are quite done, I zink we should start wiz ze task."

Crouch and Fudge continued glaring at each other hatefully but remained silent.

"Of course," Bagman said with an uneasy laugh. He held up a large sack of purple silk. "Please, if all the champions could come to me?"

"Wow, that was surreal," Hermione whispered to Harry as they stepped forward. Harry was shaking his head, an amused smirk on his lips.

"Now, one after the other, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag," Bagman announced when all the champions were gathered around him. "From it, you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see. Oh, and your task is to collect the golden egg!"

Harry frowned. Had Bagman forgotten that Crouch had already been screaming about dragons not two minutes ago? Why didn't he just drop the pretences?

"Ladies first, right?" Bagman said brightly and offered the bag to Fleur.

The French girl drew a miniature figure of the Welsh Green dragon with a number four on it. She only gave a relieves sigh, indicating that she had indeed known about the dragons beforehand.

Then, Bagman the bag man held the bag out for Hermione. Harry held his breath as his girlfriend reached into the bag and pulled out another dragon. It was a miniature figure of the Hungarian Horntail with the number nine, the most dangerous dragon of the bunch. As it was the biggest challenge, Hermione would be the last champion to enter the arena.

"Wow, it looks as if you have somehow acquired my legendary luck!" Harry whispered as he and Hermione retreated towards the back of the tent. They didn't pay attention to what dragons the remaining champions were drawing.

Hermione shrugged. "It shouldn't really matter for our plan."

"Right," Harry agreed a bit nervously, "Actually, I guess it's really best for you to go last, or the others might try to copy you."

"True. Though, if any of our first three plans work, then there's really no hope for the wizarding world."

Harry chuckled. "So, you're saying that it's highly likely that Plan A will work?"

Hermione grinned. "Exactly."

Harry laughed out loud, but then he engulfed his girlfriend in a tight hug.

"Oh, don't worry, Harry," Hermione said as he pressed her against him. "The dragon won't come near me."

"No, it won't. I know. I trust our plans. But I can't help but worry. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you after I got you into this mess. Please be careful!"

"I will be," Hermione whispered.

"Good... I love you," Harry whispered back.

Hermione gasped slightly. Technically, this was the second time Harry had said it – the first time he had exclaimed it in his excitement the night before Halloween, but she knew that didn't really count.

"I love you too," she answered after a pause and captured his lips in a deep kiss.

The couple was startled by a flash of light. Harry looked up and shot an annoyed look at Rita Skeeter and her photographer, who had just taken a picture of the kissing couple.

"Ah, young love!" the reporter said with a sickly-sweet smile. "Just what my readers love to read about! Tell me, Harry, how do you feel about your girlfriend competing in the tournament? Are you proud? Worried? Or disappointed and angry at her for entering? Do you feel betrayed? What-"

"Miss Skeeter, I must ask you to leave these premises, as they are only for champions, professors, and Ministry officials," Dumbledore interrupted, coming to Harry and Hermione's rescue.

Skeeter frowned slightly, but replied with a sweet voice, "Of course, Headmaster. My apologies."

She left the tent in a hurry, her photographer trailing right behind her.

"...And for their close friends, of course," the Headmaster added with a kind smile as he turned towards Harry. "But I think it would be best, Harry, if you would take a seat in the audience as well, now."

"Of course, Professor," Harry replied.

After another quick kiss, he separated from Hermione and left the tent to find a good seat in the audience.

#

Half a minute later, Harry entered the stands of the arena and looked for the areas dominated by the red and golden colours of Gryffindor.

"Harry, over here!" he heard Neville shout out.

Harry spotted Neville sitting near the railings of the stands close to the arena. Neville had kept the seat to his right free for him, much to Harry's gratitude. To Neville's left sat Ginny, and next to her sat a blonde girl in Ravenclaw colours.

"Thanks, Nev!" Harry said appreciatively as he sat down. "Where are Dean and Seamus?"

Neville shrugged. "Dunno. With Ron, I think. But I found some good company, nonetheless."

Ginny smiled at them, and the blonde girl looked at Harry with wide eyes.

"Hello, Harry Potter," she said with a dreamy voice.

"Uhm, hi, I don't think we've been introduced before," Harry replied awkwardly.

The girl burst into laughter, and Ginny shook her head with amusement.

"That's my friend Luna Lovegood," the redhead told Harry. "She's a third-year in Ravenclaw, but she decided to sit with us Gryffindors for today."

Ginny then leaned over Neville towards Harry and whispered, "She can be a bit odd, sometimes, but she's a really sweet girl. Please be nice, okay?"

Harry just nodded with a smile. He had been living in the wizarding world for over three years, by now; he could deal with odd.

The blonde girl – Luna – was still laughing merrily.

"Great," Harry said after a pause, "so wha-"

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, dear students from Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang, honoured guests, welcome to the first task of this century's first Triwizard Tournament!" Ludo Bagman announced with a magically enhanced voice.

He stood on a platform at the bottom of the stands just a few yards above the enclosure of the arena. On the platform were five golden seats; Dumbledore sat in the middle, Crouch sat to his right, and Bagman's chair was to his left, though Bagman stood to make the announcement. Maxime and Karkaroff sat next to Crouch and Bagman, respectively.

While Bagman continued to explain the rules for the task, Harry noticed that Ginny was fidgeting nervously in her seat. Clearly, she was worried about her brothers.

Harry was just about to offer some comforting words, when Bagman announced, "Now, let's bring in the first dragon for our first champion, Fred Weasley!"

A side entrance to the arena's enclosure opened, and a dozen dragon handlers were dragging a large dragon into the enclosure on several chains. Another three dragon handlers were levitating a dragon nest into the arena.

"Oh, Merlin!" Ginny gasped with an anxious look. "Fred has to fight this?"

The dragon had a length of over fifteen feet, black scales, bronze horns, and black ridges on its back. It was a Norwegian Ridgeback, as Harry recalled from the list the twins had gotten from Charlie. The dragon was quite large but rather tame. Well, tame for a dragon, at least. Harry wondered if it was Norberta, the dragon Hagrid had hatched three years ago. How fast did dragons grow? He didn't know.

"She's cute," Luna said dreamingly, "Do you think we can go and pet her later?"

"Uhh, I don't think so, no," Harry replied with an arched eyebrow. He then turned towards the terrified looking Ginny.

"Hey, don't worry, Ginny," he said comfortingly. "I know that the twins have made plans that will allow them to avoid the dragons."

Ginny gave a trembling smile at that but didn't answer. Her eyes were transfixed on the dragon that was now protectively hunched over the nest in the centre of the arena.

"Now, give it up for FRED WEASLEY!" Bagman called.

The audience cheered, applauded and shouted both encouraging and disparaging remarks as Fred walked into the arena from the main entrance to the enclosure.

He gulped as he took in the scene before him, but his face showed his determination.

The redhead raised his wand and shouted, "Accio bait!"

There were excited whispers in the audience, as a huge piece of... pink something flew towards the boy at the edge of the enclosure. Harry narrowed his eyes and tried to look closer. Was that a leg of ham? Indeed, it was.

"And the first of our six Hogwarts champions has summoned - what is this? Some large piece of meat? Ah, yes!" Bagman commented for the whole arena to hear. "What is he doing now? He levitates it towards the dragon! The dragon is sniffing at it and - oh! One bite, and it's gone! Was that supposed to happen? ... Oh my, what is this? What is happening?"

Harry laughed out loud when he noticed what was happening to the dragon. Its tongue was getting longer and longer! Harry immediately recognised the effects of the twins' Ton-Tongue Toffee.

The dragon's tongue grew to over five foot in length while the dragon stumbled around in confusion. It was huffing and roaring, but then it began trembling and fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Apparently, it wasn't getting enough air.

Fred took the opportunity to sprint forwards to the nest.

"And now, that's his chance!" Bagman shouted excitedly. "And HE GOT THE EGG! Now- OH NO!"

While Fred had sprinted towards the egg, the Ridgeback's tongue had started to shrink back rapidly. The dragon had regained enough consciousness to wipe its tail towards Fred and hit him in the chest. The boy was flung backwards and collided with the wall of the enclosure.

Harry's eyes grew wide, and he heard Ginny gasp. Luckily, Fred was able to get up immediately, and he hurriedly crossed the short distance back towards the entrance, still holding onto the golden egg. He seemed a bit dazzled, but otherwise unharmed.

The audience broke out in cheers.

"HE'S DONE IT! A great showing! What a promising start for the tournament!" Bagman exclaimed. "Now, let's see the marks from the judges!"

Madam Maxime was first to raise her wand. What looked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure seven. The crowd applauded, while Crouch raised his wand. He, too, shot up a number seven in the air, just like Dumbledore after him. Bagman conjured a number nine.

"That's great!" Harry shouted towards Neville and Ginny.

Then, it was Karkaroff's turn. With a cold look at Fred, the Durmstrang Headmaster conjured a number five.

"What!?" Harry shouted. "That's not really fair!"

His friends voiced their agreement, and the loud murmurs in the crowd indicated that many people thought likewise.

"Thirty-five points for our first champion! Not bad! Not bad at all!" Bagman then called out. "Another round of applause for Fred Weasley, please, while we bring in the next dragon!"

Under the applause and cheers of the audience, Fred walked back towards the champions' tent. He still appeared to be a bit unsteady on his feet.

At the same time, the side entrance to the enclosure opened, and the dragon handlers stormed out to subdue the enraged dragon. When they had removed the Ridgeback from the arena, a new dragon was brought in immediately by a second team of dragon handlers.

It was twenty feet long, had black scales, a rather long, curved-shaped snout, and possessed a row of spikes that descended along its neck. Two black horns resided on the top of its head. Harry recognised it as a Canadian Long-snout.

It, too, was a comparatively tame species of dragon. As soon as the nest was placed in the centre of the arena, the dragon lay down and curled around it. The Long-snout seemed uninterested in the noisy audience and even appeared to doze off as soon as the dragon handlers left the arena. Maybe the Canadian dragon was just jet-lagged, Harry mused.

Bagman then announced the second champion. It was Gregory Goyle. The Slytherin entered the arena to the applause of most of the audience.

Goyle boldly walked towards the dozing dragon and aimed his wand at the animal.

"REDUCTO!" he cried.

A feeble bolt of light frizzled toward the dragon and hit it on the snout.

The dragon sneezed.

It raised its head, looked around and spotted Goyle a short distance away.

The boy blanched and froze in fear. A wet spot appeared on his trousers between his legs.

But the dragon appeared uninterested, or maybe it wasn't hungry, and it lowered its head and dozed off again.

With shaking hands, Goyle raised his wand a second time.

"R-RE-REDUCTO!"

Another weak light left his wand, but it missed the dragon by almost ten yards. Considering that Goyle only stood twenty yards away from the dragon, that was quite a feat.

Once more, Goyle shouted, "REDUCTO!"

This time, there was no light, neither weak nor otherwise. Instead, the boy's eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed, apparently due to magical exhaustion.

"And- oh! He's unconscious!" Bagman yelled. "That's unfortunate. The second Hogwarts champion is no longer able to compete! Dragon handlers, please remove the dragon! Healers, please take care of the boy!"

Harry laughed out loud, and Neville chuckled, too, while the dragon handlers and two healers rushed into the enclosure. Ginny and Luna just appeared relieved that there had been no bloodshed.

When the dragon was removed from the arena, and two wizards in healer robes had collected Goyle and levitated him back to the champions' tent, Bagman raised his voice again.

"Now, that was a bit disappointing. But let's keep in mind that Mr Goyle is only fourteen years old. I'm sure he did his best! Now, due to the number of participants, we will announce the scoring immediately after the task even if the champion is absent for medical treatment. Fellow judges, if you will?"

Madam Maxime wrinkled her nose and conjured a number one, and Crouch conjured a number two. Dumbledore, too, conjured a number one. Harry wondered about the uncharacteristic harshness shown by the Headmaster but then realised that Dumbledore probably disapproved of the violent nature of Goyle's attempted spell. Bagman then gave three points, followed by one point from Karkaroff. That was a total of eight points for Goyle.

The next competitor was Cedric, who had to get past a Swedish Short-snout. The dragon was over twenty feet long, had silvery-blue scales, and – as the name indicated – a rather short snout and forehead. The Hufflepuff transfigured a dog to divert the dragon's attention, but just when he had grabbed the golden egg, the dragon turned its attention back towards the boy and caught him in a burst of brilliant blue flames. Cedric was able to dodge most of the flames, but his face and hair was slightly singed when he got out of the enclosure.

He got seven points from Maxime, eight from Crouch, nine from Dumbledore and Bagman, and five from Karkaroff for a total of thirty-eight, landing him in the first place for the moment. A disgruntled Luna commented that he should have received far fewer points for endangering the poor puppy.

Next was Fleur Delacour with the Welsh Green. She enchanted the dragon to fall asleep, but while retrieving the golden egg, the dragon snored and let out a jet of flame that set her skirt alight. She was able to quickly extinguish the flames without suffering any injury – except the injury to her pride, that was, as with her burnt skirt, she gave a rather impressive show especially to the males in the audience. It turned out that the French girl's undergarments were surprisingly... impractical for a competitive event like this.

Fleur received seven points from Dumbledore and Crouch, nine from her headmistress Madame Maxime, and four points from Karkaroff. A very captivated Bagman gave her the full ten points, which put her in second place after Cedric with thirty-seven points.

The next dragon that was brought into the arena was over twenty-five feet long, but rather thin, with scarlet scales and a fringe of golden spikes around its face – a Chinese Fireball. Victor Krum was the one who had to get past this beast, and he did so by blinding it with a Conjunctivitis Curse. However, the painfully blinded dragon smashed half of its eggs as it stumbled around, which resulted in some point deductions for the Durmstrang champion.

Maxime and Dumbledore marked him with seven points, Bagman and Crouch with eight, and Karkaroff, biased as ever, gave his school's champion the full ten points. With forty points, Krum was the new front-runner.

"And now, we will soon see the second Weasley brother, George Weasley!" Bagman announced. "He will face the Peruvian Vipertooth! A vicious beast, let me tell you! How will Mr Weasley do, compared to his brother?"

Harry noticed that Ginny's complexion was turning pale once more as the dragon was brought into the arena. It had smooth, copper-coloured scales and short horns on its forehead. With a length of less than twelve feet, it was the smallest dragon of the bunch, but it was maybe the most aggressive. The dragon handlers had to conjure up several shields to protect themselves from the dragon's flames.

The handlers moved the dragon in position, which took a while, and then made a hasty retreat.

"Now, we all wish good luck to GEORGE WEASLEY!" yelled Bagman.

George walked into the enclosure and immediately had to dive behind a boulder to avoid the Vipertooth's flames. He raised his wand, and like his brother previously, he shouted, "Accio bait!"

Another leg of ham soon zoomed into the arena and towards George. But before the ham could reach the redhead, the Vipertooth lunged forward, seized the ham in its jaws and devoured it with one gulp.

For a moment, nothing happened, but then the dragon disappeared in a swirl of colours. In its place stood a small, yellow canary that chirped angrily.

The audience gasped, and many spectators burst into laughter; Harry, Neville, Ginny, and Luna amongst them.

"Incredible!" Bagman shouted, "Mr Weasley is on his way to the Egg, and... yes! He has collected it! Now, he only has to- OH! Careful now!"

Before George could reach the exit of the enclosure, the dragon had turned back into its original form. The enraged beast shot a torrent of flames after the boy, and George had to jump behind another boulder. He then sprinted towards the exit, and the dragon spouted two more bursts of flames towards the boy. George was able to narrowly avoid the first burst of flames, but he didn't manage to jump out of the way of the second burst completely. The dragon fire caught his left forearm, hand and robes just as he rolled out of the enclosure into safety. George cried out in pain but was able to douse the flames on his robes with quickly conjured water.

"Ouch! That must have hurt!" Bagman shouted. "But an impressive showing, nonetheless!"

"Ginny, you can watch again," Luna softly told Ginny, who had shielded her eyes with her hands during the Vipertooth's brief chase after her brother.

Madam Pomfrey and the two male healers rushed from the tent towards George to treat his burnt arm, while both teams of dragon handlers carefully approached and subdued the furious Vipertooth in the arena.

George was still treated in the tent when the judges announced his scores. He received the exact same total amount of points as his brother before him; with eight points from Dumbledore, seven from Maxime and Crouch, nine from Bagman, and four from Karkaroff.

The next dragon that was brought in was a truly gigantic beast. It had a length of over forty feet, metallic grey scales that were a bit brighter around its belly, and very long, nasty-looking talons.

"This beauty is a Ukrainian Ironbelly, the world's largest kind of dragon! As such, I'm sure that it will be a worthy adversary for our Minister for Magic, CORNELIUS FUDGE!"

To the loud applause of the audience, Fudge slowly entered the enclosure.

The dragon roared, and Fudge paled ghostly white. With a trembling hand, he raised his wand.

"OBLIVIATE!" he shouted.

What happened next, Harry would only come to understand much later. As the former Head of the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, Minister Fudge was quite adept at memory charms. However, in his nervousness when faced with the gargantuan beast, he overpowered the spell a little. Instead of just making the dragon forget about its eggs, he wiped the dragon's memory completely blank. Thus, the full-grown dragon essentially had the mind of a dragon hatchling now.

As Hagrid would tell Harry sometime later, it was a little known fact that newly hatched dragons do something that occurs with several species of birds, too: The hatchlings 'imprint' onto the first being they see, which usually is their mother.

However, the first being the dazed Ironbelly saw when it had somewhat recovered from being hit with the memory spell, was Minister Fudge, who had just grabbed the golden egg from the nest.

With a wailing roar, that probably was dragon-speech for 'Mummy!', the Ironbelly lunged towards Fudge. The Minister turned and ran towards the entrance of the arena, but he wasn't fast enough and was toppled by the dragon.

Harry watched with horrification as Fudge was lying directly under the dragon, seemingly frozen with fear. The man seemed ready to pass out when the dragon lowered its head towards the Minister. The dragon was so close that its snout almost touched the man's head.

The dragon opened its jaws, and people screamed in fear.

But then, the huge dragon affectionately licked its tongue over the Minister's face and raised its head again.

Fudge took the opportunity to scramble up and hastily retreat out of the enclosure. The dragon tried to follow him but couldn't get past the magical barriers that enclosed the arena. Several times, it tried to advance unsuccessfully, while uttering wailing noises and making puppy eyes at the Minister.

The dragon handlers entered the arena to remove the dragon that started wailing even louder as it was further removed from the man it recognised as its new mummy. Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for the heartbreakingly wailing dragon as it was dragged out of the arena.

Then, it was time for the marks. Madame Maxime was first, and she conjured up a silvery number eight. After her, it was Crouch's turn.

Crouch sneered coldly at Fudge. He raised his wand, and conjured a silvery ribbon that formed itself into the number three.

"Bastard!" screamed Fudge from where he was standing, "When this is over, you're fired! You hear me!? Fired!"

Crouch just smirked at the irate Minister.

Dumbledore gave both men a disappointed look before he raised his wand and conjured a number nine. Bagman gave the Minister nine points, too, and Karkaroff gave seven points. In total, Fudge had received thirty-six points, which put him before the twins in fourth place.

The side entrance to the enclosure opened again, and the second-last dragon was moved into the arena. As Hermione would come last, this dragon would be the opponent for Vincent Crabbe.

It was a Hebridean Black. With thirty feet in length, it was a bit smaller than the Ukrainian Ironbelly, but Harry could immediately see that it was a much more aggressive kind of dragon. It was constantly roaring and shooting flames at the dragon handlers as they drove it into the centre of the arena. The dragon had dark, rough scales, ridges along its back, a spiked tail, and bright purple eyes.

Harry gulped. After the showing of Goyle, he wasn't confident that Crabbe would be able to face this dragon and walk out of the arena alive. He didn't like the Slytherin boy, but he didn't necessarily want to see him torn apart or roasted alive by a dragon, either.

When the dragon handlers were done pushing the dragon in the centre of the enclosure and had placed the nest, they quickly retreated to the side entrance of the enclosure.

"And now, a big applause for the fifth Hogwarts champion, VINCENT CRABBE!" Bagman announced, and all eyes turned towards the enclosure's main entrance.

A moment later, Crabbe walked into the arena to some polite applause. Harry was surprised that the Slytherin didn't show any nervousness, nor did he display any kind of boastful overconfidence. Instead, he almost seemed to be bored.

The huge black dragon roared when it spotted the boy forty yards away.

Crabbe stopped. He remained calm and levelled his wand at the dragon.

His face showed no visible emotion as he whispered, "Avada Kedavra!"

A bright green light sped towards the dragon and hit its torso, and the dragon collapsed lifelessly.

There was a collective gasp of shock in the audience, and then a long, complete silence, during which Crabbe strode towards the dragon nest, collected the golden egg and returned to the entrance of the arena's enclosure.

Harry was disturbed by the display. Since when could Crabbe cast spells like that? He had never shown any talent for spell-casting in his classes. But maybe it was different for Dark Magic? Harry remembered what Moody had told the class in the lesson on the Unforgivables. The curses required surprisingly little magical power, but instead, the caster needed to put themself into a certain mindset. On second thought, the Unforgivables were the perfect spells for a weak but cruel person like Crabbe.

"Well, that was unexpected," Harry mumbled.

Neville and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"I've never seen anyone with a worse Wrackspurt infestation than this person, whoever he is," Luna said sadly.

"It's Crabbe, fourth-year Slytherin," Harry muttered absentmindedly. "Do you think he will be in trouble?"

"No," Neville replied heavily, "The Unforgivables are only illegal when cast against a human. But I don't think he has made himself very popular with most of the students. Or with the Headmaster."

Harry glanced towards the judges. Dumbledore watched Crabbe with narrowed eyes, and Madam Maxime looked on with disgust. Crouch's expression remained stoic, while Karkaroff nodded appreciatively.

Bagman seemed shell-shocked, and it took him a long while to find his voice, during which Crabbe was idly standing at the entrance to the enclosure.

"Yes, well, Mr Crabbe kills his dragon with a Killing Curse," Bagman finally muttered with his enhanced voice, "While that wasn't exactly illegal, it's certainly not what we wanted to see here today... Let's see the points, shall we?"

Dumbledore immediately raised his wand. With a disappointed look at Crabbe, he shot out a silvery zero. Madam Maxime followed suit with another zero.

Then, it was Crouch's turn, who conjured a number ten. Apparently, he wasn't bothered by the use of the Unforgivable. Or he recognised that it was within the rules and didn't deduct points for it.

Bagman was next, and he fidgeted for a moment before he scored Crabbe with five points. Harry snorted scornfully at the spineless man's indecisiveness.

Karkaroff was last. With a respectful nod towards Crabbe, he conjured another number ten.

This meant that Crabbe had scored twenty-five points, landing him in the second-to-last place. The Slytherin received his scores without any visible emotion and only gave a slight, maybe mocking bow towards the judges before he left the arena.

Harry watched on with the frown while the corpse of the Hebridean Black was removed from the arena by the dragon handlers. But soon, he was no longer able to worry about Crabbe's behaviour because he had to worry about Hermione, instead, when her dragon set foot into the enclosure.

The Hungarian Horntail was roughly the same size as the Hebridean Black and seemed just as vicious and aggressive. It had black scales, bronze horns, and a spiked tail.

"Now, our last champion will face the famous Hungarian Horntail! Give it up for HERMIONE GRANGER!" shouted Bagman as soon as dragon and nest were in place.

Harry watched as Hermione approached the entrance to the enclosure to the cheers of the audience. Only when the audience had calmed down, she took two steps into the enclosure.

She slightly cocked her head to the side, a small frown on her face, and she raised her wand.

"Accio golden egg!"

The golden egg promptly flew out of the nest and towards her. She caught it in flight, looking slightly surprised that the spell had worked.

When Harry had suggested to use the summoning charm like that three days ago, Hermione had raised her eyebrows at him and stated that while wizards tended to be stupid, they couldn't possibly be that stupid. She had told him that, obviously, some kind of anti-summoning charm would be put on the eggs. However, Harry had convinced her that there was absolutely no reason not to try the spell. As it turned out, wizards really were that stupid.

Hermione shook her head and began grumbling to herself, her face showing a mixture of exasperation and contempt. Due to the complete silence of the audience, some of her mutterings were audible even in the stands.

"Really... who set this up... idiots... no hope for the wizarding world... no logic... stupid wizards..."

Harry laughed and started applauding, and his friends soon joined in. Slowly but steadily, the applause rose, though there were many confused whispers in the audience.

"That's it? A summoning charm?"

"That's what they brought in those dragons for?"

"Why didn't the other champions do that?"

Bagman also rose from his stupor.

"Uhm, well, Miss Granger completes the task in less than ten seconds with a simple Summoning Charm. Quite unexpected, I'd say..."

Hermione glanced over the spectators in the stands and smirked as she caught Harry's eyes. The dragon handlers, in the meantime, rushed back into the enclosure to remove the Horntail that hadn't even realised that it was missing one of its eggs.

"Yes, yes, the marks of the judges, of course," Bagman muttered after a long pause, "Madame Maxime, if you please?"

Maxime raised her wand, and after a short hesitation, she conjured a number eight. After her, a rather miffed looking Crouch grudgingly conjured a number ten. It was only fair, in Harry's opinion. The magic displayed by Hermione might not have been very impressive, but the objective of the task hadn't been to be as flashy as possible. Hermione had finished the task within the lowest time, without any injury to herself or any damage to the dragon and its eggs. There was no reason to deduct her any points.

Together with his friends and large parts of the audience, Harry cheered loudly when Dumbledore and Bagman followed suit with two more tens.

Karkaroff was last. He scowled for a moment before he conjured a silvery ribbon that formed a number four.

Well, that was to be expected, but Harry didn't let his good mood be diminished by the former Death Eater's petty bias. Hermione had scored forty-two points and was in the first place.

"Please excuse me, I have to get down there!" he said to Neville, Ginny, and Luna and raced down the stands and back towards the champions' tent.

#

Harry entered the tent just when Hermione was done assuring Madam Pomfrey that she was indeed quite unharmed. He ran towards his girlfriend and hugged her tightly.

"You were amazing!" he exclaimed and gave her a deep kiss.

Hermione returned the kiss happily, but she wasn't ready to accept his praises. "Well, I won due to the organisers' stupidity, not my brilliance. And don't forget that the spell was your idea!"

"Ah, you would have won regardless," Harry said confidently.

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe. I still can't believe that this worked. If the spells we have learnt in the last weeks weren't so useful for so many other occasions, I'd be feeling quite disappointed now for wasting our time with unneeded preparations."

Harry chuckled, but then his expression became more concerned. "Are the twins all right?"

"Yes, we are," a voice behind him answered.

Harry turned around and saw Fred and George, who were approaching the couple from behind. George's left forearm and left hand were wrapped in some bandages, but both brothers seemed to be in good spirits.

"Oh, that will be gone by tomorrow," George explained as he noticed Harry's look at the bandages. "No scars. Madam Pomfrey has saved the day once more."

"Ah, that's good," Harry said with relief.

"It was our fault, really," George said, "We kind of miscalculated the amount of potion needed to affect a dragon for a longer time."

"Though, in hindsight, we now know that the plan was unnecessarily complicated anyway," Fred continued with a laugh. "A summoning charm, Hermione? Really?"

Harry and Hermione chuckled.

"Blame Bagman, or Crouch, or whoever," Hermione said with a shrug.

"Well, anyway, congratulations on first place, Hermione!" George said brightly. "I think a victory party in the common room is in order?"

"Indeed, it is, dear brother," Fred immediately agreed.

"Sure, see you guys there, soon!" Harry said and took Hermione's hand. A victory party sounded good, but he thought that there should be a private 'victory party' for only the two of them, first.

With interlinked hands, the couple walked towards the exit of the tent.

"I'm very glad that you're all right, and proud of you for making first place!" Harry said towards Hermione. With a slightly lower voice, he continued, "I think now that you didn't get eaten by a dragon, it's only right that, instead, you should get-"

"Harry!" Hermione hissed, looking around with blushing cheeks.

"-Get many kisses from your boyfriend," Harry finished innocently. "What did you think I was about to say?"

"Oh, sure, let's go, you goof," Hermione replied with a laugh, shaking her head slightly.

They had just stepped out of the tent when Harry noticed one of the dragon handlers approaching them. It was a rather attractive witch with short auburn hair, clothed in dark dragon hide robes. What caught his attention, however, was the angry expression on the witch's face.

"Are you Hermione Granger and Harry Potter!?" the woman hollered as she was stomping towards the couple, wand in hand. "And where is this stupid reporter of yours!?"

Before the taken aback teens could reply, another dragon handler was rushing towards them and grabbed the witch's left arm. He wore similar robes, and his face was covered with scars. In his hand, he held an old shoe.

"Harmony, we have to go! Our international Portkey will be leaving any moment now!" the older man said impatiently and tugged her back.

"Not before this stupid girl and boy have become much closer acquainted with our Long-snout! And the reporter, too!" the irate witch screamed. Harry couldn't quite place her accent, but it wasn't British.

"Sorry, please excuse her, she's been in a terrible mood for several weeks now," the male dragon handler said towards Harry and Hermione while he held back his female colleague.

"TERRIBLE MOOD, I'LL GIVE YOU SOME-"

The witch and wizard disappeared in a swirl of colours. Apparently, their Portkey had activated.

Harry frowned and turned towards Hermione. "What the heck was that about?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Hermione replied, equally puzzled.

They shrugged, joined their hands and walked towards the castle for their well-deserved victory party.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER SEVEN -

Fake News

It was a very tired couple that sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning. Harry and Hermione had stayed up way past midnight, just like most of their housemates as they had partied in the Gryffindor common room.

The Gryffindors' celebratory mood hadn't even been diminished when under the encouraging cheers of the crowd, Fred, George, and Hermione had all opened their golden eggs at the same time, resulting in ear-piercing shrieking that had shattered all windows of the common room. Luckily, aside from some ringing ears, the damage had been easily repaired by some older students. Only the arrival of Professor McGonagall in a morning gown at two o'clock in the morning had put an end to the party.

As it was a Wednesday, and they had classes to attend, there was no sleeping in today. Harry saw many tired faces as he looked down the House table. Fred and George were clearly hung-over, just like many other older students, and just like Dean and Seamus, who sat next to a drowsy Neville and opposite of Harry and Hermione.

However, Harry's own tiredness vanished instantly as he spotted the post owls flying into the Great Hall. Neville received his copy of the Daily Prophet and tossed it to the couple in front of him without further comment.

Curious what spin the Prophet would put on the first task, Harry began to read.

SHAMEFUL START FOR TRI-WIZ

Minister disappoints while students practice Dark Arts
By Rita Skeeter

Yesterday, the first task of the Triwizard Tournament took place at Hogwarts, and it quickly turned into another disgrace for Hogwarts and the Ministry. For the task, the champions had to retrieve a golden egg from a nesting mother dragon.
Neither You-Know-Who nor Peter Pettigrew showed up to participate in the event, thus confirming the Ministry's claims that both individuals are indeed deceased.
But despite being the only adult wizard in the competition, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge was not able to secure the first place after a mediocre showing. Indeed, the most remarkable part of the Minister's performance was him shouting obscenities at Mr Crouch, one of the judges of the tournament (for more on the feud between Minister Fudge and Mr Crouch, turn to page two).
Not content with having the Minister as the only one damaging Britain's reputation on the international stage, several Hogwarts champions were eager to make Britain appear in an even worse light. The Hogwarts champion Vincent Crap (14) completed the task by murdering his dragon with the Killing Curse. Yes, dear readers, you read correctly: The Killing Curse! What is it that Hogwarts is teaching to our children nowadays? The twin brothers Fred and George Weasley (16), sons of Ministry official Arnold Weasley, also showed a blatant disregard for the rules by illegally summoning poisoned baits that seriously harmed their dragons.
This reporter wonders: How can Hogwarts students practice the Dark Arts right under Headmaster Dumbledore's crooked nose? Is Hogwarts becoming a training ground for dark wizards? A concerned public demands to know!

Harry shook his head with annoyance. Crabbe's display was certainly worrisome, but the twin's solution had been within the rules and certainly hadn't been dark! He glanced over the rest of the article, searching for a reporting of Hermione's performance. To his disappointment, there was only one brief sentence at the end of the article.

Due to another oversight of the tournament organisers, 15-year-old contestant Harmony Ranger, the Muggle-born girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, was able to complete the task with a simple Summoning Charm, which put her in the first place.

Harry sighed. "Well, I guess it could have been worse."

Hermione grinned. "Yes, this Harmony Ranger might be stealing my boyfriend, but at least she isn't a Dark Witch, too. Only the twins are evil."

"Well, we knew that already," Harry chuckled. "But isn't it usually only one twin who's evil?"

Hermione laughed, and Neville looked at the couple quizzically.

"What?" the boy wondered.

"Oh, it's a concept in Muggle fiction," Hermione explained curtly.

"Whatever," Neville said with a shrug. "Anyway, what are they reporting?"

"The Minister is inept, Crabbe and the twins are evil, Dumbledore is negligent, and Hermione only won due to the organiser's incompetence," Harry summarised and tossed the newspaper back to Neville.

"That's... surprisingly accurate," Neville stated.

"Well, Hermione would have won anyway," Harry defended his girlfriend.

"Yes? What would you have done, Hermione, if the summoning charm hadn't worked?" Dean interjected loudly.

"Well, next, I would have tried to levitate the egg to me," Hermione began to explain. "Then, I would have tried a switching spell. If the egg was protected against all spells cast upon it, I would have tried to summon the whole nest, or levitate it."

Neville, Dean, and Seamus laughed, while Hermione continued, "The last resort would have been to summon Harry's Invisibility Cloak and sneak past the dragon while distracting it with several conjured animals, similar to what Cedric did."

"All right, I guess you really would have won, regardless," Dean agreed with Harry.

"Yes," Neville concurred, but then his mood visibly sobered as he glanced over the articles in the newspaper. "This might be bad, you know. With that much bad press, Fudge might be kicked out of his office."

"So what?" Harry asked with a shrug. "That would be great!"

Neville shook his head. "It's not about Fudge," he explained. "I'm worried about who might replace him. Fudge is inept, but he's not really a bigot. As things stand right now in the Wizengamot, the next Minister might be much, much worse. It might be Lucius Malfoy or one of his associates."

"Ahh, shit!" Harry mumbled. It was a testament to the gravity of the situation that Hermione was too worried to chide him for his language.

Harry glanced over to the Slytherin table and scowled when he saw that Draco Malfoy indeed appeared to be very pleased with today's edition of the Prophet. The Slytherin boy had the newspaper folded out before him and joked and laughed with Goyle, Theodore Nott, and Pansy Parkinson.

Harry noticed that Crabbe was sitting with a different group of older Slytherin students at the other end of the table.

Ever since Harry had revealed the ancestry of Riddle, there had been a split in Slytherin House. There had always been a split between those who just kept their heads down and tried to get ahead in their studies, and the darker elements of the House. After the revelation, the dark faction had split into two groups. The bigger group consisted of the aristocratic and traditionalist Purebloods and Pureblood supremacists, who were appalled by the Dark Lord's heritage. Until now, Malfoy and his cronies had belonged to that group, but Crabbe had apparently decided to switch sides. The boy was now sitting with members of the group that valued power above all else, was interested in the Dark Arts and still held the Dark Lord in high esteem. This faction didn't care about blood apart from how to best spill it. With his display at the first task, it was easy to see that Crabbe would instantly be considered one of the leaders of that group.

Harry scowled, but then he shrugged. He hadn't paid much attention to the constant power struggle in the snake pit, as both groups were clearly in the wrong. But any in-fighting within Slytherin House was all good in his book, as it stopped the Slytherins from bullying the members of the other Houses.

Harry turned back towards Neville.

"Yes, Malfoy certainly seems happy," he agreed. "But do you really think a bigot like his father has a chance at becoming Minister? Who would vote for that guy?"

"It would only need some 'donations' to the right Warlocks in the Wizengamot. If Fudge is removed from office by a vote of no confidence in the Wizengamot, it would be up to the Warlocks to select an Interim Minister for the remaining term of office," Neville explained. "There won't be any elections for the next three years."

"Bloody hell," Harry cursed.

"Just like that?" Hermione exclaimed. "How can the wizarding world be like that? Where is the democratic legitimacy? Where is the system of checks and balances?"

"System of checks and balances? What's that?" Neville wondered.

Hermione groaned and palmed her face with her hands.

Harry shook his head and put one arm around his girlfriend.

"Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves. It probably won't happen," he said comfortingly. "And once we're out of school, I'm sure you'll think of a way to fix the system, Mione."

Hermione looked up at Harry and gave him a weak smile. "You're right. It's just one more thing that we will have to change. Beside the house-el- OH MY GOD! I forgot about the house-elves! I didn't do anything for S.P.E.W. since Halloween! I've just been eating here and facilitating their enslavement, just like everyone else! How could I do that? Why didn't you say anything!? Oh, I'll have to do something to free them! I'll have to start planning! You'll all help me, right?"

Harry and Neville exchanged an awkward glance, and Dean and Seamus were suddenly very interested in their empty cereal bowls.

"Uhm..."

"Err..."

Hermione scowled at them.

"Hey, look at the time!" Harry exclaimed and jumped up. "The Charms class starts in five minutes. We have to go!"

Hermione huffed, but she wasn't about to be late for class and rose from the table, too.

"This isn't over," she angrily hissed at Harry as they left the Great Hall.

Harry gulped and nodded. He knew that it wasn't.

#

After Charms, the fourth-year Gryffindors had a free period before lunch. As they stepped out of the classroom, Hermione immediately grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him towards a nearby empty classroom. Harry was usually quite happy to follow along when his girlfriend did that, but he knew that this was different. He steeled himself for the imminent discussion as they entered the room and Hermione forcefully shut the door behind them.

"Now, what was that about at breakfast?" Hermione asked angrily. "You said you were willing to help me with S.P.E.W. Why aren't you now?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione, what I'm about to say will probably offend you, but I need you to hear my out, okay? Can you promise that you'll hear me out?"

Hermione frowned but nodded.

"Hermione, I'm sorry, but as your boyfriend, I feel that it is my duty to tell you that you are behaving completely irrational about this whole house-elf situation."

"What? How can you say that?" Hermione exclaimed, angry and hurt.

Harry sighed. "First, the name of your organisation. I'll come out and say it: It is objectively awful."

"Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare is a perfectly fine name!" Hermione replied indignantly.

"It would be if people weren't reading it as spew. It's not a name that inspires confidence in your cause. It only invites ridicule. You're facing an uphill battle with this, anyway, why make things even harder for yourself? Where is your common sense in this?"

Hermione crossed her arms and scowled. "It's not my fault that people are juvenile gits!"

"But it is your fault that you ignore that we're in a school full of children and teenagers, who will behave like juvenile gits most of the time," Harry replied.

His girlfriend glared at him, but slowly, her outrage abated.

"Fine," she finally said reluctantly, "if you want, we can think about other names."

Harry nodded carefully. "We will, but the name is only the smaller problem. The main problem is that your goals don't make a lot of sense, either. Pleasedontkillme!"

"WHAT?" shouted Hermione. "How can you say that!?"

Quickly, Harry continued, "Have you ever spoken to a house-elf? Don't you think they should be involved when deciding how they should be treated?"

Hermione continued to glare at Harry and crossed her arms. "I don't have to speak to them! I read about them. I know that they don't need to bond with a family. I know that they are enslaved and that I will stop it!"

"They might not need the bond, no. But that's beside the point."

"Beside the point?"

"Yes, it's beside the point" Harry insisted. "What if they want to bond? Who are you to deny them their right to do what they want?"

"They're brainwashed!" Hermione shouted.

"How would you know?"

"I- I... everyone who's thinking straight wants to be free!"

"It seems to me that house-elves don't," Harry stated. "Look, Mione, I agree with you in principle. Elves should be allowed to request being released, and they should be protected from being abused. Those would be good goals. But you shouldn't try to break their bonds when they don't want that. Just let them make decisions for themselves."

Hermione frowned, but slowly she calmed down again. She slumped down onto a table a sighed.

"I have made a right mess of things, haven't I?" the brunette said dejectedly.

"No, don't worry," Harry disagreed, trying to comfort her. "I guess it was a good thing that you forgot about the issue and didn't do anything, yet. Let's just think of what to do next."

Hermione nodded.

"Talk to a house-elf?" she suggested. "But where would we find one?"

"The kitchens, of course. With the Marauder's Map, we should be able to find a way into it," Harry replied.

He rummaged through his bookbag and took out the map. Quickly, he revealed the map and searched for the entrance to the kitchens. It was located under the Great Hall, down the staircase leading to the Hufflepuff Basement from the entrance hall.

"Let's go!" he said, and together Harry and Hermione left the classroom.

#

When Harry and Hermione left the kitchens an hour later, Hermione was much reassured about the treatment of the house-elves at Hogwarts, though Harry could see that she wasn't exactly happy over what the elves had told her.

The house-elves had made it very clear to her that they enjoyed their work and that they wanted to stay bonded to Hogwarts, thank you very much. Only Dobby, who had jubilantly greeted Harry and Hermione in the kitchens, had nervously admitted that he enjoyed being free, much to the outrage of his fellow elves. But Dobby, too, had been happy with his work in the castle.

"I think we can agree that the house-elves in Hogwarts are not being mistreated," Harry concluded as they made their way up to the Great Hall for Lunch.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "And by the way, would you really have employed Dobby? That was a really sweet thing of you to offer."

"Well, yeah, why not?" Harry replied. "I have enough gold in my vault, and it might have come in handy someday to have an elf working for me. Too bad that Dobby wants to continue to work for Hogwarts." He shrugged. "But I can accept that. I mean, house-elves don't seem to be the type to just abandon their duties, even if they're free."

Hermione frowned. "I get that a house-elf would never just abandon his post and just start working for you. But Dobby could have handed in his notice to Headmaster Dumbledore if he really wanted to work for you. Honestly, what's the point of being free if you don't act on it?"

"I get what you're saying, but... they have their own way of doing things, and he's clearly happy, so why not just accept that," Harry replied. "Better focus your effort on protecting them from being mistreated elsewhere, instead of changing their minds here."

Hermione nodded reluctantly. While she still appeared to be a bit disappointed by the elves' attitude, Harry was just relieved that she was no longer hell-bent on 'liberating' every single elf in the castle.

#

After lunch, Harry and Hermione had their first Potions class scheduled with Madam Pomfrey. They left the Great Hall and made their way towards the hospital wing with plenty of time to spare. Just as they were about to enter the infirmary, the doors opened and Dumbledore stepped out into the corridor.

"Ah, Harry, Miss Granger, right on time for your first Potions lesson with Madam Pomfrey, I see," the Headmaster greeted them.

"Yes, Sir," Hermione confirmed.

"I have just approved the lesson plan for you with Madam Pomfrey. She has kindly agreed to tutor you until the end of the school year," Dumbledore informed the teens. "Then, we will have to make different arrangements."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied. "That's great. Just as long as we won't be taught by Snape again, that's fine."

"That won't be an option, I assure you," Dumbledore said.

With a smile, the old wizard turned towards Hermione. "And my congratulations on your yesterday's performance, Miss Granger. I was not involved in preparations, but even I was surprised by your simple and elegant solution."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione replied, blushing at the praise.

"Sir, do you know what happened with Voldemort?" Harry asked. "Do we know what the consequences will be for him not participating in the task?"

"Alas, that is not quite clear," Dumbledore said, a regretful expression forming on his face. "It happened only once in the history of the tournament that a Triwizard champion flat-out refused to participate in the first task, and he died. Though if he was killed directly, or only indirectly from the shock of having his magic stripped from him, is not known. Several times, champions were no longer able to compete due to injuries sustained in a previous task. Some of them lost their magic, some of them faced no consequences. The contract created by the Goblet seems to recognise if someone is unable to compete, at least in some instances. But the exact wording of the contract is lost to time, so the criteria for this are not known. Regrettably, we do not know how it applies to Tom."

Dumbledore frowned and continued, "Furthermore, Tom is a unique case, as he's not fully human at the moment, and maybe never will be again. The usual rules might no apply to him. Or, Tom might only not be affected for the moment while he is in his current form. Also, the Goblet might have been destroyed before the contract could fully form, though I deem that possibility rather unlikely."

The Headmaster sighed. "I also cannot say what action Tom needed to take in order to satisfy the contract. If he managed to somehow sneak into the arena, disillusioned and helped by a servant, that might have been enough to not be in violation of the contract."

"Is there anything that we do know?" Harry asked a bit frustrated.

"I have it on good authority that the Dark Mark, which connects Tom to his followers, is still visible on their arms," Dumbledore replied. "But I don't know if it would vanish if Tom was dead for good, or if the marked Death Eaters would be otherwise affected by his death."

"So, in conclusion," Harry summarised with disappointment, "Riddle might or might not be alive, he might or might not have any magic left, he might or might not be required to compete in the first place, and he might or might not have been present for the task... Great! I'm glad we cleared that up."

"Harry!" Hermione said with an admonishing voice.

"Uhm, sorry, Professor," Harry said with a slight blush. "I didn't mean to be snarky. It's just a bit frustrating."

Dumbledore chuckled. "I understand. I wished I knew more just as much as you do. As Alastor always advises, we'll just have to stay vigilant."

Harry and Hermione nodded.

"Well, I think you should not keep Madam Pomfrey waiting any longer," Dumbledore then said. "I'll let you know if there are any news regarding Tom."

"Thank you, Sir," Harry replied, and he opened the door to the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked up when the couple entered the room. She stood at a bed that was occupied by some younger student Harry didn't know.

"I'll be with you in a moment, Mr Potter, Miss Granger. Please wait for me in my office," the school nurse told them.

"Yes, Madam Pomfrey," Hermione answered, and they traversed the room and entered the office at the other end of the infirmary.

Harry's mind was still on their talk with Dumbledore.

"I really wish we knew what was going on," Harry grumbled. "Do you think Voldemort really might have sneaked into the arena undetected?"

"I don't know," Hermione answered. "But I know that you have a handy artefact to ensure that he couldn't possibly do it again for the second task."

"The Marauder's Map! Of course, Hermione, you're brilliant!" Harry exclaimed and gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips. "So, while I watch the second task, I'll observe the map and see if I can spot Voldemort sneaking in..."

"Yes, and if he does, you'll inform the Headmaster," Hermione told him with a serious expression. "No more jumping into danger. Is that understood, Mister?"

"Yes, all right," Harry replied and kissed the girl again. "Don't worry."

With the new plan in place, his mood instantly improved, and the Potions lesson with Madam Pomfrey was even more enjoyable. Though it would have been the best Potions lesson of his life up until then, anyway.

#

Over the next weeks, things calmed down at Hogwarts. With the end-of-term exams approaching, the attention of most students was mostly focused on their studies instead of the latest gossip surrounding the Triwizard tournament. Hermione, of course, would also participate in the exams, even though she would have been exempt.

Harry and Hermione used the time to study undisturbed. The teens also continued learning new spells that might be useful for the next task, even though they didn't know what the task would entail. They were a bit frustrated that they still hadn't figured out the clue in the golden egg.

The peaceful interlude came to an end when the teachers announced that a Yule Ball would take place at Hogwarts at Christmas. Very quickly, the school descended into chaos once more, as all the students who were old enough to attend freaked out over finding a date for the ball. The Hogwarts rumour mill was running at full blast with the latest news on who had just asked whom to the ball.

Harry was very glad that there was no need for him to find a date, so he wasn't much affected by the drama. Hermione insisted on teaching him how to dance, though, so that he wouldn't make her look bad at the opening dance. To Harry's surprise, he found their dancing lessons quite enjoyable, and he wasn't even all that bad at it.

His dorm mates didn't have such an easy time. One evening in the week before the ball, Harry and Hermione sat on the couch in the common room, with a very gloomy Neville seated on an armchair next to them.

"Nev, do you have a date, yet?" Harry asked the boy.

"Not yet." Neville answered. He lowered his voice and continued, "I was thinking about asking Ginny, but..."

He glanced over to where the twins were sitting, then to Ron, who was sitting with Dean and Seamus. The redhead was loudly complaining about the impossibility of asking a girl out for the ball, just like on every other evening since the announcement of the ball.

Harry chuckled. "I get it. Six older brothers. And Mrs Weasley can be quite frightening, too. Any ideas whom to ask, instead?"

Neville blushed a bit. "Luna, maybe," he mumbled.

"Oh, she's a nice girl," Harry replied. "You should definitely ask her. I'm sure she'll say yes."

"But you should ask her soon, before someone else does," Hermione added.

"Right," Harry agreed. "So, you'll ask her first thing tomorrow morning. Right, Nev?"

Neville looked at Harry with wide eyes, but slowly his expression became more determined and he nodded.

"Yes, I'll do that," he confirmed.

"Excellent, Nev," Harry exclaimed and patted Neville on the shoulder. "That's a right Gryffindor!"

#

The next morning after breakfast, Neville indeed approached Luna at the Ravenclaw table and asked her to accompany him to the Yule Ball. The girl immediately agreed with a huge smile.

Once they were done with their exams a few days later, Harry and Hermione spent most of their free time in the library, trying to find clues on the functioning of the golden egg. Hermione was skimming through huge piles of books on Ancient Runes, in the hopes of identifying the runes on the egg, but they hadn't made much progress yet.

That was how Hermione found herself sitting at a table in the library the next Friday afternoon. It was the day on which the last classes of the term had ended.

Harry had just left their table to return a stack of books back into the bookshelves when Hermione was approached by Viktor Krum. The Durmstrang champion had been hanging around in the library a lot lately.

"You are Her-minny, yes?" Krum asked the girl, who was deeply immersed in the tome before her.

Hermione looked up, a bit startled by the interruption.

"Yes, I'm Hermione," she answered with a neutral voice. "What can I do for you, Mr Krum?"

"Ah, Hermionny, please call me Viktor," the Quidditch star replied. "I vould like to ask if you vould do me the honour of attend Yule Ball wiff me?"

Hermione frowned a bit at that. "Oh, I'm very flattered, Mr Krum, really, but I already have a date for the ball."

Krum slouched his shoulders. "Ah, dat boy you spend many time wiff, he is your boyfriend?"

"Yes, that's my boyfriend Harry Potter," Hermione confirmed.

"Ah," Viktor sighed. "And here I vas, hoping he vas just good friend. Vell, your boyfriend is lucky wizard. You tell him, yes?"

Hermione smiled. "Yes, I will, thank you, Mr Krum."

Krum nodded and turned to leave, just as Harry returned from between the shelves.

"What did he want?" Harry asked with a frown when he was back at the table, looking after the retreating Durmstrang champion.

"He wanted to ask me to the ball," Hermione answered, still a bit surprised.

"Oh?" Harry's frown deepened.

"Oh, don't worry," Hermione chuckled. "He took my rejection as a perfect gentleman. He just didn't know that we're together. I guess he knows better than to follow the newspaper or the rumours going around here."

"Oh, all right, then," Harry replied with a much calmer voice. "I mean, I can't blame him for wanting to go to the ball with you..."

Hermione smiled. "I'm just glad that the library is empty right now. I wouldn't want to imagine what the rumour mill would have made of thi- eww!"

She snipped a large bug from the cover of the book next to her. The insect promptly flew out of their view.

"Yes," Harry chuckled. "Or even worse, the Prophet. They would have a field day. Good thing we're alone."

"Exactly," Hermione agreed and turned her attention back at the book in front of her.

#

The next morning, Harry and Hermione sat once more at the Gryffindor table opposite of Neville. Just as they had finished their breakfast, the delivery owls arrived, and Neville received his Prophet. He unfolded the newspaper and blanched.

"You'll want to read this," he muttered and passed the paper to Harry and Hermione.

Harry glanced at the headline, and his eyes grew wide.

"Bloody hell," he muttered.

LOVE POTION SCANDAL AT HOGWARTS

Deviant Muggle-born ensnares Viktor Krum and Boy-Who-Lived
By Rita Skeeter

The faithful readers of this paper will already know Muggle-born witch Harmony Ranger (15) as the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived, Harry Potter, and as the girl who illegally entered her name and the names of several others into the Goblet of Fire.
But the deviant Miss Ranger seems to have a taste for famous wizards that poor Harry alone cannot satisfy. The girl also ensnared world-famous Seeker Viktor Krum under her thralls, only to then cruelly break his heart when he asked her to accompany him to the Yule Ball that will take place at Hogwarts next week.
One wonders: How did the plain-looking girl manage to capture the hearts of these two prominent wizards in the first place? Is she offering herself to the poor boys to get their attention, or is the answer even more sinister? Her fellow students suspect the latter.
"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."
This shocking accusation seems even more plausible considering the fact that Miss Ranger, the illegal Triwizard contestant, has already proven her criminal energy several times.
We at the Prophet call upon Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore to immediately investigate these claims and to ensure that swift and severe punishment is dealt out. In the meantime, these shocking developments are once more lending credence to the increasingly loud demands that the magical world has to be better protected from the Muggle world's loose morals.

Harry groaned. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Oh, my!" Hermione exclaimed with faux indignation. "This Harmony Ranger sounds like a real bitch! Just wait until I get my hands on her! Potioning my boyfriend like that! I'll show her!"

Harry snorted and shook his head. "I'm glad that you're not bothered by this, but you know that people will cause us- cause you trouble for it?"

Hermione opened her mouth, probably to reply that he was being ridiculous, but she hesitated when she looked around in the Great Hall. All around her, students were whispering and shooting hateful looks at her.

"Let's go outside," Harry said and rose from the table.

He took Hermione's hand, and they quickly retreated out of the hall.

"I can't believe that people are taking that rag seriously!" Hermione exclaimed when they were walking along the shore of the lake.

"I can," Harry said sadly. "Most of the students here are always ready to believe the worst of people without any evidence."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

"Just think of what happened in our second year," Harry replied.

He chuckled and continued, "They all believed that I was the Heir of Slytherin when all I really am is the Harry of Gryffindor."

Hermione gave him a blank look. Somewhere, a cricket chirped.

"Oh, come on," Harry whined.

"That was truly awful, Harry," Hermione stated flatly.

"Well, anyway," Harry continued, "the point is that if people believed that I was a descendant of Slytherin, there is no telling what else they'd be willing to believe."

"Well, to be fair, you probably are a descendant of Slytherin. And of the other Founders. And of Merlin," Hermione replied.

"Really?" Harry asked excitedly.

"Sure." Hermione shrugged nonchalantly. "But so is almost everyone else, at least everyone from some older wizarding family. That's just how genetics work. These people lived many centuries ago, and all of them had several children. Considering the small size of Britain's wizarding population, it is almost certain that most of the students in this school are distantly related to the Founders and Merlin, and to each other."

"Leave it to you, Mione, to take all the fun out of being a descendant of Merlin," Harry grumbled.

Hermione just went on, "That's why this whole Heir of Slytherin business was so stupid to begin with. Most of the students here should be related to him, and there is absolutely no good reason to believe that any hereditary traits of his would only be passed down patrilineally from eldest son to eldest son. Even if you were the heir, you wouldn't be closer related to him than anyone else."

"Then why didn't you say so when all of this was happening?" Harry wondered.

"I'm sorry, but attempting to explain Muggle science to wizards is a lost cause," Hermione said with finality.

"Fair enough. But you could have explained it at least to me. It would've really helped to cheer me up."

Hermione looked at Harry with embarrassment. "Sorry," she mumbled and squeezed his hand.

"It's all right," Harry said comfortingly, "Anyway, haven't we gotten a bit off-topic?"

"Yeah, we were talking about people's reactions to that ridiculous article. I'm inclined to agree now that far too many people will probably believe it. But it will blow over in a few days, right?"

"I guess so, too," Harry agreed, "The ball will take people's mind off this soon enough. We'll just have to keep a low profile for a while, just like we did after Halloween."

Hermione shrugged. "All right, we can do that."

She frowned. "If we could only find out how Skeeter is getting her stories. How did she find out that Krum asked me to the ball? I doubt that he told her."

"He might have told a friend, who then told someone else, and so on," Harry pondered. "Or she might have spied on us. Maybe with an invisibility cloak."

Hermione gasped. "Yes, right! She might have."

But then she grinned. "I think that's another good use for that nice map of yours right there!"

"Great idea!" Harry agreed. "The next time we suspect that Skeeter might be around, we'll try and see if we can spot her on the Marauder's Map. Maybe during the ball. If we can catch her, she might even be arrested for trespassing!"

With the plan made, the couple returned to the castle to spend the rest of the day training in the abandoned classroom that they had also used for their preparation for the first task.

#

Elsewhere, later on the same day

In a small cabin somewhere in the woods of the Canadian province of Alberta, 29-year-old witch Harmony Ranger, dragon handler at the nearby dragon sanctuary, was sitting at the breakfast table enjoying her coffee and her pancakes with maple syrup, while trying her best to ignore the many scorched marks on the table.

Apart from the sound of the wind, it was completely silent. Silent, quiet and peaceful.

With a content smile, Harmony looked out of the window.

Her smile froze when she spotted a strange dark cloud in an otherwise clear morning sky. A cloud that was moving exactly towards her hut.

She groaned.

"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE, NOT AGAIN!"

Quickly, she sealed all entrances to her cabin and then activated her fireplace to floo to the International Portkey Terminal in Vancouver.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER EIGHT -

Deck the Halls

No Daily Prophet was delivered to Hogwarts on the next day, nor on the day after that. On Monday, the first weekday of the Christmas break, a post owl arrived during breakfast with a letter for Neville, but once again he received no copy of the Daily Prophet.

After the insults and baseless accusations against Hermione in the last edition of the Prophet on Friday, Harry wasn't exactly upset about the missing newspaper, but he was curious nonetheless.

"Nev, do you know why there hasn't been a Prophet lately?" Harry asked Neville, who sat to his left at the House table. The boy had opened his letter and was reading it now.

After a short while, Neville looked up from the letter in his hands. "It's from my Gran. She writes that on Friday, some irate witch attacked the office of the Daily Prophet. The witch assaulted Rita Skeeter and destroyed large parts of the Prophet's offices and their printing press. Skeeter is in Saint Mungo's Hospital."

Hermione, who sat to Harry's right, gasped.

"Really, who was the attacker?" Harry asked.

"They don't know," Neville answered. "The witch escaped with an International Portkey that couldn't be traced. They only suspect that, based upon her accent, she's Canadian. Also, she had to be quite powerful. Apparently, she used some obscure and very dangerous curses that are ordinarily only used to fight against the most dangerous of magical beasts."

"Huh, weird," Harry said. "Does that mean that Skeeter won't bother us at the ball?"

Neville nodded. "Yes, Skeeter will probably have to stay in the hospital for a long time. She's in the ward for permanent spell damage, so she might never fully recover."

"Huh," Harry muttered. "How does your Gran know all this?"

"Oh, uhh," Neville mumbled, seemingly slightly embarrassed, "she was just visiting someone there."

"Oh, all right, never mind," Harry replied, sensing that the boy wasn't comfortable with the topic.

Well, this meant that Skeeter was out of their hair now. Harry couldn't help but grin about that. He knew that he should feel bad for the bothersome reporter, but after what she had written about his girlfriend, Harry couldn't quite manage it. He shared a look with Hermione and could see that she felt similarly conflicted about the news.

It was quite understandable in Harry's opinion. Many students had indeed believed that Hermione had used love potions on Viktor Krum and him. For the first two days after the article had come out, he and Hermione had mostly hidden themselves away from most of the student populace, training in the abandoned classroom they had commandeered several weeks ago.

But on Sunday, Krum had stood up and announced to the students in the Great Hall that he hadn't been potioned, that he had only asked Hermione to the ball because he hadn't known that she was in a relationship already and that they had never even spoken to each other before that.

Harry and Hermione had thanked the Durmstrang champion profoundly, but he had just shrugged and informed them that he had made the statement as much for his own sake as for theirs. He had just been tired of all his fan-girls trying to force a Purging Potion down his throat to free him from the deviant Potion Queen's clutches.

Surprisingly, the students believed the Quidditch star, and they had stopped treating Hermione with hostility. Several students even offered some half-hearted apologies to the couple.

An amused Hermione told Harry that Krum's statement was exactly what she would have told him to say if she had him under her thralls and that his statement could therefore not really count as evidence either way. But Harry reminded her that for the most part, wizards were idiots, and Hermione had to concede his point.

Harry was just glad that things had returned to normal very quickly. By now, students were once more obsessing about the approaching Yule Ball and had seemingly all but forgotten about everything else.

For the next days, Harry and Hermione continued researching the golden egg and they kept on practising potentially useful spells for the tournament. In addition, the couple had also started to read up on Occlumency and would soon be ready to start with some first meditation exercises.

But now that they could show their faces in public again, Harry proposed that maybe they should take things a bit more lightly during the holidays. To his amazement, Hermione agreed with him.

This was how the couple found themselves sitting on the couch in the common room on in the evening on the Wednesday two days before the Yule Ball. Harry was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Neville and Dean, while Hermione was engrossed in a thick tome on Magical History, doing some light reading.

"But how are we supposed to ask a girl to the ball?" a loud voice sounded from another corner of the common room. "Girls are mental! It's mental to expect us to ask one out!"

Harry looked up from the cards in his hand and spotted Ron in another corner of the room, simultaneously complaining about the ball and obliterating Seamus in Wizard's Chess. Apparently, the redhead still hadn't asked a girl out for the ball.

Harry shared a look with Hermione, who rolled her eyes.

"I can't believe he's still going on about that," Harry said quietly. "Why doesn't he just ask someone?"

Hermione shrugged and chuckled. "Just be glad that we're together, or you would probably behave exactly the same!"

"Oh no, I wouldn't," Harry disagreed with faux indignation. "If we weren't together, I would just ask you out now."

He was rewarded with a kiss from his girlfriend for that.

"And then, they never are alone!" Ron continued to complain loudly. "Why do they always have to travel in groups? It's mental! Completely mental!"

Seamus nodded along, even though Harry knew that the Irish boy did have a date for the ball. He had asked out Parvati several days ago.

Harry sighed. "Do we really have to keep on listening to this every day?" he asked with exasperation.

But then, he got an idea. "Hey, Mione, do you know of any girls in our year that don't have a date yet?"

Hermione frowned for a moment before she grinned. "Lavender doesn't have a date, as far as I know. And I think I would know if she had because she'd probably never shut up about it otherwise."

Harry looked around in the common room and spotted Lavender sitting with Parvati in an opposite corner of the room. Quickly, he rose from the couch and approached the girls.

"Hey, Lavender!" he said when the two gossipping girls had noticed him standing in front of them. "Do you have a date for the ball yet?"

Lavender's eyes grew wide, and she shook her head. "No, Harry," she answered with a slight blush. The girl then continued with a voice that probably was supposed to sound seductive. "Why do you ask?"

Harry ignored both her behaviour and the sudden silence in the common room. "Great, would you mind going with Ron?"

"What?" Lavender and Ron at the other side of the room exclaimed at the same time.

"I think it would be nice for everyone if we no longer had to listen to Ron complaining about how completely impossible it is to ask a girl out. So, would you go with him? Please?" Harry explained.

"Oh... Uhm, all right, fine," Lavender answered, though she couldn't quite hide her disappointment.

"Great!" Harry exclaimed and turned towards the youngest Weasley brother. "Ron, I guess that's fine with you, too?"

Ron only nodded in reply. He seemed to be very conflicted, probably because he couldn't decide whether to be offended or grateful.

With a wide grin, Harry returned to Hermione and his friends.

"That was really sweet of you, Harry," Hermione whispered to him and gave him a peck on his lips. "I hope Ron appreciates what you did for him."

The boys continued with their card game, but a few minutes later, Harry heard someone clearing their throat behind him.

He looked around and saw Ron looking at him with an awkward expression on his face.

"Uhh, Harry... thanks, mate!" the redhead began hesitantly. "Listen... I thought about all of this, and decided that maybe I can forgive you, and-"

"Forgive us? Forgive us for what?" Hermione interjected with a cold voice.

"For becoming a couple, of course! And for not putting my name in the Goblet. I guess we can-"

Harry saw how Hermione's eyes narrowed, and quickly interrupted Ron before a shouting match could ensue. "You know what, Ron? We really don't deserve your forgiveness. Not before we have at least apologised to you. Just keep ignoring us, all right? We deserve it."

Ron stared at him with a confused expression.

"Uhm... yeah, yeah, I guess you're right," Ron finally said with growing confidence and nodded. "You should have to apologise..."

There was a long pause during which Ron looked at the couple expectantly.

"Well?" the redhead finally asked.

"Well, what?" Harry replied.

"Are you going to apologise or not?"

"Nope, we'll let you know when we're ready to apologise. You'll have to resume ignoring us until then," Harry answered with a neutral voice.

"Oh, uhm... all right, then... uhh... bye," Ron muttered.

"Bye, Ron," Harry replied.

"Bye," Hermione said, though Harry could tell that she had a hard time to contain her laughter.

Harry and Hermione didn't really speak to Ron after that, but at least Ron started treating them with more civility than before. He no longer shot angry looks at them whenever he spotted the couple, and they even politely greeted each other in the mornings. They weren't friends anymore, but there was no more hostility between them, either. Harry just hoped that this new state of things would continue even when Ron finally figured out that Harry and Hermione had no intention to ever apologise to him. In their opinion, they had nothing to apologise about, after all.

#

Friday was both Christmas Day and the day of the Yule Ball. After a very relaxed Christmas Morning, Harry and Hermione joined Neville, Luna, and Ginny on the Hogwarts grounds for some snowball fights. It was still early in the afternoon when Hermione and the other two girls informed the boys that they had to leave to get ready for the ball.

"But- but the ball won't be until eight in the evening," Neville sputtered.

Harry, too, raised his eyebrows at Hermione. "You know that you are beautiful as you are, right? There's no need to get-"

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione interrupted him with a smile, "but I bet you'll like the results, nonetheless. And I promised to help Luna and Ginny with some of the charms. Let's meet at a quarter to eight in the common room. Luna will be with us, too. "

"Oh, all right, then," Harry conceded. "Have fun!"

Harry spent the remaining afternoon playing Exploding Snap with Neville, Dean, and Seamus in the common room.

"Who are you going with, anyway, Dean?" Harry asked his dorm mate during one of their games. "Will you finally tell us, now? In a few hours, we'll know it, anyway."

Dean sighed. "Fine. I didn't tell because I don't look forward to the many, many talks with her way too many family members. It's... well, it's..."

"Ginny, right?" Neville interrupted with a grin.

"Right," Dean said surprised. "How did you know?"

Neville laughed. "You're braver than I am! I mean, I think I really like Luna, but initially I thought about asking Ginny, too. But then I reminded myself that she has six older brothers, and I'm sharing a dorm with one of them."

Dean nodded with an anxious expression.

"I know, I'm stupid," he groaned.

Neville, Harry, and Seamus laughed in response, and Harry started dealing out the cards again.

As the hours passed, the common room slowly filled with more and more students, who were excitedly talking about the ball. At a quarter past seven, the boys quickly retreated to their dorm to change into their dress robes.

Ron joined them in the dorm soon afterwards, and he put on the dress robes his mother had bought for him. With a miserable expression on his face, he then surveyed himself in a mirror. With the laces at the ruff and cuffs, his robes looked more like a dress than anything else. He attempted to use a severing charm on the laces, but this only caused his dress-like robes to resemble a very torn dress.

Harry, dressed in his elegant dark-green dress robes, refrained from commenting on Ron's attire, as he knew his former friend wouldn't take it well. Instead, he quickly glanced over himself in the mirror, nodded and returned to the common room. He was soon followed by Neville, Dean, and Seamus. Ron joined them a few minutes later.

Seamus then excused himself, as he would meet Parvati in the entrance hall. She had been helping her sister in Ravenclaw to get ready for the ball and wasn't in Gryffindor Tower anymore. The other boys excitedly waited for the girls to join them in the common room.

The first girl to descend from the stairs leading to the girls' dormitories was Lavender. She wore a very tight, short red dress that showed a lot of cleavage for her age.

Lavender frowned when she spotted Ron in his attire and drew her wand.

"I'm sorry!" Ron blurted out as the girl pointed the wand at him. "Don't curse me! It's not my fault! My mum chose this thing! I didn't-"

"Oh, shut it!" Lavender exclaimed. "Let me just fix your robes for you!"

She waved her wand and muttered some incantations, and Harry had to admit that the girl was quite adept at charming clothes. The frayed laces at the neck and sleeves of Ron's robes vanished, and even the cut of the robes changed slightly. All in all, Ron's dress robes weren't looking all that bad, now.

Ron looked very grateful at Lavender when she took his arm and led him out of the common room.

Harry was glad that Ron had left, as the next girl to come down the stairs was Ginny. Even though her pink dress was clearly bought second-hand, Harry thought that she still looked rather pretty in it.

Ginny smiled shyly at Dean as he offered her his arm.

Then, Harry's attention was drawn back to the staircase, as another girl walked down into the common room. With wide eyes and a huge grin, Harry watched as Hermione approached him. She wore a periwinkle-blue dress, that fit her form perfectly. It left her arms and shoulders uncovered but didn't show much skin apart from that. She wore exactly the right amount of make-up, and she had also done something with her hair. Her formerly wild and bushy hair now was sleek and shiny and twisted up into an intricate braid at the back of her head. It looked very elegant, Harry noted, but still...

"Don't you like it?" Hermione asked a bit anxiously. Apparently, she had noticed the brief look of disappointment on his face.

"You're beautiful, Mione," Harry said softly and gave her a peck on her lips. "You look great. I love the dress. I'm glad that you didn't put on a huge amount of make-up, as you really don't need it. But what have you done with your hair?"

"I used a potion to make it more manageable," Hermione told him. "Sleekeazy's Hair Potion. It's way too much bother to do it every day, but for an event like this, I thought I would try it out. Don't you like it?"

"It's... it's nice," Harry replied.

"Nice?" Hermione repeated.

Harry chuckled. "Don't get me wrong, I get that you want to look elegant for the ball. But I'm glad that this won't be how you look regularly from now on. I love your hair as it normally is. It's just so you. And this... this isn't."

"Well," Hermione replied a bit hesitantly, but then she smiled, "well, I guess that's actually a really good thing, then. Thank you, Harry."

"I still really love the dress, though!" Harry added.

Hermione laughed and gave him a deep kiss.

"Thanks," she replied after they had separated again. "You look quite handsome yourself, you know. Shall we go, then?"

"We still have to wait for-" Harry began, but then he noticed Luna standing next to Neville, holding the boy's hand. Harry had completely missed the girl's arrival in the common room.

Luna was wearing an elaborately cut silver dress, but none of her usual unconventional accessories. Harry supposed that Hermione had talked the girl out of wearing radishes for earrings or something like that.

"Oh, all right. Yes, let's go," Harry said.

Together, the three girls and three boys left the common room and made their way to the entrance hall.

#

They arrived just a few minutes before eight o'clock, when the Great Hall would be opened to the students. The entrance hall was packed with students who were milling around, waiting for the feast to commence. Many were trying to find their partners for the ball in the crowd.

A short while later, the doors to the Great Hall opened, and the students started streaming into the hall.

Hermione frowned slightly and looked around.

"Are the competitors supposed to go anywhere special?" she wondered.

Harry didn't know either and just shrugged.

"Ah, good evening, Miss Granger, Mr Potter," a voice sounded next to them.

"Good evening, Professor McGonagall," Hermione replied. "Where are we supposed to go?"

"Please go ahead and get seated at the top table where the judges are sitting already," the Professor informed them. "There should have been a procession of the champions into the Great Hall, but with the number of champions we have..." the older witch frowned slightly at them and continued, "well, we will forgo that part. Just go ahead, please."

Hermione nodded, and the couple stepped into the Great Hall. The walls were sparkling with Christmas decorations, and the House tables had been replaced by many smaller, round tables, each seating about a dozen people.

At the end of the hall, there was a much larger round table, where the judges and several champions and their dates were sitting already.

Harry and Hermione crossed the hall and approached the table. They sat down between Fred and his date Angelina to one side, and Cedric and his date Cho Chang to their other side. Next to Fred and Angelina sat George and Alicia.

Harry nodded towards the judges and noted that they weren't accompanied by dates. Fudge, also without a dance partner, sat at the table precisely opposite of Crouch. The two men were glaring at each other hatefully.

Slowly, the remaining seats were filled by the arriving champions. Fleur was accompanied by Roger Davies, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. The feast hadn't even been opened yet, but Fleur already seemed to regret her choice of date. The older boy was clearly unable to look anywhere besides Fleur's – admittedly rather impressive – cleavage. His mouth was hanging wide open, and he drooled slightly.

Harry chuckled and turned his attention to the next arrivals, Viktor Krum and his date. Harry was extremely surprised when he recognised the girl at Krum's side as Parvati's sister Padma Patil. The girl grinned and waved at him and Hermione as they sat down next to Cedric and Cho.

Then, Goyle sat down next to Krum. He was escorted by Millicent Bulstrode. The tall and slightly chubby girl actually cleaned up quite nicely in her ball gown.

The last champion to arrive was Vincent Crabbe, who was accompanied by a sixth-year Slytherin girl whose name Harry didn't know. The girl was tall and slim, had long, wild black hair and pale skin. Her face could have been called pretty, Harry supposed, if it wasn't for the crazed glint in her eyes.

As all the champions had sat down, Dumbledore rose from his seat and opened the feast. The meal was quite enjoyable, even though the conversation at the table felt rather forced for the most part. Harry got along well with Fred and Cedric, of course, but with the judges nearby, they couldn't really just let their guard down and joke around.

Ludo Bagman, who sat next to Barty Crouch, had an even more difficult time making conversation. But obviously, that didn't stop the upbeat man from trying.

"The ball is going quite well, isn't it Barty?" Bagman cheerfully asked Crouch as the feast slowly came to a close. "After the unfortunate incident at the selection of the champions, at least the ball is a full success now, just like the first task."

"Quite," Crouch replied stiffly. "I suppose the first task went quite well, too, all things considered."

With a voice loud enough to be overheard by everyone at the table, he continued, "Only the mediocre showing of our Minister was a bit embarrassing, of course!"

"The only embarrassing thing at the task was the obvious bias of one of the judges!" Fudge stated loudly.

Crouch continued as if he hadn't heard the Minister. "It was only luck that prevented the Minister from being torn apart by the dragon. It was pathetic, really!"

"Well, my wife was very proud of my showing.," Minister Fudge replied scathingly. "My wife, who's very healthy and very alive."

"THAT'S IT!" screamed Crouch and jumped up from his seat, drawing his wand.

Fudge also rose from his seat and readied his wand.

"ENOUGH!" Dumbledore hollered and waved his wand, causing both men to freeze temporarily.

"There won't be any duelling in my school. If you can't be civil to each other, I suggest you leave now!"

After a moment, the Headmaster flicked his wand again, and the two men were able to move once more.

With a scowl on his face, Fudge pocketed his wand and sat back down at the table. Crouch, upon spotting that Fudge wasn't about to leave, took a step back from the table.

"I won't share a table with corrupt, incompetent fools," he stated with barely controlled rage. "Good evening, ladies, gentlemen."

With that, he turned around and stalked out of the Great Hall, ignoring the excited whispers of the students at the tables all around him.

#

Soon after that, Dumbledore closed the feast. All the tables were quickly moved closer towards the walls of the Great Hall to make space for the dance floor. To the cheers and applause of the assembled crowd, the musicians of the Weird Sisters, the band for the evening, entered the Great Hall and walked towards a raised stage at one side of the hall.

As soon as the band started playing, Hermione excitedly dragged Harry to the dance floor for the opening dance. The champions were soon joined by the other students, and the dance floor quickly got extremely crowded.

Harry had a great time dancing with Hermione, but he also saved a dance for Luna and Ginny. They all agreed that they had the most fun dancing with their original dates, though.

After almost an hour of dancing, Harry and Hermione were breathing heavily, leaning onto each other with exhaustion. The songs that the Weirs Sisters were playing had been gotten faster and faster.

"Let's... let's take a break, shall we?" Harry suggested.

His girlfriend nodded in agreement. To Harry's delight, her hair had gotten loose during their dancing and was hanging freely again. It still wasn't bushy enough, but it was a good start.

He was brought out of his musings when he heard raised voices near the dance floor.

"Stay away from my sister!"

"Leave Dean alone, Ronald! I can go to the ball with whomever I want!"

"No, you can't!"

Harry sighed. Well, that confrontation had been inevitable.

Holding hands, he and Hermione left the dance floor and approached the arguing Weasley siblings. Ginny stood between Ron and Dean, her wand drawn and aimed at her brother. Ron was scowling at Dean and his sister, but the wand pointing between his eyes clearly stopped him from stepping any closer to them.

"Get. Lost. Ron," Ginny growled angrily.

Before Ron could reply, Lavender stepped to his side and took his hand.

"Ron! Don't! Let's just get back on the dance floor," she demanded, tugging his hand.

Ron looked at the girl and was about to reply when Lavender stepped closer to him and pushed out her chest even more.

"Let's get back on the dance floor, now," she repeated.

Ron gulped, his eyes darting back and forth between the girl's cleavage and her narrowed eyes.

"Uh- all- all right," he muttered weakly and offered no resistance as Lavender dragged him away, a triumphant grin on her face.

Ginny let out a sigh of relief when Harry and Hermione arrived next to her.

"That could have gone worse, I guess," she stated. "Good thing Lavender already has him whipped."

Harry and Hermione chuckled.

"I think you had things well in hand even before Lavender arrived," Hermione said.

"Don't worry, he'll come around," Harry added.

Ginny grinned at him. "If not, at least I'll get to practise my Bat-Bogey Hex a bit more."

"That's the spirit!" Harry complimented her. "Just don't go overboard with him, all right? He just wants to protect you."

Ginny rolled her eyes but still gave him a reluctant nod.

"Let's go dance some more, Dean," she then said and took her date's hand. Dean, who was clearly still a bit shocked by the previous altercation, just nodded numbly and followed along.

"And she has him whipped already, too," Harry commented.

Hermione chuckled, but then she abruptly adopted a more serious expression. "Be nice, Harry!" she demanded.

"Yes, dear," Harry replied with a contrite look on his face.

"Why don't you go and grab us a drink?" Hermione suggested.

"Yes, dear, at once, dear," Harry answered, causing Hermione to break out into giggles. Harry laughed out, too, and hugged his girlfriend tightly. "You really do have me whipped, though," he whispered to her.

Hermione smiled and gave him a peck on his lips.

"I love you, too," she replied. "Now, what about those drinks?"

"Why don't we grab some drinks and go outside?" Harry suggested. "I could use some fresh air."

Hermione nodded, and after they had emptied a few glasses of Christmas Punch, the couple left the Great Hall. The gate of the entrance hall was open, leading into the festively decorated courtyard.

They were looking for a private spot for some alone time, but all the benches in the alcoves of the courtyard were already occupied by snogging couples. They passed the Weasley twins with their dates on the bench in one of the alcoves. Fred was snogging Angelina, while George was kissing Alicia.

Harry and Hermione quickly walked past the two couples, who luckily didn't seem to notice them.

Harry smiled when he spotted Hagrid and Madame Maxime at one end of the courtyard. He really wished his biggest friend the best of luck there; he deserved some happiness.

Then, Harry spotted Karkaroff and Snape in another corner of the yard. Were they also- No! Harry shuddered. No, he absolutely did not want to finish that thought.

Finally, he and Hermione found a nice secluded spot between two rose bushes at the far end of the courtyard. Hermione quickly cast a few privacy spells as well as a warming spell, before they settled down on the ground, holding each other close. They didn't do much beyond exchanging some kisses and just enjoyed the cool air as they recovered from the exhausting dancing.

#

After half an hour, Harry and Hermione had somewhat recovered and were slowly getting cold, so they decided to return to the ball. On their way back in, they passed the twins and their dates again. George was still snogging Angelina, and Fred and Alicia were still exploring each other's tonsils with their tongues.

Harry frowned. Something didn't feel right about this picture, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He shrugged and put the matter out of his mind as he and Hermione entered the castle again.

"I'll just have to freshen up quickly," Hermione informed him just as Harry was about to ask her for another dance. "I'll be back in a minute."

Harry nodded and watched after his girlfriend as she hurried towards the bathrooms. He went ahead into the Great Hall and fetched two drinks, and then observed the crowd on the dance floor and in the hall.

Dumbledore was dancing with Professor McGonagall, and Minister Fudge was leading a blushing Madam Pomfrey over the dance floor.

Harry then noticed that Professor Moody was standing in a corner all by himself, also watching the crowd. Harry thought the Professor was looking miserable and wondered if it was because Crouch had left earlier or because Moody couldn't have danced in public with the man he loved anyway.

Harry decided to talk to Professor Moody to cheer the man up – it was Christmas, after all. He approached the retired Auror.

"Good evening, Professor," Harry greeted the man. He then leaned towards the man conspiratorially and lowered his voice. "You know, Professor, I know about you and Crouch."

Moody stiffened and suddenly looked very nervous. "You- you do?"

"Yes, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Harry said calmingly.

"You- you won't?" Moody choked out.

"No, of course not. It's no one else's business, after all," Harry answered.

"It's not?" Moody asked, confused, but a bit calmer.

"No, of course not. As long as you're happy, that's the only thing that counts."

Moody's expression was extremely bewildered by now.

"Well, anyway," Harry continued, "I just wanted to tell you that people might not be as prejudiced against you as you think and wish you a happy Christmas."

He nodded towards the Defence Professor and left to see if Hermione had returned yet.

Barty Crouch Jr, impersonating Alastor Moody, was left gaping after the boy. How had Potter figured out his secret? And why in Merlin's name would he keep it? Was the boy secretly dark? He had to inform his Master at once!

#

Hermione returned soon after, and once they had emptied their drinks, the couple took to the dance floor again. They danced until midnight, when the Weird Sisters played the last song for the evening.

When the Professors sent the students back to their common rooms, many students grumbled that they wouldn't have minded the ball to continue a few hours longer. Harry, however, wasn't among them. His legs were just hurting too much from all the dancing, even if it had been very enjoyable. And he knew that it was only the ball in the Great Hall that was about to end. He was quite certain that there would be an after-party in the Gryffindor common room until the early hours of the morning.

Harry and Hermione were about to leave the Great Hall when they heard someone calling behind them.

"Hermione, Harry, please wait for a moment!"

The couple turned around and spotted Cedric approaching them.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" the Hufflepuff boy asked.

"Sure." Harry shrugged. "What's this about?"

Cedric walked to a quiet corner in the entrance hall and motioned towards the couple to follow him.

"Listen," the older boy began when they stood in front of him, "I still owe you for telling me about the dragon. So I figured I could maybe help you with the hint in the golden egg."

"Oh," Hermione started, frowning slightly.

"That'd be great! Thank you, Cedric!" Harry exclaimed, before Hermione could reject the offer out of a false sense of fair-play. This earned him a slightly annoyed look from his girlfriend, but she didn't disagree with him.

"Well, uhm... does your egg wail when you open it, Hermione?" Cedric asked.

"Yes, it does," Hermione confirmed.

"Well... take a bath, okay?"

"What?" Harry and Hermione asked simultaneously.

"Take a bath, and... uhh... take the egg with you, and... just mull things over in the hot water. It'll help... Trust me," Cedric said awkwardly.

Hermione skeptically raised her eyebrows at the Hufflepuff while Harry frowned.

"Tell you what, Hermione," Cedric continued quickly, "You can take a bath in the prefects' bathroom on the fifth floor, it's the fourth door on the left from the statue of Boris the Bewildered."

He groaned and went on, "Trust me, take a bath with your egg and mull things over in the hot water. The password is pine fresh."

Harry felt rather annoyed with the Hufflepuff boy by now, though mostly because of Cedric repeatedly urging Hermione to take a bath.

"What is this, Diggory?" he exclaimed. "You couldn't possibly be any more vague. You want to repay us for telling what you had to do for the first task? Great! Then tell us what Hermione has to do for the second task! Don't give us this vague, random shite!"

Cedric looked at him rather taken aback.

"Uhm, sorry," the older boy mumbled. "But, well, I don't exactly know what the task will be. I only know that you have to hold the egg underwater to listen to it. It contains a riddle, you see. I don't remember it fully. Best, you listen to it yourselves. But I think that the task will take place in the Black Lake, and we'll probably have to find some item of importance to us."

"See, was that so hard?" Harry exclaimed, but then he smiled at the boy. "But, thank you, Cedric. We appreciate the help."

The boy gave them an awkward nod before he scrambled away.

"Well, that was unexpected," Harry stated. "But I guess we have something to do for the holidays now."

Hermione nodded. "And we have to tell Fred and George," she said. "It wouldn't be fair otherwise."

They then left the entrance hall and returned to their common room. When they arrived at the tower, the after-party organised by the Weasley twins was already in full swing.

"Harry, Hermione!" Fred called out as they entered the common room. "There you are. Can I offer you a Butterbeer, or would you prefer something stronger?"

Harry hesitated, but Hermione answered before he could reply.

"No thanks, Fred, we're really knackered," she said. "No more partying for us; we'll head up to the dorms directly."

Harry was about to protest that he wouldn't mind staying up a bit longer when he caught Hermione's eyes. She gave him an almost unnoticeable wink, and finally, the coin dropped for him.

"Uhm, yeah, Mione is right. No more partying for us," he told Fred with a regretful voice.

They crossed the crowded common room and stopped at the bottom of the staircases leading up to the dormitories.

"Good night," Hermione said loudly and leaned in towards Harry for a deep kiss. When they separated, she smirked and whispered for only him to hear, "See you in a few minutes for our private after-party."

Harry grinned and walked up to his dorm. He took a very quick shower and readied himself for bed. Afterwards, he used the time he waited for his girlfriend to put up the Silencing Charms around his bed. A great day was about to end even better.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER NINE -

Deceiving Impressions

Harry was woken up the next morning by Hermione stirring next to him. Blinking tiredly, he opened his eyes and was greeted by his girlfriend smiling brightly at him.

"Good morning," she whispered to a yawning Harry and kissed him on his lips. "I'd love to stay, but I really should return to my dorm before Lavender and Parvati wake up."

Harry pouted a bit at that but nodded reluctantly. He watched as his girlfriend quickly threw over her nightgown and wrapped her morning dress around her. She then carefully opened the curtains around Harry's bed and peeked into the dorm.

As the curtains opened, the silencing charms around the bed broke, and Harry could hear Ron and Seamus snoring. The boys were still sleeping soundly – unsurprisingly, as it was only a few minutes past seven in the morning. The curtains around the beds of Neville and Dean were closed, and no noises could be heard from them.

Hermione rose from the bed and picked up Harry's Invisibility Cloak from the floor where she had dropped it the night before. She threw the cloak over herself and disappeared from Harry's sight.

Only the quiet footsteps moving towards the door allowed Harry to track his girlfriend's movement while he put on some shorts and a T-shirt.

Hermione had almost gotten to the door of the dorm when the door was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

A dull thump was heard as the door hit Hermione, who yelped in surprise as she was pushed back and fell backwards to the floor, causing the Invisibility Cloak to slip off her.

With wide eyes, she looked up at the figure standing in the doorway to the dormitory.

"Neville-?"

"Hermione-?"

"-What were you doing out there?"

"-What are you doing in here?"

Hermione's cheeks pinked slightly, while Neville blushed heavily. He was still wearing the robes he had worn at the ball, though they were in a very dishevelled state. His shirt was hanging out of his trousers and was buttoned incorrectly.

The boy quickly stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. At the same time, Harry got up from the bed and approached Hermione and Neville at the entrance of the dorm.

"Well," Harry began, keeping his voice quiet and chuckling a bit awkwardly. "I guess we were doing quite similar things."

"Uhm, well," Neville stuttered and blushed an even deeper crimson. "We- Luna- we weren't - we did not- uhm..."

"Hey, no need to tell us anything," Harry interrupted the boy and helped up his girlfriend from the floor.

"Yes, and it would be quite hypocritical of us to judge you," Hermione added, "as long as you're respecting Luna's wishes, you-"

"No!" Neville interrupted, "I mean, yes! I- uhm... I mean, she started- uhm... I think I'll be quiet now."

"Yes, good idea," Harry said with a grin. "Let's just-"

He paused when he noticed the handle of the door to the dorm slowly being pushed down. With a creak, the door slowly swung open again, revealing Dean standing in the doorway.

A shocked expression appeared on the dark-skinned boy's face as he saw his three surprised classmates standing right in front of him. Just like Neville, Dean was still more or less dressed in what had been his dress robes for the ball.

There was a long pause, during which the four students looked at each other quietly. The amused smirks of Harry and Hermione were contrasted by Neville's embarrassed expression and the frightened look of Dean.

"Uhm... hi guys," Dean finally mumbled.

"Good morning, Dean," Harry answered brightly.

The boy in the doorway groaned. "I am so dead!"

"Listen, Dean," Harry replied chuckling, "we won't tell Ron or the twins that you were out there all night with Ginny, and you won't tell anyone that Hermione was in here all night with me. Deal?"

"Deal," Dean confirmed, visibly relieved. "And we didn't-"

Harry waved his hand dismissively.

"We don't need to hear it, Dean," he interrupted. "Just know that if you hurt Ginny, her brothers won't be the only ones who'll kill you. Are we clear?"

Hermione nodded in agreement, giving Dean a stern look.

The dark-skinned boy gulped.

"Clear," he confirmed.

"Great," Hermione said and turned towards Harry. "I'll meet you in the common room in twenty minutes?"

Harry nodded and watched after his girlfriend as she left the room, throwing the Invisibility Cloak over herself once more. When she disappeared from his view, he returned his attention to his dorm mates in front of him. Both boys were smirking at him.

"You tease me, I'll tease you," Harry told them before they could open their mouths. "Let's just not do that."

The other two boys clearly had a hard time keeping their comments to themselves, but they nodded nonetheless.

Harry gave them a grateful smile and left for the bathroom. He was just glad that Ron was still asleep, snoring loudly, oblivious to everything that had just happened. Things might have turned very unpleasant otherwise, especially for Dean.

#

Harry and Hermione were among the first students at breakfast that morning. Only a handful of students old enough to having attended the ball were not sleeping in, and the Great Hall was rather empty. Therefore, the couple could converse quietly without any fear of being overheard.

"Well, I think they are making good couples," Harry said, still amused by what had happened in the dorm earlier. "Especially Luna and Neville, they are good for each other."

"Yes," Hermione agreed, but then she frowned slightly. "I just hope they aren't moving too fast."

Harry chuckled. "Like us, you mean?"

"That's different!" Hermione disagreed, but couldn't help but smile at her boyfriend.

"You know that Neville will always be a perfect gentleman," Harry stated, "and Ginny certainly can watch out for herself."

"Yes, I know," Hermione replied.

"Anyway," she then said after a pause, "what are the plans for today? Should we check if Cedric's advice about the golden egg is correct?"

"Should we sneak into the prefects' bath after curfew today?" Harry suggested.

"You know," Hermione replied, "the prefects' bath is probably quite popular with the prefects as a dating location. We'll probably have a better chance at finding it empty if we just go there this morning."

"Right," Harry agreed, "let's do that."

"Besides," Hermione added, "it would be nice to relax in the water a bit. My legs are still aching from all the dancing yesterday."

Harry nodded. His legs were quite sore, too.

But then, another problem occurred to him.

"Do you have any swimwear?" he asked his girlfriend. "Because I don't."

"Oh," Hermione replied and frowned. "I don't have any here at Hogwarts."

But then she shrugged and grinned at him. "Oh well, we'll just have to make do without, I guess."

"Uhh... Oh! OH! Yes, good point!" Harry agreed excitedly.

He then finished his breakfast in what had to be a new personal best time.

#

It turned out that Hermione's suggestion had a serious downside. While the couple had a lot of fun in the prefect's bath that morning, they didn't achieve their original objective. When they had to leave the bath to return to the Great Hall for lunch, they still hadn't gotten around to opening the golden egg in the water. They had just been way too distracted with each other to bother with trivialities like finding out more about the second task of the Triwizard Tournament.

They returned to the prefects' bath in the afternoon, and this time, Hermione transfigured some swimwear for both her and Harry. Harry was a bit disappointed by the very conservatively cut one-piece swimsuit his girlfriend was wearing until Hermione reminded him that transfigurations didn't last. His mood immediately perked up at that.

But before they could engage in more enjoyable activities once more, they had to listen to the clue in the golden egg. With both of them in the huge bathtub, Hermione fetched the egg from the side of the tub and placed it underwater.

Harry lowered his head under the surface, Hermione following suit. She then slowly opened the egg. Instead of loud screeching, eerie voices were singing from the open egg in Hermione's hands.

"Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching, ponder this:

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour – the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."

Having listened to the song, the couple emerged from the water.

"All right, so you have to retrieve some possession of yours from the bottom of the lake within one hour," Harry summarised. "Sounds better than fighting a dragon."

"Almost sounds too easy," Hermione replied.

Harry had to agree with that.

After a pause, he spoke again, "As they won't tell you about the task, that possession would have to be taken without your knowledge. What do you reckon they'll take from you?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied and started nibbling on her bottom lip, deep in thought.

Harry contemplated the question for a while, too, before he grinned. "My bet would be your copy of Hogwarts a History."

Hermione gasped in shock. "They wouldn't dare!"

"Or the biggest, most ancient tome on Arithmancy in your possession," Harry continued.

"But- but the books would get wet!" Hermione fretted.

Harry shrugged. "Well, they'll probably put some protective charms on the items they take."

"But what if the charms fail? Oh no! Could I hide my books with you before the task, please?" Hermione pleaded.

"Sure," Harry agreed. "If you think that will help. But they'll just take something else, then... They might even take Crookshanks."

"He would really hate that! He hates water!" Hermione chuckled, but quickly got serious again. "We'll have to hide him, too."

"Okay," Harry confirmed. "What else might they take?"

They both pondered the question for a while.

The silence was broken when Hermione gasped.

"Shit!" she exclaimed.

Harry laughed, amused by his girlfriend's uncharacteristic outburst. "Hermione! Language!"

"It's you," she stated flatly, ignoring his comment.

"Me? What about me?" Harry wondered.

"You are what I'll sorely miss. They'll take you," Hermione said, clearly worried.

"Uhm, thanks," Harry said hesitantly, "but I'm a Who, not a What."

"I don't think we should take the poem that literally," Hermione replied. "The ending is obviously hyperbole, too. Think about it! Human hostages would give the task a much higher entertainment value. After we had to battle a dragon for the first task, they won't be content with having us swimming through the Black Lake to fetch a book for the second task."

"Do you really think they would endanger students like that?" Harry asked.

Hermione gave him an incredulous look. "What part about 'We had to battle a dragon for the first task' didn't you understand?"

"Right," Harry muttered. "I guess I could just refuse when they ask me to be your hostage?"

Hermione smiled sadly at him. "And risk that Ginny, Luna, or Neville get taken instead?

Harry ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "You're right, I wouldn't do that. I guess we'll have to trust the organisers to ensure the safety of the hostages... well, fuck!"

Hermione didn't chide him for his language.

"Well, how about this," Harry said after a pause, "I'll agree to be your hostage, as long as Dumbledore agrees to get involved himself this time, and takes charge of our safety. I think he'll probably want to do that, anyway. But if he doesn't agree to do that, I will refuse to participate, and we'll tell all our friends to refuse, too."

"Okay," his girlfriend agreed reluctantly, "I guess that's the best we can do."

There was another long pause before Hermione sighed. "Now I almost wished it was my copy of Hogwarts a History that will be taken."

"Almost?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Oh," Hermione said and waved her hand dismissively, a slight smirk on her lips. "You always come out of our adventures all right. My books, on the other hand... I really don't want them getting wet."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you have your priorities straight," Harry grumbled.

"Oh, you poor boy," Hermione said with a pout and swam closer to him. "Let me see how I might make it up to you."

All thoughts about the second task were forgotten for the rest of the afternoon.

#

With a good idea what awaited them for the second task, Harry and Hermione spent most of the Christmas break coming up with strategies and researching water creatures and useful spells for swimming and diving.

The biggest issue was breathing underwater. Hermione was learning the Bubble-Head Charm and was able to perform it by the end of the break, though her bubbles weren't lasting long enough yet.

The charm had a severe drawback, though. If it failed for whatever reason while she was in the lake, Hermione would have to recast it silently, as she wouldn't be able to pronounce the spell underwater. She knew that she wouldn't be able to do that.

Unfortunately, they hadn't found a better solution yet. Harry was trying to convince Hermione to use Muggle scuba diving gear, but Hermione remained unconvinced. She insisted that a magical solution would be simpler and that it was only a matter of time until she would find one.

On the last day of the Christmas break, the couple was sitting in the library once more. Hermione was reading a tome on Ancient Runes, trying to solve the problem of breathing underwater. Harry, in the meantime, was compiling a list of the creatures that could be found in the Black Lake and the best spells to fight them.

"It would be best to stay out of the kelp and seaweed to avoid the grindylows," Harry said to Hermione as he read about the water demons.

"Yes," Hermione agreed and sighed. "But how can I do that, when I have to search the entire lake for the hostages?"

"We would need to know the location of the hostages," Harry replied. "Could you put some kind of tracking charm on me, maybe?"

"I could," Hermione answered with a frown, "but we can't be sure that Dumbledore won't cancel it when he's putting the hostages under the lake."

"Right," Harry agreed. "But it sure would be nice to have some more specific information."

There was a pause before Harry grinned at his girlfriend.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

#

"Well, Hagrid, how are things?" Harry asked the half-giant after their Care of Magical Creatures class the next day.

It was the first day of classes after the Christmas break. He and Hermione were lingering back after the other students had made hasty retreats back towards the castle, glad to get away from Hagrid's increasingly large and increasingly aggressive Blast-ended Skrewts.

Hagrid gave Harry a suspicious look. "I'm good, Harry. How are yeh?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Harry began and shrugged. "Just a bit worried about Hermione, of course, with the second task of the tournament coming up. I hope-"

"Ah, I'm seein' what yer doin' there!" Hagrid interrupted. "Yer not foolin' me again!"

He gave the couple a stern look and continued, "I won' tell yeh that for the second task yeh'll have to rescue a hostage from the merpeople village in the Black Lake."

There was a long silence between them.

"Hagrid," Hermione then said with some exasperation, "please tell me that you've just done that on purpose."

"Dunno what yer talkin' 'bout, Hermione," Hagrid replied, good-natured. "Good luck, and don' tell anyone that I slipped up again. Off yeh go, now!"

With that, the groundkeeper shuffled towards his hut, but Harry was pretty sure that he had seen a mischievous smile under the big guy's beard.

Harry chuckled as he and Hermione ware walking back towards the castle. "Gotta love him!"

"Yes, that was nice of him," Hermione agreed. "So, the merpeople village... I guess it could be worse. If I swim at the surface of the lake until I'm above the village and then dive straight down, I should be able to avoid all of the more dangerous creatures in the lake."

"That's great," Harry replied. "So we only have to worry about diving now. If you would just ask your parents to send you some scuba diving gear..."

Their discussion was still ongoing when they walked through the gates of the castle.

#

The week continued at a leisurely pace. On Thursday afternoon, they had the first Defence class of the new year. Harry was surprised when Professor Moody asked him to stay back after the lesson had ended.

He quickly whispered to Hermione that he would meet her in the library afterwards and approached Moody at the teacher's desk.

"How can I help you, Professor?" Harry asked the retired Auror.

Instead of answering Harry, the Professor waited until the other students had left the room and then waved his wand and erected a silencing ward on the door of the classroom.

"Potter," the old man began, "I wanted to talk about what you said to me at the Yule Ball..."

"Oh, what about it?" Harry asked with surprise.

"Yes, well, first, I wanted to thank you for keeping my secrets," Moody replied.

"Of course, Professor. No need to thank me."

There was a pause, during which Moody eyed Harry critically.

"You know, I find this very interesting. Why would you help us?" Moody finally inquired.

"Keeping your secrets really isn't helping much," Harry answered with a shrug. "But let me know if I can somehow help with changing things."

"So, you really do support our cause?" Moody asked, sizing up the boy in front of him.

"You mean to build a society in which you can publicly reveal who you really are and people will support you?" Harry clarified.

Moody chuckled. "Well, that's one way to put it."

"Sure, I'm all for it," Harry said. "The way any kind of minorities, non-human species or Muggle-born are treated really ought to change."

Crouch Jr, posing as Alastor Moody, nodded in agreement. All this filth really needed to be put back in its place, after all. "Well, I'm glad to hear it, boy. I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Great," Harry agreed.

"Will you tell me how you found out about me?" Moody then asked Harry.

Harry frowned slightly, wondering how he should answer the question. On the one hand, he really wanted to keep the Marauder's Map a secret. It was one of the few mementoes he had left from his parents. On the other hand, he needed someone to watch the Marauder's Map during the second task to ensure that Voldemort wouldn't be able to sneak in under disguise. Harry had thought about asking Neville, Luna, and Ginny to watch the map and inform Dumbledore of any suspicious activities. But obviously, Alastor Moody, the renowned Auror, would be much better suited for this task. Also, Harry's friends wouldn't be put in danger. There really was only one choice for Harry.

"Well, Professor," Harry began, "I have an artefact – a magical map – that can tell me the name and location of every person in Hogwarts."

Moody paled at that. "Every person?" he whispered.

"Yes, but don't worry, I won't cause you or him any trouble," Harry replied to calm the man, who was obviously worried that Harry would expose how many nights the Professor and Crouch were spending together in the castle.

"Sir," Harry continued, "I'd be willing to give you that map, as long as you'll agree to return it to me at the end of the term."

"I can certainly agree to that," Moody replied, much calmer now and clearly very interested.

Harry fetched the Marauder's Map from his bookbag and handed it to the Professor. After all, having to do without the map for a few months was a very small price to pay if it would ensure the safety of his friends and the entire school.

"Just tap the parchment with your wand and say 'I solemnly swear I'm up to no good' to reveal the map and say 'Mischief managed' to clear it," Harry informed the old Auror.

Moody nodded. "All right, let's test this."

He held up the parchment in front of him and tapped his wand against it. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."

Harry stood opposite of Moody and therefore couldn't see the map, but the amazed expression on Moody's face clearly told him that the Professor had successfully revealed the map.

A few moments later, Moody muttered, "Mischief managed," and he lowered the map on the desk.

"I have to thank you, Potter," Moody then stated with a smirk, "That will certainly help to keep watch on a certain bothersome headmaster!"

Harry smiled. Having the paranoid Ex-Auror keeping close watch on the former Death Eater Karkaroff was certainly a good thing.

"I think it would also be good to watch the comings and goings during the second task. Make sure that there aren't any uninvited visitors where they shouldn't be," Harry suggested.

Remembering how many Aurors had been present during the first task, Crouch Jr nodded in agreement at that. "I'll definitely do that."

"Great," Harry replied, very relieved that someone trustworthy would be watching over the second task of the tournament. "Was there anything else, Professor?"

"No, thank you," Moody replied, "Off you go, Potter."

Harry turned to leave the classroom. Just before he opened the door, Moody laughed out loud behind him.

"And let me tell you," the Professor called after him, "you're really doing a fine job posing as Gryffindor's Golden Boy. A quite impressive cover! And that's coming from me!"

Harry was unsure what the old, slightly crazy former Auror was getting at, but simply shrugged and smiled in response to what he presumed to be some weird compliment. He then left the classroom to catch up with Hermione.

#

"What did the Professor want?" Hermione asked Harry as he sat down next to her at her desk in the library.

"Remember how I told you that I spoke to Professor Moody during the ball and told him that not everyone is as prejudiced as he might think? Well, he asked me how I knew about him and Crouch."

"Oh, what did you tell him?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I told him about the map," Harry replied, causing Hermione to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

"I gave him the map so that he can keep watch during the second task," Harry continued. "As I'll probably be your hostage, I won't be able to do it like we had planned it originally."

"You're right. Good thinking, Harry," Hermione replied. "Even though I'm surprised that you were willing to give the map away."

"Yes, but Mad-Eye promised that he would return the map at the end of the year," Harry answered. With a grin, he added, "And with my Invisibility Cloak, we don't really need the map to sneak around some more, anyway."

"Sneak around some more?" Hermione repeated with an arched eyebrow. "What other adventures do you have planned for us, Mister?"

"Oh, nothing new. But as long as they don't change the password for the prefects' bathroom, it might be nice to return there from time to time," Harry replied.

Hermione tried to look at him disapprovingly, but Harry could see that she was very much in favour of his suggestion.

"Fine," Hermione finally conceded with a huff. "But if we get caught, I'm holding you responsible for it."

Harry chuckled. He could agree to that. The reward was certainly worth the risk.

"Did Professor Moody talk about anything else?" Hermione then asked. "Maybe to give you a hint about the task?"

"Well, not really," Harry answered, "I just told him to tell me if I might somehow help to change things for them. You know, some words from the Boy-Who-Lived to the Prophet on the virtue of tolerance... I don't know how much people would listen to me, but I could try..."

Hermione beamed at him. "That's really sweet of you, Harry."

"I'd do the same for the house-elves, too, of course," Harry added.

Hermione lunged from her chair and embraced Harry in a tight hug, giving him a deep kiss.

"Thanks, Harry," she whispered to him when they finally separated. "You know that I don't think much of Divination, but I foresee another trip to the prefects' bath in your immediate future."

Harry grinned at that. "I'd like that very much."

"Chrm chrm."

Harry and Hermione looked up startled when the librarian Madam Pince cleared her throat, glaring at the couple with disapproval.

Reluctantly, Hermione got up from Harry's lap and returned to her chair.

"Well," Harry then said with a more quiet voice, "What have you been looking at while I was gone?"

"Breathing underwater," Hermione replied. "I found an interesting rune set to conjure air, but I don't know how I could make it work for me..."

"Well, if you would ask your parents for a book on scuba diving..." Harry began.

They were still discussing the best approach to breathing underwater when they entered the Great Hall for dinner in the evening.

"If the Bubble-Head Charm fails, you would have to redo it silently, because you would be underwater. It's too risky!" Harry said to Hermione, probably for the thousandth time.

"I agree," Hermione replied as they sat down next to Neville and Luna at the Gryffindor table. "But I think I'm onto something with the runes."

"We don't have that much time left," Harry pointed out.

"I'd need a lot of time to learn how to operate scuba diving gear, too," his girlfriend replied. "Even if we could get all the equipment somewhere, we have no idea how to operate it. We don't know the first thing about scuba diving. It's not that easy. How would we check if everything works properly? There's a reason why you need a diving certification to go diving by yourself in most countries!"

"Yes, it'd be difficult to learn it from a book. But I'm certain that you could do it. And think of the advantages! You wouldn't need silent spell-casting, and the dry-suit would protect you from the cold and probably even grindylow bites."

"There are spells against the cold, too," Hermione said with an exasperated sigh. "I just don't want to operate such equipment without any personal instruction."

"What are you talking about?" Neville asked, looking at the couple quizzically.

"Whether it would be better to use scuba diving gear or a Bubble-Head Charm or runes to stay underwater for a long time," Harry explained to the boy.

Neville frowned. "I don't know what a scabba driving gear is, but I know that Gillyweed would be safer than a Bubble-Head Charm."

"What's that?" Hermione asked. "I've never read about a magical plant with that name."

"I don't think it's in any of the school books, not even for the NEWT classes," Neville replied. "It's pretty rare in Britain. Anyway, its effect is that you grow gills at your neck to breath underwater. You also get webbing between your fingers and toes for easier swimming, and you're somewhat resistant to cold temperatures in water. The effect of one dosage lasts for maybe one hour."

Harry and Hermione shared an astonished glance.

"That sounds perfect," Hermione stated.

"Can you still speak when you're under the effect of Gillyweed?" Harry asked Neville.

"I guess so," the boy answered hesitantly, "You cannot breathe with your lungs, but you should be able to speak. Except that you're underwater."

Hermione, catching on to what Harry was getting at, asked, "How do the gills work, exactly? Are they connected to your throat, or are they separate? If you have a bubble of air around your head, would water enter through the gills into your throat and into that bubble? Or would there be no connection?"

"Uhm... no connection, I think," Neville replied.

"That's good," Harry said, nodding slowly. "So, we could combine our solutions."

"Right," Hermione agreed. "I can rely on the Gillyweed for breathing, and put up a Bubble-Head Charm for easy spell-casting. Even if the bubble fails, it wouldn't be a great loss."

"Or maybe you could just use a diving face mask to speak easily," Harry suggested. "And a dry suit to keep you warm, and protect you from grindylows and such."

Hermione smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Okay, that's a good plan," she said. "Now, we only have to acquire the supplies."

"You can owl-order the Gillyweed easily," Neville told the couple.

"And could you maybe just ask your parents for the diving gear?" Harry asked. "You could borrow Hedwig to send them a letter, and Hedwig could deliver a package from them to us."

Hermione frowned. "They don't know that I'm participating in the tournament. But... but I guess I could ask them to send me those things for an Ancient Runes project."

Harry clapped his hands in excitement.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Plan B is starting to look pretty solid now! Though, I still expect that Plan A will probably work, anyway."

Hermione chuckled. "Yes, but it's always better to be prepared."

#

The next day, Hermione sent Hedwig to her parents and a school owl to the apothecary in Diagon Alley. She received several dosages of Gillyweed on the day after that, and Hedwig returned with a huge package from her parents a week later.

After some successful testing of the Gillyweed and the diving gear in the prefects' bathroom (among other things), Harry was very confident about Hermione's chances in the upcoming second task of the tournament. It was still several weeks away, but his girlfriend was already perfectly prepared for the task, in his opinion.

In the following week, the last week of January, Harry was once more held back by Professor Moody after the Defence class.

After the classroom had emptied of all other students, Moody cast several privacy charms, before he began with a low voice, "Now, I have discussed things with my Master, and we-"

Harry's eyes widened in shock.

"Your MASTER?" he exclaimed, visibly sick. "Please, that's way too much information! Oh, Merlin! I don't want to know this. I have to find a bathroom!"

With that, he bolted out of the classroom.

Crouch Jr, posing as Alastor Moody, was left gaping after the boy.

#

Barty Crouch Jr was still unsure what to make of the encounter with young Harry Potter when he met with the Dark Lord in an abandoned part of the castle's dungeons a short while later.

"Well, what did the boy say?" Riddle asked with impatience.

"The boy ran away as soon as I mentioned you, my Lord," Crouch answered pensively, still looking a bit miffed. "Apparently, he didn't trust himself with that kind of information. It seemed as if he had become physically unwell at even thinking about being involved this deeply."

Riddle thought about this turn of events for a while.

"Interesting," he finally said. "I have to admit that I'm quite impressed with the boy. Even if he was a bit rude, he has actually shown some good sense. We might have been a bit hasty in involving him. He might not be able to keep our secrets when questioned by the old meddler. Very well, we won't involve the boy for now. Supply him with study material on Occlumency when you meet him again in class. Until he has mastered the art of secluding his mind, we won't approach him again."

"As you wish, my Lord," Crouch replied, bowed and left the room.

Chapter Text

- 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 Text

- 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.

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER TWELVE -

Cooking with a Dark Lord

"Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to the third task of the Triwizard Tournament!"

Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed over the stands of the Quidditch stadium.

The Quidditch field in the centre of the arena was completely unrecognisable. The over twenty-foot-high hedges of the maze covered almost the entire pitch.

From where Harry was sitting in the stands, he observed Hermione and the other competitors on the field below him. The champions had assembled at the entrance of the maze, close to where the judges were sitting in the stands. It was early in the afternoon, and the sun shone brightly in a cloudless sky, but the passage between the hedges beyond the entrance of the maze still looked dark and creepy.

Harry and his friends had occupied seats in the first and lowest row of the stands close-by. Harry sat between Luna and Neville to his right and Ginny and Dean to his left. From where they were seated, it was impossible to look into the narrow passages of the maze.

Harry shook his head, once more amused by the stupidity of the tournament organisers. He doubted that the spectators further above in the stands would be able to see much more. Though, he also doubted that anything would be happening within the maze, anyway.

Soon, Bagman's introductions came to an end.

"And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me remind you of the current ranking. In the first place, with eighty-seven points, we have Miss Hermione Granger of Hogwarts!"

Harry cheered for his girlfriend, along with most of the audience. Hermione flashed him a bright smile when she briefly caught his eyes, but she quickly returned her attention towards the maze, a determined expression on her face. Harry couldn't help but feel a bit worried, even though he was confident that one of their safer plans would work.

"Miss Granger will start first, of course," Bagman continued. "Mr Viktor Krum of Durmstrang is one point behind with eighty-six points. He will start one minute after Miss Granger."

The spectators applauded again, and Bagman went on, "Then, Mr Cedric Diggory, with eighty-one points, will enter the maze five minutes after him, followed by the Messrs Weasley one minute later. And then... Well, I doubt that it will matter. We'll get to the others once things are underway."

Among the remaining champions, Fudge and Fleur both looked offended by Bagman's dismissal, while Crabbe and Goyle wore their usual blank expressions.

"So... on my whistle, Miss Granger!" Bagman shouted. "Three - two - one -"

The spectators cheered as Bagman gave a short blast on his whistle.

Hermione, however, didn't enter the maze. After the whistle had sounded, she turned her head and briefly glanced over the judges in the stands, slightly raising an eyebrow at them.

Then, she looked back at the entrance of the maze before her and raised her wand.

"Accio Triwizard Cup!"

Everyone heard Bagman's enhanced voice as he moaned, "Oh, bloody hell, not again! ... She isn't supposed to do that... Quite unexpected, I'd say..."

"Unexpected?" Crouch exclaimed from the seat next to him. "Are you telling us that you still haven't warded the cup against Summoning Charms!?"

"Now, see here, I don't think that's fair!" Bagman said defensively. "I mean, who could have possibly foreseen this?"

"Everyone!" yelled Karkaroff.

"Uhm, now, I don't think-" Bagman began but then paused abruptly and sighed.

The reason for this became evident to Harry a moment later, when he spotted the Triwizard Cup zooming over the hedges towards his girlfriend.

Behind him in the stands, people laughed and cheered, though there were also a lot of angry and disbelieving shouts.

Harry smiled widely as the cup rapidly flew towards Hermione. As it got closer to her, she reached out for the trophy with both her arms to catch it. A moment later, her hands closed around the handles of the cup.

Harry was about to jump up and cheer for his girlfriend, but he halted when he noted how her expression changed the instant she got hold of the cup.

For a brief moment, Harry wondered about the sudden surprised expression on his girlfriend's face, before she disappeared in a swirl of colours, much to Harry's shock.

He jumped up and gaped at the spot from where his girlfriend had vanished. All around him, spectators gasped in surprise at Hermione's sudden disappearance.

#

…

#

Half a second later, there was another swirl of colours five yard to the left from where Hermione had disappeared from.

There, Hermione reappeared a moment later, slightly dazzled but otherwise clearly unharmed.

She frowned at the cup that she was still holding before there was a flash of realisation on her face.

It took Harry a few seconds longer until it occurred to him that the cup probably had been a Portkey designed to transport the winner of the tournament from the middle of the maze back to the stands before the judges and audience.

Immensely relieved, Harry laughed out loud and joined in on the applause of the spectators around him.

But while a large minority of the audience cheered loudly, especially among the Gryffindors in the stands, most people only clapped a few times at most. Most spectators seemed to be at a loss of what to make of the event and were visibly disappointed. Harry couldn't really fault them. If it had been anyone else who had won, he would have also been upset with the tournament organisers.

Among the judges, Bagman seemed highly embarrassed, while Dumbledore failed to hide his amusement. The other judges were enraged. Sitting close-by, Harry could easily listen-in on their exchange.

"Who made a dimwit like you a Department Head!?" Crouch shouted at Bagman.

"He did!" Bagman answered, gesticulating at the similarly furious Fudge on the field in front of them.

"Why?" Karkaroff asked angrily.

Bagman shrugged his shoulders. "Uhh, well, I was a popular Beater, once..."

"What does zat 'ave to do wiz anyzing?" Madame Maxime asked disbelievingly.

"Ask him!" Bagman exclaimed desperately, motioning towards Fudge once more. "I don't know either."

Harry shook his head, once more astonished by the Ministry's incompetence.

He then excused himself and left his seat to join Hermione on the pitch. Quickly, he descended down the stairs of the stands and made his way into the centre of the arena.

When he arrived on the pitch, Hermione was surrounded by Fred, George, and Cedric. All three boys were congratulating Hermione on her victory, though Fred and George did so with much more enthusiasm than Cedric. The Hufflepuff seemed rather miffed. Understandably so, in Harry's opinion.

"You did it!" Harry shouted as he reached Hermione and engulfed her in a tight hug, almost toppling her over. "I knew that you would win this thing!"

"Ooof... Harry, let me breathe!" Hermione complained, though she did laugh while she said it.

"Sorry, I'm just relieved that you're fine," Harry apologised. "I'm glad that you weren't in any danger."

"I guess we shouldn't be surprised that Plan A worked again," Hermione said with a smirk.

"No," Harry agreed, "Though most of the judges seem to be slightly annoyed with Bagman for it."

"Idiots," Hermione muttered. "It's their mistake as much as it's his. They could also have done something."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "It's-"

He paused when he spotted Bagman, Crouch, and Dumbledore entering the Quidditch pitch.

Crouch was still visibly angry. His glare was alternating between Bagman and Hermione as the three judges approached the teens. Bagman had a very sullen expression on his face, while Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement.

"Well," Crouch gnarled out with gritted teeth as he halted in front of Hermione. "I suppose I have to congratulate you on your victory."

He roughly pushed a large bag into Hermione's arms.

"The prize money, one thousand galleons," Crouch said curtly. "Even though you have done little to deserve it."

"Now, Bartemius," Dumbledore interjected, "I don't think we should fault Miss Granger for our own shortcomings. You can hardly blame her for choosing the easiest solution available to her. I'm sure that Miss Granger had adequate plans in place in case the Summoning Charm hadn't worked."

"I doubt that," Crouch muttered.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at him. "I did have other plans. Have you warded the maze against being flown over with a broom?"

"Uhm..." There was a pause during which Crouch shot a questioning glance at Bagman, who did his best not to look at any of them.

"I take your silence as confirmation that my Plan B also would have worked," Hermione said with a smug smile, and Harry snickered.

"Were the hedges protected against fire?" Hermione asked next.

Bagman perked up at the question, visibly relieved.

"Ah, we thought of that, Miss Granger," he answered. "There are wards against magical fire in place."

"Magical fire? But not fire?" Hermione asked.

Bagman shrugged. "What's the difference?"

"The hedges would burn if they were set aflame by non-magical means," Hermione said very slowly as if she was explaining something to a toddler.

Bagman, however, laughed.

"You can't burn something without using magic," he said condescendingly.

Hermione took a deep breath, but then she only shook her head with exasperation.

"Forget it," she said, "Thanks for the money. Are we done here?"

"Indeed," Dumbledore confirmed with a smile, "My congratulations, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Hermione answered brightly.

"Yes, and good luck with the Wizengamot," Harry added, knowing that Dumbledore would be heading there immediately after the task. The election in the Wizengamot for the Interim Minister of Magic was scheduled for the late afternoon.

"Thank you, Harry," the Headmaster replied much more soberly. "I will do my best."

Dumbledore gave Hermione and Harry a nod as he left together with Crouch and Bagman.

Harry noted that during their conversation, the stands had almost completely emptied, and most of the other champions had left the arena. Only the twins had stayed back. They were talking with Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Dean at the exit of the arena, all of them clearly waiting for Hermione and Harry.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" George called out as Harry and Hermione approached their friends. "We have to get to your victory party!"

As they followed their fellow Gryffindors and the lone Ravenclaw up to the castle, Harry exchanged a look with Hermione. He noted her worried expression and could tell that she wasn't thrilled about the prospect of a large party. He wasn't much in a mood for celebrations, either.

"It doesn't feel right to celebrate while Malfoy might get elected as the next Minister," Hermione said quietly to Harry as they walked along.

Harry nodded. "I agree. How about we skip the party this time? We could just make ourselves comfortable in our abandoned classroom, and wait for the news from London."

Hermione smiled back at him. "I'd like that."

A few minutes later, their group entered the castle and traversed the entrance hall.

Harry was about to inform his friends about his and Hermione's decision not to join them when a voice called out for him from a corner of the hall.

"Potter, a word, please?"

Harry turned around and saw Professor Moody looking at him expectantly.

"It's all right, I'll wait for you, Harry," Hermione told him as they all halted. She turned around to their friends and added, "And you can go ahead, we'll catch up with you later."

The others nodded and left, while Harry walked over to the Professor.

"Potter," Moody said with a low voice when Harry had reached him, "We could use your help. Could you come to my office as soon as possible?"

"Oh, all right, Professor," Harry said with surprise. "I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Excellent. See you then," Moody replied and shuffled away towards the staircase leading to the Defence corridor.

With a slight frown on his face, Harry walked back to Hermione at the other side of the entrance hall.

"Professor Moody wants to talk to me," Harry told his girlfriend, whose eyebrows rose at hearing that.

"Now? Why?" Hermione wondered.

"I don't know," Harry replied with a shrug. "Should we meet in our usual hiding place in a few minutes, and I tell you what this is about?"

"Sounds good," Hermione agreed. "I'll wait in the abandoned classroom next to the library, then."

Harry nodded. "Great! See you in a few minutes."

With that, he turned around and made his way to Professor Moody's office in the Defence corridor.

#

Half a minute later, Harry knocked at the door of the Defence Professor's office.

"Come in, Potter," the gruff voice of Moody sounded from inside.

Harry opened the door and stepped into the dimly lit room. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed Vincent Crabbe standing at the end of the room next to a large stone cauldron. Moody stood in another corner of the office next to his desk. He was looking onto a parchment in his hand that Harry recognised as the Marauder's Map.

"Glad that you could join us, Potter," Moody said with a smirk and laid the map on the desk.

"Uhm, sure," Harry said hesitantly, unsure of what to make of the situation and the company he found himself in.

"Why so surprised, Potter?" Crabbe drawled.

"I'm just surprised that you're here, too," Harry answered, trying to maintain a neutral tone. "I wouldn't have been surprised to see Barty Crouch, but-"

"Hah!" Moody chuckled. "Just wait a few minutes. The Polyjuice will wear off soon."

Confused, Harry's eyes darted back and forth between Moody and Crabbe. Something about this felt very, very wrong.

"You're using Polyjuice?" Harry asked the person that looked like Crabbe. He wondered why Crouch would be using Polyjuice to pose as Crabbe. The moment he asked the question, Harry realised that he absolutely didn't want to know the answer, but it was too late.

A hint of annoyance flashed over Crabbe's face. He shook his head and sighed. "No, only Crouch is. Unfortunately, Polyjuice doesn't work for me in my current state. I had to take full possession of the foolish boy's body.

"Ah... Uhm, I- I see..." Harry said slowly. Internally, he was screaming in confusion. Possession? WHAT THE HELL WAS GOING ON? But he knew instinctively that it wouldn't be a good idea to display his feelings to the two persons in front of him. Whoever they were, they thought of him as a friend, and he would do his best to not disabuse them of their notion.

Harry was suddenly very grateful for his many Occlumency training sessions with Hermione. Only thanks to his Occlumency shields was he able to control his emotions and keep a calm demeanour.

"So, uhm, why are we here?" Harry asked, trying to play for time and gain more information. At the same time, he walked as inconspicuously as possible towards the desk at the side of the room, where Moody had placed the still activated Marauder's Map.

"Today, we will conduct a ritual to restore my body," Crabbe answered, motioning towards the cauldron. "And we hoped that you could help us in acquiring one of the key ingredients."

Restore his body? Harry repeated the boy's words to himself internally. But that could only mean...

Harry had now reached the desk and glanced down on the Marauder's Map. Quickly, he located the Defence Professor's office.

Then, he saw the names displayed on the map: Harry Potter, Bartemius Crouch, Alastor Moody, and... Tom Riddle.

Harry quickly turned his head away from the other persons in the room, as he knew that even with his Occlumency, he would be unable to hide the shock from showing on his face. WHAT. THE. FUCK. He was in a room with Voldemort! And Voldemort was talking to him! Talking to him as if he was a friend. Why? What was going on!?

On the map, the name Bartemius Crouch was displayed a short distance away from him, right where Professor Moody was standing. Moody's name was displayed in another corner of the room, which was empty apart from a large trunk. And the person who looked like Vincent Crabbe was identified by the map as Voldemort.

Harry took a deep calming breath. As weird as it was, he was apparently not in any imminent danger. He decided that it would be best to play along for now, even though he was utterly confused about the whole situation.

He then realised that he had been quiet for too long.

"Uhm, yes... that sounds interesting..." he said slowly while looking down on the map. He hoped that it would seem as if he had just been keeping watch on their surroundings.

He looked back up at Moody and Crabbe – or rather, Crouch and Riddle.

"I'll be happy to help in any way I can," Harry stated.

"Excellent." Riddle, in the body of Crabbe, smirked. "I knew we could count on you. So, we-"

Riddle paused as the Moody-lookalike suddenly groaned and stumbled to the floor. Indifferently, the Dark Lord watched as the man began spasming on the ground. Harry knew that this had to be the effect of Polyjuice wearing off.

The man's skin was bubbling, and his features were being distorted grotesquely. The wooden leg got loose, and a real leg grew in its place. At the same time, the magical blue eyeball popped out of the man's face as a real eye replaced it, while the magical eyeball rolled across the floor.

A few moments later, a completely different man sat on the ground. He was skinny, had light brown hair and pale skin.

"I hate this every time," the man muttered as he shook his head briefly and rose back to his feet.

Harry was utterly bewildered by now. The map said that this man was Bartemius Crouch, but that was clearly not correct.

When the man locked eyes with Harry, the older man laughed out loud. Harry cursed himself as his confusion must have shown on his face.

"I know, I know," the man said towards Harry. "I look nothing like my old man. I guess the name is the only thing we have in common."

"Yes, yes," Riddle interrupted with an annoyed expression on his face. "As you now have made the acquaintance with Barty Junior, let us get on with things, Potter."

"Oh, of course, uhm... my- my Lord," Harry answered. Suddenly, things made much more sense. He recalled that Sirius had told him that Crouch had a son who was imprisoned for being a Death Eater. That must have been Bartemius Crouch Junior. And somehow, the Death Eater must have escaped from Azkaban.

Harry then tried to remember his conversations with the guy that he had mistaken for Moody, but who had actually been Barty Crouch Junior. They had never been very precise in their conversations, so Harry supposed that it was possible that Barty Jr would have gotten the impression that Harry was an ally. Especially after Harry had given the Marauder's Map to the Death Eater. Harry cursed himself for his stupidity.

Well, as it now allowed him to spy on Voldemort himself, maybe things would work out in the end. He would stay calm and see how things would play out.

"Good, then back to your assignment, Potter," Riddle then said, "There are three key ingredients for the ritual, and I need you to acquire one of them."

"I will do my best, my Lord," Harry answered, trying to appear eager at helping his mortal enemy. "But... could you maybe explain more about this ritual? Uhm, you see, I... uhm... I am sure that it is a most impressive feat of the Dark Arts, and as I'm very interested in those myself, I'd like to learn more."

Riddle chuckled. "Ah, such an inquisitive mind! You remind me of myself when I was a student here, delving into the fascinating mysteries of the darkest forbidden magics."

The Dark Lord nodded appreciatively. "Very well, let me tell you what we are about to do today. We will restore my original body tonight. Because only then will I regain the power that I had before... well, before I had that unfortunate misunderstanding with you and your parents in 1981."

"It's all right," Harry said quickly, not wanting Voldemort to think too deeply about the events of that fateful night, lest the Dark Lord would start to wonder why Harry would be willing to work with the killer of his parents. "It was for the best, really."

"Ah, yes, that's good," Voldemort said with a smirk. "I wasn't particularly fond of my parents, either... I killed my father and his entire family myself, you know."

Harry nodded, trying to appear impressed by that.

"Well, anyway," Riddle continued, "back to the ritual. We will heat up the potion that you can see in the cauldron. It is a mixture of water, unicorn blood, and snake venom from my familiar. Then, I will have to submerge myself in the potion and rid myself of my current physical form. Then, Crouch will add the last three ingredients. First, bones that we have collected from my father's grave..."

Riddle gestured towards Crouch, who walked to the trunk and opened it with a key. He left the key in the lock as he opened the lid and took out a roll of cloth. He laid the bundle on the desk and unwrapped several bone fragments.

Harry nodded again, once more trying to appear impressed instead of disgusted, and Riddle continued, "The next ingredient that will be added is the flesh of my servant."

Despite his best efforts to remain calm, Harry's eyes bulged at hearing that.

At the same time, Crouch stepped forward. "I humbly request that you take my flesh, my Lord. I have done much more than the boy to prove myself worthy of such an honour."

"Yes!" Harry immediately agreed, very relieved. "Be my guest... Uhm, I mean, yes, sure, I agree. You really deserve it much more than I do."

Riddle chuckled in response. "Yes, that was always the plan. Don't worry, Potter, you are here to provide something else. Namely, the last ingredient for the ritual: The blood of my enemy."

Harry gulped. Did they know? Was he the one who had been fooled here all along?

Harry was much relieved when Riddle continued, "I admit, we were originally going for your blood, Potter. But now that we know of your true allegiances, that will of course not be possible. In fact, using your blood might have even killed me, despite my best efforts to stay immortal. Dark rituals tend to have really nasty side effects when you make a mistake."

"Oh, no!" Harry exclaimed. "That would have been terrible!"

"Indeed. Let that be a lesson for your own experiments. Always be extremely careful with dark rituals! The slightest contamination could prove fatal," Riddle said with a grave voice.

Harry nodded. Yes, he would definitely keep that in mind.

"Now, we were going to go after Dumbledore instead," Riddle went on to explain. "But I'm currently not strong enough to subdue him, and the old man is surprisingly vigilant. So, we have to change the plan..."

"Who is the new target, my Lord?" Harry asked, doing his best to hide his apprehension.

"The girl that's constantly at your side-" Riddle began.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, trying to remain calm.

"Yes, that's the name," Riddle said, "Is she also a secret supporter of our cause, or is she really just a Mudblood that you let pose as your girlfriend to keep up appearances?"

Harry knew that he had to devise a plan fast. He could see where this was going, and he needed to think quickly of way to both protect the girl he loved and sabotage Riddle.

"Uhm... the latter," Harry said after a pause.

"Good, so she would be an enemy. And I gathered that she is quite powerful for a Mudblood?" Riddle inquired.

Harry nodded again. "She is," he said, trying to sound displeased at this fact.

"Excellent, so she would be a suitable replacement," the Dark Lord replied. With a cold smile, he added, "By the way, we only need a few drops of blood. So you can even keep her if you like."

"Ah... fine, whatever," Harry replied with a shrug, doing his best not to betray his emotions.

Riddle chuckled. "Well, how fast can you deliver her to us?"

"Within the hour, if need be," Harry replied.

With a plan forming in his mind, Harry then added, "But... to divert suspicion if I'm forced to subdue her, it might be better if I looked like someone else. Could I maybe have some of Crouch's Polyjuice to disguise myself?"

"Excellent thinking, my boy, I'm impressed!" Voldemort exclaimed. "You shall have it."

The Dark Lord nodded at his servant, who opened the trunk again and fished out a vial of Polyjuice.

"Thank you," Harry said as Crouch handed him the vial. He then walked towards the door of the office. "I'll be back with... with the Mudblood as soon as possible."

"Good luck," Riddle replied with a nod.

Harry returned the nod and quickly stepped outside the office. As the door fell shut behind him, he let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.

He took several deep breaths, trying to gather himself. He didn't know how to best deal with the bizarre situation he was faced with. He had some ideas, but no real plan yet, and he knew that he needed to come up with a solid plan fast. He needed to find his girlfriend immediately.

With that thought, he darted off towards the abandoned classroom where Hermione was waiting for him.

#

Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot Chamber

"I now call to the floor Mr Lucius Malfoy," Albus Dumbledore announced with a grave voice to the assembled Warlocks of the Wizengamot.

Applause rose in the high hall, from the seated Warlocks in their high benches behind Albus as well as from the visitor gallery to Albus's right, that was filled with reporters and spectators.

Albus was sitting in the elevated chair of the Chief Warlock in the middle of the first row of the stands. From there, he watched as Lucius Malfoy strode towards the speaker's lectern below him.

With a worried expression, Albus then turned his head and surveyed the assembled Warlocks in the benches to his sides and behind him. He knew that Lucius had greased the hands of several Warlocks in the Neutral block already. However, the despicable man would still need to convince several more Warlocks to get elected as Interim Minister.

Unfortunately, Amelia hadn't exactly endeared herself to the Neutrals with her decidedly progressive speech earlier. Albus knew that even with his endorsement, Amelia's odds didn't look good today.

It wasn't for the first time that he could lament that the Chief Warlock position was mostly a representative role. He couldn't do much if the Ministry or a majority of the Gamot was against him.

There were sixty seats in the Wizengamot; twenty-four were held by members of the Progressive faction, fourteen by the Neutral faction, and twenty-two by the faction that called itself Traditionalist. Though, in Albus's opinion, the Neutrals were the ones that should be called traditionalists or conservatives, while the Dark faction was better described as a group of reactionary Pureblood supremacists.

Seats in the Wizengamot were not inherited, but seat-holders were appointed for life. Whenever a seat was vacated, the Wizengamot selected a new seat-holder by a majority vote. With the Gamot divided as it was, there had been an understanding in the last decade that any faction that lost a member would get to nominate the successor. This effectively froze the status quo.

It was not ideal, but Albus knew that a more aggressive, heavy-handed approach by him and his allies would only drive the Neutrals into the camp of the Supremacists.

It was for the same reason that he felt so powerless today. While he would probably be able to somehow prevent Lucius Malfoy from getting elected, Albus knew that it would cost him dearly. If he set a precedent to discard the lawful process, the Neutrals would fully side with the Supremacists, he would be dismissed from his office, and the Supremacists would just get another Minister elected. With the precedent set, they could then justify ignoring the laws as well. No, underhanded interference would only pave the way to tyranny. That Albus was certain of.

He could only hope that Malfoy would overreach in his speech now.

Albus was brought out of his musings when Lucius Malfoy raised his voice from behind the lectern.

"Thank you, esteemed Warlocks of the Wizengamot," Lucius began. "I know that some of you might have some reservations about me, mostly due to the lies spread about me by my enemies. These enemies of mine might tell you that I once was a follower of the pretentious Muggle-born Tom Riddle who called himself a Lord. But the truth is, that I was one of his first victims, as I suffered under his Imperius Curse for many years."

"I wasn't his only victim!" Lucius continued with a raised voice. "Many of you who are sitting here today have lost family members to the mad Muggle-born's grab for power. No one suffered worse in the last war than the old Pureblood families!"

The Warlocks seated on the benches to Albus's right applauded loudly. Albus glanced behind him and saw that several Warlocks in the middle of the hall also nodded in agreement.

"But after the war, were we ever compensated!?" Lucius shouted out. "No! No one ever thought of those who had lost the most! Instead, laws were passed to grant even more privileges to Muggle-borns and Halfbloods! When it was a Muggle-born who had started the war in the first place! I ask you, where is the justice in that?"

Again, the Supremacists applauded and cheered, and this time, more of the Neutrals joined in.

Albus sighed. Things were not looking good.

#

Back at Hogwarts, abandoned classroom near library

"WHAT!?" Hermione shouted.

Speaking quickly, Harry repeated what he had just told his girlfriend, "Voldemort is possessing Crabbe. He is attempting a resurrection ritual today. Barty Crouch Jr, a Death Eater, is helping him. He's polyjuiced as Professor Moody. He's the son of Barty Crouch Sr. Remember, Sirius told us that Crouch had a son who was a Death Eater? He's been posing as Moody for the entire school year."

They were in the unused classroom near the library, where Hermione had made herself comfortable on a few conjured pillows, but she had stood up when Harry had entered the room. Now, all plans for a relaxed evening were forgotten.

"But- but- you were talking to each other! You were offering to help him!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Yeah, well... we- we were kinda talking past each other..." Harry said sheepishly.

"Talking past each other!?" Hermione repeated incredulously. "How can you talk past each other so terribly that you confuse advancing gay rights with helping Voldemort to take over Britain?"

Harry sighed. "We don't have the time for this. Just look for yourself!"

"Oh... all right," Hermione muttered, slightly taken aback.

She raised her wand at Harry, who gave her an encouraging nod.

"Legilimens!"

Looking into Hermione's eyes, Harry concentrated on his past interactions with the man he had taken for Alastor Moody. As he showed her his conversations with the impostor and his talk with Riddle, Hermione's eyes grew wider and wider.

Finally, his girlfriend lowered her wand and shook her head disbelievingly.

"I- I- that's... wow! I can't even really blame you," she muttered. "How were we supposed to know that there were two persons named Barty Crouch? And, well, in hindsight, maybe you should have been clearer in your conversations with Moody – I mean Crouch – but you really had no reason to do that back then..."

She took a deep calming breath. "All right, we have to tell Dumbledore!"

"He's at the Wizengamot meeting right now," Harry reminded her. "And Riddle will do the ritual this evening. We'll have to stop him ourselves."

"Wait! What about Professor McGonagall? What about the other teachers?" Hermione asked.

"Remember how we went to her about the Philosopher's Stone in our first year? Would she even believe us?" Harry asked. "And even if she does, she couldn't really fight Voldemort. Even all the teachers together might not be able to subdue him. And even if they do, that would only delay his resurrection, but he'll still try to come back eventually."

"No," he continued, "I think we have to use what we have to our advantage. We should try to sabotage the ritual."

Harry was relieved when his girlfriend nodded reluctantly.

"All right," she said and frowned. "How would we do this?"

"As you saw in my mind, there are three main ingredients that will be added to the potion," Harry began.

Hermione nodded. "Bone of his father, flesh of a servant, and blood of an enemy," she muttered, repeating what Riddle had told Harry.

"Yes," Harry confirmed, "While it might have been possible for me to let him take my flesh, that's no longer an option. And I wouldn't have fancied maiming myself, anyway. We could maybe switch out the bone, but it would be difficult. At least, I have currently no idea how we could reliably do that."

He shook his head. "No, but I think we could do something about the blood. I thought that it would be best to simply replace you with someone else."

"Wait! That's why you requested the Polyjuice, right?" Hermione asked. "To pretend that someone else is me? Replace me with an ally of Voldemort?"

"Yes," Harry confirmed. "My first idea was to kidnap Draco Malfoy, but then I remembered-"

"-that he isn't an ally of Voldemort any longer," Hermione finished. "Right. But who is?"

"Only members of his Slytherin fan club," Harry said. "I thought that the best option would probably be his Yule Ball date."

Hermione frowned. "The girl? What was her name? Rosier?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, that's her."

Hermione didn't appear very convinced by his proposal. "Could we really kidnap an innocent girl like that?" she asked.

"She's a Voldemort supporter!" Harry argued. "And she wouldn't really be harmed; they only need a few drops of blood."

Hermione sighed. "I still don't feel comfortable with it."

"But it's the best we can do..." Harry said.

"No!" Hermione said decisively. "No, we won't do that! And it might not really work, anyway. The ritual might not work, but it wouldn't necessarily fail catastrophically for Riddle. We don't know if Rosier is truly an ally of Voldemort. Maybe she's only a friend of who she thinks is Vincent Crabbe."

"Oh..." Harry had to admit that he hadn't considered this possibility.

"Also, we have to assume that Crouch Jr will be checking the Marauder's Map," Hermione continued. "It has to be me."

"Shit," Harry muttered, his shoulders slumping as he realised that Hermione was right. "What would you suggest, then?"

"We have to contaminate the potion another way," Hermione stated. "Remember what Riddle said? 'The slightest contamination could prove fatal'. And we'll make sure that the potion will be more than just slightly contaminated."

"But how?" Harry asked hesitantly, though he was intrigued by the idea. "I could try to switch the bone with something else that's transfigured to look the same without them noticing... I'd have to create some kind of distraction... Maybe-"

"Wait!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why so complicated?"

She grinned at Harry. "The blood of the enemy will be the last ingredient, right?"

"Yes."

"Riddle will be submerged in the cauldron, right? He said he would have to lose his physical form."

"Yeah."

"And Crouch will maim himself, which would almost automatically put him out of combat?"

"Right," Harry confirmed. "Where are you going with this? Wait! You don't mean-"

"Yes," Hermione said excitedly, "all you have to do is to take out Crouch after he has maimed himself, and Riddle and the ritual will be left completely defenceless!"

Harry gave his girlfriend a stunned look as he realised that she was right.

Hermione continued, "You bring me – yes, me, no discussion! – to them, they start the ritual, and before they can take my blood, you take out Crouch by surprise. Then, we have all the time we need to sabotage the ritual by adding some other ingredients to the potion."

Harry nodded slowly, a grin appearing on his face. "Like what?"

"Let's see..." Hermione began and frowned. "Oh, I need my potion-making kit!"

With that, she rushed to the door of the classroom, leaving Harry behind. Harry chuckled slightly as he watched after his girlfriend running out of the room.

While he was waiting for Hermione to return, Harry reflected upon the plan they had thought up. He had to admit that it was rather elegant in its simplicity. Their success, however, would depend on some convincing acting from both of them. If Riddle or Crouch became suspicious, things would get ugly very quickly. Despite the danger, Harry was determined to go ahead with the plan. He had been incredibly lucky so far, but now he would do his best to make the most of the advantageous situation he found himself in.

A few minutes later, Hermione returned, panting loudly and holding her bookbag in her hands. She dropped the bag on one of the desks in the classroom and took out her potion-making kit.

Harry walked to his girlfriend's side while she sorted through the various vials, muttering to herself.

"I guess we should add some kind of blood... to complete the ritual on some level... Viper blood... no, too kindred to Riddle in its nature... rat blood, yes, that's perfect... Baneberry extract, Hemlock, Foxglove flowers, essence of Belladonna... yes, all of those are poisonous... Hmm... Let's take all of them... Porcupine quills to heat it up... that will do it..."

One by one, Hermione put several small vials in the deep pockets of her robes.

A few minutes later, she turned and looked at Harry. "All right. This isn't very precise, but most contaminations should do. And I think I have a good assortment of additional ingredients to make sure that the ritual fails horribly."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

Hermione hesitated for a moment before she gave a confident nod. "Yes, I'm sure," she confirmed.

Harry smiled. "Brilliant. So... how should we do this, then? Should I stun you before I bring you there? Or should I just pretend to drag you there at wand-point?"

Hermione nervously nibbled her bottom lip before she replied, "I would prefer to stay conscious. I think I'll be able to pull it off, to act convincingly. Maybe you should cast an Incarcerus Spell and a Silencing Spell on me before we enter the office. But not yet, as we have to get to the other side of the castle, first."

"All right," Harry said and took a deep breath, stepping towards the door. "Let's go, then."

#

Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot Chamber

With a deep frown on his face, Albus stared at Lucius Malfoy at the speaker's lectern in front of him, while the former Death Eater continued to ramble on with his election speech.

"Minister Fudge was a good man, but he has been too weak to protect our way of life. Too afraid, to speak the truth. When the truth is, that the Muggle world poses an existential threat to our world! We have to finally admit to ourselves, inconvenient as it may be, that the Muggle and magical world have to be kept separated, lest the tragedies of the last war will repeat themselves."

"Hear, hear!" several voices exclaimed, both from behind Albus and to his right.

"Muggle-borns..." Lucius went on and paused dramatically, "They're introducing dangerous ideas. They're poisoning the minds of our children. They're bringing crime. And some, I assume, are good people... But we have to defend our country from those that want to harm us! From those that want to destroy our traditions that have served us well for hundreds of years!"

Again, many Warlocks in the benches voiced their agreement, and others applauded loudly.

Albus shook his head angrily. If this day had made anything clear, it was that the leniency shown towards the suspected Death Eaters after the last war had been a grave mistake. All those who had been accused back then were now once again working to advance their hateful ideology. None had taken the second chance offered to them to change their ways and seek redemption.

While Albus himself had argued for harsher punishments, back then, he also had to admit to himself that he had been too complacent after it had become clear that such measures wouldn't have sufficient support in the Wizengamot.

Yes, he should have tried harder to bring all of the Death Eaters and their supporters to justice. Albus knew that now. He could only hope that the wizarding world wouldn't soon pay dearly for his failings.

#

Back at Hogwarts, Defence corridor

"Right... Let's do this," Harry muttered and embraced his girlfriend one last time.

They stood in an alcove in the Defence corridor, a few yards away from the Defence Professor's office.

As they separated, Harry could see the anxiousness displayed on Hermione's face, and he supposed that he looked similarly nervous.

He took a few deep breath and recalled some of their Occlumency exercises to calm himself down. At the same time, he observed how Hermione also visibly relaxed as she engaged in the same exercises. Soon, she had an almost completely blank expression on her face.

Once they had both gathered themselves, Hermione gave Harry a determined nod.

"Do it," she said.

Harry raised his wand at Hermione and cast, "Silencio! Incarcerus!"

Conjured ropes shot out of Harry's wand and wrapped around Hermione's torso and upper arms. Hermione opened her mouth, but no sound escaped her lips, confirming that the Silencing Spell had taken hold, too.

They nodded at each other again, before Harry stepped behind Hermione as they walked towards the office.

Harry knocked on the door a few moments later.

"Come in, Potter," the voice of Crouch called out from inside.

Harry pulled open the door and pushed Hermione inside, with his wand pressed against the girl's back. She was moving her lips, screaming soundlessly and looking enraged.

"Ah, that was fast," Crouch said with a smirk.

"Well done, Potter," Riddle said appreciatively.

"It was very easy, and no one saw us," Harry said as he shoved Hermione towards an empty chair in front of the desk. He pushed Hermione in the chair and cast two more Incarcerus Spells to bind Hermione's wrists to the armrests.

It was hard for Harry to keep his calm when he noted the fearful expression on his girlfriend's face and knew that it wasn't entirely an act. But thanks to his Occlumency training, he was able to keep on playing his role.

"I had to keep her silenced," Harry said as he turned towards Crouch and Riddle. With a sneer, he added, "I would lift the spell, but I don't think anyone here wants to hear whatever nonsense this Mudblood is spouting."

"You got that right," Crouch snickered.

"Excellent work, boy," Riddle said and turned towards Hermione, causing Harry to tense.

"I'm sure you're wondering what you are doing here, girl, but why spoil the surprise? I think it would be much more impressive if you just watch what will happen," the Dark Lord in the body of Vincent Crabbe said derisively.

Riddle then walked towards the cauldron. It was only then that Harry realised that the fire under the stone cauldron had been lit, and the potion inside it was simmering slightly.

"Let us begin, then," the Dark Lord stated, his anticipation clear in his voice.

Without using a wand, Riddle muttered a spell, and instead of clothes, he was suddenly shrouded in dark shadows.

Then, Riddle muttered another long incantation. Harry gasped as Riddle rose into the air and floated over the simmering cauldron.

The Dark Lord began to slowly descend into the cauldron, and the potion started to hiss when he touched the surface. White steam rose from the cauldron.

Harry was sickened by what he saw next. As Riddle slowly submerged into the potion, the flesh almost seemed to melt off his bones. He shrunk, taking the form of some grotesquely disfigured homunculus with serpent-like features and greyish-white skin before he fully sank below the surface. The potion sent out fiery sparks, as though it were on fire, and the steam was thickening.

Once the potion was no longer bubbling violently, Crouch slowly stepped closer to the cauldron, his wand raised. He pointed his wand at the bone fragments still lying on the desk and levitated them over the cauldron.

"Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!" Crouch chanted and let the bones fall into the potion, which immediately turned a vivid, poisonous-looking blue.

Crouch then pocketed his wand and pulled a long, silver dagger from inside his cloak. He stretched out his left arm over the cauldron and placed the blade to his wrist.

"Flesh of the servant, willingly given, you will revive your master," Crouch said loudly.

He squared his shoulders and swung the dagger downward, cutting clean through his wrist. The cut-off hand splashed into the potion, that immediately changed colours into a burning, glowing red.

Crouch groaned in pain and pressed his right hand against his bleeding stump. Blood was spurting from it. Harry winced at the gruesome sight.

Without letting go of the bloody dagger, Crouch pulled a piece of cloth from his pocket and pressed the fabric against the stump. Breathing heavily, he then turned towards Hermione.

"Now, the Mudblood," he mumbled.

"Sir," Harry interrupted, "may I heal your hand before we continue? We wouldn't want you to make a mistake because you're not perfectly focused..."

Crouch halted and turned towards Harry. "Right, Potter, I would appreciate it."

Harry stepped closer and aimed his wand at the Death Eater. He pretended to aim his wand at the bleeding stump, but in the last moment, he moved his wand, so that it pointed straight at Crouch's chest.

"Stupefy!"

The spell hit Crouch square in the chest from a distance of only a few inches. The Death Eater collapsed before he could even realise that he had been betrayed.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and then quickly walked over to Hermione. He vanished the binds and dispelled the Silencing Spell he had put on her.

As soon as she was able to move, Hermione jumped up from the chair and hugged Harry tightly.

"Well done, Harry," she exclaimed. "Now let's finish this."

Slowly, the two teens approached the simmering cauldron and the unconscious form of Crouch lying on the floor next to it. The man was still strongly bleeding from his stump, the blood forming a puddle on the floor.

Hermione drew her wand and stunned Crouch again for good measure.

"What should we do with him?" she asked.

"I think we should make sure that he won't die from blood-loss so that the Aurors can question him later," Harry answered.

"Right," Hermione agreed. She began moving her wand in rapid patterns, and a few moments later, a bandage was wrapped around the wound, forming a basic tourniquet.

Hermione then pulled out the six small potion vials from she had pocketed in her robes and handed them to Harry.

"All right, I think we should start with the poisons, then the rat blood, and then we throw in the porcupine quills and run," she stated.

She then took the vial of poisonous Baneberry extract from Harry's hands, opened it and raised it over the cauldron, ready to pour it into the simmering potion.

"Not too much!" Harry cautioned. "We want Riddle to die, but not too fast."

"What? Why?" Hermione asked aghast and pulled back the vial.

"Remember how Dumbledore told us that Riddle's followers feel it when Riddle is in pain? He also said that they might be affected in other ways if he dies, especially if he doesn't die suddenly," Harry replied. "That might be our chance to disrupt whatever is currently happening in the Wizengamot. I don't know what will happen, exactly, but I think we should try it."

Hermione looked at him hesitantly, and Harry knew that she was trying to ascertain the morality of his suggestion.

"Please," he pleaded. "They are about to elect Lucius Malfoy as Minister. We don't know exactly what will happen, but if there's a chance to stop them, we have to take it!"

Finally, Hermione gave him a determined nod. "You're right."

She took a deep breath and raised the vial back over the cauldron. She tipped the flask and poured a quarter of the Baneberry extract into the cauldron.

The potion began to fizzle slightly, and Hermione quickly grabbed the other vials of poisonous potion ingredients, pouring a quarter of each flask into the cauldron.

Then, she emptied the vial of rat blood into the bubbling potion, causing it to switch colours to dark black.

Hermione gulped and fished two porcupine quills out of the last vial.

"Let's get out of here!" she called out and threw the quills into the cauldron.

The two teens ran towards the door of the office, leaving the smoking and rumbling cauldron behind them. They also left behind the prone form of Barty Crouch, but they had no time to worry about the Death Eater now.

Hermione pushed open the door and ran out into the corridor, Harry following directly behind her. As Harry closed the door, he threw a last glance back at the cauldron. A black shape was emerging from it that looked very similar to the homunculus that had entered the cauldron a few minutes ago, except that its skin was a charred black instead of greyish-white.

Harry turned around and slammed the door shut behind him just as the homunculus started to scream with a high pitched voice.

"AAAAAARRGGHH! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? POTTER! NO!"

Breathing heavily, Harry leaned against the shut door. He exchanged a look with Hermione, while the screaming from inside the office continued.

"AAAAAARRGGHH! SAVE ME! SAVE ME YOU FOOLS! AAAAAARRGGHH! SAVE ME! GIVE ME YOUR POWER!"

"It- I think it's working!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's somehow affecting the Death Eaters."

"NOOO! AAAAAARRGGHH!"

Harry nodded. "I think so, too. I don't know wha- Ouch!"

Harry winced when he suddenly felt an immense piercing pain emitting from his scar. His hand shot towards his forehead, and he grimaced in pain.

"Harry? Harry!? What's wrong?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but then his vision blurred, and he saw the floor moving towards him. He felt Hermione catching him before he hit the ground, but then blackness surrounded him.

#

"Harry! Please, Harry! Please be alright! Please!" Harry heard his girlfriend sob out.

He realised that he was lying on the cold stone floor, with Hermione half-way draped over him, holding his face with her hands.

Blinking a few times, he opened his eyes and looked in the tear-streaked face of his distraught girlfriend.

"Harry? HARRY!" Hermione exclaimed, her relief clear in her voice. "Oh, what happened!? You were fine, and then you grimaced, and you fell down, and then you had some kind of seizure, and then some black ooze came out of your scar, and then you didn't move at all, and then-"

"Mione!" Harry interrupted his girlfriend's ramblings. "I'm fine."

Hermione looked at him with apprehension.

"Fine?" she repeated with a hitched voice. "With you, that only means that you're not currently clinically dead."

"No, really, I'm alright," Harry insisted. He frowned. "More than alright, actually. I feel great!"

It was true. He felt as if a pain that had always been with him, that he had grown accustomed to, was suddenly gone.

"Are you sure?" Hermione asked timidly.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Harry repeated. He quickly rose to his feet and then helped up Hermione.

"What happened while I was out of it?" he asked his girlfriend, glancing at the door to the now silent office.

"The screaming stopped, roughly at the same time as that goo came out of your scar. Since then, I heard no noises from inside the room," Hermione informed him.

"All right, let's check," Harry said and stepped towards the door. Hermione followed along, and both teens readied their wands before they stepped inside the office.

Harry winced as a disgusting stench of sulphur and burnt flesh assaulted his nostrils. He surveyed the room and saw that the stone cauldron had several cracks in it, leaking some black, tar-like substance onto the floor.

Crouch still lay on the floor, unmoving but otherwise seemingly unharmed. Harry and Hermione each shot another Stunning Spell at the man just to be safe.

"All right, seems like Riddle is gone," Harry concluded as he walked through the office. "Hopefully, Dumbledore will be able to tell if he's actually dead this time or not."

"Should we inform the teachers now?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah... just one more thing..." Harry replied and walked towards the desk where the Marauder's Map was still laid out. "According to the map, the real Alastor Moody is in this room, approximately in that corner with that trunk." Harry pointed his finger towards it. "But how can that be?"

"Oh, that must be one of those enchanted trunks that are larger on the inside!" Hermione exclaimed. "I bet that's where Crouch has been imprisoning Moody the whole time. He would have needed him alive and close-by to use his hair for the Polyjuice potion."

She approached the trunk and knelt beside it. The key, one of several on a set of keys, was still inserted in the lock.

One after another, Hermione placed the keys in the lock and opened the trunk, revealing different compartments each time.

When she placed the seventh and last key in the lock and threw open the lid, she gasped in surprise.

Harry stepped closer, and his eyes grew wide when he saw that the trunk contained an underground room ten feet below the floor, that was accessible with a ladder.

In there, on the ground, lay the real Alastor Moody. He was apparently fast asleep, and much thinner than the impostor had been. His wooden leg was gone, the socket that should have held the magical eye looked empty beneath its lid, and chunks of his grizzled hair were missing.

Hermione exchanged a worried glance with Harry before she aimed her wand at the man below them. She levitated Moody out of the trunk and gently landed him on the ground in front of them.

"Enervate," she cast next, and Moody groaned weakly before he opened his eyes and blinked several times.

"Huh?" Moody muttered and sat up, taking in his surroundings. "Who are you? What happened?"

"Hermione Granger and Harry Potter, Professor," Hermione replied. "We subdued the impostor and found you."

"Huh... well done, lass, well done..." Moody muttered and tried to rise to his feet, only to immediately stumble as he was missing his wooden leg.

"Your leg and... uhm... and your eye are on the desk," Harry said.

"Ah, yes, thanks." Moody hopped towards the desk and sat down in the chair in front of it.

Harry and Hermione watched in silence as Moody affixed the wooden leg to his leg stump and inserted his magical eye into the empty socket.

The former Auror then approached the unmoving form of Barty Crouch on the floor and bent over him, searching his pockets. Soon, Moody found his wand in one of the pockets, took it and aimed it at the Death Eater.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Expelliarmus! Incarcerus! Incarcerus! Incarcerus!"

The Death Eater was soon wrapped up in thick ropes.

Harry chuckled as Moody lived up to his reputation of being overly paranoid.

However, Moody then frowned and bent over Crouch once more. He muttered another spell that didn't seem to provide the intended result before he kicked the man with his wooden leg.

"Right," Moody said and turned around towards Harry and Hermione. "He's dead... Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Your doing?"

Harry gulped and exchanged a questioning glance with Hermione. Did Crouch die because of his wound? Or because of what they had done to Riddle? Hermione only shrugged her shoulders in response to his unasked question, clearly unsure herself.

"I don't know," Harry answered the Professor, "Maybe indirectly. Though I would prefer to tell the story only once. Maybe we should get the other Professors."

"All right," Moody agreed. "That should be quite a story. You'll tell me how you found out about me then? And how you knew where to find me?"

"Oh, I knew that because of that magical map of the castle," Harry answered and pointed at the Marauder's Map that still lay on the desk.

Moody reached for the parchment, and his eyebrows rose in surprise as he studied it.

"The map is mine, actually," Harry added, "You can have it for now, but I'd like to have it back."

Moody nodded, but then his eyes suddenly narrowed, and he eyed Harry and Hermione with suspicion.

"It's your map?" Moody repeated.

Harry nodded.

Suddenly, Moody's wand was pointing at the couple.

"Then you must have been aware of all of this much sooner. Why didn't you do anything?" Moody demanded to know.

Harry gulped and chuckled nervously. "Well, you see, it's not as if I'm observing the map all the time. And the map only displays the first and last name of each person, so when I saw your name and the name Bartemius Crouch in your chambers on some evenings, I just assumed... uhm... well... I thought it was Crouch Senior, and that you were having an affair... sorry..."

"Oh..." Moody muttered with an incredulous expression on his face, though he seemed to believe Harry as he lowered his wand.

A moment later, Moody laughed out loud.

"Oh, Merlin, no!" he exclaimed. "And even if I did swing that way – Crouch? Really?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders apologetically.

"Besides," Moody said grimly and motioned towards his wooden leg. "The curse that took my leg? Also chopped off my... well, yeah."

Harry winced, and in that very moment, he decided that despite his tentative interest in the career, he would most definitely not become an Auror.

Hermione paled slightly, too.

"Anyway," Hermione said into the ensuing uncomfortable silence, "I think we should get the other Professors, and try to contact the Headmaster. And the Aurors, too."

"Aye, lass," Moody agreed, "Go and get some reinforcements. I'll stay back and keep watch on the scene, lest someone stumbles over this mess and tampers with the evidence."

Harry and Hermione nodded and quickly left the room to inform the teachers of what had happened.

#

Ministry of Magic, Wizengamot Chamber, a few minutes prior

Despondently, Albus sagged back in his chair as the Warlocks to his right and behind him cheered and applauded in response to another of Lucius Malfoy's outrageous statements.

Once the hall had quieted down again, Malfoy continued with his speech. "Madam Bones admits that she wants to implement reforms that increase the democratic participation in the political process." He spat out the words with contempt.

Motioning towards where Amelia was sitting in the visitor gallery, Malfoy went on, "In her misguided quest for Muggle-born rights, Madam Bones forgets that all demands for democracy are nothing but thinly veiled calls for a tyranny of the masses. Will you, esteemed Warlocks, willingly submit yourselves to the rule of Mud- ahem, Muggle-borns and Halfbloods that want to destroy our way of life? Are you prepared to give your seat away to some upstart Muggle-born who knows nothing of this world?"

Albus heard many angry denials from the Warlocks in the Neutral bloc behind him.

He closed his eyes with desperation. Amelia had all but lost this election already. Nothing short of a miracle could stop Lucius Malfoy from becoming Minister now.

The cold smile creeping on Malfoy's lips as he went on indicated that he knew this to be true as well. "Unlike Madam Bones, I know that the public at large could never make wiser decisions than all of you, esteemed Warlocks of the Wizengamot! If you place your trust in me, I promise that as Minister, I will ensure, tha-"

Suddenly, Malfoy paused. He grimaced slightly, and his right hand shot towards his left forearm.

Albus noted that some Warlocks to his right also fidgeted in their seats or cursed silently.

Malfoy shook his head and tried to continue with his speech. With gritted teeth, he stated, "I will ensure, that all- all... a- ouch!"

He hissed in pain and looked down on his left forearm, gripping it tightly with his right hand.

"Ow! What is this!?" he exclaimed. "Who's doing this!?"

To Albus's right, other Warlocks were jumping up from their seats, screaming in pain.

"Aaargh!"

"Aaahhh!"

Dumbledore rose from his seat in shock as the entire Wizengamot chamber descended into chaos in the course of a few seconds. He surveyed the benches to his right and saw that almost the whole Dark faction seemed to be affected by whatever it was that was happening. Albus was surprised to see that among the Neutrals in the middle benches, the Warlocks Davis, Knighton, Eastchurch, and McLaggen were also thrashing around in their seats, screaming in pain.

"Our Lord, he's punishing us!" Warlock Parkinson shouted in panic.

"Merlin help us!" Nott cried out desperately.

"AAAIIIII!"

"AARRRGGGHHH!"

"AAAAAH! IT BURNS!

"CUT IT OFF! CUT IT- AAAAAARRGGHH" Jugson screamed before he collapsed.

"ARRRGGGHHH!"

"AAAAAAHHH!"

Just like the Warlocks on the other side of the chamber, Albus just stood and watched, frozen in shock, as one by one, the Warlocks on the right side of the benches fell to the floor, spasming on the ground a few times before going limp.

Soon, Malfoy was the only former Death Eater left standing. He was leaning on the speaker's lectern to remain standing upright, a tortured expression on his face.

"No! You're... not... taking... me!" Malfoy choked out in pain. Trembling violently, he raised his wand and aimed it at his left arm near the elbow.

"Di-di-diffindo! AAAAAARRGGHH!"

The Cutting Charm tore deep into his flesh, but it wasn't strong enough to sever the arm completely. With his halfway cut-off left forearm dangling around, spraying blood everywhere, Malfoy collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

A few rattled breaths later, his breathing stopped altogether, and his body went limp.

He was the last one to fall. Among the twenty-two Warlocks of the Dark faction, only three very pale-faced young men still stood between the bodies of their fallen allies. The Warlocks Nott, Burke, Carrow, Parkinson, Avery, Rowle, Mulciber, Gibbon, Birch, Farley, Snyde, Montague, Selwyn, Pucey, Daley, Murton, Gifford, Randle, and Jugson all lay on the floor, unmoving and most probably dead.

While no more tortured screams sounded through the Wizengamot Chamber, the room was still a bedlam of shouting, screaming, and running people. The frightened Warlocks and visitors in the gallery were talking loudly to each other, some had their wands raised in defensive positions, and some were calling for the Aurors.

Albus left his seat and slowly approached the benches to his right. He cast a diagnostic charm on Warlock Parkinson, who lay closest to him, that revealed that the man was indeed deceased, even though he had no physical injuries.

Albus shook his head and walked down the stairs to the floor below the stands. As he slowly strode through the chamber, Albus surveyed the dozens of dead bodies in the room.

He noted that at the entrance to the chamber, Auror Corban Yaxley lay dead on the floor, and over a dozen more bodies littered the floor of the visitor gallery. Among them, Albus recognised Lucius Malfoy's close acquaintances Crabbe and Goyle, and Amycus's sister Alecto Carrow.

Albus frowned, trying to work out what had happened. Most of the deceased had been suspected Death Eaters. He wasn't sure if all of them had gripped their left forearm, but many of them had. And clearly, Malfoy had thought that it was his Dark Mark that was torturing him when he had attempted to cut off his own forearm.

Had all of the deceased been former followers of Tom? Was he somehow behind this? Shocking as that would have been, it seemed like the most probable explanation for why exactly these people had been affected. But that only explained the Who, not the What.

Surveying the gruesome scene before him once more, Albus shook his head in disbelief. What in Merlin's name had just happened?

Chapter Text

- CHAPTER THIRTEEN -

All's well that ends well

"...And then, we freed Professor Moody, who discovered that Barty Crouch Jr was dead. We still don't know why, though. And then we left and informed Professor McGonagall, who called the Aurors and the Headmaster. And that's how we ended up here," Hermione finished.

It had been a lengthy tale, and she and Harry had talked for almost an hour as they recounted what had happened during Voldemort's failed resurrection ritual.

By now, it was long past midnight, and the two teens sat in front of Dumbledore's desk in the Headmaster's office. The Headmaster sat behind the desk, with Professor McGonagall and (the real) Alastor Moody standing behind him. To the side stood the newly sworn-in Minister for Magic Amelia Bones. All four adults looked at the two teens with incredulous expressions on their faces.

"That... is quite a tale," Dumbledore said after a long pause. "One I'm sure the evidence will corroborate. The Aurors are currently inspecting the Defence Professor's office, aren't they, Amelia?"

"Yes, I expect their report on the morrow," Minister Bones confirmed.

"Good." Dumbledore nodded.

He then turned back to the teens before him and a pained expression appeared on his face. "Now," he began with a grave voice, "what I have to tell you will be difficult for you to hear, Harry, Miss Granger. Let me start by stating that you mustn't feel guilty about what has happened tonight. Keep in mind, the only guilty parties are Tom and his followers..."

Dumbledore took a deep breath. "Barty Crouch Jr wasn't the only Death Eater that died tonight. In fact, I believe that all of Tom's former servants perished today, together with their master. Amelia, what are the current numbers?"

"Twenty-three members of the Wizengamot, fourteen spectators of the Wizengamot sitting, some of them the spouses, and nine other Ministry employees," Minister Bones recounted matter-of-factly.

Harry shared a wide-eyed look with Hermione. That had not been the intended outcome.

Minister Bones scowled as she went on, "Several of the Ministry employees we had never even suspected of Death Eater activities. Like with the three Aurors of mine who died... bastards!"

The Minister shook her head and continued, "All the marked Death Eaters in Azkaban have died as well. Further reports of people who died elsewhere were coming in by the minute when I left the Ministry, over twenty by my last count. And then we have the two deaths in Hogwarts: Karkaroff and Snape."

Harry heard how Hermione gasped next to him. He was also surprised by the last name, even though, now that he thought about it, he really shouldn't have been.

"Harry, Miss- Hermione, please," Dumbledore said sympathetically and looked intently at the two teens before him. "I implore you, you mustn't feel guilty about this. You had to make a difficult decision in a difficult situation. No one will blame you for this. Those who died today were not good people, and they had made their choice a long time ago. And in any case, it was Tom who killed his marked servants, calling upon their magic and very life in his desperate, ill-fated attempt to stay alive."

Harry nodded numbly. Honestly, he didn't know what to think about this. He certainly didn't feel happy about having caused the death of dozens of people, but he didn't really feel guilty about it either. At most, Harry felt a little bit guilty about the fact that he didn't feel guilty about the deaths.

Harry could see that Hermione was much more bothered by the news, and he reached for her hand. She looked at him as he squeezed her hand, and she gave him a trembling smile.

"That is very true," Amelia Bones concurred. "Listen to the Headmaster, Mr Potter, Miss Granger!"

With a questioning glance at Dumbledore, she added, "Though I'm quite surprised to hear you say such things, Albus."

Dumbledore sighed. "Any loss of life is of course a tragedy. I always hoped for Tom's former servants to seek redemption... But in the end, none of them ever did. Not even Severus, not really..."

He shook his head sadly and continued, "I would have mourned any former Death Eater who died tonight after having repented. But all of Tom's former servants squandered their second chances again and again, so I won't mourn that a third chance was denied to them. And I would have hated to see what would have happened if Lucius Malfoy's attempt to become Minister had succeeded. Things might have become very unpleasant for any kind of minorities, maybe even dangerous."

"I agree," Minister Bones said, and Moody gave an approving huff.

With a halting voice, Dumbledore continued, "What has happened... I had a friend once, he might have said that what has happened tonight was for the Greater Good. It is a very dangerous thing, thinking that way. But still, today, he might have had a point."

Amelia Bones nodded in agreement. "Indeed. He sounds like a smart man, that friend of yours."

"Oh, he most definitely was," Dumbledore replied with a forlorn look. "But what he had in smarts, he lacked in wisdom."

The room fell quiet, as no one knew how to respond to that.

"Well, anyway," the Minister then spoke up, "I think I have heard enough for now. I think I should head back to the Ministry now. Albus, I'll see you tomorrow."

She walked towards the fireplace at one side of the office, but then halted and turned back towards Harry and Hermione.

"Oh, one more thing," the Minister said to the couple in her usual collected tone, "You have done a great service to Magical Britain. For your bravery, ingenuity, and determination when faced with the most terrible Dark Lord in living memory, I will personally nominate both of you for Orders of Merlin, First Class."

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise. He saw how Hermione's jaw dropped, and a small smile spread across his lips.

Amelia Bones continued, "I don't know if you are aware of the procedure, but there are two ways for an Order of Merlin to be awarded. There has to be a nomination by the Minister or a Department Head, and then either the Wizengamot has to agree, or..."

She turned towards Dumbledore with a questioning look, who smiled at her and gave her a nod.

The Minister turned back towards Harry and Hermione and continued, "Or, the nomination is seconded by the Chief Warlock himself. Then, no further vote is required. Congratulations, Miss Granger, Mr Potter, to your Order of Merlin, First Class. It might interest you that you are the youngest and second-youngest award holders since its establishment. We'll have to arrange for a ceremony during the summer."

"Tha- Thank- Thank you, Minister," Hermione stuttered.

"Yes, thank you," Harry concurred.

"It's the least I could do," Amelia Bones said with a shrug, "As I said, you've done us a great service. We all are in your debt."

She gave a last nod towards the couple and then stepped towards the fireplace. She threw some Floo powder into the fire and stepped into the green flames, calling out, "Ministry of Magic, Minister's Office!"

After Minister Bones had vanished, Dumbledore addressed the two teachers in the room, "Minerva, Alastor, I think you may retire for the night. And Harry, Miss Granger, you may leave as well, if you would prefer to continue our talk tomorrow, or..."

Harry shared a glance with his girlfriend before he answered, "We don't mind staying a bit longer."

"Very well," Dumbledore said with a smile, "In that case, I have some more questions for you, and I'm sure you'll have some questions for me in return."

Harry nodded but remained silent until McGonagall and Moody had left the office.

"Do you believe that Riddle is really dead this time?" he then asked Dumbledore.

"It almost seems too good to be true. But there is are two things that make me very hopeful..." Dumbledore began.

He leaned forward in his chair and looked intently at Harry.

"I can't help but notice, Harry, that your scar seems to be fainter."

"It feels much better, too," Harry replied. "Ever since I woke up after I had collapsed earlier, I can't feel my scar at all. Before that, there had always been a very slight pressure in my forehead. I never really noticed it, though, not until it was gone."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, a grave expression on his face. "I am both horrified and elated to hear this, Harry. It confirms my worst fears and completely alleviates them at the same time."

The Headmaster then waved his wand at a cabinet to his left, which opened, revealing dozens of thick, ancient-looking tomes.

"Those books are writings on Soul Magic," Dumbledore explained. "I've been researching the topic since you handed me Tom's old diary at the end of your second year. That was when I started to suspect what he had done..."

The Headmaster then proceeded to tell Harry and Hermione about how Voldemort had split his soul into several pieces to create anchors that kept him alive even when his body was destroyed. Harry was horrified when Dumbledore revealed that he suspected that Voldemort's soul had accidentally split again when he was vanquished by Harry in 1981, causing one soul shard to latch onto Harry himself. His scar had been a kind of uncompleted soul anchor.

"So, you see," Dumbledore concluded when he finally came to an end, "as your scar is healing, it means that the soul shard is gone. And that, I think, makes it highly likely that Tom's other anchors are destroyed as well."

Harry and Hermione nodded slowly.

"All right... but... but why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Harry asked, a bit upset. "Why did you never actually inspect my scar, if you suspected such a thing?"

Dumbledore sighed. "Yes, maybe I should have informed you as soon as I suspected it. But if I had examined you, I would have needed to explain my suspicions to you. I didn't want to do this until I knew of a way to extract the soul fragment that would not also kill you."

Dumbledore shook his head and continued, "To tell you that you might have to die yourself before Tom could be killed would have been cruel beyond measure... And, with what I have learnt this year, I am glad that I didn't tell you. I have destroyed your childhood enough already."

"Ah... all right, I understand," Harry replied slowly.

There was a long pause between them until Hermione spoke up, "Headmaster, you said there were two reasons why you thought that Riddle is dead. What is the second one?"

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore began, "that is another quite lengthy tale. You see, Harry, before you were born, a prophecy was made..."

Dumbledore then retold how a prophecy made by Sybill Trelawney had caused Voldemort to see Harry as a threat and target him and his parents. The Headmaster also revealed that it had been Snape who had overheard the prophecy being made and had informed Voldemort, thus setting in motion the events that had resulted in the death of James and Lily Potter.

Harry was shocked about this piece of information, but it helped him to come to terms with the deaths he had unintentionally caused. He was glad that he and Hermione had personally ensured that justice had been served for the death of his parents.

Harry also felt angry at Dumbledore for allowing Snape to teach at Hogwarts. However, he decided not to start an argument with the Headmaster. At least, the old man seemed to genuinely regret some of his past decisions.

When the Headmaster then recounted the wording of the prophecy and offered his own thoughts on its interpretation, Hermione could no longer hold back her objections.

"But- are prophesies really true?" she asked with exasperation. "Do they really come to pass?"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Prophecies... are a peculiar thing. They might come to pass, or they might not come to pass. But once they have been overheard by enough people, they have an annoying habit of fulfilling themselves."

"Oh, I see..." Harry said, "If Voldemort hadn't heard about the prophecy..."

"...he never would have attacked your parents," Dumbledore finished. "Right, Harry. The prophecy, once overheard, became self-fulfilling to some extent."

"As for the other parts of the prophecy..." Dumbledore said and shrugged. "In the end, it doesn't really matter. We could sit here all night and speculate whether the 'power he knew not' was your love for each other-"

"Or our common sense," Harry interjected with a grin.

"Quite. Or anything else. But in hindsight, it's always easy to make a prophecy fit the events. However, we don't gain any new understanding that way. As Minerva always likes to say, divination is a very woolly subject."

Hermione nodded in agreement, visibly pleased about the Headmaster's conclusion.

"But still," Dumbledore added and smiled at Hermione apologetically, "I think this should still count as another small piece of evidence in favour of our assumption that Tom is dead for good this time."

"All right," Hermione conceded.

She then failed to stifle a yawn, and Dumbledore chuckled.

"Yes, it is quite late," the Headmaster said, "It's almost dawn. I think we should end this conversation now, lest you get no sleep at all tonight."

As all his questions had been answered, Harry nodded in agreement.

After wishing the Headmaster a good night, Harry and Hermione rose from their seats and left the office.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked his girlfriend as they walked down the stairs from the Headmaster's Tower. "About what we caused to happen?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "Actually, I am. I know I shouldn't be, but..."

"I feel the same way," Harry admitted. "The way I see it, the Death Eaters made their decision the moment they took the mark. And it was Riddle who decided to kill them in the end, anyway. We really shouldn't lose any sleep over what has happened."

Maybe he sounded a bit more assured that he actually felt, but Harry still thought that the events of the evening had certainly not been a tragedy.

Lost in their own thoughts, Harry and Hermione made their way back to Gryffindor Tower. As always, they separated at the foot of the stairs to the dormitories, only for Hermione to sneak into Harry's bed a few minutes later. They knew that they would both need the comfort of each other's presence that night.

They both had a restless sleep, but they still slept in almost until noon on the next morning.

As noon approached, Harry lay on his back, with Hermione's head resting on his chest. She was hugging him tightly in her sleep, and he gently stroke her hair as he reflected on the events of the previous night.

The more he thought about what had happened, the less he was bothered by his and Hermione's involvement in the deaths of the Death Eaters. After all, the only death he and girlfriend had caused was that of Riddle, and that one had been inevitable. It was Riddle alone who had then killed his servants as he had tried to stay alive. Harry resolved to no longer allow the outcome of the sabotaged ritual to drag him down.

After a while, he felt Hermione stir on his chest.

"Good morning," he whispered and softly kissed her temple.

"Gdmrng," Hermione mumbled back and turned her head to face him.

"Are you all right?" Harry asked.

"I... yes, I am," Hermione confirmed, slowly becoming fully awake. With growing confidence, she added, "I don't like what has happened, but it wasn't our fault, and so I refuse to feel sad about it any more."

"Good..." Harry said, relieved that his girlfriend had come to a similar conclusion as him.

Then, his mood perked up some more when something else occurred to him.

"Sirius..." he began, a smile creeping on his lips.

"I know," Hermione said, "With the new power balance in the Wizengamot, he should finally be able to get a fair trial."

Harry nodded excitedly. "Yes, exactly! Hopefully, we'll see each other this summer!"

"But you'll still spend the summer with me, right?" Hermione asked with a playful pout.

"Definitely!" Harry replied and gave Hermione a peck on her lips.

"Though, I'll miss this," he added a moment later.

"What?" Hermione wondered, looking up at him from where she lay on his chest.

"Holding you, waking up next to you," Harry said and sighed. "I look forward to spending the summer with you, it will be the best summer ever, but I'll miss this."

Hermione frowned. "You're right. But... let me think of something."

"What?" Harry asked. "I doubt that we'll be able to do this at your parents'. I expect that there will be some more adult supervision than here, and we can't use magic outside of school."

"Yes..." Hermione said. "I admit that this is not an easy problem to solve. But I promise that I'll think of something."

"Oh, all right," Harry replied. "But I don't want us to get in trouble with your parents."

"Don't worry, it will all work out," Hermione assured him.

"Well, fine then... So... Should we maybe get up?" Harry then asked. "We're missing classes at it is."

"Oh, exams are over, so who cares?" Hermione replied with a shrug, nestling back comfortably into Harry.

"What!?" Harry asked in mock outrage. "Who are you, and what have you done with Hermione Granger?"

His girlfriend just shrugged again. "Come on, we have killed Voldemort yesterday. I think we are allowed to slack off a bit today."

Harry laughed. "I'm starting to think that you're a really bad influence on me."

"Oh, really?" Hermione replied and rolled off him, propping herself up on one elbow.

"And how, pray tell..." She moved back and leaned over Harry, a teasing grin on her lips.

"...am I..." She swung her leg over him so that she was straddling him.

"...influencing you?" She moved her pelvis further down his body.

It was well past noon when they finally got up.

"Ah, there you are!" Neville exclaimed as Harry and Hermione joined him in the library in the afternoon. "Where have you been?"

When his two friends didn't answer immediately, Neville went on, "There are the strangest rumours about you two! People are saying that you've been somehow involved in what happened in the Wizengamot. Most people thought that you were both in the hospital wing when you didn't show up for classes. But I saw that the curtains around your bed were closed, Harry, so I knew that you came back to the dorm during the night. What happened?"

Harry sighed and sat down next to Neville, with Hermione taking the chair to his other side.

"Well, what is the official story at the moment?" Harry asked.

Neville reached for his bookbag and pulled out his copy of the day's Daily Prophet.

Harry took the newspaper and placed it in front of Hermione and him. The headline came at no surprise to him.

MASSACRE IN WIZENGAMOT

Traditionalist faction wiped out by unknown means

Harry skimmed over the text and was relieved when his and Hermione's names weren't mentioned anywhere. The article basically confirmed what Dumbledore and Minister Bones had told them the night before.

With a sigh, Harry turned back towards Neville.

"All right... yes, we had something to do with all of this," he confirmed.

Neville's jaw dropped. He clearly hadn't expected that.

Harry continued, "I expect that you will learn what has happened soon enough, so there's no reason not to tell you. But it's a long story, and I'd prefer to only tell it once. Could you maybe gather Luna, Ginny, and the twins? Let's meet in the empty classroom where Mione and I usually train."

"Ye- yes, Harry, sure," Neville said and got up, "We'll be there soon."

The remaining afternoon, Harry and Hermione recounted to their friends how they had defeated Riddle the previous night and had inadvertently killed every single marked Death Eater. Their friends listened with rapt attention. They clearly struggled to accept some of the things they were told, but Harry was glad when they ultimately believed them.

If there had still been any last doubts in their friend's minds about the veracity of their story, those would have been removed when the Headmaster stood up during dinner to give a brief summary of what had happened. While the Headmaster skipped over some details, he credited Harry and Hermine with the death of Voldemort and lay the blame for the Death Eater's deaths solely at the Dark Lord's feet.

While Harry was grateful that this put an end to all the baseless rumours flying around, he could have done without the attention the true story was attracting to Hermione and himself. Unfortunately, the real story for once proved to be even more extraordinary than the rumours.

Things only got worse with the headline in the Daily Prophet the next day.

POTTER DOES IT AGAIN

Boy-Who-Lives kills You-Know-Who during attempted resurrection

Harry groaned when he took in the Prophet's front page. However, another headline over an article on the second page of the newspaper caused his mood to perk up immediately.

SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT

Pettigrew revealed as true betrayer of the Potters

"Wow!" Harry exclaimed with a bright smile. "Minister Bones sure works fast!"

"That's great!" Hermione agreed as she also read the article. "She didn't even bother with a trial... Sure, as he was never convicted or even indicted... So, will we see him soon?"

"I don't know," Harry replied. "I'll have to write to him. Or maybe Dumbledore knows more."

Harry spoke to Dumbledore later that day. The Headmaster told him that Sirius would try to spend a few days in Britain during the summer to meet up with Harry. However, Dumbledore also informed Harry that Sirius was regrettably still recovering from his time in Azkaban. Now that he had been declared innocent, Sirius could finally get some professional treatment, and he had decided to spend the next months in a sanatorium in Canada.

Harry was slightly disappointed by that, but he accepted that it was for the best. He hoped that his godfather would recover faster now that he would be under proper care.

The last days at school before the summer holidays were extremely exhausting for both Harry and Hermione. Students were hounding them wherever they went, wishing to congratulate them on their actions or asking for autographs. Truly, Harry had preferred it when they had been shunned by the entire school. At least, all children whose parents or family members had been marked Death Eaters had been sent home early, so the couple didn't have to fear any retaliatory attacks from grieving students.

Still, Harry and Hermione spent almost their entire free time in their private abandoned classroom, that they had warded against intruders. The only other place that was somewhat safe for the couple was the library, as no one dared to harass them under the watchful eye of the librarian Madam Pince. Whenever they were in the library, Hermione was working on a 'secret project' for her parents. Harry was curious, but she only promised to tell him all about it once everything was ready.

All in all, Harry was glad when the term finally came to an end. He was looking forward to some peace and quiet with his girlfriend after all the turmoil of the past school year.

Before they boarded the Hogwarts Express back to London, Hermione finally revealed to Harry what she had been working on. Harry was surprised by what she told him and doubted that her plan could work. However, Hermione insisted that she knew much better how her parents would react, and Harry reluctantly agreed to go along with the plan.

They had an enjoyable train ride in an apartment that they shared with Neville, Luna, Ginny, and Dean. When they arrived at King's Cross station, they said their goodbyes to their friends before Hermione led a nervous Harry out of the exit to the Muggle side of the platform.

They had just passed the barrier to the crowded platform on the other side, when Hermione squealed and darted off towards a couple standing a short distance away, embracing both of them in a tight hug.

Harry recognised them as Hermione's parents, who he had briefly seen in Diagon Alley almost three years prior.

It was clear that Hermione had gotten her bushy brown hair from her dad, while she had inherited her eyes from her mum, who had smooth hair of a darker brown. Both Mr and Mrs Granger were dressed in neat but casual clothes.

As Harry approached them, Hermione separated from her parents and stepped next to Harry, taking his hand.

"Mum, Dad," she stated, facing her parents with a slightly nervous expression, "may I introduce you to Harry, my boyfriend."

Both her parents gave Hermione a startled look at that.

"Boyfriend?" Hermione's mother repeated, and Mr Granger sized up Harry with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, uhm... yeah?" Hermione said timidly.

"You didn't even tell them that?" Harry exclaimed incredulously.

"Not even that? What's that supposed to mean?" Mr Granger muttered angrily.

Hermione chose to ignore her dad and answered Harry instead. "You knew that I was waiting for the right moment," she said defensively.

"And I suppose the right moment is right before your boyfriend comes home with us to spend the entire summer with you?" Mrs Granger asked her daughter with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, yes," Hermione said defiantly. "I think it is. I wanted you to meet in person."

Mrs Granger sighed and shook her head before she turned to Harry. "Well, as you have been clearly unaware of my daughter's information policy, I won't hold you responsible for it."

She smiled and offered him her hand.

"I'm Doctor Jane Granger, but please call me Jane," she said as they shook hands. "And the grumpy man beside me is my husband Richard."

Hermione's dad huffed in response but then also offered his hand to Harry and gave him a firm handshake. "I'm Mr Granger, and you can call me Mr Granger," he informed Harry.

"Riiiichaard," Jane said warningly.

"Fine, Richard it is," Mr Granger said sullenly.

"Thank you, Jane, Richard," Harry replied with a grateful smile towards Hermione's mother.

He wasn't very impressed by the overprotective-father-act. After all, he had been in a room with none other than Voldemort only a week ago, so he wouldn't be frightened of some grumpy Muggle now. That didn't mean that he wasn't a bit nervous, but that was because he wanted to make a good first impression on his girlfriend's parents, especially considering the stunt that Hermione was about to pull later.

At Hermione's prodding, all of them then made their way through King's Cross station and towards the car park. Once they were all seated in the Grangers' black Jaguar XJ, Jane and Richard questioned Harry about himself and Hogwarts for the entire one-hour drive to their home.

Harry mostly kept his answers to what could be considered safe small-talk territory. Obviously, he didn't tell Hermione's parents anything about his and Hermione's many adventures at Hogwarts. He knew that his girlfriend preferred to keep her parents blissfully unaware of most of the dangers of the wizarding world.

At the end of the drive, Harry thought he had handled himself well during the interrogation, and he took the proud smile that his girlfriend gave him as they exited the car as confirmation.

When Harry and the Grangers entered their home – an elegant detached house in a quiet, affluent neighbourhood – Jane invited Harry to take his luggage to the guest bedroom and make himself at home.

But Hermione was not about to have that, and she had planned accordingly.

She asked her parents to gather in the living room. Once they were all seated comfortably, she nervously told her parents that she had difficult news to share and implored them to hear her out.

Hermione then proceeded to tell her parents the amazing tale of how Harry and she had shared a kiss at the Yule Ball, only for them to then find themselves in a soul bond with each other. Now, they had to keep in physical contact almost constantly, or else they would risk their health and their very lives. Unfortunately, that also meant that they had to share a bed. Consequently, Harry would have to stay in her room.

Harry had known that Hermione could spin quite a tale ever since she had lied for Ron and him after the troll incident in their first year – but boy, was he astonished by her acting skills nonetheless! He kept silent and only nodded at the right times, just as Hermione had instructed him before.

Jane and Richard remained sceptical, until Hermione produced an official-looking letter with the seal of the Ministry of Magic, congratulating the couple on the completion of their soul bond, and additionally handed her parents a thick tome On the Ancient Magiks of Soul Bonds, authored by Xenophilius Lovegood. To the best of her knowledge, the book was entirely fictional – not that she told that to her parents.

Any magical parent would of course have called bullshit immediately, but Hermione's parents naturally had absolutely no points of reference as for what was or wasn't considered normal in the wizarding world. For them, their fifteen-year-old daughter forming a 'soul bond' with an even younger boy was no more extraordinary than a grown woman turning into a cat in their living room, as it had happened during their first meeting with the wizarding world. In addition, Jane and Richard had never known their daughter to tell lies.

Consequently, they abided by Hermione's request and allowed Harry to stay in Hermione's room, albeit very grudgingly. Hermione's dad was especially unamused, and for some reason, Richard's mood didn't improve even when his fifteen-year-old daughter tried to placate her parents by telling them that she was on a contraceptive potion and they therefore had nothing to worry about, anyway.

Harry had to endure the hostile glares of Richard for the following days, but he had faced and fought a Basilisk that could actually kill with a look, so he wasn't much bothered by it. Eventually, Hermione's parents warmed up to him, and he had the best summer of his life. Though, it would have been the best summer of his life anyway.

At the beginning of August, Harry and Hermione were awarded their Orders of Merlin in a ceremony in the Ministry of Magic.

As Hermione still 'hadn't gotten around' to tell her parents about their adventures at school, they told Jane and Richard that they were visiting Neville for the day and took the Knight Bus to London.

During the bus ride, Harry asked Hermione if she would ever come clean with her parents about the true nature of the wizarding world. His girlfriend replied that she would do so eventually, but not before her seventeenth birthday. She was just too afraid that her parents would pull her out of Hogwarts if they knew about the dangers she had been in over the past four years.

During the award ceremony, Minister Bones herself presented Harry and Hermione their Orders of Merlin and held a long laudatory speech. While Harry and Hermione stood next to the Minister on the stage and bashfully listened to the Minister praising them before the guests and the assembled international press, Harry cursed himself for having agreed to the spectacle in the first place.

He shook his head when Amelia Bones portrayed Hermione and him as two daring undercover operatives, as opposed to the incredibly lucky sods that they had really been.

However, when Harry spotted Sirius standing in the audience, he knew that his suffering was worth it. As soon as they were able to get off the stage, Harry ran towards Sirius and hugged his godfather.

"Hi, Sirius!"

"Hey Harry, I'm glad to see you, too," Sirius said cheerfully as they separated.

"And you too, Hermione!" he added with a smile as Hermione caught up to Harry a moment later.

"What are you doing here, Sirius?" Harry asked. "I thought you were still in Canada."

"I'm only here for the ceremony," Sirius replied. "I wanted to surprise you. And I planned the trip as a surprise for you, but also as a surprise for..."

To Harry's surprise, Sirius then turned towards a young woman who stood a few feet behind him, reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him.

The rather attractive witch with short auburn hair seemed vaguely familiar to Harry, but he couldn't place where he had seen her before. However, he was a bit taken aback by the hostile glares the witch was giving Hermione and him.

"May I introduce you to my girlfriend, Harmony," Sirius said brightly to Harry and Hermione, not noticing the tension between the woman at his side and the two teens. "We met at the sanatorium in Canada, where I'm currently staying. Harmony, may I introduce you to-"

"Yes, we've met," Harmony muttered, looking at Harry and Hermione with narrowed eyes.

But in the noise of the crowd surrounding them, Sirius apparently hadn't taken note of her comment, and just went on, "-to my godson Harry Potter, and his girlfriend Hermione Granger..."

An amused expression appeared on Sirius's face as he said Hermione's name. "Huh, now that I think about it, your names sound really similar, Harmony! Isn't that a funny coincidence!?" Sirius laughed out loud. "Hermione Granger, meet Harmony Ranger. Harmony Ranger, meet Hermione Granger." Sirius laughed again.

"Yes... extremely... funny," Harmony gnarled out with gritted teeth.

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes widening in realisation. "You're the dragon handler!"

"What? You know each other?" Sirius asked, visibly confused.

"Yeah," Harry said with a frown. "Your girlfriend tried to attack us after the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. I don't know why, though."

"What?" Sirius wondered, looking back and forth between his girlfriend and the couple before him.

"Why?" Harmony exclaimed angrily. "Why? Because you're the reason why I currently need to stay in a sanatorium. Because you're the reason why I need treatment for my anger issues!"

Luckily, Sirius then intervened before things got out of hand. It took a long conversation with Sirius as the mediator until Harmony finally conceded that Harry and Hermione hadn't been responsible for Rita Skeeter's false and misleading articles in the Daily Prophet, nor for the irrational reaction of the public to Skeeter's accusations.

However, Harry and Hermione apologised profoundly for not immediately setting the record straight about Hermione's name. They truly hadn't considered that the hate mail they were avoiding might end up with someone else.

Once they had bypassed their initial enmity, Harmony proved an excellent conversationalist, and they all quickly warmed up to each other. Regrettably, Sirius and Harmony had to excuse themselves far too soon to Harry's liking, as they had to catch their International Portkey back to Canada. Sirius would be staying there for at least two more months.

Once Sirius and Harmony had left, Amelia Bones approached Harry and Hermione. The Minister then led the couple through the crowd and introduced them to several Wizengamot members and foreign dignitaries.

Afterwards, she also gave them a tour through the Ministry and informed them of the recent changes in the political landscape of Magical Britain. She told the teens that she had fired over half of the Department Heads, including Ludo Bagman and Barty Crouch Senior. Crouch was currently under investigation for his role in his son's escape from Azkaban.

As the Dark faction in the Wizengamot had been wiped out almost in its entirety, the Progressive faction now held the majority of the seats in the Gamot and could name new seat-holders to their liking. Thus, the power balance had fundamentally changed in favour of the Progressives. Currently, laws were being drafted that would finally put an end to any and all discrimination based on blood status.

However, Amelia had been unsuccessful in convincing even the Progressive faction to introduce more democratic elements in the political process, like a public election of the Wizengamot seats or an independent judiciary.

Harry noted that Hermione was especially disappointed when Minister Bones stated that changes to the rights of magical beings like house-elves also wouldn't be forthcoming any time soon. For someone brought up in the Muggle world like Harry and Hermione, the Wizengamot was still an extremely conservative body.

As they left the Ministry that day, Hermione concluded that there was still much that had to change before Magical Britain could be considered a truly modern society. But she vowed that she would make it happen, and Harry promised to support her to the best of his ability.

However, he also cautioned Hermione not to press for too much too fast. The changes they were envisioning couldn't be enacted within a day, a year, and probably not even within a decade. They would need a lot of perseverance.

To his relief, Hermione reluctantly agreed with him. And they both knew that while they could start to make plans on how to best go about it, they had to complete their education before they could truly work for change.

In the following years, Hermione proceeded to wreak havoc on all academic records, except in Defence, where Harry was the top of the year, the decade, and maybe even the century. In their fifth year, the couple founded an inter-house study group for Defence, the Defence Association, where Harry discovered his love and talent for teaching.

During the summer between their fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts, Headmaster Dumbledore was found dead in his office. For a reason no one could understand, he had put a cursed ring on his finger that had killed him with a withering curse. The wizarding public mourned the loss of the prominent leader, and Professor McGonagall succeeded Dumbledore as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. As her workload as Headmistress was only slightly larger than as Deputy under Dumbledore, she still found herself able to teach Transfiguration for the NEWT classes.

During a romantic candle-lit dinner in the summer before their seventh year at Hogwarts, Hermione asked Harry to marry her, much to his shock, as he had planned to propose to her on the same evening. He immediately agreed, however, and they married one week after their graduation.

After the wedding, they told Hermione's parents that there had in fact never been a soul bond between them, but Jane and Richard confessed that they had suspected that for a long time already. They weren't mad with the newlyweds, as they remembered how they themselves had behaved as a young teenage couple, and admitted that they were actually quite impressed with their daughter's resourcefulness and her masterfully played bluff.

Harry stuck to his decision to not become an Auror and went into teaching instead. He was hired straight out of the school as Hogwarts's new Defence Professor and became the youngest Professor to ever teach at Hogwarts. But given his teaching experience with the Defence Association and his 'extracurricular' record, no one dared to complain.

Hermione joined her husband on the Hogwarts staff as Junior Professor for Transfiguration, teaching the lower years while she trained for her Transfiguration Mastery with Headmistress McGonagall. She completed the Mastery in record time in only one year and then took over the NEWT classes from McGonagall, too, as the school's youngest-ever Transfiguration Professor.

In the same year, Sirius married his long-time girlfriend Harmony Ranger in a small wedding ceremony in the Caribbean. By then, Sirius had fully recovered from his stay in Azkaban for some time already. Harmony also no longer needed therapy.

Ever since his health had been restored, Sirius had been working with Remus, Fred, and George in the development and testing of products for their joint joke shop. Thanks to the combined ingenuity of the two Marauders and the Weasley twins, their business was extremely successful and soon made them all obscenely rich. They never sold love potions.

Soon after they had finished school, Fred and George married Angelina and Alicia, respectively. Occasionally, they financially helped out their youngest brother Ronald, who became the keeper for the Chudley Cannons, the team that still hadn't won a single match since the founding of the Quidditch League. The matches against the Holyhead Harpies were especially humiliating for Ron, when he was trounced by his own sister.

Ron married Lavender Brown, and the couple immediately tackled the problem of the world not having enough Weasleys in it. Within only a few years, Ron was well on the way to have even more children than siblings. Harry and Hermione sometimes wondered whether the substandard wizard and witch were simply incapable of casting the contraceptive spell correctly and couldn't afford the potion.

Headmistress McGonagall retired fifteen years after Harry and Hermione had graduated. It was the summer before Lily Jane Potter, the eldest of Harry and Hermione's three children, was to start at Hogwarts. Harry was offered the position as Headmaster, but he declined in favour of his wife, who was much better suited to the job in his opinion.

Over the next decades, the Potters used their influence over all of Magical Britain's young minds to slowly but steadily drag Magical Britain into the twenty-first century. By the time James Harrison Potter and Rose Harmony Potter – Harry and Hermione's younger children – graduated from Hogwarts, the school was once more widely regarded as the world's foremost magical school.

The Potters made Mundane Studies, formerly Muggle Studies, an obligatory first-year course for all students who had grown up in the wizarding world, and mundane-born students had to take an introductory course on the magical world. Professor Binns was fired and replaced by a useful teacher for Magical and Mundane History. He remained as a school ghost, though.

The Potters also introduced an obligatory class on ethics, and electives for math, sciences, and arts. Hermione was especially proud when she could announce one more new elective for the NEWT students: Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking.

The class was taught by Professor Luna Lovegood-Longbottom, who also taught the Care of Magical Creatures class for the OWL students. Her husband Neville was teaching Herbology since Professor Sprout's retirement. Hagrid continued to teach the NEWT Care class, where he could introduce the students to some of his more exotic misunderstood creatures.

However, nothing changed Hogwarts more radically than Hermione Potter's first action as Headmistress. On her very first day on the new job, she abolished the House system at Hogwarts. She stated that instead of identifying with only one House and its virtues, all students should learn to combine the best aspects of all the Houses' traits.

As a side benefit, this eliminated the need for students – and especially her own children – to be sorted by the Sorting Hat.

After all, she and her husband knew better than anyone that entrusting enchanted objects with such tasks was just asking for trouble.