บท 18: Chapter Eighteen - Harry 1 Dragon 0

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to the proverbial Duchess of Magic, JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. No matter how much I whine about not owning anything related to the HP universe, other than a few fanfic plots, I do not profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world... Damn it!

A/N: *sigh* Look, folks; I know Hermione's blind view of authority is aggravating. The whole point is that she's not the all things sweet and nice almost every FF author portrays her as in their own fics where she ends up with Harry. She has her foibles, and it just so happens to annoy you. Build a bridge and get over it!

Chapter Eighteen - Harry 1 Dragon 0

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

On Sunday morning, Harry outlined for the other two his thoughts on how to defeat the dragon in a rather creative manner.

"Let me get this straight," frowned Hermione. "You want to take a plastic bag, cast impervious and unbreakable charms on it, enlarge it, levitate it up and over the dragon's head, pull it down over it's head, shrink it tight, and wait for the dragon to suffocate?"

"Yep!" beamed Harry. "That way, I get to claim the carcass of the beast, and all the galleons it's worth."

"That won't work," Hermione firmly retorted. "The plastic bag will be blown all about in the vagaries of the wind. And, it'll be far too difficult to manoeuvre it above the dragon's head, opening it, and pulling it down. However, something similar... but, heavier... would work. You can use just about any sort of bag.

"Personally, I think you should try for a long banner, or something similar. That way, you can fly it at the dragon, and wrap it around it's head before shrinking it tight. With impervious and unbreakable charms, it'll still do what you want it to do.

Frowning, Harry thought about it and could see the logic of Hermione's alterations to the idea.

"An Incarcerous around its snout first would also help," chipped in Daphne. "Incarcerous it's legs and wings, too."

Nodding, Harry looked back and said, "That'll work. Any backup ideas for 'Plan B'?"

"That depends on how accurate you are," thought Daphne. "Summoning the sword of Gryffindor and banishing it right at the dragon's heart, is one. Because it's really only the hide of the dragon that's somewhat impervious to magic, wait until it opens it's mouth and cast a blasting curse in it's open maw, is another. Both should near-instantly kill the beast."

"Why do you want to kill the dragon, Harry?" asked Hermione, quite concerned with what she was hearing.

"Multiple reasons," he replied. "First, I managed to get out of being killed by the dragon last go around only by the intervention of my angel; so, that method is far too dangerous. Killing it is the safer alternative. Two, I get to claim the kill by right of slaying the beast, just as with the basilisk. Three, I'll have just demonstrated how I will not hesitate to kill anything they put in my way; so, Dumbledore might want to rethink sending us against the merfolk. And four, it sends a very clear message to Dumbledore I'm sick and tired of being 'fucked' with. I want him to think he's starting to turn me into a cold-blooded ruthless killer; the next Dark Lord."

"So he will then attempt to redeem you?" smirked Daphne.

"Exactly," replied Harry. "It would be yet another thing that'll distract him and allow us to do what we need to do."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Surprisingly, Harry received an owl - or, rather, a toucan - from Sirius on the Monday morning wanting to know what was going on. Showing the note to his bondmates, he said, "Sirius is still out of the country, but this implies he's now heading back."

"We've been rather lax in not contacting him and letting him know what's been going on, Harry," countered Hermione. "Does he even know he's been exonerated?"

"I tried to send him an owl the next day after the hearing. But, it flew around for a few minutes before it came back," he replied. "I suspect, wherever he is, he can't receive owl mail."

"You never found out in the previous time line?" asked Daphne.

"No," he replied. "All we know is that he headed for 'the tropics' almost immediately after we helped him escape from within the tower he was locked up in here. We didn't hear from him again until after my name came out of the Goblet."

"It sounds like, wherever he is, he's under the Fidelius with owl blocking wards," mused Daphne.

"That's what Hermione and I thought, too," nodded Harry. "He never ended up telling us more than it was 'the tropics', though."

"Then, if he doesn't already find out beforehand, we'll bring him up to speed when he gets here," said Hermione.

"No, send him an owl, now, to make sure he's aware he's no longer a wanted man," disagreed Daphne. "It should make it easier for him to travel, at least. Besides, he still needs to present himself to Madam Bones for the 'official' clearing of his name."

Nodding, Harry said, "I'll send Hedwig now." And pulled over a small slip of parchment and quill to pen a short note.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Stewart Ackerman visited with them that afternoon, as promised. He, of course, came prepared.

As they sat around a hastily conjured table, the older man looked shrewdly at Harry and asked, "First thing, Mister Potter; is for you to tell me, right now, that you had nothing to do with your name coming out of the Goblet."

"I can't tell you that because I don't know," Harry frowned. "However, I can tell you that I did not submit my name to the Goblet of Fire; nor, did I have someone else do it for me. I have been entered into this nonsense against whatever wish I may have had. I can also tell you I gave a magical oath with those almost exact same words on the night it happened."

After studying Harry for a couple of seconds, Ackerman gave an almost imperceptible grunt and said, "Very well."

With an angry scowl, Harry barked back, "Mister Ackerman; accept, here and now, that I had nothing to do with my name being submitted as a bloody competitor into this ludicrous event, or we part ways. I gave a magical bloody oath on it, Sir, in the middle of the Great Hall! And, I'm quite happy to give you a copy of my memories of that."

Ackerman winced and hurriedly back-pedalled. "Mister Potter, I apologise," he tried to soothe. "I was aware of the oath and what it meant. However, the Prophet has already begun..." and sighed. "And, one of the reasons you've secured our services is because you believed the Prophet would slander you, given the chance."

He looked at Harry a lot more shrewdly and asked, "Mister Potter, are you... or, do you have access to... a true seer?"

With a sigh right back, Harry replied, "Not that I'm aware of, no. I just happen to be quite perceptive about events happening around me; and likely outcomes.

"For example, every year I'd been in the magical world something bad and/or life threatening has happened to me on Halloween. The drawing of the names for the Tri-Wizard Tournament was to... and did... occur on Halloween. Ergo, the likelihood of my name coming out of the Goblet was, in my opinion, extremely high.

"I also have it on good authority that Rita Skeeter has taken what I consider an unhealthy interest in me. Miss Skeeter is known to use untruths and blatant lies in her articles to... shall we say... make them more interesting. Again, it does not take a seer to determine I can expect that vile woman to write lies about me in the Daily Prophet. That's why I knew I would need the services of someone of Miss Pentridge's skill set.

"In other words, Sir, it's just a matter of anticipating likely outcomes and being prepared for them in advance. I... we... anticipate probable actions, logically deduce likely consequence, and envision outcomes. Then we plan our responses. If Action A occurs, we enact Reaction Plan X; if, however, Action B occurs, we enact Reaction Plan Y. It's really that simple."

Ackerman snorted in self-amusement before he slowly shook his head with a wry grin. "You have the mind of a master strategist, Mister Potter," he mused.

"No," Harry disagreed. "We, together, have such a mind."

Nodding, Ackerman asked, "So, you have no idea who or why someone wanted you to compete?"

"There are many possibilities, Stewart," replied Harry. "I can tell you this: Whoever placed my name in the Goblet with the intention of my name then being selected has to be a suitably powerful wizard, or witch. They have to have figured out a way to confuse the Goblet, make it think there are four schools competing - or just that four names need to be chosen. Then they had to convince the Goblet that one of the names that needed to come out was mine. That means I can confidently claim that it wasn't one of the students.

"Logic dictates that then leaves one of the staff members of the three schools, one of the Ministry officials involved, or... unlikely... an entirely different party who snuck into the school and wasn't caught coming in or going out. Of the three we believe the first is most likely. I also believe 'who' will become apparent if we can figure out 'why'. And vice versa.

"There, we also have various possibilities. As this is a competition for of-age participants, and I'm only fourteen with a fourteen year old's education, there's a likelihood I can very well die. Therefore, this could be a subtle attempt to kill me. This could have also been done by a fan boy or girl, who wants to see me earn even more fame and glory, and hasn't really thought it through. Or, someone has some other nefarious purpose and wants to make sure I'm at a certain place at a certain exact time; or simply might try to beat the Goblet and sacrifice my magic.

"Personally, I think it's the nefarious deed option. I think someone wants me to be at a specific place at a specific time; probably to kidnap me. As I can receive no help in the tasks, there'll be no one close by during the tasks that can immediately come to my aid." With a shrug and a mock sigh of annoyance, he said, "But, it's just a hunch."

"And your hunches are usually on the galleon," stated Daphne.

"She's right," piped up Hermione. "You have a pretty good habit of doing that, you know. Almost uncannily so. Personally, I think what you think is a hunch is when your subconscious has already figured it out and is trying to prod you in the right direction."

Harry just harrumphed before he thought about it for a few moments, then nodded in agreement. "I suppose I can't dispute that," he mused. "It makes a kind of sense."

Turning back to Ackerman, he said, "Anyways, Mister Ackerman, everything we know can be easily explained by deductive reasoning. If you get a chance, have a look through a few muggle bookshops for a book that covers what muggles call Critical Thinking. I believe you will quickly discover it would be a very useful tool in your profession."

Nodding back, Ackerman replied, "I'll do just that, Mister Potter. Thank you. And, I do apologise for doubting you."

Harry waved it off and said, "Yes. Well. How about you give us your views on the contract."

With his own sigh, Ackerman cleared his throat and said, "In a nutshell, you're stuck. You have to compete. However, there are some advantages to you out of this. Firstly, you can go ahead and demand emancipation, if you want it. You have the right to be seen as an adult in the magical world, though not in the muggle world. With the three Heads of school, the Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports, and the Head of the Department for International Magical Co-operation all agreeing you have to compete, they're all stating you're of-age. That means, they effectively emancipated you.

"Secondly, you're entitled to certain privileges. You're entitled to skip any and all classes, even exams. You can come and go from the school, as you please; so long as you're doing so for 'Tournament' purposes. You're entitled to your own apartment; but, seeing as you already have one, that's moot. And, you can request special meals and times. But, I guess, with your own elf you already get that."

Harry and the girls were nodding along at the right times.

"Now," continued Ackerman. "I wasn't... I didn't understand how it was you 'knew' what was going to happen; so, Miss Pentridge did not come with me today. However, I will ensure she continues to monitor the media for slander and defamatory remarks.

"She's also been hunting down all the authors and printing houses of those books about you and will soon make her move against them. Plus, she's been tracking down those who've used your name and or image without your consent. The problem, here, is that Albus Dumbledore claimed magical guardianship over you and authorised many of them."

Harry growled under his breath and muttered various imprecations.

"Those, we are still going after," continued Ackerman, as if he hadn't heard. "However, all we can do with many of them is send legal cease and desist notices. If they then continue, they're ours to sue. And, then we'll go after them for the lot."

Harry could only nod in disappointment.

"Even so," continued Ackerman. "I daresay we're going to end up driving many of them into bankruptcy."

Harry's head shot up at that and stared back. "I really don't want to bankrupt them, Mister Ackerman. I really don't want to see their employees out of work over this."

"Then, I believe," replied the older wizard, "That, if such a case would drive the miscreant into bankruptcy, through us you offer to buy them out of the remaining debt."

Hermione frowned and said, "Explain, please."

Ackerman switched his attention to her and replied, "Basically, Harry claims the business in lieu of the debt. If the debt is greater than the worth of the business, on Harry's behalf we make them an offer to hand the business over to Harry to clear the debt. Unlike in the muggle world, the wizarding world still has debtors' prison. It's part of the minimum security wing of Azkaban."

In shock, Hermione exclaimed, "But, that's barb..."

"Hermione!" snapped Daphne, cutting her off before she could launch into one of her rants.

Hermione blinked back at her for a few moments, gaping like a fish out of water, before what she was about to say occurred to her, and she blushed in shame when Daphne's expression stopped her from commenting further.

Since not long after the move into the apartment, Daphne had been educating both Hermione and Harry on wizarding culture. She'd been slowly working through a lot of the reasons of the 'why' and the 'how' things were done as they were. However, the best lesson she had given was to convince Hermione not to comment on matters she was not fully aware of in advance. Harry then used the matter of house elves and their bonds - and Hermione's lack of understanding the necessity of them when she first learned of them - as the lead example. Without a bond, house elves wither and die. And the manner of death is very unpleasant.

Hermione, after remembering what she tried to accomplish in their previous fifth year, was near inconsolable for the rest of the day. She thought she had been responsible for the horrid deaths of many of Hogwarts's house elves. Harry had to tell her it was Dobby who had collected up all the little hats Hermione had knitted that year. And that she hadn't unintentionally been the cause of painful house elf deaths.

Turning back to Ackerman, with a sheepish expression, she muttered, "Sorry."

With a bit of a light chuckle, Ackerman replied, "That's quite alright, Miss Granger. I've known many muggleborns who've had the same reaction, in the past."

After a bit more discussion, where the bondmates did not let the wily old wizarding solicitor know Harry had already submitted the parchmentwork to be emancipated, Ackerman left with new instructions for both himself and Margaret.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

The following Saturday evening, the bondmates celebrated Harry's emancipation. The goblins had submitted the parchmentwork immediately, as promised, and the week had now passed by with nary a whisper of anyone learning of the change of status.

Part of the celebration included the bondmates writing to Mafalda Hopkirk of the Ministry, the Improper Use of Magic Office, who were charged with detecting underage magic so he could get the Trace removed. They were also aware that, once Madam Hopkirk was in receipt of that letter, everyone would know in a matter of hours. If there was one thing the Ministry was very good at, it was a complete inability to keep anything secret. Especially, when it came to one Harry James Potter.

So, they prepared for the Headmaster to accost Harry about it either Sunday evening or Monday morning. Of course, it was not difficult for them to deduce the Headmaster would try to get the emancipation overturned. He would first try to get Harry to request reversing it, before then trying to use his Chief Warlock status to get it done.

That meant writing to Madam Bones, who was Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the department that covered underaged magic, to explain why Harry sought emancipation; and who was involved in determining he was considered of-age the night his name came out of the Goblet. They believed that naming Dumbledore as one of the people who determined he would have to compete that night, would effectively pull the rug out from under Dumbledore's attempt to have his emancipation overturned.

Sure enough, Monday morning's Daily Prophet screamed the headline that Harry Potter was emancipated.

* # *

BOY-WHO-LIVED NOW ADULT

As a result of Mister Harry Potter's (14) name coming out of the Goblet of Fire, and being named a competitor in the Tri-Wizard Tournament, the Boy-Who-Lived applied for emancipation, and it was granted, writes Hieronymus Cartwright.

For those unaware, the Ministry deemed only those witches and wizards attending the three eminent European schools of magic - Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang who were of-age - were permitted to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. As Mister Potter was chosen, and he was not immediately disqualified, Mister Potter appears to have used the opportunity to have himself declared emancipated; and, therefore, of-age.

The Daily Prophet has already alerted you that, on the 1st of September, Mister Potter became bonded to two similarly aged witches. What Mister Potter's emancipation means for those two witches is not yet known.

* # *

"Damn it!" Harry softly exclaimed, on reading the paper. "While the article is truthful, it still makes me out to be a 'bad guy'. It implies I'll possibly force an early marriage between us; so I can have my wicked ways with you."

Daphne laughed and said, "But you already have your wicked ways with us. Clearly, this Cartwright character has no idea about soul-bonds. It's well known what happens to establish and finalise such a bond."

The three bondmates had now progressed their soul bond to the point they were engaged in acts that would surpass what would be considered 'M' rated if they were in a story or movie. However, they still hadn't taken the final step; full sexual intercourse.

"Humph!" muttered Hermione. "No doubt there will be others, including Miss Pentridge, who will soon set him right."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

As expected, two days later Harry received a summonse to appear before an emergency sitting of the Wizengamot to determine whether or not he should retain his emancipation. Of course, the motion was made by Dumbledore.

With muttered imprecations, Harry handed the summonse off to Daphne. "The old fool just can't leave well enough alone."

"He's panicking," she replied. "He's so worried you'll run for the colonies first chance you get he's trying everything he can to keep you here."

"That's something we three haven't properly discussed, you know," said Hermione, after she read the summonse. "Do we actually go, or not?"

With a frustrated sigh, he replied, "Actually, most of what I said about that was just to keep Dumbledore hopping. I was dangling the threat out there to worry him. I don't know if we should or not.

"I say... maybe," he said. "Both of you have family here... and little Astoria will be left without her big sister and future brother-in-law around to protect her... if we were to leave the country. It's that which is holding me back."

"There is another option," put Hermione. "We get the Headmaster to make a magical oath he will cease and desist all efforts to try and control you beyond the role of Headmaster."

"He's too tricky for that," disagreed Daphne. She thought a bit and said, "I say, go ahead with setting up a transfer for the three of us to Salem. Have everything organised. Once we do that... and Dumbledore sees you're being serious... he may come up with the idea of a vow or oath he's willing to abide by."

Nodding, Harry looked at Hermione and saw she was in agreement. Turning back to Daphne, he said, "Let's do that, then. However, I also want to talk to Sirius first, though. But, I think I'm pretty sure in stating I think he'd even come with us if we were actually going to go."

"It's a plan," nodded Hermione.

She then reached out and pulled another sheet of parchment towards herself and asked, "Does anyone know to whom I'd have to address a letter to the Headmaster of Salem?"

"To the Headmaster 'slash' Headmist... No. To the Principal, Salem Witches Academy, Salem Massachusetts," muttered Daphne.

"Of course," sighed Hermione, as if she was a little angry with herself. "They call them Principals, over there, don't they?"

Daphne just nodded.

"Don't get worked up about it, Hermione," Harry chided the girl. "You're not expected to know everything. Or, even remember everything you know as if with a snap of your fingers."

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Again, the three dressed in their finest to attend the hearing before the Wizengamot. This time, it was Deece who came and collected them. Thankfully, however, Dumbledore did not try and stop them from leaving.

They entered the atrium via Floo, passed through the checkpoint, and headed directly to the same courtroom as before. Courtroom Ten; the largest available.

Harry caught the attention of one of the aurors on the main floor and asked, "Do I need to go into the antechamber, this time? Or, do I get to stay in here?"

"In here, Mister Potter," said the auror, who Harry recognised from before but didn't know. "Just take a seat at the table, over there." The auror pointed him to leftmost of a pair of tables sitting side-by-side with a four foot gap between them.

Harry went and sat at one of the chairs just as Stewart Ackerman walked in and headed across. He took the other seat of the two at the table and asked, "Alright there, Harry?"

"Alright, Stewart," he sighed.

"It appears your Headmaster is again up to his old tricks, eh?" the solicitor asked.

"Yeah," sighed Harry again.

As they were quietly conversing, Dumbledore walked in and took seat at the other table, as if he had not a care in the world. He did not even acknowledge Harry's or Stewart's attendance.

They were sitting for less than a minute when Percy Weasley, who was again sitting in the Court Scribe's seat, rose and intoned, "Hear ye! All those with business before the Wizengamot this day, please rise."

Everyone stood as the Wizengamot filed in and took seat. At least, this time, they weren't all looking at him with distaste - or worse. The Pink Toad was not in attendance.

The one who took the centre chair, Harry recognised him as Tiberius Ogden, sat first and banged his gavel the once. "Be seated," he ordered.

After everyone sat, he turned to Percy and demanded, "What business brings us to assemble this day, Scribe?"

"You have, before you, a request - filed by Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore - to have the emancipation of Harry James Potter overturned," Percy dutifully replied.

"I see," nodded Ogden. Turning to the centre of the floor he asked, "Mister Dumbledore, you wish to proceed?"

"I do, Acting Chief Warlock," replied Dumbledore. "And it's Chief Warlock Dumbledore, Acting Chief Warlock."

"Not while you're sitting in that chair, it's not," disagreed Ogden, with a very slight smirk. "You claimed magical guardianship over Mister Potter as Mister Dumbledore; not Chief Warlock Dumbledore. If you had, I daresay you'd no longer be Chief Warlock, anyway."

Dumbledore just gave a short nod in reply, as if in acknowledgement.

Turning to look at Harry, Ogden asked, "Mister Potter, you wish to contest?"

As Ogden was speaking, Stewart laid his hand on Harry's near arm as if to hold him in his seat. Once the question was asked, he stood and replied, "Stewart Ackerman, solicitor and legal representative for Mister Harry James Potter. Mister Potter contests the claim."

"Very well," said Ogden with a nod, as if there was any doubt.

Turning back to Dumbledore, he instructed, "Mister Dumbledore, as the Applicant, it behoves you to prove your claim. The floor is yours."

What followed for the next twenty to thirty minutes was Dumbledore listing all the reasons he could think of for why Harry shouldn't be allowed to keep his emancipation. He made claims Harry was too young, too lacking of knowledge of the wizarding world, the Potter fortune was too large for such a young man to properly manage without oversight, he had no training in managing such a large fortune, and he was still a student and therefore did not have the time to rectify all those matters.

Then he switched to how he had dutifully taken care of the Potter fortune for the day Harry would then be able to properly deal with it, he kept Harry safe from remnants of the Death Eaters in the days after Riddle's disappearance, Harry's recalcitrant recent behaviour in school, and how Sirius had yet to put in an appearance and rightfully take Harry's guardianship - and that meant the guardianship should be returned to him.

During Dumbledore's testimony Ackerman was writing away and was simultaneously doing his best to keep Harry calm. Harry, for his part, was also writing short notes to add to the prodigious notes Stewart was taking, and passing them over.

Once Dumbledore finished, his posture stood as if to say there could be no doubt Harry's emancipation should be overturned and guardianship returned to him, before he finally resumed his seat.

Once Dumbledore sat, Ogden turned to Stewart and asked, "Mister Ackerman; your response?"

Not rushing, Stewart rose to his feet almost negligently holding his notes within his grasp. He then started slow and kept the pace and cadence of his words calm and composed as he responded to each and every claim Dumbledore made. On two occasions he even agreed with Dumbledore's reasoning. But, that pointed out how unreasonable Dumbledore was being in other areas.

He then went into how Dumbledore, himself, agreed with Harry having to compete in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. And mentioned that, by doing so, Dumbledore recognised Harry to be of-age. He then covered how two department Heads from the Ministry agreed, as did the other two Heads of School.

He covered how Harry was showing much maturity by employing himself and the goblins to positions of advisors, and that he listened and didn't act rash. And how he was in a three-way soul bond with both a pureblood and muggleborn witch. Both of whom were recognised as high achievers in the same school for which Dumbledore was Headmaster. He spoke of how it would be magic which would soon see the three married, and would automatically emancipate them, anyway. That it had not, as yet, done such showed the three were not rushing matters regarding their bonds, and was evidence the bonds were clearly not yet finalised.

He then went directly into an attack of Dumbledore, himself. He covered how Dumbledore had already failed in his duties as magical guardian to ensure Harry was not mistreated while under the so-called care of his muggle relatives; presented evidence from the goblins that Dumbledore had not been in to see the Potter Senior Account Keeper concerning the Potter fortune, let alone properly manage the gold and investments, as he had claimed to have done; already provided evidence before the Wizengamot he did not have time to handle all his responsibilities regarding magical guardianship, to whit Dumbledore's own testimony Harry was not ready to take up the affairs of his House; argued how Dumbledore could not possibly have time to handle the current duties he had of Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of Hogwarts, let alone tack on magical guardianship again; and slickly and effectively turned almost all of Dumbledore's arguments back upon him.

"In conclusion, Acting Chief Warlock Ogden," he wrapped up, "Questions are already being raised within the media and among the populace as to how the Wizengamot could possibly have erred so badly as to hand magical guardianship to Mister Dumbledore, in the first place. Please, do not add to that by giving Dumbledore guardianship, once more. Especially when Mister Potter has done nothing to show he is incapable of taking care of himself, his ladies and their needs." And sat down.

After a few moments of muttering among the assembled, Ogden said, "Yes, well." He raised his gavel and banged it once. "We'll retire to make our deliberations."

The Wizengamot rose, almost as one, and filed out of the room.

As soon as they left, Stewart turned to Harry and said, "Depending on how much Dumbledore bribed the members, you've won this."

"Bribed?" asked Harry, a little shocked.

"Yes, Harry; bribed," replied his solicitor. He looked over to Dumbledore and could see the old man sitting as relaxed as could be. That, more than Ackerman's words, worried him.

The members returned more than half an hour later. To Harry, it felt as if they were gone for hours.

Once everyone was seated again, Ogden called for both parties to rise.

Looking at them both, he said, "We have deliberated long and hard to reach a decision that is best for Mister Potter's best interests. To that end, it is the decision of this body to... allow Mister Potter to retain his emancipation."

That brought forth a number of muttering voices from behind. Some shocked by the outcome; others clearly believing no other choice was expected. Harry turned and grinned at his two bondmates before quickly turning back again. A quick glance at Dumbledore showed the man to be both quite surprised and angry at the declaration.

Looking directly at him, the Acting Chief Warlock asked, "Mister Potter, only to sate an old man's curiosity, if the decision had fallen against you, how soon would you have finalised your bonds?"

Harry frowned at the question but answered as honestly as he could. "It would have made no difference. I, personally, would not have re-sought emancipation using the bonds. That would have been grossly unfair to my two ladies; and to myself."

Nodding, Ogden said, "Well said. And yet further evidence Mister Potter is worthy to be emancipated."

Banging his gavel once, the Acting Chief Warlock said, "We are adjourned."

Harry rose and was about to go directly to his bondmates' sides when, instead, he hurried to the benches and offered his hand to Ogden.

Surprised, Ogden rose, leaned over and took the offered hand, before they shook. "Thank you, Sir," Harry said with emotion.

"You're quite welcome, Mister Potter," Ogden replied with a smile. Neither noticed the flash of a wizarding camera as both stood there with their hands clasped.

As the three, with Deece, made their way out of the courtroom, standing just outside the door was Sirius with a huge grin on his face.

"Sirius!" cried Harry, dashing the couple of feet forward to wrap his godfather in a hug. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday evening," replied Sirius. "This morning, I was in discussions with Amelia Bones, going over memories and what not."

"It's done then?" asked Harry, full of hope. "You're officially free?"

"Yep," his godfather beamed back with a huge grin. "I came down here and hid in the back just in case the case went against you. If Dumbledore had been successful in getting your emancipation overturned, I was all set to claim guardianship of you myself. You had nothing to fear, but I couldn't let you know that."

"Don't worry about it," Harry gushed. "I'm just glad you're back and free."

"That I am, pup!" his godfather enthusiastically said. "And, I hear, it's all thanks to you."

"Oh! No, Sirius," replied Harry, startled. He turned to his two bondmates and ushered them forward. "It's all thanks to these two lovely ladies."

"Daphne, mainly," corrected Hermione. "She's the one who brought her father in. And he's the one who organised the solicitors for us."

Harry indicated Stewart and introduced him. "Sirius," he said. "This is Stewart Ackerman, solicitor par excellence. He and his partner, Margaret Pentridge, are the ones who planned it all out to get you free."

Sirius stepped forward and shook Stewart's hand. "Thank you," he gushed.

"Think nothing of it, Mister Black," replied Stewart, smiling. "It's all part of the service Mister Potter, here, has retained us to accomplish." Turning to Harry, he said, "Until next time, Mister Potter." And, with a nod and smile to all, he departed.

Sirius turned to Deece and said, "Madam Greengrass; you have my thanks. The House of Black is in your debt."

"No, Mister Black, it's not," disagreed Deece. "My husband, Matthias, was just the go-between for Harry and Ackerman. Harry, my daughter, and Miss Granger are the heroes, here."

"Stewart... Mister Ackerman and I came up with a cunning plan to use the hearing from a couple of weeks ago to make it public you were innocent. We just enacted that plan," explained Harry. "You've actually been considered exonerated of all charges and deemed free since then. It's just that no one could get in touch with you, what with the owl block wards or whatever."

"I was in the Tahitian Islands," explained Sirius. "The Blacks have a private holiday home, there. I'd forgotten about the mail blocks. They were put in by a previous Head of House to stop mail turning up while he was on holiday. He liked his isolation."

"Well, I have to get these three back to Hogwarts," interrupted Deece. "Besides, we're making a bit of a spectacle of ourselves standing here."

Sirius nodded and looked back at Harry before he said, "I've got something to send you. It's a way for us to better keep in touch. I'll send it as soon as I settle back in London."

Harry and Hermione both knew he was referring to the communication mirror. "Sounds good," said Harry.

"In the meantime, I've got to get to Gringotts to sort out the Black finances," explained Sirius. "Look for my owl."

"Will do," replied Harry, as Deece led them back upstairs to the atrium to Floo back to Hogsmeade.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

The plan for facing the dragon in the first task was polished, with Harry practicing the charms and curses he needed for the various plans and alternates, in the Room of Requirement.

Sirius's mirror arrived via owl a couple of days later, as he'd promised.

The three were in Charms when young Colin Creevey came in with a note for Professor Flitwick.

Accepting the note and glancing over at Harry, the diminutive Professor said, "It seems you're needed for the wand-weighing ceremony, Mister Potter. You're excused for the rest of the class."

Harry nodded back and packed up his school work. Young Colin stood by, excited, and almost hopping from foot to foot as Harry packed up.

Once ready, Harry gave his girls a quick hug while they whispered words of being careful about Rita Skeeter, and he followed young Mister Creevey to the same abandoned classroom he remembered from the previous time.

When he walked in the three champions were standing together off to one side, quietly chatting. Ludo Bagman was, as expected, sitting with Skeeter on one of the chairs that were set up for a photo shoot. The photographer, Harry couldn't remember his name - Bozo, or something - was standing apart, fiddling with his camera.

"Ah! Mister Potter," gushed Bagman. "Our fourth champion!"

"I'm not a bloody champion, Useless! You know that!" Harry growled back. "I'm an unwilling competitor, only."

As he was growling back at Bagman, Skeeter had sidled forward and said, "Mister Potter. It's nice to finally meet you." She grabbed his arm and started to drag him aside. "Perhaps we can..."

That was as far as she got before Harry's hand snapped across and, none gently, ripped Skeeter's fingers off her grip on his arm. "Get your hands off me, woman," he snarled.

"Oh! Errr... of course, Mister Potter," she stuttered. "I was just wondering if I might have a quiet word before we began the... official interviews. I'm sure you understand," she gushed, getting her equilibrium back.

Harry gave a short sharp nod and walked into the corner of the room. Skeeter quickly caught up.

Once she'd rejoined him, and before she could begin to even pull out her 'Quik-quotes' quill, Harry quietly but firmly said, "Listen up, Skeeter. I know what sort of shit masquerading as news you write. As you're now no doubt aware, I have retained legal counsel specialising in slander and libel. They'll be very interested in what you want to write as I've given them carte blanche to go for the jugular of any reporter who writes bullshit about me."

Skeeter had frozen in place when Harry began to talk. She was looking a little afraid, but it clearly wasn't enough. Then Harry leaned closer, right into her comfort zone, and growled, "And when they're done with you, I'm going to take great pleasure in crushing you like a little bug. Something like a water beetle, perhaps?"

As he spoke, Skeeter went white and looked a little faint. She didn't utter a word.

"If you write the truth about me, Skeeter," he said leaning back again. "No matter how embarrassing it is, you and I won't have a problem. But you write one word of a lie... Well, I believe the Daily Prophet will be looking for a new gossipmonger. Am I clear?"

Skeeter gaped at him like a fish, for a few moments.

Glaring back, Harry growled, "Am... I... Clear... Miss Skeeter?"

The witch quickly nodded back and stuttered, "Y-yes, Mister Potter."

Relaxing his face from its glare, Harry then added the carrot from the stick. He said, "Good. Now, if you prove you can behave yourself, then I'll give you the odd exclusive interview, now and then."

That roused the witch-reporter, whose eyes suddenly gleamed.

Recognising the expression, Harry nodded back and said, "Finally, do you have any questions for me?"

Skeeter quickly reached into her oversized pursed and drew out the Quik-quotes quill.

"Miss Skeeter..." he growled.

Almost jumping in fright, Skeeter quickly jammed the lime green quill back in her bag and withdrew a normal dicta-quill, and set it going. Harry waited for her.

Once she was ready, she hesitantly asked, "Now, Mister Potter. How did you feel the night your name... mysteriously... came out of the Goblet of Fire."

"At first, shock. I, of course, had not entered my name, so it coming out of the Goblet was completely unexpected.

"Next, anger. I had warned Dumbledore that I feared my name would come out of the Goblet. Clearly, he's so full of his own self-importance he thought he knew better than me, a simple fourth year student. He was wrong. A situation in which he is often found.

"Third, fear. I'm a fourth year student in a competition designed with seventh year students, in mind. I simply do not have the education obviously planned for when whatever the tasks are were designed. Clearly, someone wants me to fail and, probably, die in one of these tasks. Or, at the very least, see me stripped of my magic.

"I see my unwilling entrance into the Tri-Wizard Tournament as nothing less than yet another attempt to do me harm.

"Yes," replied Skeeter, though no reply was required. Harry knew she was just using the break to think of her next question.

"How do you feel of your chances?" she asked.

"In what way?" Harry asked right back. "In winning? Zero. I don't even care what scores I receive, so I'm certainly not trying to win. My only goal is to survive this accursed event. And, my chances of accomplishing that, I just don't know."

"I see," she said, watching the dicta-quill finish writing it's last few lines. "How do your bondmates feel about you being a champion?"

"Your question is a nonsense, Miss Skeeter," he replied. "I am not a champion; ergo, they don't think anything of it."

"Sorry. As a competitor, I mean," she corrected.

"They want me to live, of course," he replied. "Just as I, they hope for me to survive this stupidity masked as a spectator event. We are united in this."

"And how is life as someone bonded to two witches?" she asked.

"That is irrelevant to the Tri-Wizard Tournament, Miss Skeeter," he snapped back. "Keep your questions relevant to that event."

With a quick moue of frustration, Skeeter was about to ask her next question when Dumbledore entered with Barty Crouch Senior, the other two Heads and Garrick Ollivander in tow.

Dumbledore, spotting him talking to Skeeter, quickly hurried over and gripped Harry by the elbow, intent in tugging him away.

Harry, already expecting the move, quickly grasped Dumbledore by his wrist, broke the hold on his elbow and, pivoting, used his grip to flip Dumbledore over onto his back, pinning him to the floor with an arm lock and his foot on his neck pinning the old man's head down.

"Bloody hell, Dumbledore!" Harry barked out, releasing his grip and stepping away. "I bloody warned you not to suddenly grab hold of me like that! You're damned lucky I didn't dislocate your shoulder! Don't ever attack me like that, again!"

There was a flash of wizarding camera flash, as Harry stepped away.

'That'll be front page tomorrow,' thought Harry, hiding his grin.

Madam Maxime, while staring in shock at Harry, helped the old man to his feet while he rubbed his neck where Harry's shoe was pressed down.

"Monsieur Potier," she gasped. "Was zat completely necessary?"

"Yes, Headmistress," he replied. "I react badly to being physically assaulted. It comes from being raised in an abusive household, where I was continuously beaten and whipped just for being the son of my aunt's sister. I thought I was being attacked."

"I was not attacking you, Harry," Dumbledore firmly spoke out. "I was simply trying to get you away from the... influences of Miss Skeeter."

"Ah!" said Harry. "Well, as I'm an emancipated minor, you again overstepped the bounds of your authority. As such, you getting yourself tossed to the floor when I defended myself from your physical assault, was your own fault."

In the very uncomfortable silence, Bagman interjected with a falsely cheerful voice. "Well, now that the excitement has passed, shall we get on with it?"

After that, the 'Weighing of the Wands' went as in the previous timeline; except Harry refused having an individual photo taken, nor being placed in the middle of the shot. When the photographer asked for a shot of 'the champions on their own', Harry stepped out of the shot and stood behind Madam Maxime... though Dumbledore kept trying to shepherd him back... frustrating the photographer, no end.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Finally, the day of the first task dawned bright and clear. Harry had advised Diggory three days earlier that they'd be facing dragons in the first task, as he had done in the previous timeline. He also mentioned how transfiguring multiple rocks into 'creatures' that would distract the dragon would be a better idea than just one creature the dragon could devour or fry in an instant.

Instead of heading directly to the Ravenclaw table for breakfast, Harry headed to the head table. There, he stopped just off the dais and clearly spoke. "So, Headmaster," he called. "You still feel I have to participate in this farce?"

With a frown, Dumbledore said, "Perhaps we should take this to my office, Harry."

"Perhaps not," replied Harry. "This is, after all, a public spectacle. It's not all that much different to the lions and Christians in the Colosseum of Rome, is it not?" Without waiting for a response he continued, "Now, so everyone knows, do you still demand I participate in this farce?"

With his near-patented grandfatherly sigh, Dumbledore said, "Yes, Harry; I'm afraid you must."

"And if I don't?" he asked.

"Then you would lose your magic," replied Dumbledore.

With a slow nod, Harry said, "It is my understanding the first task usually involves the competitor facing a very dangerous magical creature. That anyone who cared to look could see four dragons poorly hidden within the Forbidden Forest from the Astronomy Tower, last night, means it's not hard to figure out each champion will be facing one of the beasts, each.

"So, Headmaster, I believe it is prudent for me to advise you in advance; any and all beasts set before me in one of these tasks, you can consider forfeit. If you put it in my way; I'm quite likely to kill it. That also includes sentient creatures. You have been warned."

Before Dumbledore could respond, Harry spun about and walked down the Hall to sit with his bondmates at the Ravenclaw table.

Dumbledore quickly rose and stormed from the Hall through the staff entrance; Snape following in his wake.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Immediately before lunch, Harry returned to the apartment to change into his competitor robes that Dobby had brought him. Looking at them, he saw they were in Gryffindor colours and had the Hogwarts and Gryffindor crests on the breast.

Indicating them to his bondmates, he asked, "Are you seeing this?"

"We are," replied Daphne. "But, why are they there?"

"It's Dumbledore's work," sighed Hermione. "He still wants everyone to believe that Harry is a champion for Hogwarts, and that he's a Gryffindor."

"Not going to happen," muttered Daphne. She stepped forward and waved her wand a couple times over the robes. At first, they altered to plain black without the crests. However, after a few moments, they reverted back.

"They're heavily charmed," she said. "I cannot force the change."

"Then I don't wear them, at all," Harry firmly stated. "We'll reconfigure a different set of robes and I'll wear those, instead."

He turned and walked to his wardrobe, pulling out a set of plain work robes and laying them on the bed next to the set left by Dumbledore. Concentrating, he forced them into a near copy of the robes that had been left for him. However, this set was dark green.

"Diggory will wear black robes trimmed with yellow, Delacour will wear light blue robes and Krum will wear grey with red trim," he explained. "Therefore, I chose something with a green base."

Daphne then stepped forward and configured a Potter crest to appear over the breast. Pleased with what he was seeing, Harry smirked and configured twinned Greengrass and Granger crests to appear side-by-side directly below the Potter crest, so the three formed a bit of a triangle.

"I have a crest?" asked Hermione looking at the Granger crest in surprise.

Harry snickered and replied, "Almost every family, whether magical or muggle, does. It wasn't hard to find a Granger crest. The difficulty was in discovering which of the various ones was yours. Your father helped me with that."

"What're those tiny things on the white inverted 'V' on yours?" she asked.

Trying not to laugh, Harry replied, "The white inverted 'V' is actually referred to as a chevron. And 'those things', as you described them, are actually sable tails. It's to signify that the white is actually sable, rather than just white."

While Harry was describing the crests Daphne was looking at the front of the robes and frowning a little. Suddenly, she grinned and created a fourth crest. This one appeared on the left sleeve, about four inches below the point of the shoulder. It was the Black family crest. A further wave of her wand and a 'blank' crest appeared on the other breast across from the first three. The banner directly under it read 'Unaligned'.

Picking the robes up and flipping them over, she then created a banner across the back of them. The banner would be perfectly aligned to appear across the back of Harry's shoulders.

I'm Looking for a New School

Owl Me!

Harry laughed and gleefully stated, "That's perfect!"

"Hang on a bit," muttered Daphne. She then worked a small set of runes into the border and into the edging of each crest.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"It stops someone changing it to something else, or simply removing it. I just pinched the idea from Dumbledore's attempt on those other competitor's robes," she said with a moue of distaste and a gesture at the ones Dobby had brought.

Chuckling, Harry hurriedly donned the new robes and the three made their way down to the Great Hall for lunch.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

Walking in to the Great Hall, there was little change until some of the older students, sitting at the back of the Hall could see what was written across the back of Harry's shoulders. Then there was stunned silence. Within moments, there was a lot of hurried whispering among the students. Some even rose from their seats to come over and have a better look. Many were clearly in disbelief at what was written.

Professor McGonagall, curious herself, came down to take a look. With an almost horrified expression on her face, she turned about and hurried back to the head table. A few moments of whispered conversation with the Headmaster, and Dumbledore came down to look for himself. The three bondmates chose to ignore it all, and just partook of their lunch.

"Mister Potter, what is the meaning of this?" asked the Headmaster to Harry's back.

Setting down his cutlery, Harry turned about and asked, "What is the meaning of what, Headmaster Dumbledore?"

"What you have written on your back?" asked Dumbledore. Harry saw Dumbledore then see the front of the robes and frown. "Those are not the robes you were sent to wear."

"Ah," said Harry, pretending to understand. "You sent those robes?"

"I did," replied the old man.

"Well, sir; I refused to wear them as they represented a lie. I am not the Hogwarts' Champion, so to wear the Hogwarts crest was wrong. I am not a member of Gryffindor, so wearing the Gryffindor crest was wrong, as was wearing Gryffindor colours.

"Further, I had no idea where they came from. And, as they were heavily charmed, I could not trust them. So, I and my ladies prepared a new set." Looking down he indicated, "I chose green because the ladies like me wearing that colour. According to them, it enhances my eyes. As I'm not representing any particular school I see no reason to wear a school crest. The blank crest represents that I'm unaligned to a school. Instead, we came up with the idea of wearing the Potter, Greengrass and Granger crests with the Black crest on the sleeve as an aligned House.

"And the banner across the back is a bit of advertising showing that I'm looking for offers from other schools to attend the rest of my schooling there. This sort of thing occurs all the time in the muggle world, and we decided to adopt the idea. Ingenious, wouldn't you say?"

"No, Mister Potter, I would not," scowled Dumbledore. He quickly drew his wand from his belt and gave it a quick swish over Harry. For only a bare moment, almost missed, Harry's robes changed to what was in the apartment. However, that bare short moment was all. They immediately reverted back to what Harry wore as he walked into the Hall.

Harry and both girls drew their own wands and pointed them back at the Headmaster. "Cast a spell over me again, Headmaster Dumbledore... without first explaining it, in detail, and gaining my permission... I shall consider it an attack and retaliate. You may expect lethal force to be used. Back down!"

Those close by who heard Harry's proclamation gasped in shock.

Dumbledore scowled and forcefully shoved his wand back into his belt. "Get rid of it!" he demanded.

"You have no right to make such a demand, Headmaster Dumbledore," retorted Harry. "I have already informed you I'll be seeking to complete my schooling at another education institution. I remain only due to my unwilling participation in the farce you call a Tri-Wizard Tournament. And, you are bound by that same contract to provide me houseroom for the duration.

"In other words, I no longer consider you my Headmaster. You are the Headmaster of a school for which I no longer consider myself a student."

"You cannot just walk out on magical Britain, Mister Potter," ground out Dumbledore, as Professor McGonagall stood there looking horrified.

"I can't?" smirked Harry. Still standing, he looked around the Great Hall at all the students sitting there, watching the drama play out before them. "In my second year, many of you idiots... well, except for the current crop of first and second years... spent almost the whole year calling me the Heir of Slytherin, and claiming I was a dark lord who had released Slytherin's monster upon you all. You behaved most appallingly. It was, without any doubt, bullying. That the staff here did nothing to stop it when they knew damned well it was occurring is, quite frankly, disgusting.

"I assure you, in the muggle world, they have laws against this sort of thing. The muggleborn and raised can confirm that for you. Those laws would have been immediately enacted, and the entirety of the staff would have been, up to and including, arrested and charged for it.

"Many of you refused to believe it was me. You even raised the logical points that I could not be the Heir as I was the victim of the one who laid claim to that title, Tom Marvolo Riddle. However, you too found yourselves shunned. For that, I thank you.

"However," he continued, as he began walking around the tables, "There were some of you who did far more harm than your school mates." He looked to Susan Bones and said, "Miss Bones, for instance, completely forgot that there existed an alliance between House Potter and House Bones. I wonder what her aunt would say if I was to tell her that I declare the alliance terminated due to the behaviour of her niece, the next Head of her House, towards me."

The fourth Year Hufflepuff, Susan Bones, suddenly turned white in fear and shock. "No!" she squeaked.

Harry smirked at her, "I have sufficient cause, Miss Bones. Your behaviour saw to that. Plus, even after you knew the truth, you never apologised for your disgusting behaviour. Even when you witnessed others doing it, as a reminder to you."

Turning to face others, he indicated them and said, "The same goes for Mister Corner and House Corner; Mister McMillan and House McMillan; Miss Brocklehurst and House Brocklehurst; and others.

"But, what many of you should know... and probably don't... is that I am also Heir Black. That means, all those who have alliances with House Black, are in the same leaky boat. The current Head of House Black, Sirius Black, has just taken up his Headship. He's also my godfather.

"That means... right now... I can ask him to call all debts due because of the actions of those who are Heirs of Houses owing Houses Potter and/or Black. I can terminate those alliances for cause.

"But, you didn't just slander me in my second year, did you? Did any of you not consider I would very likely hear of your words and behaviour concerning me, this year? I'm well aware what will happen if I decide to call those debts due. I'm well aware many of your families will instantly become paupers. Are you? I will, almost literally, own you."

Turning back to Dumbledore, he smirked and said, "As for you, Headmaster Dumbledore, there are so many families that, once I tell them how their heirs behaved towards me in my second year and so far this year, they're going to bend over backwards to give me what I want. Many of them you probably consider your allies.

"However, if I was to make demands of them because of those debts, how many of them will side with you against me? How hard would it really be for me to demand of them a vote of no confidence in you as both Chief Warlock and Supreme Mucketymuck?"

Allowing his face to morph into a glare, he said, "Annoy me any further and we'll both find out. And, just think, you could have stopped it all from happening right from the start. All you had to do was stand up at one of the meals, said a few words about how you knew I wasn't the heir of Slytherin, and that someone else was responsible for the attacks, and you'd have stopped their bullying of me. That you didn't means I can now use it against you."

Dumbledore stood there in shock and not a little fear. Professor McGonagall was likewise stunned.

"But, of course, you were arguing that I couldn't just walk out on magical Britain, as you put it," continued Harry. "The way this student body has behaved towards me... the way I was continually verbally abused by someone on your staff you claim has your complete trust and whatever... the way blood bigots were freely allowed, even encouraged, to spew their vitriol and denigrate and abuse others... the way I have, at times, been slandered in the Daily Prophet and on the WWN... have all, as examples, more than adequately shown me that there'll be no great loss to the wizarding world if the Dork Lard, Mouldysnot or whatever silly name he chooses to use, does return and burns the bloody lot to the ground.

"I know you and Tom Riddle both happen to believe, somehow, I have some important role yet to play in the destruction of old Voles-In-His-Shorts. But, when you look at it from my point of view, why the Hell should I care? No one has given me reason to do so; and, as aforementioned, every reason to feel the opposite. With the exception of my godfather, Miss Granger, the Greengrass family, Miss Lovegood here, Mister Longbottom, Miss Davies, Mister Zabini, Mister Urqhart, and some of the Weasley family, I couldn't care any less about everyone else than I do now.

"That's why I have no hesitation in leaving, Headmaster. You've made it easy for me." Harry turned to his two bondmates and said, "I suppose it's time for me to go and slay a dragon. Coming?"

The two girls stood with matching grins, and joined Harry as he strode from the Hall on the way down to the new enclosure erected for the task. As they walked out they left behind uproar. There were quite a few crying, quite a few ranting at their House and school mates, others were ranting at the teaching staff; a few immediately left the Great Hall to run as fast as they could to the owlery to send off urgent missives. The bondmates just laughed about it all.

Dumbledore hadn't moved from his spot, wondering how all his plans had collapsed around him; and not being able to do a damned thing to get them back, again. The worst part for him was Harry had quite clearly shown him exactly the places where he erred; exactly how it was his own damned fault.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—

The draw occurred no different than the first time around; which surprised Harry. Considering the various permutations in how the draw could have happened he was starting to believe there were certain events that would occur no matter how much he tried to change things. Yet again, Harry had the meanest dragon of all and was the fourth competitor to enter the enclosure.

Walking in once his name was called he looked down the arena at the Hungarian Horntail and smirked at it. Sizing it up, he reached into one of the pockets of his robes and drew out a roll of cloth. The cloth was charmed to be impermeable and unbreakable. Walking closer to the dragon, he allowed the cloth to open right out within his hand.

When he reached a spot as close as he was willing to go from watching how the dragon was now watching him, he flung the cloth into the air before him and levitated it up and over the dragon's head. He cast a quick Engorgio charm on it and, with a double flick and a swish, caused it to wind tight around the snout of the dragon, making sure it's nostrils were also covered. As the dragon immediately tried to shake it off, Harry cast a reducing charm on the cloth, causing it to pull very tight.

It didn't take long. The dragon began to stagger, so Harry hit its legs with an overpowered Incarcerous, causing its rear legs to bind tight to one another in heavy ropes. A few moments later, the dragon toppled over onto its side and lay there, weakly struggling.

Harry then calmly walked over to the dragon's nest and removed from it the golden egg he was tasked with 'recovering', before walking back to his previous spot.

From there, he then vanished the ropes from the beast's legs before then vanishing the impervious cloth from around its snout.

He waited a few moments to see if the dragon would move, especially around its chest area, but it lay perfectly still.

Moving his wand tip to his throat, he cast the Sonorus charm. "As the slayer of this dragon... and, as it is not currently on a registered and acknowledged dragon reserve... I hereby claim the carcass as is my right as the slayer of the beast. No one is to touch it without my express permission, in advance. Quietus!"

Without awaiting either acknowledgement or denial, he turned and calmly walked out of the enclosure. He walked past five gob-smacked dragon handlers waiting to come in to remove the beast. Of course, their efforts were no longer required. "It looks like you'll only be taking back three dragons, boys," he said as he walked past. "This one is mine."

Two of the dragon handlers took off to look at the dragon. After waving his wand over its head, one of the handlers looked back at Harry in shock and anger. "You killed it!" he exclaimed.

"Yes. Yes, I did," smirked Harry. "And, as you heard me claim, it's mine. Now, leave it alone!" And he left the arena, returning to the champions' tent.

As soon as he stepped through Madam Pomfrey was trying to order him onto a bed.

"Madam Pomfrey, I'm fine," sighed Harry. "It didn't come anywhere near me."

After she frowned and scanned him a few times, she huffed and said, "It appears you can avoid getting injured when you want to, Mister Potter. I'm actually a little amazed to say that."

Harry impishly grinned back.

Just as he was looking across to see the other three competitors, in rushed Hermione and Daphne. Both girls grapple-hugged him.

"Gods, Harry!" exclaimed Daphne. "You made that look easy!"

"Yes. It's supposed to be quite the feat for a single wizard to defeat a full adult dragon; and you just took it down with only a few spells!" gushed Hermione.

"That's because most wizards are idiots!" Harry calmly replied. "They try and attack the beast through its magic-resistant hide. And that's just stupid."

Next in through the flap of the tent were Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.

"Harry, there was really no need to kill that beast," Dumbledore glared at him. "Your task was to get past the dragon; not kill it!"

"And I made it quite clear to you, Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry shot back while cuddling a witch in each arm, "If you put a creature in front of me at any time during these tasks, I'm probably going to kill it. There's nothing in the rules that specifically state I have to leave the beast alive. Plus, this way, I've picked myself up a nice bit of pocket change for the Potter vaults.

"Please do thank the dragon handlers for bringing me one from off the protected reserves though, won't you, Headmaster?" he snarked. "This way, I get to claim the carcass with all the profits I get to make from the ingredients I'll get from it when it's rendered down. I'll have a renderer here by morning."

"I'm already here, Mister Potter," called an eastern European voice Harry recognised. Turning to the voice he saw Gregor Ianovich standing just inside the tent flap. Sirius was also standing just inside, just behind him. He was grinning his head off.

"Ah! Mister Ianovich! Nu vstretilis'! Well met" Harry happily exclaimed. "I take it you're ready to set to work?"

"I am," smirked the renderer.

"Excellent!" smirked Harry right back. "Then, don't let me stop you. Oh, and don't let anyone else stop you, either."

"Never fear, Mister Potter," Ianovich calmly replied. "I haff been at this game for long time. I recognise you as rightful owner of carcass. I, after all, did see you personally kill dragon."

Harry nodded back and turned back to Dumbledore. "Well, it seems Mister Ianovich anticipated my needs and is ready to start immediately. Please make sure no one hinders him in his work. He's very protective of it."

Harry had just turned away from an angrily steaming Headmaster to join his godfather and leave when Professor McGonagall called to him. "Mister Potter, you need to re-enter the enclosure to receive your points!"

Turning back slightly, Harry said, "No, I really don't, Professor. I'm apparently contractually required to participate in the tasks. I'm not required to wait for points. I'm not even interested in the points. I'm not interested in winning this accursed competition. My only goal is to survive it. They can score me zero points, for all I care."

Turning back to his godfather, who was now holding the tent flap open, Harry and his bondmates quickly left leaving behind an angry and upset Headmaster and a stunned Deputy Headmistress.

As soon as the three teens stepped outside, Sirius followed them, letting the tent flap reclose behind him. He immediately wrapped his godson in a bear hug while laughing his head off.

"Well done, Pup!" he crowed, as he released his hold and began to herd the three back to the castle. "You've just single-handedly shown every witch and wizard, out there, how easy it is to take down a full grown dragon. That's put paid to the fallacy it takes a team of at least five working in concert."

"As I explained to Hermione, Sirius, that's because most witches and wizards are idiots," explained Harry. "Attacking the beast through its magically-resistant hide is just asking for trouble. If you can't get it through its hide, get it through its weaknesses. And, one of those weaknesses, as with almost every other air-breather out there, is cutting off its air supply suffocates it in short order."

With a large gaggle of students trailing behind, the four of them returned to the castle. Shooing the students away, once inside, the three led Sirius back to their apartment and gave him the short tour.

_‗_

—==(oIo)==—