章節 20: Chapter 20: Freedom Fun
Harry and Shiva slipped away from the castle before breakfast had even started. The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon when they walked through the doors of Gringotts. Getting escorted to Snapfist's office and exchanging greetings the trio got right down to business.
"So, what is your purpose here this morning, Warrior Potter?" Snapfist asked intertwining his fingers. "I wouldn't have expected you to...what's the human term – skive off classes – simply to come and see how your accounts are doing."
"The Ministry just forced me to enter the Triwizard Competition. They've declared that only 'of age' magicals can compete. I have a memory to back this up – with the Minister's personal representative essentially stating that I am now considered the wizarding equivalent of an adult. My magical guardian happened to be right beside her nodding his agreement," Harry said handing over a vial with the swirling memory.
Snapfist blinked. He stared at Harry, down at the vial, back at Harry and then turned to Shiva. "Truly?"
She nodded and grinned. "Yup. The kid came up with the delightful little loophole all on his own too."
Snapfist blinked again. He gingerly took the memory vial in one hand. "One moment. I will examine this and return shortly." He twisted and came just short of running out the door leaving Harry and Shiva looking at each other with raised eyebrows. They only had to wait for about five minutes before Snapfist came back in roaring with laughter and tears streaming down his eyes. There was a second older goblin with him that was also chuckling. This goblin was garbed in a finely detailed suit of ceremonial armor that was stained blood-red. He had a retinue of three guards in full plate armor behind him.
Snapfist gestured from the newcomer to Harry and the goblin stepped forwards. Harry and Shiva both stood and bowed. "May your gold ever flow," they recited.
The newcomer kept chuckling and waved away their formalities. "May your hoard be increased Warriors. I am Ragnok, Director of Gringotts. Don't worry about the formalities, Potter, Babbling. You two have sufficiently entertained and impressed me that I am comfortable with dismissing them in private."
Harry raised his eyebrows. Apparently the older goblin didn't consider armed guards private but it wasn't his place to judge so, sure, whatever.
"That was quite a fun little way around your situation you found, Potter. I do ever so love poking the Ministry. Even more so when I can use their own proclamations against them! Come, sit! Let us finish this emancipation immediately before they wise up to their mess!" Ragnok took the seat that Snapfist had vacated and the Account Manager pulled up his own chair to the side pushing several forms across to Harry and Shiva.
Harry looked at Shiva with a question in his eyes, but she seemed as clueless as to the importance of the new goblin as he was. Director sounded big, but just how big? Considering for a moment, Harry decided it wasn't an issue worth bringing up.
Glancing over the papers he pointed at one section. "Ragnok, Snapfist, this says I still need a guardian until I hit 17. What's the point of all this then?"
Ragnok waved a clawed hand. "It's unimportant as you already have your legal guardian specified. That section is primarily for the Muggle side of matters. The Muggles are quite annoying to deal with – so magical emancipation and Muggle emancipation matters are handled separately. You will be freed of needing a magical guardian, but you will still require a legal one. Babbling is still willing to fulfill that role?"
She snorted. "I'd be a pretty evil person to back out at this point."
"Then absolutely nothing changes beyond you gaining control of your person in the magical world." Ragnok slapped his hands together and gave a greedy little smile. "I so look forward to the reports from the school and the Wizengamot after this becomes public! It will make my month!" He sighed slightly and gave a little grimace. "True, it is a blow to the Nation's pride that we were beaten to the punch by a wizard…but at least you have proven yourself a capable Warrior, Potter, and Babbling has certainly shown she has more intelligence than the average witch by throwing her weight behind you. I was exceedingly impressed with the basilisk corpse. Are you certain you won't part with it?"
Harry smirked. "Sorry, Ragnok. I'm really looking forward to that part of my house's display."
"Ah well, can't blame an old goblin for trying."
Harry finished signing the forms and handing it over rubbing the back of his hand. "How did that quill work without ink?"
Shiva tapped the back of his hand. "Blood quill, Harry. They're only used in Gringotts and on extremely important magical documents. Blood bindings are powerful." She paused and grimaced. "Also, the quills can leave scars if you use it for too long at once. So don't ever let your paperwork pile up to that point. It really, freaking hurts."
Snapfist grinned at Shiva. "Speaking from experience?"
"Hey, I was a teenager. Cut me some slack yeah?" Everyone laughed at that.
"Potter," Ragnok said nodding after he put the form aside, "draw you wand, but do take care not to point it in my direction." Harry nodded and slowly drew his wand leaving it aimed at the floor beneath him. "Now, repeat after me: I, Harry James Potter, Heir to House Potter, Heir to House Black, do hereby claim my right of emancipation granted to me by the Ministry of Magic. So mote it be."
A flash of light lit up both the form and Harry as he finished the statement. A ring appeared on his finger and Harry lifted his hand to examine it as he put away his wand. The ring seemed to be a stylized version of his Invisibility Cloak with a beautiful black sapphire in the middle where the cloak's hood would be. "What's this?"
Ragnok shrugged. "Designation that you are recognized as Lord Potter, Head of House Potter. You are acquiring quite the collection of titles, little wizard." He laughed again. "Now, as to your new status, do you have any requests of your Vault or family documents or finances?"
"Err," Harry thought for a moment running his hand through his hair. "Keep the finances managed by whoever is best at investment stuff, I'd like the marriage contract between myself and Miss Weasley brought up here and I definitely want to read my parents' wills."
"Done," Ragnok said nodding. He snapped his fingers and one of the guards left the room. "I took the liberty of retrieving your mother and father's wills on my way up. James Potter's will first?"
Harry nodded and accepted the proffered document. As Harry's hand closed on it, the wax seal across the middle glowed briefly before splitting down the middle. Smiling, Harry opened the roll and started to read aloud:
Last Will and Testament of James Charlus Potter
Well if you're reading this, I guess I'm dead. That seriously sucks. Bloody hell it sucks I had to write this to being with! I'm far too young and handsome to be writing this! That was supposed to be a joke. I really hope it's not a goblin reading this because then all the humor would be lost through their monotone delivery. Though I suppose that could be entertaining in its own way…ah whatever. Onwards!
Okay, first things first, if Lily has been killed and Harry is still alive (He better be. If he's not, Dumbledore, either me or Lily will be clawing our way back out of whatever afterlife we end up in to strangle you!) then before Lily is buried I charge the executor of this will to ensure that little Harry touches my wife while holding the necklace we left him. Don't ignore this, my boy deserves a chance to say goodbye to his mother.
Now that bit of morbidity is over and done with, onto inheritance and bequeathment items. If Lily is alive, she and Harry split everything. If she didn't make it, Harry gets everything. If both are gone…well then split up the Potter assets between Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and Andromeda Tonks. Unless we happened to die in our sleep or otherwise didn't make it out of our hiding hole property. As much as I hate to admit it, if Peter didn't think we could win…I suppose he might have been convinced to let them in if they hurt him. In that case, just make sure you investigate him before giving him any of my assets. Same with Remus. I don't think Remus has switched sides but I'd rather be safe than sorry just in case.
Okay so final piece of business, Harry's placement. If Lily is gone then this is the order of who gets custody:
-Sirius Black: Godfather. Siri, raise him with enough humor to have fun but make sure he doesn't become as bad as you or me.
-Alice and Frank Longbottom: Godmother; House Potter Allies. Hey Harry and Neville can be basically brothers!
-Andromeda and Ted Tonks: Family friends of both the Potters and Sirius. Dora, take care of your little cousin.
-Amelia Bones: Family friend. Amy, I know you were sweet on Sirius so maybe use this as an excuse to finally lock the old dog down eh?
-Minerva McGonagall: Respected mentor. Min…try to loosen up with the boy, okay?
-Any orphanage or willing family. With the exception of any Death Eater family. Arm inspections in this case are mandatory.
-DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVE MY CHILD WITH PETUNIA AND VERNON DURSLEY! When Lily comes home practically spitting fire and disowned her remaining family there's a bloody good reason for it. She may not have given me all the details but when someone practically demands you not have a baby because he's liable 'to be a freak like his mother' then I don't need more details. Those people are lucky I promised a year ago not to hurt them. I'd sooner leave Harry with Marcus Greengrass at this point than Petunia.
So anyway, I think that about covers things. Hopefully this thing will be completely rewritten before it ever gets used. Tata, and good luck to those left behind. Harry, I love you, son.
Harry blinked away a slight sheen from his eyes as he finished the letter. Shiva gave him a small smile and a short hug while Ragnok and Snapfist just looked at each other mildly intrigued.
"Is it normal for wizards to request their spawn fondle the deceased? I haven't attended many Will readings but that never seemed to come up in those I do remember," Ragnok asked.
Harry frowned, fingering his necklace underneath his shirt. "Not in the Muggle world though people do tend to cry on the coffins a lot. Maybe it's a Pureblood custom?"
"None that I've heard of," Shiva said slowly. "What was that about a necklace?"
Harry pulled it out of his shirt and showed it to her. The little piece of gold jewelry with the intertwined L, J and H wasn't particularly impressive or ostentatious. "Guess it means this. I think," he shrugged. "This was in the box in the attic with my mum's books. I only really take it off when I shower or sleep and it's always under my shirt otherwise. I'm not surprised you haven't noticed it. It's not like I go waving the thing around."
Shiva frowned and reached out to touch the necklace. "It doesn't seem like anything magic or whatnot but I can't imagine James specifically mentioning it if it wasn't important. Do you think your mum used an interaction between it and herself to anchor whatever protection ritual she used on you?"
Harry frowned thinking it over as he slipped the metal back inside his shirt. "I guess it's possible. I doubt there'd be anything left at this point though since it's been so long…maybe we should try it?"
Ragnok cut into the conversation, "Do you wish Gringotts to exhume Lily Potter to complete this aspect of the will?"
Harry and Shiva both grimaced. He shook his head, "Shiva, Snapfist, Ragnok, you guys have been in this world a lot longer than me. Should we? I'd...really like to avoid desecrating my mum's grave if there's little point in it."
Shiva sat back and crossed her arms. "Well, Harry, I've never heard of any type of magic that could stay in a ready, steady-state for decades after the caster's death. Maybe Merlin or Morgana but no one in the past few hundred years. Even Dumbledore's spells probably wouldn't last longer than a week or two tops with the proper anchoring. Your mother was brilliant but I doubt she was brilliant enough to do that."
"But the protection she cast still works?" Harry said frowning.
"It does, but as I understand it, it's tied into whatever is carved into your forehead, Harry. It's not a spell she cast – it had to have been a ritual of some sort. That's a lot different than anything that could finish anchoring by touching her body with a catalyst," Shiva said shaking her head. "Like the Egyptians. They used already anchored wards; nothing that was temporary."
Harry turned to Ragnok and the goblin shrugged. "I make no claims to understand the particulars of wizard magic, Potter. I can however tell you that we have never seen something like this before in my years nor are there any stories passed down about a similar occurrence."
Harry nodded and leaned back, running a hand through his hair. "Nobody's ever survived the killing curse either though and Mum figured out how to make that work out. Okay. How about we do it over the summer holidays? If it's something that lasted this long then another few months won't make any difference. I need to focus on the Tournament right now and I'm not going to be able to do that if I keep seeing visions of my mother's skeleton every time I close my eyes," Harry said shuddering.
"You sure, Harry?" Shiva asked leaning over and squeezing his knee in support.
Harry nodded and scowled. "This wouldn't even be an issue if Dumbledore hadn't sealed the Will to begin with. Yet another thing I can lay at his feet. Let's move on to her will."
The goblins shrugged and handed over the second document.
Last Will and Testament of Lily Evans Potter.
Well this is just awful all around. I'm 21 and writing my will. Oh well, that's the hazard of pissing off a madman I suppose. It could be worse after all. I can't seriously believe I just wrote that…ugh, now it's almost guaranteed to be worse.
Let's move on. If Harry is still kicking and googoo-gaga-ing (he better be or I'm dragging someone to Hell) then at least part of my plan will have worked. I can't say I'm too surprised most of it failed, I basically invented an entire branch of new magic to make it work and it's not like it could be tested beforehand. Hiding like a rat in a sinking ship certainly removes most opportunities for appropriate experimentation. Oh well, at least I tried. Better than most people these days it seems.
As to distributing my assets. If James hasn't gotten sick of me yet then split my stuff between him and Harry with 75% going to Harry. If he has, then everything goes to Harry regardless of which family my boy ended up in. If both are gone…I suppose I should give all my assets to Nymphadora Tonks. I always liked that girl and she adored Harry so she deserves it.
Now. Custody for Harry. Here's the order:
-Sirius Black: Godfather. Sirius Black, if you raise my little boy to be as much of a prankster as yourself and James I will beat your arse after you cross and don't think I don't mean that!
-Alice and Frank Longbottom: Godmother; House Potter Allies. Alice, I know you'll take good care of him. And you always said that you wished Neville would have a sibling one day.
-Andromeda and Ted Tonks: Family friends of both the Potters and Sirius. Nymphadora, take care of him and watch over him like you promised me a few months ago.
-Amelia Bones: Family friend. Amy, you're one of the few Pureblood witches I've met who regularly uses logic. How scary is that? If we're this far down the list you should probably see the writing on the wall and get the hell out of the country with Harry.
-Minerva McGonagall: Respected mentor. Min, same warning as Sirius but inverted. I don't want Harry to be a strict disciplinarian any more than I want him to be a horrible prankster!
-Any orphanage or willing family with priority given to Squibs and Half-blood families. Zero family of any Death Eaters or Voldemort sympathizers. Arm inspections in this case are mandatory as are full financial checks to see where their money was funneled recently.
-DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES LEAVE MY CHILD WITH PETUNIA AND VERNON DURSLEY! I swear to Heaven and Hell, Merlin and Morgana, God and Goddess I will tear limb from limb anyone who leaves my little boy with my sister! She is no longer any family of mine and I will see the world burn before I let that horrible excuse of a man touch my child! Jealousy is one thing but she has gone beyond the pale. She can have Harry the day I can eat a snow cone with the Devil!
Well, I think I've hit on the important points. Harry, honey, I love you and I know you'll grow up to be a wonderful and kind man. Don't listen to the bigots, baby. They're idiots, the lot of them. Forge your own path and if people won't let you…well you can always just go make your own island or something and invite your friends along. Magic is awesome that way. Take care of yourself, son.
Harry laughed softly as he put down his mum's Will and wiped his eyes. "Sounds like Mum was getting rather annoyed and strained huh? I wish she was still around so I could see what she'd do to Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon."
"And Dumbledore for leaving you there, kid," Shiva said with a soft smile. "She sounded like a bit of firecracker."
Ragnok nodded. "I actually had the pleasure of meeting Lily Evans shortly before her age of majority. She was one of the very few humans I liked. She tended to rant about certain wizards as much as any goblin did! I must say, Potter, it is refreshing to see you inherited that aspect from your parent."
"Thanks...I think," Harry said shrugging. The door to the meeting room opened again and the guard reentered holding the marriage contract. He passed it to Ragnok before resuming his position against the wall with his fellows.
Ragnok held up the contract and raised an eyebrow, "Shall I destroy this now, Potter?"
"Actually," Harry said holding up a hand, "I'd like to take it back to the school with me. I have zero intention of signing it but I do want to ask Ginny if she wants the protection of making sure she can't be entered into a marriage without her consent."
Shiva frowned. "You sure, Harry? I'd recommend you just burn the thing now. What if someone potions you or something and convinces you to sign it?"
"It's either going to be ash or back in the vault by the end of the night, Shiva. I like Ginny; I'm not going to decide this without her input." His guardian sighed but nodded her acceptance.
Ragnok rubbed his hands together. "That should take care of most everything on Gringotts' end. Potter Manor will be completed in time for the winter holiday season if you wish to inspect the work then."
Harry nodded. "Okay, we might stop by. Thanks for your help, Ragnok, Snapfist."
"No, thank you, Potter. I have not been this entertained in a very long time." The old goblin's smile was unnerving and Harry was extremely thankful it wasn't directed at him. "Till we next meet. Potter, Babbling, keep the chaos going!"
He got up, chortling to himself and was almost at the door before he called back, "Oh and good luck in the Tournament, Warrior! Do yourself, your family and the Nation proud!" He walked out, followed by the guards leaving Snapfist and the humans alone again.
Snapfist breathed out. "It is not often, one obtains an audience with Ragnok the Bold. If you are willing to wait for just a bit longer I have something that I think you might be interested in, Warrior Potter. Both a bit of a gift and a business proposition."
Harry furrowed his brow in confusion. "Uh, sure. What is it?"
"One moment," the goblin snapped his fingers and a piece of paper flew out of the piles and through a slot in the wall. "It's a…creature that you may be interested in. Their natural habitat tends to be near some of our cities. Many goblins consider them something of an entertaining pet. Normally we don't bother talking about them with outsiders so they are quite rare above the surface. I thought you might be interested in purchasing one though for a mutual acquaintance."
Shiva frowned. "What sort of creature? Is this a dangerous or controlled animal?"
Snapfist snorted. "It is dangerous to sweets, nothing else." The door to the room opened once more and in walked a goblin escorting a small critter. It was on a leash and about the size of a small dog with soft brown fur. It was waddling around on four legs and idly inspecting the surroundings with its tiny wiggling nose. The muzzle seemed like a cross between a bunny and a dog. On the sides of it head, just above its small ears, were a pair of tiny curved horns. They reached around and just barely poked above the curve of its head seeming almost squashed in appearance. On the whole, the creature was one of the most adorable and cuddly things Harry had ever seen.
"What the heck is that?" Shiva asked staring wide eyed.
"This," Snapfist said with a grin and a grand gesture, "is a crumple-horned snorkack."
Harry walked into the Gryffindor Common Room with a huge grin on his face. Luna and Hermione looked up from their books while Fred, George and Neville narrowed their eyes in confusion. Luna couldn't really blame them; whenever Harry looked that happy something momentous either had just occurred or was just about to and nothing earth-shaking had happened since the Champion selection last night as far as she knew.
Luna cocked her head as she saw Harry holding a small bundle which appeared to be shifting around under the blanket. She didn't remember him leaving with a pet. Granted, she didn't remember him leaving since he had been out far too early for most decent folk but she certainly would have noticed anyway if he had taken a pet. And Crookshanks was sitting right there by the fire so he hadn't taken Crooks either. Had Harry bought a pet while he was out then? But why? And why was he only staring at her? She was the one supposed to stare, not the other way around!
"Hi, Luna. Good day so far?" Harry asked, his grin not dropping for an instant.
"Yes, Harry. It has been quite pleasant. What is in your arms?" Luna asked. People started quieting down in the Common Room as they saw something interesting happening. Luna resisted the urge to sigh. The Gryffindors may not be bullying wrackspurts like the Ravenclaws but they enjoyed their gossip far too much at times. She had honestly been rather surprised to learn that despite Lavender and Parvati's reputations as gossip queens the two were some of the politest about their chosen hobby. It seemed to be largely the upper years and Romilda Vane who were the worst of the lot.
Harry lightly stroked the blanket which quivered again in response. "Oh, this?" His grin widened even further. Luna saw Hermione cock her head off to the side and Ginny plopped down near the twins looking around in confusion.
Luna nodded. "Yes, Harry. Your package appears to be alive."
"It is," he stepping up to her. He held out his arms. "Here, she's a gift for you." Luna's dreamy expression faltered and she felt a frown of confusion slip through. A gift? Why would Harry be giving her an animal as a gift? She slowly reached out and pulled the blanket aside.
Luna's eyes widened and she let out a scream of pure, unadulterated glee. Her hands shot forward to grab the small creature and started whirling around before abruptly stopping and bringing it into her chest to cuddle. The small animal made an amused sounding snort and a tiny tongue reached out and licked her cheek. Luna let out another whoop of delight and turned back to Harry. "Harry! You found a crumple-horned snorkack! You gave me a crumple-horned snorkack! A crumple-horned snorkack!" She jumped forward and kissed both his cheeks before pulling back and holding out the tiny snorkack. It wiggled its adorable little nose at her and seemed to grin in amusement. "Oh Merlin, it's grinning at me! It's grinning! Harry, you are amazing! You are the best! There are – I don't even know enough words to describe this! I have to write a letter to Daddy immediately! It's a snorkack!" Luna – and the snorkack clinging to her chest – tore off towards the stairs to her dorm desperate to find parchment and quill.
As Luna left, barely coherent, the rest of the room stared between where she had disappeared to and Harry chuckling softly as he took her vacated seat on the couch. "Well, that went a bit better than I expected actually. I had been wondering if she'd be able to talk after I gave her the critter."
"Harry," Hermione said slowly and carefully. "Was that animal…really a crumple-horned snorkack?"
"Yup."
"Honestly?"
"Cross my heart and hope to die."
"A crumple-horned snorkack."
"Yes, Hermione." Harry was grinning like a loon at this point and his girlfriend just looked increasingly astounded.
"An actual imaginary creature?" she asked.
"Not so imaginary, it turns out," Harry said nodding along.
Hermione made a noise that Harry couldn't quite identify and drew herself closer to him. "Only you could go to Gringotts trying to get emancipated and walk away with a bloody imaginary creature," she muttered into his chest sounding despondent.
Harry just laughed and pulled her into a hug. He kept holding her until her breathing slowed down again and Harry let her drift back to simply leaning against him as he ran his hand through her hair. "Turns out, they live near the goblins. Snapfist offered to let me buy one after he heard that Luna was looking for one. They're really rare above ground and nobody ever thought to ask the goblins so most people didn't think they really existed." He paused and tapped his chin. "They're utterly adorable aren't they? I'm thinking of buying a few breeding pairs in a few years and starting to sell them to people too. Or I could just suggest it to Luna. Snapfist seems to like her too so she'd probably get a good deal."
Ginny laughed and shook her head. "I can't believe you found a snorkack for Luna. She's never, ever going to leave your side now and you probably earned a small, blonde attack dog now, Harry!" Ginny said grinning and holding her sides. "She's been going on about snorkacks since before I can remember!"
"Bloody brilliant, mate," George agreed shaking Harry's hand.
"Thanks guys," Harry said still grinning. "Though really, you should thank Snapfist. He's the one who thought to get the critter to Luna." Harry's grin fell and he leaned forward, Hermione shifting so that she wasn't pressed into him. "Okay, let's get some privacy screens up now. I have some things I need to ask you, Ginny. Fred, George, you're welcome to stay like last time. Nev, you've heard this stuff before too so you might as well stay to offer some advice."
All four nodded as Hermione sighed and took out her wand to cast the spells. When they were done she looked to Harry. "I assume it went well then? The goblins didn't give you any trouble?"
Harry shook his head. "Nope. Snapfist went to get a higher ranked goblin to talk to us too. Ragnok the Bold, apparently he's the Director of Gringotts." Harry was about to keep going but paused as he noticed Neville staring at him slack-jawed. "Nev?"
"Rag-Ragnok the Bold? Seriously? You just sat down with the bloody leader of the Goblin Nation in England?" Neville asked blinking repeatedly.
Harry leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow," he said quietly. "I guess that explains why he had guards with him…yeah we did. Apparently he's rather impressed with the chaos that surrounds me."
Fred shook his head and whistled. "Emancipation, a snorkack and leader of the country's goblins all in one morning. We have to up our game dear brother."
George shook his head. "No, brother, I think we need to concede defeat. Harry Potter is a rival we cannot surpass."
Harry chuckled. "I appreciate the votes of confidence guys. Let's move on though shall we?" He held out the marriage contract form to Ginny who took the path with wide eyes. "Gin, this is the marriage contract. Now that I'm emancipated I can either destroy it or toss it back into my vault. Destroying it is my first instinct. I hate leaving something like this lying around and I really don't like it when people try to control my life. However I'm not the only one affected by this. If your mum signed one once, then she could sign one again. Do you want me to put this back into my vault until I either get married or you turn 17 in order to protect you?"
The twins looked at each other. George nodded for Fred to go ahead. "You'd be willing to do that for her, Harry?"
Harry nodded but it was Hermione who spoke. "Of course he would, Fred. This is Harry we're talking about. The boy would give his kidney to a friend."
Neville considered and said, "It's a tossup. Now that you can enter and leave the vault without issues, people could get you to sign the thing with the right spells and potions. It's still difficult but it is possible now. However, you're right. Ginny would be better protected with it still hanging around for a bit."
Ginny finally stopped staring at the paper and scowled. She looked up at the group and vehemently shook her head. "No! No, I don't want that! Mum can try to do whatever the hell she wants, but she'll never get Dad to go along with selling me off like a two knut whore. If she tries to lock in another of these things I can get Dad to annul it as Head of Family. Probably. And even if I can't it's not right! Destroy it, Harry," she snarled handing the parchment back over to him.
Harry took the paper and looked at her with a concerned frown. "You sure?"
"Yes," Ginny nodded. "I still want you, Harry. I probably always will. But I'm not a fool and I'm not desperate. I'm not going to potion you into loving me and I see how many girls already have a piece of your heart. As frustrating as it is, I don't fit in that picture. Destroy the contract so I can move on. Please. If you keep it I can still delude myself into thinking I have a chance when I really don't."
George turned to his little sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Gin, you have a chance. He's only dating Hermione right now. And they're still teenagers. Teenage romance doesn't always last."
Ginny shook her head again and smiled sadly. "No, George. I don't have a chance. Harry loves Hermione. And if he broke up with her he has Tonks, Luna, Daphne and Tracey."
Harry held up a hand. "Tracey doesn't like boys."
"Doesn't matter," Ginny said. "Hell, if I've been reading the last few meals correctly, the French Veela is interested as well." Harry and Hermione both started at that and turned to look at each other with wide eyes. "She was practically tackling people this morning trying to find you when you weren't at breakfast, Harry." Hermione sighed and nodded at that. "Look, I just don't want false hope. If I do have a chance then leave it in your vault, but…if I don't then just destroy it now, Harry. I don't want to force you into anything and I don't want to pine after a boy that won't ever be interested in me."
Harry sighed and nodded to her. He considered for a long moment before pulling out his wand and casting a small incendio. The marriage contract quickly crisped and left behind just a small pile of ashes. Harry gave Ginny a small, sad grin. "I'm sorry, Ginny. Really, I am."
Ginny shrugged. "I know. It's not your fault. Thank you for telling me now. I'll move on. There's plenty of other boys in this school. I'll see you all in the morning?" She said getting up. Ginny hurriedly wiped her eyes and walked over the stairs to her dorm.
The twins leaned back sighing. George saluted Harry. "Right kind thing you did there, mate. Most would've just gotten rid of it immediately. I'll watch out for her to make sure she's okay. You and Fred should concentrate on the Tournament."
Harry sat down to dinner that evening with his usual group of friends and ignored the stares of most of the school surrounding him. The Gryffindors didn't care one whit about rumors flying around since most had been in the Common Room when McGonagall had basically admitted that Harry hadn't entered himself. It seemed that the vast majority of Hufflepuff was also supporting him. Susan had mentioned that she and Hannah and sat down everyone and more or less threatened to curse anyone who tried saying that Harry was cheating. They had pointed out several instances in the past that showed it was far more likely that someone was out to get him and the House had quieted down. Slytherin was split somewhat. Malfoy had a sizeable following mocking Harry and digging at Fred somewhat as well. The ones supporting him mostly consisted of quiet first through third years and Daphne, Tracey, Blaise and Millie. Ravenclaw…well Padma and Su supported him. The rest of the House apparently still hadn't forgotten how he'd threatened them last year. There were a few first and second years that seemed to have his back but not many of the upper years.
Fleur entered the Great Hall and looked around. Spotting Harry she exhaled loudly and made a beeline for him claiming the spot to his right side and earning a raised eyebrow from Neville who moved over accordingly. "Finally! I 'ave been looking for you all day, 'arry! Where have you been? You have not been avoiding me have you?"
Harry smiled at his friend. "No, Fleur I haven't been avoiding you. I was out of the castle for most of the morning and the afternoon. I just got back a little while ago."
"Oh." Fleur frowned and turned to her plate. "I…I am sorry zen. 'arry, I…I wanted to tell you zat I do not believe you cheated to enter like Madam Maxime does. I trust you 'arry. If you say you did not enter zen you did not enter."
Harry smiled and bumped her shoulder with his own. "Thanks, Fleur. That means a lot."
"If you wish, I would be willing to 'elp you train for zis. I do not want to see you hurt, 'arry."
Hermione chuckled. "Well, Harry, you're certainly collecting quite a few new tutors."
"Yeah," Harry said running a hand through his hair. "I sure am…Thanks, Fleur. I'll take you up on that. I don't tend to be too stellar at spells though just so you know. I…focus more on runes."
She raised her eyebrows at him and grinned. "No, truly? I had not noticed zis." She raised a finger and poked some of the rune stones on his crisscrossed utility belt harness. "Zat must be what zese are! Why zey are so inconspicuous!"
Harry laughed. "Alright, alright I get the point!" Fleur nodded happily and started to fill her plate. Harry rolled his eyes and moved to grab some food himself.
Daphne plopped down across from him sighing. The table jumped slightly when she dropped a giant tome she'd been carrying onto it. Harry raised his eyebrows at her and stared pointedly at the book. "Daph, that looks even larger than the book that Hermione checked out first year for 'some light reading'."
Hermione glared at him. "Some of us enjoy intellectually stimulating volumes of knowledge."
Neville shrugged. "Yes, Hermione, and some of us prefer our back breaking labor to be in the greenhouse rather than of the library book variety."
"Honestly. Boys," she muttered.
Daphne snorted and shook her head. "I'm with them on this one, Hermione. Your recreational reading tomes are rather extreme at times. But that's besides the point. Harry, I told you I'd get a copy of the rules for this Tournament. I got them."
Harry's fork froze halfway to his mouth and he stared at the book that Daphne had flipped open. Very, slowly he lowered the utensil back to the plate and said toneless, "Daphne. Please, please tell me that is not the set of rules for this thing."
"Sorry, it's the comprehensive set of rules," she said offhandedly. "Here, I've marked the important sections and took some notes on the cliff notes version." She slid the book across the table and Hermione immediately pushed her meal aside as she shifted to read the highlighted sections better. Fleur also leaned across Harry to start reading while Harry just looked on blinking.
Fred whistled as he saw the size of the tome. "Wow. Hey, Greengrass, is there anything in there that I need to worry about?"
She shrugged. "I'd recommend listening in, but honestly you're not a fourth year so you probably know more than enough to get through with at least most of your limbs intact. You are entertaining, Fred, but I'm helping Harry first and foremost."
Harry gulped. "I…don't think I'm going to be able to memorize all of this, Daph."
"That's what me and Hermione are for, Harry. Like I said, I made notes for you of the important items." She paused and frowned, her hands curling into tight fists. Tracey leaned into her and gave her a hug which worried Harry even more. Hermione's muttered curse certainly didn't help things.
"What? How screwed am I?"
Fleur sighed heavily and reached out a finger to touch a section of the document. "Zis is what you are frightened of, yes?"
Hermione nodded as did Daphne after craning her head a bit. Daphne sighed and started talking, "Yeah. That's the one. Harry, you're only allowed to start the Tasks with a single casting instrument."
"Bagman mentioned that last night…" Harry said not getting where she was going.
"That means either a wand or a single rune stone, Harry." His face lost most of its color at her words. "You can't take your utility belt into the Task. I'd recommend your wand as I doubt any of your inventions are versatile enough to function as a suitable replacement. And you'll have to leave your Comm Stone behind as well."
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered.
"Yeah," Daphne agreed. "The good news is that runes aren't actually forbidden. So anything that you etch after entering the arena is perfectly acceptable."
"I'm fast but I'm not that fast. If something is attacking me there's no way I'd be able to carve something quickly enough to be useful."
Hermione squeezed his leg. "So, like I said last year, Harry. We work on improving your spell casting. It's not the end of the world. You'll be fine." Despite the surety of her words Harry knew Hermione well enough to hear the strain and worry underneath.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be fine," Harry said unsure of just who he was trying to convince.
Fleur frowned. "Is zere any restriction on summoned items?"
Daphne looked at her and blinked. Then a large grin split her face. "Delacour, I could kiss you. No there is not. Harry, first order of business: summoning charms. Like your Fishing Line but it doesn't need line of sight. One of us will hold your utility belt in the stands and you can summon it."
Hermione shook her head. "Yes, that's a good plan but you need to focus on spells, Harry. I'm not leaving this to chance or luck. You need to be able to function well enough to survive without relying on your primary skill set. Whoever entered you knows your focus and they will likely take steps to stop you from having access to that."
Neville frowned. "Yeah, but we know most people don't really think of out of the box stuff. Do you really think they'd consider him summoning his runes when they couldn't even think of Fred just tossing his name in from over the line?"
Fred shook his head. "They might. My method was distinctly Muggle. No magic involved. When it comes to magical solutions we all think much more roundly."
"The summoning charm is still a good primary plan," Daphne said shrugging. "If it doesn't end up working in the Task well that's why Harry's getting several tutors."
The group all nodded in agreement. Hermione reached out and pointed to another section. "Does this say what I think it says, Daphne?"
The Slytherin looked where Hermione was pointing and nodded. "Yeah. I like that part too. Harry, you're allowed to skip any classes you want as long as it's for 'training and preparation purposes'. The only real restriction on that front is that teachers from your own school can't assist but as it's already been stated by others, that's completely irrelevant for you since your official Tournament school doesn't actually exist anymore. Oh and you're also excused from any exams over the course of the year."
Harry and Fred both smiled. "Cool, so we can avoid Potions if Snape gets too annoying and we can also skip History of Magic to keep studying."
Fred nodded. "And Astronomy so that we can sleep more!" He shrugged when the others stared at him with looks of frustration. "What? This face needs its beauty sleep to keep looking amazingly rugged and handsome!" Alicia smacked him on the back of the head and the surrounding people all laughed.
Luna came up at that point and sat down next to Tracey with her snorkack still clutched in her arms and a smile plastered on her face. "Hello, everyone. I just finished sending off my letters."
"Hi, Luna," Harry said.
Tracey leaned down to peer at the creature cuddling into her friend's chest. The snorkack leaned up and licked Tracey's nose. She pulled back laughing and smiling. "What is that, Luna? It's adorable!"
Luna beamed. She held out the snorkack so that everyone around could see. "She's, Coco! Because her fur looks like hot cocoa. She's my very own pet crumple-horned snorkack! Harry got her for me from the goblins! Isn't she just the most beautiful and cute and cuddly and sweet and huggable thing you've ever seen!"
The non-Gryffindors around the table ceased all conversation and turned to stare between Luna, Coco and Harry. Tracey tentatively reached out a hand to touch the snorkack who nuzzled into her happily. Daphne twisted slowly to stare at Harry. "You got Luna an imaginary creature. From the goblins."
Harry smiled. "Yup."
Hermione groaned and slapped a hand to her face. "Don't bother, Daphne. I already went through this. It's apparently mostly subterranean and the goblins neglected to mention the species to outsiders. Harry has enough good will that his account manager made an exception."
Fleur cocked her head. "What iz a crumple-horned snor-snorkack? I 'ave not heard of zis creature."
Hermione groaned again and Daphne joined her this time. Neville just laughed but Tracey looked over amused. "It's a creature that Luna and her father have searched for for years. They weren't really sure it existed before today."
"It was our snipe hunt," Luna agreed petting Coco's head. It made a noise somewhat like a purr. "We're going to be printing a special issue of the Quibbler detailing everything! I had said that Daddy should probably have an issue with the Tournament coverage first but couldn't quite get him to agree. So we instead compromised with two separate issues. I can give you a copy of the snorkack one if you'd like."
Fleur just looked amused. "Yes, zank you, Luna. It is quite a cute animal."
"Who cares about a stupid snorkack?" Ron said from a little ways down the table. "It's probably not even real. Just a weird animal that Harry picked up and decided to have a bit of fun with you, Looney."
The temperature around the table dropped several degrees and many conversations stopped. Harry, Luna, Tracey and Hermione all turned glare at Ron. Daphne, ever practical, packed up her research material and Neville removed the plates from in front of his friends. Fred turned to face his brother and George perked up from where he was sitting near Angelina. "Ron," Fred said, "you should apologize to Luna."
"Bloody hell now you're taking their side too, Fred? It's not enough that he helps my brothers get into the Tournament and not me is it? Now he's got you as his attack dog too?"
"What?" Fred asked narrowing his eyes. "What the hell are you talking about, Ron?"
"Little brother, you were tossing your name in right beside us," George said.
Ron scowled. "And yet it was Fred and Harry's name that came out. You three just always have to be better than me don't you? You can't be satisfied with letting me have my own moment. No, you just have to go and ruin it! If you hadn't put your name in, Fred, then I would've been chosen!"
Harry snorted. "Seriously? You're barely passing any of your classes and you never do anything besides play chess and exploding snap or talk about Quidditch. You're taking the easiest electives and all you do is insult people. You still refer to Daphne and Tracey as 'the snakes'. You're as bad as Malfoy just on the opposite side of the spectrum Ron. What the bloody hell makes you think the Goblet would think you deserved a spot as a Champion of Hogwarts?"
Ron's face turned scarlet and he slammed his hands onto the table. "Oh you're one to talk you bloody cheater! You attacked me second year! Your roommate! Why are you in this thing?!"
Fred shouted back at his brother. "You were stealing from him, Ronald! Of course he attacked you! We attacked you too! He's in this because someone wants him dead, just like every other bloody year he's been here. Sit back down and shut up before you make even more of a fool of yourself!"
Ron snarled. "No! Screw you, Fred! All you, George and Ginny do is take his side! Bill too! None of you care about me or about how I feel! You all listen to those snakes and Looney and you worship the ground Potter walks on! I'm done with taking that lying down. He's a bloody cheater and an attention whore. All he wants is more fame and money and girls! He has everything and I have nothing! And you're supporting him and helping him? You can all go to hell!"
"Ronald," Fred said with an undercurrent of rage, "you have one more chance to apologize to us all." George nodded, his face set in stone.
"Not going to happen," Ron said his entire head approaching purple now. "Family first. You people forgot that when you supported him over me. I hope this Tournament does kill him and maim you, Fred, because it's what you both deserve!"
The few conversations still going in the Great Hall at that point stopped dead. If a pin had dropped it would've sounded like a cannon blast.
Harry shook his head and stood up. "Well, it's nice to know where you stand, Ron. Excuse me everyone, I'm going to go put some extra wards around my bed to make sure I can sleep without having to worry about getting a spell to the back." He walked out of the Great Hall.
Ginny, George and Fred all slowly stood and moved to stand together. "Ron," Fred said, "congratulations. You've just gotten what you always wanted. Two fewer older brothers. I imagine Bill and Charlie will probably follow along with disowning you after this. Percy'll probably still have you and we all know Mum and Dad aren't about to kick you out of family for your temper. But us? It's over. You are no brother of ours, Ron."
George took up as his brother stopped. "Aye. Getting angry and jealous is one thing. Actively hoping that a family friend is killed and your brother is injured for life?" He shook his head. "I don't care about your temper, Ron. This is low even for you."
"I used to look up to you, Ron," Ginny said glaring. "The only reason I haven't cursed you right now is because the Professors are watching and I'm not going to give them that excuse to punish me. The brother I grew up with would never have said those things. I don't know what happened to you, but I don't really care anymore. You've insulted my friends and family enough. Stay away from me. And if you ever call Luna 'Looney' again…I'd watch your back." The three family members followed Harry out of the room.
Ron sneered at their backs and sat back down, grabbing his plate of food again. McGonagall slowly walked up behind him with Shiva at her side. "Mr. Weasley, come with me."
Ron glared at his Head of House. "Professor, if you had a problem with what I said you should've spoken up earlier."
McGonagall mouth almost became invisible as her lips pulled into such a thin line. Her hand holding her wand tightened noticeably. "Mr. Weasley, I let that continue because your wands remained holstered and I was hoping that your family would make you see reason before you went too far. I was apparently rather overestimating your ability to understand long term consequences. Stand. Now."
He stood and snorted, pointing at Shiva. "Yeah well, she doesn't have any reason to be here. She's just Potter's attack dog just like the others."
"You threatened my ward," Shiva said with narrowed eyes. "I have the right to ensure his safety in his own House."
Ron just snorted again and followed the two Professors out of the room.
Luna looked after the departing personnel with sad eyes. "It's a shame things have come to this…" she clutched Coco tighter to her chest. The snorkack reached up and licked her chin.
Tracey sighed and leaned over to hug the blonde. "Don't blame yourself for forcing this, Luna. Ron Weasley is an idiot who never thinks before he opens his mouth. He'll regret what he said later and probably try to apologize in a few weeks."
Daphne shook her head. "It won't matter. He went too far this time."
Hermione sighed and nodded. "I agree. I'm going to go check on Harry. Pleasant evening, all."
As Hermione departed the group finished up and packed their bags. Fleur turned to Neville and asked, "Are all ze meals at Hogwarts zis…interesting?"
Neville shrugged. "Around Harry? Yeah, usually. Generally things spread out a bit over the year instead of all in the first few days though so this is a bit much."
Fleur nodded. "Ah. Well zen I guess I will simply 'ave to get used to it."
Neville smiled. "I'm sure Harry will appreciate that." He started to leave with the others but paused and smirked at the older girl. "Hermione is sure to like that as well."
The next morning's breakfast saw a very unhappy Ron Weasley eating his pancakes. Professors McGonagall and Babbling had berated him for nearly an hour the previous evening and he was given detentions until the Yule holiday. McGonagall had even gone as far as saying that the only reason he wasn't suspended until then was that no wands had been drawn during the confrontation. Babbling had warned him that if anything happened to Harry in the dorm that he would be the first investigated.
Ron shoveled another piece of hash brown into his mouth and scowled. He knew he'd taken things a bit far. He'd apologize in a week or two after they'd had a chance to think it over and realize he had a point even if he'd been stating it wrong. Really, it wasn't his fault that his family had abandoned him. Harry Potter had slowly managed to steal everything from him and then Fred had to go and make things even worse by getting into the Tournament in his place! It just wasn't fair. How was Ron supposed to prove that he was just as good as the rest of his family if he never had the chance to show off his skills? Stupid Potter. Stupid Fred. Stupid school.
He tensed as he saw a red letter fly in the windows of the Great Hall. That was Errol. The old owl was immediately recognizable as it stumbled almost drunkenly through the air. How the poor thing was still alive Ron had no idea. It was headed in the Gryffindor direction. Of course it was. His mother must have heard about what he said and sent him a Howler…
The old bird dropped in front of Fred and Ron blinked. His face split into a grin as he realized that his mum hadn't sent the Howler to him. It was to Fred! Mum was angrier with Fred than him!
Fred grimaced and reached out to open the Howler.
"FRED WEASLEY HOW DARE YOU ENTER THE TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT! YOU ARE UNDERAGE AND NOT NEARLY SKILLED ENOUGH TO COMPETE ON THE SAME LEVEL AS THE OTHER CHAMPIONS! I REMEMBER YOUR OWLS CHILD, DON'T THINK I DON'T. I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD DO SOMETHING SO FOOLISH! I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISAPPOINTED IN YOU! YOU ARE DRAGGING THE WEASLEY NAME AND THE HOGWARTS NAME THROUGH THE MUD, YOUNG MAN! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO COME TO THAT SCHOOL AND DRAG YOU HOME BY THE EAR, BOY! YOU WILL TELL THEM YOU RESIGN IMMEDIATELY AND LET THEM CHOOSE A MORE APPROPRIATE CHAMPION!
Ron couldn't keep his grin from spreading. That's right, Fred and George had done awful on their OWLs. Mum always knew the right things to say. The Howler turned to Harry who just shook his head in annoyance.
AND YOU, HARRY POTTER! HOW DARE YOU! THE AUDACITY TO CORRUPT MY SWEET BOY WITH YOUR LIES AND ARROGANCE AND CHEATING WAYS! YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY SON OR I WILL BEND YOU OVER MY KNEE, CHILD! AND SPURNING GINEVRA?! MY DAUGHTER IS WORTH 10 OF YOU, HARRY POTTER! YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY TO MARRY MY LITTLE GIRL! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD THROW AWAY AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THIS. TO BE MARRIED TO A PROPER PUREBLOOD FAMILY IS AN – the Howler abruptly cut off as two different spells hit it in midair and it vanished into ash.
Babbling was standing with her wand pointed at the offending piece of paper breathing heavily with a snarl plastered on her face. Ron's jaw dropped as he traced the second spell to a vision of beauty. Her hair was bright, scarlet red and she was dressed in nearly skin-tight Muggle jeans and a t-shirt with fingerless gloves, a leather jacket and combat boots. Her face was twisted in fury as she stared at where the Howler had been. Ron idly wondered who this amazing woman was and if she was more or less beautiful than the Veela girl.
Harry raised an eyebrow in amusement as Tonks stalked through the room to stand behind him. "Why in Merlin's name would you let that drizzle keep spouting off?"
"Honestly, I was curious to see where the rant would go. Hi, Tonks," Daphne said shrugging while Harry smiled up at the woman and waved. Her hair shifted from red down to a hot pink and she sighed.
"You guys have the weirdest sense of humor." Tonks ruffled his hair – causing Harry to scowl – and moved over to the staff table.
"I'm surprised you let that thing keep going, Shiva," Tonks said as she nodded to Shiva.
The Professor gave an annoyed grunt. "It's general policy to let the students take care of Howlers on their own. When the bint started going off about spanking my ward though…" she snarled. "We'll see who spanks who, Molly Weasley," Shiva muttered darkly.
Tonks grinned and nodded her agreement. Turning to McGonagall she waved. "Wotcher, McG." She mentally pumped a fist at McGonagall's raised eyebrow. "I'm here as a personal tutor for Harry. Do you happen to have any spare rooms I could bunk in or do I need to grab a place in Hogsmeade?"
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Nymphadora, I really – "
Tonks scowled. "The name is Tonks, Headmaster. Or Miss Tonks if you must. And I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the Deputy Headmistress seeing as she is the one who controls room assignments."
"Be that as it may, Miss Tonks," Dumbledore said putting on his best grandfatherly grin. Tonks' eyes narrowed as she felt a slight probe against her mental walls as she met the old man's eyes. Thank Merlin she had finally started taking those lessons with her Mum. "I really don't think young Harry requires a tutor."
He was met with incredulous stares by everyone present except Snape and Karkaroff. Tonks snorted. "So a competition – specifically stopped because it was too deadly – where Harry is nearly three years younger than the closest competitor and where he is a Fourth Year going against Sixth and Seventh Years…he doesn't require special tutoring? That's what you're saying Headmaster?"
"It would be inappropriate and against the spirit of the Tournament," he said spreading his hands wide in supplication.
Tonks just shook her head. "You show me the exact sentence that says I can't tutor him in techniques, skills and spells and I'll leave. Until then stay out of my training. McG?"
McGonagall shrugged. "We have several open Professor Quarters, Tonks. Whenever you wish to inspect them just call for a house elf and they'll show you the way. I will be covering Battlefield Transfiguration techniques and I believe Filius will be working on shortened charm casting as well as basic duel spells."
Tonks nodded. "Okay. I'll focus first on movement and speed casting in that case. I appreciate the heads up, Ma'am."
"You can't do that," Dumbledore spluttered. "It is against the rules, Minerva! Young Potter cannot be assisted by – "
"Any teachers in 'is own school," Maxime finished. "Yet Mssr. Potter eez not entered under Hogwarts. You did not realize zis ze ozer night?"
"But surely because Harry attends this school he – "
"Spirit vs. letter, Headmaster," Tonks said cutting him off. "Unlike you it seems, most of us would prefer Harry has the best chance possible to survive this death trap."
Maxime waved her hand in agreement. "I may not be 'appy zat ze boy is competing but I have no wish to zee him harmed due to inexperience. Beauxbatons has no complaint with zis."
Karkaroff scowled. "I wish I could dispute it, but I agree. There's no leg to stand on for Durmstrang to lodge a dispute."
Dumbledore frowned. Of all people to not dispute a Hogwarts Champion receiving extra help...Karkaroff? "Very well then. I suppose I will need to brush up on the rules myself. It is apparent I missed several items."
"Your problem, not ours," Tonks said. "I'll catch you later, McG, Short Stuff, Shiva." She nodded to the three teachers and walked back to Harry who was still watching her with amusement. "Come on, squirt. If you're done with breakfast we have a training session to start."
Harry grinned at stood up grabbing his backpack. Snape also stood and shouted out, "Potter has Potions this morning! You will have to wait!"
Harry just waved to Snape. "Sorry, Professor, I'm going to have to skip your class on account of 'official training purposes'."
Tonks tossed a victorious grin at the staff table as she escorted Harry outside.
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