Hermione's Plan
The Hogwarts Challenge
By Chem Prof
Author Notes:
The purpose of this chapter is to get us from January to June, and keep you entertained along the way. It has a little bit of everything, and is by far the longest chapter in the story.
Chapter 29, The Hogwarts Challenge
Headmistress McGonagall rose to her feet as the start of term feast in the Great Hall began to draw to a close. “I have a very important announcement to make before you all return to your common rooms. It regards a special competition that we will be holding this term that we are calling The Hogwarts Challenge. The competition has been planned and organized by some of our staff and by the Head Boy and Head Girl, and they will be overseeing the events. At this time I’m going to ask Miss Granger to explain the competition and give you some details.”
Harry and Hermione rose from their seats at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the questioning looks from their classmates. (The name ‘Miss Granger’ had not been a slip-up by the headmistress – the newlywed couple had asked all of their friends who had attended the wedding to keep the information to themselves, and they had all willingly taken the Confidentiality Oath, grateful for the opportunity to witness the event.) At the front of the hall, Harry gave her hand a little squeeze to help the nervousness she was feeling about her presentation.
“This competition we have put together is modeled to some extent after the Tri-Wizard Tournament,” Hermione announced, “in that the participants will be competing in several events and receiving scores. The difference is that there will be far more than three tasks, and you will be competing in teams instead of as individuals. And yes, you will get to pick your own teammates – subject to certain conditions.” This revelation immediately had many of the students glancing at their friends with ‘you and me?’ messages on their faces.
“Now,” she continued, “these tasks will test you in many different ways both physical and mental, and on many different areas of magic. It is also designed to help you learn to work together to solve problems. And don’t worry, you won’t be fighting any dragons …” here Harry made an exaggerated motion of wiping his brow in relief, “but it will certainly test your flying skills, among others.” This line and the accompanying antics by Harry brought the house down, and Hermione gave his hand a return squeeze as they shared a loving smile so intense that it prompted a mass of sighs from the older girls in the audience. Their affection and care for each other was, if anything, even more obvious than it had been the previous term. Every boyfriend at Hogwarts would sooner or later be held up to the standard for how to treat a girlfriend set by the Chosen One.
“First,” Hermione went on after the laughter had subsided, “you will compete in teams of four, two witches and two wizards, with one member from each house.” This last addition triggered a loud murmur of surprise, and suddenly everyone was looking over at the other house tables, pondering possible partnerships. But Hermione wasn’t finished. “Obviously, this will help you learn to work with students of other houses, and you will also need to join with students of different years than your own. This will be effected by the requirement that the sum of the years of the four students on each team must be twenty or less.”
Hermione had to pause yet again for the hall to quiet. “Next, there will be eleven tasks, one held every other week for the rest of the term. They will test your abilities in flying, different aspects of spellcasting, and offensive and defensive hexes and charms. Also your knowledge of varied subjects such as magical creatures and plants, runes, and potions, involving puzzle solving and logical reasoning.” She paused and turned toward the Gryffindor table, flashing a sympathetic look. “Sorry Ron, no chess matches this time.” This drew another chuckle from the students, particularly the seventh years who remembered the points Ron had won at the end of their first year by playing his way through a giant chess set during the trio’s quest for the Philosopher’s Stone. “At the end of the year the winning team will have their names engraved on a trophy that will be displayed in the Entrance Hall,” she concluded. (Nothing was said about house points, which surprised many of the students before they realized, some immediately and some later, that with one member on the winning team from each house these points would have no effect.)
-ooOoo-
The students had a week to put their teams together before the first task would be announced, and this activity dominated the discussions in the halls, common rooms, and study lounges during this time. (In the case of the Gryffindor common room, it helped turn people’s attention away from the topic of why Parvati and Seamus were totally avoiding each other, and eased the uncomfortable silence between Ginny and Neville.) As it was designed to, it led to more conversations that week between students of different houses and years than there would normally be in an entire school year. The first strategic decision to be made was how to vary the experience levels of the teammates, and the first and second year students found themselves being approached by seventh years who had (except for a few who followed the example of the Head Boy and Head Girl) completely ignored them all year. The second decision involved trying to put together a team that was balanced with students who were good at various subjects, as well as a mix of athletic and intellectual skills.
In the Gryffindor common room there was a good deal of laughter when Ginny had to explain to Ron that he couldn’t be on a team with Susan and Daphne (he did realize why Lavender was excluded). She herself confided to Hermione her relief that she wouldn’t have to disappoint Dean, Colin, or Neville by choosing among them. Surprisingly, the first team to be announced was Ginny, Luna, and two fourth year boys, one from Hufflepuff who Ginny knew from quidditch and the PDA and one from Slytherin that Luna recruited for his potions and herbology knowledge. Luna was good at runes and arithmency and especially magical creatures, while both of them were solid in transfiguration, charms, and defense. Of course, no one could touch Ginny at flying or spellcasting speed and accuracy (besides Harry, and he wasn’t eligible for the tournament).
When the complete list of tasks was announced, and it was discovered that Muggle Studies was one of the topics, muggleborns and first years (due to the mandatory Muggle Studies class) were suddenly hot commodities. And it didn’t take long until everyone realized that the number of teams competing would be limited by the number of Slytherin students, since that house now had far fewer members than the other three houses. Suddenly the Slytherins, who had tended to be ostracized, found themselves in the driver’s seat.
This was borne out when Tracey Davis marched over to the Gryffindor table on the morning after the announcement and claimed Dennis Creevey for her team. She and Su Li then completed their foursome with a second year Hufflepuff boy, and it was immediately recognized as one of the favorites. Daphne Greengrass, to everyone’s surprise, selected Neville instead of Ron. This made Ron’s decision easier, and he and Susan began plotting about which younger year students to join with, much to Lavender’s dismay. An unexpected bit of fallout from Daphne’s choice of Neville was Ginny’s obvious annoyance, although she wouldn’t admit it. This made Hermione wonder if she was about to witness a repeat of Ron’s situation with her, where his jealousy of the attentions paid to her by other males turned out not to have any romantic implications. Was Ginny’s irritation with Daphne the manifestation of a sisterly/friendly concern for Neville or was there something more to it that the young redhead just didn’t recognize yet?
Blaise Zabini, true to his womanizing reputation, linked up with two sixth year girls from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, and added a first year Gryffindor boy. Ernie Macmillan got a laugh when he strode over to the Gryffindor table and asked if there were any first years like Hermione. The older students immediately introduced him to a red-faced Jamie Jordan. Ernie and Lisa Turpin then completed their team with a fifth year boy from Slytherin. Right afterward, seventh year prefects Hannah Abbott and Anthony Goldstein selected Jamie’s friend Cheri June to join their team.
Soon the other sixth and seventh year students had paired up and also selected younger years to join them. Justin and Padma selected one of the reserve Gryffindor quidditch players and a quiet Slytherin girl that Padma had befriended, and ended up with another well-balanced team that would be in the running for the title. Other pairings included the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw combinations of Parvati and Terry Boot, Lavender and Michael Corner, Seamus and Morag McDougal, and Dean and Mandy Brocklehurst.
The complete list of tasks was posted in all of the common rooms and study lounges, and included the following:
A History of Magic multiple choice exam, taken by all four students together, with a strict time limit for its completion.
A practical exam featuring a wide assortment of magical creatures, with questions involving identification, where they could be found, and distinguishing characteristics, and a similar exam involving magical plants. Luna and Neville were considered to be the favorites for these two challenges, respectively.
A test involving the identification of various common muggle items and their uses, created collectively by the Granger family.
A crossword puzzle created by Emma Granger with help from Hermione and the Ancient Runes professor, in which all the clues were Runes.
A logic puzzle created by Dan Granger, again with help from Hermione, similar to the one Hermione had solved in the quest for the Stone during her first year.
A Potions challenge, where the students had to create as many potions from a specified list as possible in a week’s time, with no instructions provided. They would have to research the potions in the library, determine what ingredients were needed, and then brew them. The final potions were to be judged for quality as well as how many had been successfully completed.
A flying challenge which involved a relay race where students had to retrieve objects from various points on top of the castle and return them to the starting point, and also an obstacle course in which they competed individually, with the times of the top two fastest team members being counted in the final team score.
A physical challenge also involving an obstacle course (land based this time), again with the two best times contributing to the team score.
A gauntlet of dueling dummies, completed by all four team members together, which rewarded accuracy as well as quickness, with the final score being a combination of most hits scored and fastest time of completion.
After these ten events were completed, the top five teams would compete for the trophy by completing a maze, similar in concept to the third task of the Tri-Wizard tournament. This time a team would go through the maze as a group, and the teams would go through the maze one at a time. The team with the fastest time would be declared the winner. Also, this time the trophy would hopefully not be a portkey.
-ooOoo-
Ernie and Lisa’s team took an early lead in the tournament when Jamie Jordan shocked everyone by blowing right through the logic puzzle, just as Hermione had done in her first year. No one was prouder of her than Harry and Hermione, and they treated the furiously blushing young muggleborn witch to an impromptu celebration in the Gryffindor common room. The other January event was the potions challenge, and here the quartet headed by Tracey Davis and Su Li came out on top, with Justin and Padma’s team taking second place. Ginny and Luna’s team, with their talented fourth year Slytherin potions prodigy, was a surprising third.
-ooOoo-
It was fortunate, as January turned into February, that they had the tournament to take their minds off of other things, Hermione thought to herself. Bill and Fleur had still not made any more progress on the remaining Horcrux. The Ministry of Magic was not having any luck in dealing with random Death Eater attacks. Then there was the whole drama with Ron and Lavender, which was stressful for Harry and her as well since Ron was still their best friend. They also felt bad about the situation between Ginny and Neville. Neville was terrified that he had irrevocably damaged his friendship with Ginny, and Ginny was at her wit’s end regarding what to do about the Valentine’s Day party. She wouldn’t have minded going with Neville, but was afraid now that he would take it as a sign that she had stronger feelings for him than she did. She didn’t blame him at all for kissing her, and she also didn’t want it to affect their friendship. But she was afraid that he wouldn’t want to go back to being good friends now that she knew he wanted more out of their relationship.
Ron’s problem, if not Lavender’s, was resolved to some extent when he turned his attention to Susan in preparation for their date to the Valentine’s party. Hermione finally solved the other problem by inviting Neville and Ginny to the Head Suite (she invited Ginny while Harry invited Neville, with each of the Gryffindors not knowing that the other would be there) where they played intermediary for their two friends. To everyone’s relief, Neville was willing to be whatever Ginny wanted him to be, even though he wanted more, and she accepted that, and was willing to do things with him as friends and keep an open mind about the possibility that it could go farther. In other words, she was permitting him to court her but not making any promises. They would go to the party together and have a good time, and she even allowed with a sly smile that since it was Valentine’s Day a friendly kiss or two might be in order. Neville, blushing furiously, agreed.
“She is quite the tease, isn’t she?” Hermione commented to Harry after the other two had exited from the Head Suite. “Did she tease you like that?”
Hermione grinned inwardly as she watched Harry struggle with how to answer that question without getting into trouble. Finally he smirked at her. “Not as much as you do,” he retorted as he wrapped his hands around her waist and pulled her to himself.
For their part, Harry and Hermione greatly enjoyed the Valentine’s Day party. They enjoyed the night that followed even more.
-ooOoo-
The February tournament events were the Runes crossword puzzle and the History of Magic test. This time Padma/Justin and Anthony/Hannah did best on the Runes, while Ernie Macmillan’s team surprised everyone by scoring highest at History. As Ron joked later in the Gryffindor common room where they were once again congratulating Jamie on her team’s second victory, “everyone thought that Hermione was the only one who ever stayed awake in that class.”
Jamie was plainly puzzled. “I don’t think our History of Magic professor’s that boring,” she protested. “I like history.” The entire common room burst into laughter, which exploded through the roof when Ron walked over and began banging his head on the wall. Hermione smiled affectionately at the bewildered first year, and wrapped her up in a hug. Then it was all she could manage to keep a straight face when the young witch glanced over at Harry, hoping for a hug from him as well. Unfortunately for the smitten little girl, the object of her crush was still rolling on the floor from Ron’s antics.
-ooOoo-
It was with some trepidation that Hermione approached the Heads Suite one afternoon in late February. She had just had a distressing conversation with Parvati, and she was anxious about what Harry’s reaction would be. As she entered through the portrait hole she saw that he was sprawled out on the sofa, sitting up leaning against one armrest with his legs stretched out along its length. She noted that he was reading a charms book but what really caught her eye was a gleaming sword lying on the table next to him.
Putting aside his book he shot her a big smile, like he always did when he saw her after they had been apart for a few hours, the one that let her know how happy he was when she was around and that he had missed her in her absence. Despite her nervousness, this welcome generated a return smile on her own face, and her spirits lifted a bit.
Given their close emotional connection, he picked up on her distress immediately. “You look like you could use a hug,” he commented, spreading his legs and holding open his arms. “What’s wrong?” Hermione’s smile widened at his concern for her, and she removed her robes and laid them over a chair before crossing to him and settling down in front of him. (Most of the students kept their robes on all day long, but Harry and Hermione had still not gotten that comfortable in the standard wizarding garb, so now that they had their own private common room, they removed them when they wanted to relax. Harry had already taken his off.)
He pulled her back against his chest and wrapped her up in a comforting embrace, and she sighed in contentment. Even the most uncomfortable conversation could be managed when she was reminded of the assurance of his love for her.
“Parvati knows,” she began simply. She could sense his concern turn to puzzlement even as she continued. “She asked me today about the possibility of you taking a second wife.” She twisted around in his arms so that she could face him directly. “She’s sort of applying for the position. She assured me that she wasn’t trying to move in on you or take my place, and she understood that she would always be secondary, but still …” Her voice cracked a bit as her eyes moistened. He responded by tightening his hug and leaning his cheek against her forehead, while sending all his feelings of love for her through their bond.
“What did you tell her?”
“I said that we had heard about the possibility last summer, but that we weren’t interested in anything like that,” she began apprehensively. “Should I have worded it differently, told her that we weren’t interested for now but that it was possible that the situation might change at some point in the future?”
“No, no, you did fine,” he reassured her. “Like we said before, we don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up. And really, she’s not my type so I’m certain that we would never consider her even if we were going to go in that direction.” Hermione’s relief was obvious, and Harry smiled at her and gave another squeeze as they both felt the tension flow out of her body. She turned her head back away from him and nuzzled it up against his chest once more. She was about to tell him the rest of her conversation with the young Indian witch when he spoke up again.
“I just had a couple of thoughts. First, now that we’re married and I’ve experienced how incredible our bond is now, I have no interest in even thinking about that any more.” Hermione thought her face might crack with the smile that broke out on hearing him say that. “Last summer I had no idea of how this would feel. Maybe it’s because of the soul bonding, or maybe it would be like this even without it, but there’s no way I could come close to falling in love with anyone else. And the feelings I have when we make love, I could never do that with anyone else. So let’s just eliminate that possibility from consideration.” He paused for a moment while Hermione marveled at how perfect her life seemed to be at this moment.
Then Harry leaned his head down so that it was in her field of vision and grinned at her. “Feel free to say ‘I told you so’”, he teased. “I’m perfectly willing to admit that you were absolutely right yet again.” She decided that an admission like that deserved a thorough snogging.
Once that activity had been completed to her satisfaction, she pulled away from her delightfully dazed and mussed husband and inquired with a gleam in her eye, “What was the other thought?”
“What … oh … um …. oh yeah,” he stammered, trying to refocus. “I was wondering why Parvati and not Padma.” She crooked an eyebrow at him, requesting a clarification. “It’s just that I find Padma a lot more attractive than Parvati, now that I’ve gotten to know her better. I would have considered it more seriously with her if we were going to do it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he grinned at her. “She’s a lot more like you.” Hermione laughed delightedly and gave him another hug. It was true that she was much closer now to Padma than she ever had been to Parvati, and yet the approach had come from the Gryffindor twin. She went on to relate the rest of her conversation with her housemate.
“Well, Parvati told me that the idea actually came from her father. I suppose he assumed that you knew Parvati better, being in the same house and all. And you did take her to the Yule Ball fourth year. It was probably a natural assumption on his part.” Harry nodded his understanding. “Apparently he’s thinking of the political advantages. Presumably Padma would carry on the Patil line, and of course whatever inherited political power goes with it, while Parvati’s child with you would take over the Black line and Wizengamot seat. I doubt that it would matter to him which one did which.”
“And Padma’s going with Justin now, after all,” Harry pointed out.
“Oh, I don’t think that’s a factor,” Hermione responded. “They’re just dating; it’s nothing serious. Sort of like what you did with Ginny.” Harry cocked his head and gave her a look. She suspected that he hadn’t thought much about the depth of his relationship with the young redhead at the time. “There’s a big difference between dating someone and falling in love with them and getting married,” she explained.
“Now that you mention it, I see what you’re saying,” he agreed. “When I was with Ginny it was more the excitement of finally having a real girlfriend and everything that went with that. We never had the kind of deep understanding that you and I have, so I guess I can’t say I was ever in love with her.”
Hermione had known this all along, but was glad that he realized it also. “On the other hand, this would have noting to do with love,” she observed, getting back to the original subject. “Whether it was Parvati or Padma, it would have been all about political power and providing heirs and continuing on a noble line.”
“Well, now that I know what marriage is really like, all of that seems like a ridiculous reason to marry someone,” Harry declared. Then he frowned. “So are we going to get swarms of witches bugging us about this now?”
“I don’t think so,” Hermione replied. “I pleaded with Parvati to keep it to herself and she swore that she wouldn’t tell a soul – not even Lavender. It’s only the noble families who even know about it, and they’re a small fraction of the purebloods. There might be another inquiry from time to time, but I can deal with them. I think it’s traditional to make the approach through the wife, so you won’t have to deal with it.” She turned her face back up to his. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from evil witches trying to steal your virtue.”
That got another chuckle out of him, and resulted in another hug for her, and afterward she rested her head on his chest again. “So, Padma, huh?” she asked mischievously.
“Yeah,” he admitted with a grin of his own. “I guess smart girls just turn me on.” Then he tickled her and the sofa turned into a battleground between a squealing, squirming witch and her wizard.
Eventually they calmed down and he sat up again, with a now thoroughly mussed Head Girl snuggled up next to him, as he picked up the charms book once more. She allowed her gaze to rest on the beautiful sword in front of them, and only now recognized it. “Harry, that’s the Sword of Gryffindor! What’s it doing here?”
She could tell that he had been waiting for her to ask, and was feeling proud of himself. “It’s for my part of our enchantment project,” he responded. She nodded her understanding. While she had been focusing on enchanting normal objects, he had decided to study the existing enchantments on magical objects. In addition to charming the tape player for her mother, she had worked on several other household items as well. Anything that ran on electricity could in principle be charmed to work magically. The other thing she had learned to do was to charm mirrors like the one he had received from Sirius. These would allow instant communication across long distances between various leaders of the light side forces. She was also working on a simpler device for battlefield communications, a type of wristband communicator (like Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radio).
Harry explained why he had decided to focus on Gryffindor’s sword. “I think I have some kind of connection with it,” he told her. “During second year when Fawkes brought me the Sorting Hat, the sword only actually appeared when I put the Hat on my head and thought ‘Help me!’ really hard. I want to see if I can summon it at will, and also if I can do it without the Hat.” Hermione nodded, impressed with his thought process. It could be extremely valuable to be able to summon a magical sword to you in the middle of a battle. “So first I need to try to identify the charms on it,” Harry concluded, “and then try to key them to me.” Hermione agreed with him and rose to go find another charms book, then joined him again on the sofa to help him pursue this line of inquiry.
-ooOoo-
The month of March saw the tournament’s first outdoor event, the test on their knowledge of magical creatures. As expected, Luna was a veritable fountain of information on creatures real and imagined. Fortunately for their team, Ginny was able to keep her focussed on the actual creatures on the examination, and curb her forays into fantasy. It was a convincing victory, the first of the competition for their team. Padma and Justin’s team again took second place, with Hannah and Anthony’s foursome a close third.
The second event of March was the Muggle object identification. The twist here was that any muggleborn or muggle raised members of the team could not compete, but were expected to coach their teamates during the week before the examination. It was quite amusing to watch the normally somewhat pompous seventh year Ernie Macmillan sitting in rapt attention while being drilled by the young, but deadly serious first year Jamie. Harry had to stuff his fist in his mouth in his struggle to keep from laughing at the sight of the little know-it-all muggleborn witch earnestly reviewing the operation of electronic devices with her older teammates when he happened on them drilling in an empty classroom one day.
Apparently Justin had spent quite a bit of time reviewing with Padma as well, and Tracey and Su had squeezed all the information that they could out of Dennis, as their teams snagged the top two spots. Tracey and Su, with the additional benefits of each having one muggleborn parent, edged out Padma, with Hannah and Anthony’s team third and Ernie and Lisa pleasing Jamie by taking fourth, the top showing for a team with all pureblood competitors.
Thus after six events the standings showed Justin and Padma’s team in first place, and Tracey and Su’s foursome second, with the Ernie/Lisa team and the Anthony/Hannah team tied for third. Ginny and Luna’s team was a surprising 5th, by far the best placement for a combination with no seventh year students.
-ooOoo-
“It has to be here somewhere!”
It was a somber but thoughtful group that gathered in the Headmistress’s office on the first day of spring. Bill and Fleur had exhausted all of their other leads on the final Horcrux, and Bill was convinced it was somewhere at Hogwarts. Included in the assembly were all the people who knew about the quest, and they were brainstorming along with Dumbledore’s portrait, who at this point was regarding them all quietly, but with deep concern showing on his face. McGonagall sat behind her desk, and standing off to her side were Moody, Remus, and Tonks. Harry and Hermione were sitting close together on one of the couches in the room, with Ron and Ginny on another. Bill was pacing back and forth while Fleur was doing her best to keep him calm. Outwardly, Harry appeared relaxed but if one looked closely they could see the strong grip Hermione had on his arm, as she was mentally attempting to sooth his nerves through their bond.
“It’s possible that he hid it somewhere the day he came back for the interview,” Harry suggested.
“Possible, but unlikely,” came the voice from the portrait. “He was under surveillance the entire time he was in the castle. But even if he had the opportunity, where might he have hidden it such that we have been unable to detect if in all this time?”
“You are certain that you have thoroughly searched the Chamber of Secrets?” McGonagall inquired.
“Yes,” answered Bill, “We even took Moody down there to give it a scan with his magical eye.” Moody nodded his agreement.
The merpeople would know if it were in the lake,” Remus offered, “and likewise the centaurs in the forest. They are aware of everything that goes on in there.” He frowned. “Although I suppose they might not be too keen on telling us something like that.”
“No, I am certain that they would have informed me if that were the case,” the portrait responded. “They would not have tolerated an evil thing like that among them.”
“I suppose you’ve frequently scanned the castle for dark magic?” Moody challenged, causing some of his listeners to share a smile. If it were up to the paranoid ex-Auror, the castle would probably be scanned on a weekly basis. Dumbledore’s portrait guaranteed him that this was so.
“I find it hard to believe that there are no dark objects anywhere in the castle,” Remus objected. “Especially with all of the hidden and out of the way places.”
“Actually, a dark object in isolation is easily detected,” countered Bill. “It would be more likely to miss one if it were hidden among lots of other dark objects.”
“William is correct,” agreed the portrait. “Except for the Chamber, which was magically hidden from the Headmasters’ detection abilities, I can assure you that there are no dark objects except in places where they would be expected to be located.”
“Let me guess,” Ron broke in sarcastically. “The Slytherin common room.”
McGonagall shot him an annoyed look, but said nothing, since he was right after all. “And I can unequivocally state that it cannot be there,” she pronounced. “Professor Slughorn and I thoroughly scanned that room before the beginning of the year.”
Hermione felt Harry’s annoyance flare, as well as his disgust for the casual acceptance of activity from Slytherin House that would have had serious consequences if it had happened in any other house, and she squeezed his arm once more. Her thoughts, however were feverishly trying to connect two separate statements that different people had made. Hidden among other dark objects. Out of the way place.
“Does every House have a Head Suite like ours, and is it always located near the House common room?” she asked suddenly.
“Yes, but …” McGonagall frowned as she saw where her brilliant student was going with this line of reasoning, and summoned a book from the shelves behind her desk.
The others in the room had suddenly turned to Hermione. “That’s a thought,” Bill agreed. “The Slytherin Head Boy’s room? But the Horcrux we’re looking for was made after Riddle left Hogwarts.”
“There haven’t been too many Head Boys from Slytherin in recent years,” mused Harry.
“There weren’t any while I was here,” Tonks broke in.
“Not during my years either,” added Bill.
“It has been some time,” the portrait began. “Let me think, probably not since …”
Remus frowned as he thought back. “During my first year I think it was …”
“Lucius Malfoy,” announced McGonagall as she found the entry on the page she was searching.
-ooOoo-
It must have been a strange sight for the students of Hogwarts, as the mixed group of students and staff hurried down the corridors and staircases to the Slytherin section of the dungeons. Any particular attention they might have paid to the procession was discouraged, however, by the menacing glare of Moody’s magical eye.
The portrait guarding the Slytherin Head Suite had protested allowing non-Slytherins into the room, but McGonagall asserted her right as Headmistress and forced it to let them in. They quickly split up and began seaching the common room and the Head Boy’s room (and Tonks and Fleur checked out the Head Girl’s room for good measure). They found numerous dark objects, but Bill’s Horcrux detection spell came up negative every time. In frustration, Hermione pulled Harry out to the center of the common room and looked around carefully.
“We’re going about this the wrong way,” she insisted. “The Horcrux wouldn’t be anyplace obvious.” She had him close his eyes and stretch out his senses.
“It’s here somewhere,” he responded after several seconds. “My scar is tingling just a bit.” He paused and concentrated again. “It seems to be coming from over near the fireplace.”
Hermione shot her gaze in the direction of the fireplace, but there didn’t seem anything out of the ordinary there. Moody had already swept it once for dark objects, but Bill had cautioned them that it was possible that it could be masked somewhat to blend in with all the others. But the fireplace looked just like a normal fireplace, with a very ordinary picture hanging over it. She glanced away, frowned, and looked back again.
“Wait!” Hermione shouted. “Everyone come out here.” Seconds later the group had reassembled. “What do you see when you look at that fireplace?” Everyone turned to examine it closely.
“Just a fireplace with a picture hanging over it,” Harry replied finally, being the one least embarrassed about not seeing something that Hermione saw.
“And how would you describe the picture?” she persisted. “Without looking at it again,” she added quickly.
“Just a normal picture,” he answered with a frown, trying to remember what it looked like. “Nothing particularly memorable,” he finished, giving up.
Now everyone examined the picture again. It really was nothing memorable – just a desk with some books on it. Nothing dark about it at all. Hermione could see the puzzlement as everyone wondered why she was making such a big deal out of it. Then a glint of realization appeared on Remus’s face, followed by Fleur, then Bill.
“And wouldn’t you think that a picture hanging in such a place of honor would be of something more memorable than that?” she pointed out triumphantly.
Bill moved closer to examine the picture thoroughly while everyone hung back, but still studied it. There was a desk and chair, with a background that gave no clue as to where they were located. On the desk were some books and a few papers and writing implements, including a long quill lying on an open book. No titles were discernable on the books, and the writing on the books and paper was not legible. The quill appeared to be an eagle feather.
“Hey!” said Tonks as she rushed forward for a better look. “That looks like Ravenclaw’s Quill!”
Ravenclaw’s Quill, Hermione recalled from her study of the Hogwarts founders, was an artifact that had been passed down from one generation to another in the house that bore her name, from each seventh year female prefect to her successor. The custom seemed to have died out, because she had not been able to find any references to it recently, and no one she had talked to from Ravenclaw knew what had happened to it, although they were all familiar with the legend, particularly the female students. Tonks, having been in Ravenclaw, would certainly have known about it.
“This is extraordinary!” Bill gasped. He turned back to the others. “Was You-Know … I mean Vol … Voldemort ever in Egypt?”
“We’re not sure but it’s possible,” Moody answered. “He did travel a lot during the years after he left Hogwarts. Why?”
“I’ve only ever seen this once before, in an Egyptian tomb,” Bill responded, turning back to the picture. We stumbled across a painting that had an artifact we were looking for magically inserted into it. It took us two days to figure out how to get it out.”
Fleur came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, while standing up on her tip toes to look over his shoulder. “And now?” she asked
Bill shot her a grin. “Should take about two minutes.”
Everyone watched in fascination as Bill spoke several incantations while moving his wand in an intricate pattern. The quill in the painting seemed to become more defined, and started looking as though it was in one of those 3-D pictures that you had to wear the goofy glasses to see, Hermione thought. Then she realized that the quill was in fact actually emerging from the painting. Feur caught it as the enchanted picture finally released its hold.
Tonks moved up to peer closely at it. “I wonder if it still writes?” she commented, reaching to take it from Fleur.”
“No!” shouted Bill, causing everyone to jump and Tonks to jerk her hand away. “That would activate it,” he continued with his voice back to a normal level. The five of them who had destroyed the locket shuddered at that thought, and the rest of them, who had all heard about that episode, nodded their understanding. Ginny whimpered softly and shrank into Ron, who put his arm around her.
“So how do we do this,” Harry inquired, after Bill had confirmed that it was indeed a Horcrux.
“One of us destroys the quill, and another casts the soul destruction spell as the soul fragment emerges,” Bill declared. “Actually, several of us should cast that spell, just to make sure.” He quickly taught it to everyone present, since they all wanted to participate.
Harry leveled his wand at the quill, now resting on the hearth of the fireplace. “I’m thinking incendio,” he informed them. Bill nodded his approval.
“Do we really have to destroy such a priceless artifact?” McGonagall asked hesitantly.
Bill’s eyes darkened, and he answered in a sharp voice that was unusual for the normally good-natured man. “No, we could try to activate it by having someone write something with it, and let Voldemort’s soul come out of it and possess them, and then kill them,” he snapped, moving subconsciously in front of Ginny as he spoke.
McGonagall quickly withdrew her objection.
It really was much easier than destroying the one in the locket, Hermione reflected a minute later after the task had been accomplished. Harry’s incendio spell incinerated the quill, nine voices shouted ‘Annihilato Spiritus!’, nine golden jets of light intercepted the misty form that rose from the ashes of the quill, and a flash and a scream signaled that they were one step closer to the final defeat of the dark lord.
-ooOoo-
As the weather began to warm, the tournament shifted to outdoor contests. The April events opened with the Herbology exam, and as expected Neville and Daphne’s team took first place. This resulted in a rather steamy congratulatory kiss from the sexy Slytherin to her shy Gryffindor co-captain, which did not go unnoticed by his housemates. The weeks that followed saw quite a bit of teasing in the Gryffindor common room from Seamus and Dean about how he had been keeping his ‘ladies’ man’ persona under wraps. This in turn generated some uncomfortable glances between him and a certain petite redhead.
The seventh year Hufflepuffs managed to uphold the honor of their house (given that the Herbology professor was their Head of House) by taking the next three places with the Hannah/Anthony team finishing second, Ernie/Lisa third, and Justin/Padma fourth.
The other outdoor event at the end of the month was the obstacle course, in which the PDA members and others who had been involved in physical training dominated. The battle for the top spot came down to a sprint between Ginny and Neville for the finish line. While Neville had taken the lead on the parts of the course requiring upper body strength, the smaller and swifter girl managed to overtake and pass him just before the end. Unable to restrain her excitement, Ginny latched onto him with a crushing hug which turned into a long embrace, much to both of their surprise. It was finally broken up when Daphne came forward and pulled him away to congratulate him with a hug of her own, leaving Ginny to wonder what had just happened between her and the boy who she still thought of as ‘just a friend’.
The team winner still remained to be decided, however, and it was not until the third year Ravenclaw on Neville and Daphne’s team came in several seconds ahead of the fourth year Hufflepuff representing Ginny and Luna’s team that the Slytherin/Gryffindor duo learned that they had swept the month’s events and moved into top five contention. In the final tally, the Ginny/Luna team took second with Justin/Padma third. Justin and Padma’s team still held onto first overall.
-ooOoo-
The dominant news of the month, however, was the report of a massive raid by an Auror strike team on a Death Eater training center. The day after the news broke Harry and Hermione were invited to a secret briefing on the attack by Robards, Hammer, and Scrimgeour. While the Minister of Magic was primarily interested in trumpeting this rare success (particularly rare in that it did not involve the participation of the Chosen One and his mate), Robards provided the tactical details.
The raid had been made possible when someone, evidently a muggleborn Auror, had suggested the use of the Ministry’s spell detector in the Underage Use of Magic Detection office to identify areas of high usage of Unforgivables. The annoying part of the story was how long it had taken the Ministry’s hidebound bureaucracy to approve the diversion of the resource, which was after all primarily intended to keep tabs on muggleborn witches and wizards. It was not until Hammer had forcefully pointed out that there wasn’t much use for the device while Hogwarts was in session and threatened to lock up the resisting officials for hindering the war effort that they had relented.
The downside of the raid, Robards reported grimly, was that although many Death Eaters had been captured, it had come at the cost of the lives of half a dozen Aurors. This led to a heated discussion on battle tactics.
Standard Auror doctrine called for the use of nothing more lethal than stunning spells, followed by binding the unconscious offenders. The Death Eaters were under no such restrictions, and although they had been taken by surprise, the more lethal spells they used had scored some deadly hits. The Head Auror noted, with heartfelt thanks, that without the dragonhide armor Harry had provided the light side casualty count would have been much higher.
By contrast, it took several stunning hits on average for every Death Eater subdued, since they could be easily revived by their comrades. At this observation, Harry and Hermione shared an uneasy glance before Hermione nodded and Harry shrugged, then turned back to respond.
“We figured that out last year,” he told them firmly. That’s when we decided that we weren’t willing to risk our lives or those of our friends in a battle with that sort of disadvantage. That’s the same thing I told Shacklebolt and Dawlish last summer. When we fought the Death Eaters in the Department of Mysteries, and again when they attacked us at Hogwarts, we and the others that fought with us scored as many or more hits as they did, but they just kept reviving the ones we stunned, or freeing the ones we tied up. Now, when we fight we make sure that when they go down they stay down. If we know we can take them out of the fight for good by stunning them we will, but otherwise we …”
“I completely agree with you, Potter,” Scrimgeour broke in. “That’s what I’ve been telling these two. During the last war the Ministry authorized the use of Unforgivables by Aurors, and that’s what I’m going to do this time. I’m planning a press conference tomorrow to make the announcement and I’m hoping you will join me.”
Hermione winced as she felt a flash of anger from Harry at the realization that they had been set up. Before he could respond, though, she broke in. “Actually Minister, that’s not what we’re suggesting at all. There are plenty of spells that can disable an opponent without resorting to those.” Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Hammer, who had been furious at the Minister’s declaration, was now nodding with a look of vindication on her face.
“Now, my dear, I realize that you’re too young to remember the last war and what was necessary to win it,” Scrimgeour said soothingly. “You’ll have to just trust that those of us who were involved know what must be done.” Hermione forced herself to stay calm and not hex the patronizing smile right off his face. After several deep breaths, she shot a look at Harry to stay out of it for the moment and continued.
“So, Minister, you’re saying that the Aurors’ use of Unforgivables turned the tide in that war? That it was this decision that led to Voldemort’s defeat?” His placating smile now turned into an irritated glare but before he could answer she continued. “I suppose all the history books are wrong then and Harry Potter had nothing to do with it?” Now his look turned truly ugly and he began to sputter when Hammer broke in.
“No, Miss Granger, I’m sure that’s not what the Minister is saying. In fact, we don’t know whether it would have worked or not. The war was still going strong when Mr. Potter defeated You Know …” she swallowed and forced it out, “Voldemort.”
Now Harry moved forward, and Hermione obligingly took a step back letting him know she was turning the floor over to him. “The one time I ever attempted an Unforgivable, a Cruciatus curse on Bellatrix Lestrange if you must know, it didn’t work. She then informed me that you have to really mean it, have to let your hatred fill you in order cast them properly. Righteous anger won’t work. That’s not something I’m willing to do, and I wouldn’t wish that feeling on any Auror either.” Hermione saw both Robards and Hammer nodding in agreement, while Scrimgeour continued to glare at them. “I’m sorry Minister, but we cannot endorse this action.”
-ooOoo-
The Daily Prophet
Monday, 13 April, 1998
Aurors to Use Unforgivables!
Minister Scrimgeour Announces Controversial Tactic
In War Against Forces of You-Know-Who
by Rita Skeeter
Unfortunately, Scrimgeour was not dissuaded in his determination to make a headline-grabbing announcement, and the front page of the Daily Prophet the next day screamed out the contentious decision. On the positive side, Hermione had managed to dissociate Harry from the decision, as the following paragraph appeared near the end of the article:
And what of the Chosen One’s opinion on this questionable decision? A source close to Mr. Potter offered this statement: ‘We regret that the Minister felt it necessary to take this step. Obviously we have no say in what tactics the Aurors use, and this decision does not give us or those fighting with us the right to use these curses, and we are satisfied with that restriction. These curses also extract a heavy toll on the caster, which we prefer not to have to deal with.’
Also on the positive side, Robards informed Harry privately that despite the new allowance, few if any of his Aurors would be using the killing curse or either of the others. They would, on the other hand, be taking his advice about using more incapacitating curses in the future, and he thanked him again for his assistance.
Regrettably, the incident didn’t end there. At the next meeting of the PDA one of the newly instated members of the elite battle groups raised the question again.
“Harry, are we going to learn Unforgivable curses now, too?” This question was met by some angry muttering by many of the seventh years who knew Harry the best, particularly the Gryffindors who remembered the demonstration ‘Moody’ had given them during their fourth year. “I mean, I know what the story in the Prophet said, but I was wondering …”
Harry sighed, and Hermione’s hand found his again. Then he called to the whole group to stop what they were doing and gather round, before asking Hermione to transfigure some debris from the dueling dummy that had just been destroyed into a rat.
“First of all, you can assume that anything Rita Skeeter writes about me these days is probably correct,” he began. “Now, the short answer to your question is no, we’re not. But I’m sure you Ravenclaws, at least, want an explanation.” The simple house jest managed to somewhat lighten the somber mood that had settled over the room and he continued. “The problem is that it’s not as straightforward to cast these spells as you might think.”
“Avada Kedavra!” The gathered students jumped back in shock as Harry pointed his wand at the rat and spoke the killing curse without warning. As expected, the green flash of light caused the rat to collapse and lie motionless on the table before him. But to their astonishment, in a few seconds it staggered to its feet and scurried off. Hermione was quicker, though, and an unspoken Finite later it reverted to debris again.
“The problem, you see,” Harry resumed calmly, “is that there is more to these curses than saying the incantation and making the correct wand movement. You have to be full of hate in order for them to work properly. And that sort of hatred darkens your soul. It does no good for us to defeat a dark lord only to become like him ourselves.”
Still wide-eyed, the students of the PDA all quickly agreed and the training session resumed.
-ooOoo-
On the first day of May, Ron told Harry and Hermione that they should come to Care of Magical Creatures that morning, as Hagrid had a surprise for them. Rather than some bizarre new (and likely dangerous) creature, Hagrid’s treat was of the human variety.
“Charlie!” the pair exclaimed in unison as they ran to greet the grinning redhead. Harry paused to shake his hand but Hermione barreled right into him for a hug. While his surprised brother untangled himself from the enthusiastic Head Girl, Ron explained.
“St. Mungo’s finally released him in March, and he’s been living with Mum and Dad, but now he’s getting anxious to get out and do something. They absolutely forbade him from doing something strenuous like going back to working with dragons, so we had the idea that he could come here and help out Hagrid for the rest of the year.” Hermione understood the unspoken addition – Charlie would also be available to help defend the castle in the event of an attack, and was probably looking forward to it, as payback for the destruction of the Burrow.
“Also, I wanted to come and cheer for Ron and Ginny in this tournament you guys have cooked up,” Charlie added. “I hear they’re going to be doing some fancy flying next week.”
Indeed, the next event of the Hogwarts Challenge was the flying competition, which did prove to be a Weasley family affair. Ginny and Ron, with faster broomsticks than any student at Hogwarts besides Harry, led their teams to the top times in the relay race portion of the event, meaning the obstacle course would determine the winner. This flying circuit on the reconfigured quidditch pitch involved climbing, diving, sharp turns, and ended with the contestant flying through the hoops at opposite ends of the stadium in succession. Since the top two scores for each team were all that counted, Luna and Susan sat in the stands with the other students and cheered as their teammates took to the course one at a time.
Ginny’s superb talents as a chaser and seeker earned her the fastest overall time, nudging out Ron, but it was her selection of the Hufflepuff seeker as a teammate that sealed the win, as he came in ahead of the third year Ravenclaw who was the second fastest entrant on Ron’s team. Thus, Ginny took this family contest, as her and Luna’s team claimed the top spot with Ron and Susan’s quartet settling for second.
Near the end of the month came the last of the preliminary events, the gauntlet. This was the event designed to test the students’ Defense skills, and as expected the top PDA members dominated.
The gauntlet challenge had been boosted considerably when it was decided to add a series of traps (such as portable swamps) provided by Fred and George. The contestants would have to navigate through the various traps and take out as many dueling dummies as possible, while also avoiding the return fire from some of them. Since it was the final event of the preliminary round, the teams were sent through in reverse order of their overall standing.
The difficulty of the challenge quickly became obvious when none of the first five teams even made it though. Most of these unfortunates had tended to take an ‘every man for himself, just get to the other end’ approach and they paid for it. Clearly, some teamwork and strategy was in order.
Ron and Susan were the first to skillfully exploit this aspect, as Ron focused on attack spells, knocking out as many dummies as possible with powerful blasting curses, while Susan countered the return fire with shields. Their two younger teammates were instructed to stay close and help out wherever they could, and they methodically worked their way through the test, avoiding all of the traps. (In this Ron had a decided advantage, due to his familiarity with his brothers’ inventions.) This approach put them temporarily in first place, but there were six teams yet to come.
Hannah and Anthony’s team and likewise Ernie and Lisa’s followed their example, but neither Anthony or Ernie’s blasting hexes were as powerful or accurate as Ron’s, and the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff pair maintained their lead. Daphne and Neville, however matched Ron and Susan for both power and skill, as Daphne managed to hit quite a few dummies as well as shielding. Also, the two of them moved their team more quickly through the gauntlet, trading fewer hits for a faster time. This strategy succeeded in moving them ahead of the Ron/Susan quartet, and Daphne once again rewarded Neville, in the same manner as she had after their Herbology victory. She also managed to time her congratulatory kiss just as Ginny was coming over to offer congratulations of her own, leaving the younger Gryffindor with a jealous feeling that tarnished her own victory.
For Ginny and Luna had devised an even more effective strategy that maximized the use of each of their team members’ talents. They moved through the gauntlet at an all out run, with Luna solely focused on locating and disabling all the traps, while Ginny fired off blasting hexes at the target dummies with an incredible combination of speed and accuracy. Their two younger teammates were instructed to keep up with them and to focus on shielding and evasion, which had been their best areas during their PDA training. As the four of them slid across the finish line on the surface of a portable swamp that Luna had just frozen solid there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they had won handily.
Justin and Padma’s team, the final team to run the gauntlet by virtue of being in first place going into the event, did a credible job with the two of them working well together to both avoid traps and blast the targets. They also moved through the gauntlet at a good pace, but neither of them were as fast or accurate as Ginny, and so their total hit score was considerably lower, but good for fourth place on the day.
Thus the contesting teams were set for the final event, the solving of the maze, to take place in June. Justin/Padma were in first place due to their overall consistency and string of second place finishes, while Ginny/Luna, who had taken the greatest number of firsts, were next. Tracey/Su held down third place with Hannah/Anthony and Ernie/Lisa taking the final two spots.
-ooOoo-
Ginny was again the queen of the Gryffindor common room during the celebration that evening, both for her team’s first place finish on the day and for their second place standing overall – noteworthy in that it was the only team in the finale without any seventh year members. The house was also justifiably proud that Ginny, Neville, and Ron had been largely responsible for their teams’ top three finishes in the gauntlet.
“I’d like to see what Harry and Hermione would do on that course,” Seamus declared, to loud general agreement.
“I don’t see how anyone could have done better than Ginny did,” Dean argued. “She was incredible today.” Ginny smiled at him and gave him a pat on the cheek in appreciation, but shook her head.
“No, I couldn’t hold a candle to Harry,” she objected. “Maybe you lot don’t remember the things he did in training this summer, but I do. And don’t forget what the pair of them did at the attack on the Longbottoms, and before that on the Burrow. I was there for that one and they were unbelievable.” She turned to Ron for confirmation and he nodded his agreement.
“Maybe not Harry, but it might be fun to see Ginny and Hermione go at it,” Dean persisted, giving Seamus a wink. Across the room Hermione merely shook her head in amusement. Those two would enjoy watching any good looking pair of witches ‘go at it’, she knew. Before she could offer a response, Ron beat her to it.
“No offense to Ginny, but Hermione mopped up the floor with me when I was crazy enough to challenge her this summer. I’d like to think Gin and I are fairly evenly matched, so I doubt that it would be much of a contest.” Ginny nodded vigorously, as she had no desire to challenge her friend.
“At any rate, it wouldn’t be fair for Hermione and me to run that course, since we helped design it,” Harry pointed out. Hermione nodded her agreement and surreptitiously gave his hand a squeeze, impressed with how he had directed the conversation away from speculation on their abilities, which they wanted to keep under wraps as much as possible.
Just then the portrait hole opened and Neville came stumbling in with a dazed expression on his face. Seeing a host of questioning looks he blurted out that Daphne had just asked him to be her date for the end of year dance. At that revelation, his fellow Gryffindor male housemates immediately decided that even though his team had finished sixth in the Hogwarts Challenge, just out of the running for the trophy, Neville had definitely come out of the competition a winner.
The stunned look on Ginny’s face at this revelation made Hermione decide that another heart to heart conversation was in order. The next day she and Fleur invited Ginny to the Head Girl’s room, where the two older witches tried to help the confused redhead work out what she was feeling. They both pointed out that it wasn’t fair to Neville for her to string him along, expecting him to be there whenever she needed a date but not being willing to commit to anything herself.
She finally resolved to be happy for him, although she did wish that it had been a less attractive girl who had set her sights on him. Hermione carefully refrained from saying that who was going to take whom to this particular dance probably didn’t really matter at this point, because the chances were that the course of the war with Voldemort would make the whole matter moot.
-ooOoo-
Something similar was on the minds of the leaders of the Order of the Phoenix as well, and later that week Alistor Moody arrived at Hogwarts and sequestered himself with Remus, Tonks, McGonagall, Harry and Hermione. The subject – when did everyone think Voldemort was going to make his big attack, and where? All the intelligence they had been gathering indicated a large build-up of his forces.
“Well, so far, every attack he’s made on me has happened near the end of the school year, either before, during, or after final exams,” Harry offered. “So I’m guessing he’ll hold to that pattern. I don’t want to even try to understand his reasoning, but he seems pretty consistent.”
“The only exception was last year, and it was Draco that initiated that attack, not Voldemort,” Hermione pointed out in support. “And we’ve known for two years that Harry’s the one he’s after the most, so we believe that he’ll attack here.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” responded Moody, “but that raid the Ministry pulled off last month really got his attention. I’d say it was possible he’d go after them first, not only for payback but also to remove them from the picture, leaving us more isolated up here.”
The consensus was that they should be ready for an attack at either place, and that Robards and Hammer should be kept fully informed of their thinking.
Meanwhile, out on the Hogwarts grounds, a pair of redheaded twins were busily preparing a new set of tricks and traps for the maze that was to be used in the final task. They had used their standard assortment of pranks for the gauntlet (which somewhat accounted for the ease with which Luna had disabled them, given how her father had incorporated them into their home defenses) but this time it would be all new stuff. They had taken careful note of how their traps had been countered in the gauntlet event, and made adjustments accordingly. For example, an antifreeze charm had been added to the portable swamp.
But under the cover of this work, they were secretly performing a similar mission on a much larger scale. By the time they were finished, the entire Hogwarts grounds would be filled with a variety of their most dangerous traps, particularly a new model of the portable swamp, all of which could be activated remotely from the castle. An invading enemy would be in for a most unpleasant surprise.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
Author Notes:
Acknowledgement - I had a tough time trying to decide what to use for Ravenclaw’s Horcrux. At the end, the quill made the most sense to me, and I haven’t seen it used in a lot of other stories. A similar description of Ravenclaw’s Quill occurs in a fanfiction entitled Off Balance, found on Portkey.