average human’s Reviews > Polyjuice > Status Update

“Not really,” Theo snorted, being the only one aside from Harry who knew what the task was.

Not that Harry was entirely sure anymore... He’d checked all his belongings before he dressed and came to breakfast, and they were all still there. His cloak, his sword, all his knives, the prophecy in his trunk, even the photos he had of his friends, Snape, and his parents.

Plus, he had woken up to another jar of gillyweed on his nightstand table. A jar that Harry hadn’t purchased.

He had accidentally purchased an outrageous amount though. Apparently ‘all the gillyweed the Apothecary had in stock’ was quite a bit of gillyweed. He’d taken out three doses, and boxed the rest to give to Snape for potions.

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Fred asked him.

“FUCK! I am ready!” Harry yelled, annoyed at all the coddling. “I have my wand, two knives, my ingredients, and I will hex the next person who asks me if I’m ready!”

“We’re just worried,” Hermione said softly. “You’re our friend Harry.”

Terrific. Coddling and guilt trips this morning then.

Harry slumped in his seat and gave Hermione his best attempt at a kind smile.

“Mione, I will be fine. This one really will be easy.”

“You said that about the dragon,” Ron said.

“And look how that turned out,” Harry told him.

“You unconscious on a hospital bed?” Blaise drawled.

“No,” Harry had to focus on clearing his mind to get his jaw to unclench. “I won, didn’t I? And I’ll win again today.”

Harry looked around the Hall again, searching for Luna. She was usually one of the first ones to breakfast, and it was nearly ten now. She also hadn’t slept in his dorm last night, which was odd, because she had the night before the first task and Harry considered it a tradition.

“Mione, will you go wake up Lue?” he asked. “Or give me the password and I’ll do it.”

“I’ve told you a million times, it’s a riddle you have to solve,” Hermione sighed. “But yes, I’ll go find Luna.”

“I’ll walk you,” Theo told her.

“Harry darling, should I begin walking you to all your many locations?” Fred asked, batting his eyelashes like crazy.

“Piss off,” Harry laughed. “Theo’s just being nice.”

They all lapsed in to a tense and awkward silence as they waited for either Hermione and Theo to return with Luna, or for Harry to be summoned by Snape.

Harry groaned out loud when Snape approached him.

“Can you wait five more minutes? Please? You’re early anyway,” he pleaded. “Lue will be upset if I go without seeing her first.”

Snape’s expression didn’t change, but Harry sensed a slight tightening in his shoulders.

“I am afraid not,” he said stiffly. “Allow me to walk you to the lake.”

“Damnit,” Harry grumbled. “Fine.”

Susan and Fred both gave him tight hugs and the rest of his friends wished him luck.

“Tell Lue I’m sorry and I swear I’m fine and I’ll see her afterwards, okay?” he told Draco urgently. “Don’t let her be upset, got it?”

“Got it,” Draco said seriously. “Focus on you, we’ll take care of Luna.”

None of the students noticed the flash of guilt in Snape’s eyes behind them.

“You will not be changing your plan?” Snape murmured as he led Harry out of the castle.

“No,” Harry rolled his eyes, resigned to one last round of coddling. “It’s a good plan. You didn’t need to send me more gillyweed this morning.”

Snape paused in his steps and looked down at Harry.

“I did not send you gillyweed Harry, you are of course bright enough to know better than to consume an ingredient from an unknown source?”

“Course I am,” Harry scoffed. If Snape hadn’t sent it, who did?

“Maybe Lue or Moody did...” he mused.

“Why would Professor Moody send you gillyweed?” Snape asked as the neared the beach where a dock and stands had been added.

“Dunno, but he tried to help me the first time, didn’t he? I think he’s warming up to the idea of my gang.”

He had seemed much more interested in Harry since their thinly veiled conversation anyway. Not that Harry’s interest in him had lessened at all. In fact, he was pretty sure that he’d even timed out when he took his dosages of Polyjuice and he was 98% confident they were coming from his hip flask.

Snape sighed but said nothing as they stepped on the dock.

“Listen to me,” Snape put his hand on Harry’s shoulder and looked seriously down in to his eyes. “No matter what you encounter within the lake, I need you to keep your composure, do you understand me?”

Harry cocked his head to the side at that odd bit of advice.

“What d’you reckon I’ll find down there?” he asked curiously. “I’ve done a ton of research, it’s mostly just a water creatures and stuff in there. I don’t think any of it will be a real challenge.”

“Harry...” Snape looked suddenly uneasy and it made Harry’s hair stand practically on end. What would cause Snape to be uneasy about the task?

“It’s Miss Lovegood,” he sighed. “Miss Lovegood was the thing you would sorely miss.”

Harry froze.

Miss Lovegood.

Luna.

‘We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss.’

Luna.

His Luna.

“YOU LET THEM TAKE LUNA?!” he snarled, releasing his dagger from its holster to his hand. “SHE’S IN THE FUCKIN LAKE?!”

”Composure, Harry,” Snape hissed as he quickly led Harry away from the nearby judges. “Keep your composure. She is safe, I swear-“

“Fuck you,” Harry spat, his vision being overtaken by a red haze. “You let them take her?! YOU LET DUMBLEDORE TAKE MY LUNA?! SHE COULD DIE SNAPE!”

“She volunteered,” Snape said. “She knew you needed a hostage and she volunteered. Who would you have rather be taken?”

“Anyone!” Harry howled. “You could have volunteered! You’re a grown adult! Or... or Black! Fuck, why didn’t you tell them I’d sorely miss fuckin’ Lupin?! ANYONE WOULD BE BETTER THAN LUE!”

“Shut up you little madman,” Snape whispered harshly. “Shut up and breathe Harry. Miss Lovegood volunteered. Would I have allowed her to take this position if I were not entirely confident of both her safety and your ability to save her?”

“Clearly you did,” Harry hissed. “If there is one hair hurt on her head then I’m going to kill you all, I swear to God.”

“As I presumed you would,” Snape said calmly, apparently too used to Harry’s death threats to be concerned. Which was a mistake, because if Luna wasn’t 100% healthy, safe, and able to be retrieved- Harry and Susan both would kill every person involved in putting her in the lake.

“‘Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back’,” Harry recited in a whisper, his rage shifting to abject terror. “Snape... if I don’t get her within an hour she’ll die.”

“Harry, listen, please,” Harry turned his suddenly horror filled eyes to Snape’s calm black ones. “Do you truly believe that I would ever allow Miss Lovegood to be placed in true mortal danger? No-“ he stopped Harry when he opened his mouth to argue that point. “Think logically Harry. It is merely a line meant to scare you, none of the hostages will die. I swear this to you Harry.”

“Vow it then,” Harry croaked, imagining Luna floating face down on the lake... lifeless... “Swear she isn’t going to die.”

”Vow on your magic that if Lovegood is safe at the end of the task, you will not harm anyone,” Snape countered with quickly.

Harry didn’t want to because he could feel his fury boiling in his blood, he could feel his magic itching to release itself on the person who did this, but... but he needed to hear Snape vow that Luna would live.

Save Luna first, kill Dumbledore later, he decided, prioritizing Luna’s safety over his immediate revenge.

“I, Harry James Potter, vow on my life that if Luna Lovegood is alive, healthy, safe, and recovered from the lake today that I will not harm anyone for using her as a hostage... today.”

Harry vowed on his life instead of his magic like Snape requested, he’d rather be dead than lose his magic. And he wouldn’t vow not to harm anyone over this in general, because he was going to kill Dumbledore for this, along with his many other reasons. But if Luna was safe, then he didn’t have to do it today.

Snape glanced around to ensure their continued privacy before he immediately raised his wand.

“I, Severus Tobias Snape, swear on my magic and my life that no matter how long Harry Potter takes to retrieve Luna Lovegood during the second task today, she will not die if it is past an hour.”

Harry felt his anxiety lessen at Snape’s swear, though he could still picture Luna’s body in the back of his mind.

“Kids drown all the time,” he whispered. “They used to fish them out of the river in London. Can Luna even swim?!”

Snape groaned and looked over his shoulder where the other competitors were now lining up.

“As horrifying as that unhelpful memory is, I doubt if Lovegood is unable to swim. The girl practically lives in a forest.”

Harry nodded absently.

“Who exactly planned this?” he asked. He was certain it was Dumbledore, but he needed to know precisely who all would bleed for this mistake.

“The Headmasters, none of whom you will be killing today,” Snape said severely. “I mean it Harry. You have vowed it to me.”

“And I’m vowing now that if Lue is hurt I’ll do what I fuckin’ please,” Harry said. “Dumbledore better pray she’s safe. Because if not, he’s a dead man Snape. I gotta go line up, I’m wasting time here.”

Harry squared his shoulders and stormed away from Snape. He liked Snape, but Snape should have volunteered. Snape would never let himself drown, but Luna...

Luna was just so tiny. And frail. And gentle. And sweet.

And he didn’t even know if she could fucking swim.

“Harry! Just on time!” Bagman cried when Harry lined up beside Fleur. “Can I talk to you-“

“No,” Harry said shortly, pulling his robe off to expose his long sleeved shirt and ‘exercise trousers’ he’d borrowed from Blaise. “Give me the gold and piss off.”

Bagman tittered nervously as he subtly handed Harry a bag of Galleons.

“Good luck then,” he said as Harry buried the bag in his robe pocket.

”Stay,” Harry waved his hand over the bag and attached it to his robes. He attached his robes to the dock for good measure, then checked his pockets one last time.

Three dosages of gillyweed? Check.

Enchanted dagger from Malfoy? Check.

Magic penknife from Black? Check.

Wand? Check.

Harry was as prepared as he could be, and he felt a brief flash of gratitude that his friends had irritated him in to preparing for the task early.

“You know it’s a person, yeah?” he murmured to Fleur.

“Eet eez what?!” Fleur cried, turning wide and terrified blue eyes to Harry. “Zey took people we would miss?”

“Yup,” Harry kicked his shoes off and pulled off his socks. “Need a warming charm?” Keeping Fleur from getting sick wasn’t going to give her any sort of advantage, but it did seem like a charming thing to do while he waited to go save Luna.

“I will do eet,” she said, her chin stuck out stubbornly. “And eef I make eet to ze ‘ostages first, I will save yours.”

Harry turned his head and studied Fleur with surprise.

“Same then,” he said. “I know mines a pretty blonde witch named Luna. Kill anyone who tries to stop you, yeah?”

“I will,” Fleur nodded and Harry felt a bit more anxiety melt from his body.

He didn’t plan on letting anything stop him from getting to Luna, but knowing Fleur would save her if he couldn’t was an undeniable boost.

“Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle,” Bagman suddenly yelled, his voice magically amplified across the lake to the spectators and champions. Harry hastily applied a warming charm to himself and gripped the gillyweed in his pocket. “They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One . . . two . . . three!”

Harry shoved the slimy gillyweed in his mouth and swallowed it in three quick chews as he ran in to the lake. He couldn’t slow down. He couldn’t take his time.

He had to save Luna.

He was waist deep when he felt it kick in. Harry felt as though an invisible pillow had been pressed over his mouth and nose. He tried to draw breath, but it made his head spin; his lungs were empty, and he suddenly felt a piercing pain on either side of his neck —

Harry clapped his hands around his throat and felt two large slits just below his ears, flapping in the cold air... He had gills.

Harry dove in the water and began kicking and paddling as hard and fast as he could.

The first gulp of icy lake water felt like the breath of life. His head had stopped spinning; he took another great gulp of water and felt it pass smoothly through his gills, sending oxygen back to his brain. He stretched out his hands in front of himself for a split second and examined them. They looked green and ghostly under the water, and they had become webbed. He twisted around and looked at his bare feet — they had become elongated and the toes were webbed too: It looked as though he had sprouted flippers.

Harry struck out once more, idly marveling at how far and fast his flipper-like feet propelled him through the water, and noticing how clearly he could see, and how he no longer seemed to need to blink. He had soon swum so far into the lake that he could no longer see the bottom. He flipped over and dived into its depths.

Luna was the only thought in his head. The image of her lifeless body floating face down in the lake, her long blonde hair an eerie halo surrounding her, the only image he could see.

He had to hurry.

He swam deeper and deeper, out toward the middle of the lake, his eyes wide, staring through the eerily gray-lit water around him to the shadows beyond, where the water became opaque.

Small fish flickered past him like silver darts. Once or twice he thought he saw something larger moving ahead of him, but when he got nearer, he discovered it to be nothing but a large, blackened log, or a dense clump of weed. There was no sign of Luna, any of the other champions, merpeople, — not even the giant squid.

Harry kept swimming as hard and as fast as his new flippers could take him. When he’d carefully asked Hagrid about the presence of mermaids in the lake, he’d told him they were in the middle of the lake in the very bottom.

So that’s where he needed to go.

Harry was focused on his goal, and trying not to picture all the horrible things that could be happening to Luna, that it caught him completely by surprise when something grabbed his leg.

Harry twisted his body around and saw a grindylow, a small, horned water demon, poking out of the weed, its long fingers clutched tightly around Harry’s leg, its pointed fangs bared - Harry stuck his webbed hand quickly inside his robes and grabbed his dagger from Malfoy. By the time he had grasped it, two more grindylows had risen out of the weed, had seized handfuls of Harry’s trousers, and were attempting to drag him down.

“Piss off!” Harry shouted, except that no sound came out... A large bubble issued from his mouth, and he slashed at the demon with his knife as hard as he could given the odd angle. The little grindylow let out a loud shriek and let go of Harry’s leg as green ooze poured from the spot Harry’s dagger cut it right on the side of its neck. Harry kicked away as hard as he could, his dagger still brandished. When he turned to check if they were following him, he saw the now dead grindylow floating away, while its fellows shook their fists at Harry before sinking back in to the seaweed.

Harry peered around in the oppressive darkness and saw that a bit of light could be seen behind him, but none in front of him. So he kept swimming in the direction away from the light.

Which seemed like a terrible omen, but he would have a 2-1 showdown with Timmy and Dumbledore if it meant saving Luna.

Excellent job staying unattached, he snorted to himself as he swam quickly. You knew if you started to make attachments, someone would try and take them. And they did. Now Luna’s in the bottom of a lake filled with dangerous creatures because you just had to get attached.

Harry shook his head as he swam ahead for what felt to be at least another twenty minutes before, finally, the lights began shifting. At long last, he heard a snatch of the haunting mersong.

”An hour long you’ll have to look, And to recover what we took...”

Harry swam faster and soon saw a large rock emerge out of the muddy water ahead. It had paintings of merpeople on it; they were carrying spears and chasing what looked like the giant squid. Harry swam on past the rock, following the mersong.

”...your time’s half gone, so tarry not, lest what you seek stays here to rot...”

Over Harry’s dead fuckin’ body.

A cluster of crude stone dwellings stained with algae loomed suddenly out of the gloom on all sides. Here and there at the dark windows, Harry saw faces... terribly hideous faces.

Harry had kind of assumed that mermaids would be prettier, but clearly that was a bullshit muggle concept.

The merpeople had grayish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Their eyes were yellow, as were their broken teeth, and they wore thick ropes of pebbles around their necks. They leered at Harry as he swam past; one or two of them emerged from their caves to watch him better, their powerful, silver fish tails beating the water, spears clutched in their hands.

Harry sped on, staring around, and soon the dwellings became more numerous; there were gardens of seaweed around some of them, and he even saw a pet grindylow tied to a stake outside one door. Merpeople were emerging on all sides now, watching him eagerly, pointing at his webbed hands and gills, talking behind their hands to one another. Harry sped around a corner and a very strange sight met his eyes.

A whole crowd of merpeople was floating in front of the houses that lined what looked like a mer-version of a village square. A choir of merpeople was singing in the middle, calling the champions toward them, and behind them rose a crude sort of statue; a gigantic merperson hewn from a boulder. Four people were bound tightly to the tail of the stone merperson.

Luna.

Luna was tied to the stone, smack dab between that twit Cho Chang and Fred’s teammate Katie Bell. On the other side of Katie was another small and frail looking girl with silver hair. She had to be related to Fleur in some way.

All four of them appeared to be in a very deep sleep. Their heads were lolling onto their shoulders, and fine streams of bubbles kept issuing from their mouths.

Harry sped toward the hostages, half expecting the merpeople to lower their spears and charge at him, but they did nothing. The ropes of weed tying the hostages to the statue were thick, slimy, and very strong.

Not as strong as the penknife Sirius gave him.

Harry cut through Luna’s ropes easily and swore to himself he’d find something nice to do for Sirius for the gift.

Luna floated, unconscious, a few inches above the lake bottom, drifting a little in the ebb of the water.

Harry looked around. There was no sign of Fleur, and he’d promised to save her hostage if he got here first. He turned back to the little silver haired girl, raised the penknife, and began to hack at her bindings too —

At once, several pairs of strong gray hands seized him. Half a dozen mermen were pulling him away from the girl, shaking their green-haired heads, and laughing.

“You take your own hostage,” one of them said to him. “Leave the others...”

“FUCK OFF!” Harry snarled, swiping at the hands touching him with the knife. The mermaid let go of him, but kept laughing at the air bubble that left Harry’s mouth instead of his curse.

“Your task is to retrieve your own friend... leave the others,” the merman that seemed to be in charge said with a leering smile.

No chance of that. He’d given Fleur his word.

Harry quickly grabbed one of his throwing stars and made his magic guide it to the center of the merman’s chest.

”I’m taking her,” he hissed, uncaring if the bleeding merman understood his exact words or not. Everyone understood pain, it was a global language. And the way the merman bared his teeth and yanked the star from his chest, even merfolk spoke it.

The merman threw Harry’s star away, and Harry saw as it sunk to the bottom of the lake. He wasn’t going to waste time going after it, he had half a dozen more in his dorm. But if the merman was going to take Harry’s weapon then-

”Ta,” he murmured with a cold smile as he summoned the sharp spear straight from the merman’s hand to his own.

The merman let out a high pitched shriek of anger and made to move at Harry. Harry quickly pulled his rarely used wand out for effect, Theo swore merfolk were terrified of wands, and pointed both the wand and spear in the merman’s face.

“I take them both, or I kill you,” he said, exaggerating the lip movements to be sure they understood him. “Back up.” Harry held up three fingers, a real feat to do while keeping hold of his wand with the other two fingers. “One,” he put a finger down and smiled cruelly. “Two,” he put another finger down. “Three-“

They scattered.

Harry still sent a burst of green light towards the one that grabbed him, but he couldn’t wait around to see if it struck its target or not.

Harry darted forward and held the spear in his mouth as he began to cut at the ropes binding the small girl to the statue. Until, at last, she was free. He seized the little girl around the waist, grabbed Luna carefully around the waist as well, and kicked off from the bottom.

It was very slow work. He could no longer use his webbed hands to propel himself forward; he worked his flippers furiously, but Luna and Fleur’s hostage were like potato-filled sacks dragging him back down... He fixed his eyes skyward, though he knew he must still be very deep, the water above him was still so dark.

Harry focused on seeing Luna’s green tinted face be alert and covered in sunlight and that determination led him to kicking his way up to the surface.

Harry watched Luna’s face closely as he silently cast a Finite Incantatem on himself to lose the gills and fins.

“You did it!” Luna cried happily as she opened her eyes and stared around in wonder. “And you saved Fleur’s sister and got a spear too!”

Harry turned his head and saw that the girl did resemble Fleur incredibly closely now that her eyes were open and just as blue as Fleur’s were. Her eyes were more fearful than Harry had ever seen Fleur’s though, and fixed on the spear that Harry hastily shifted to the hand clutching Luna.

“Are you okay?” He asked the girl as gently as possible. “Er... Comment allez-vous?”

The girl blinked at him and then giggled, spurring Luna to giggle as well.

“Lue, what were you thinking?” Harry asked as he pulled the two light-weighted girls along with him towards the shore where students were screaming and cheering for him. “Snape said you volunteered. Why on Earth would you do that? Are you okay?!”

“Because I knew you’d save me,” Luna said airily. “I’m fine, I wasn’t worried Harry, you always save me.”

“You could have died,” Harry grumbled, his face red at Luna’s assurance in his abilities.

“Of course I wouldn’t have,” Luna laughed. “As if you would have let me die.”

Harry shook his head and focused his diminishing energy on gently pulling along Fleur’s sister, who absolutely could not swim.

“GABRIELLE!” Fleur screamed once Harry, Luna, and, apparently, Gabrielle neared the dock. “YOU SAVED ‘ER ‘ARRY!”

“What happened to you?!” Harry demanded as he helped Gabrielle and Luna climb up on the dock. “I’m not past an hour, am I?”

“Non,” Fleur shook her head as she smother Gabrielle in a hug. “You are ze first ‘Arry. I ‘ad to be rescued by Meester ‘Agrid. Ze grindylows pulled me into ze seaweed. I zought I was a goner.”

Harry carefully withheld a scoff as Luna extended a hand and pulled him on the dock. Some ally for this task Fleur wound up being. She was lucky Harry made it, or Luna and her sister would still be down there.

“Harry!”

Harry looked up from where he was laying on the dock, cold and panting from all the swimming and work he had done.

His friends were running towards him, closely followed by Snape and Sirius.

“You were back first!” Susan yelled, leaning down to wrap Harry in a tight hug. “And you saved two people! Why do you have a spear?! You idiot!”

“How am I an idiot?” Harry demanded. “How long was I gone anyway?”

“Thirty nine minutes and seventeen seconds,” Snape said in a tight voice. “Come, let Poppy examine you, and Miss Lovegood, and...” Snape trailed off and gave Gabrielle a curious look. “And the child who I assume is your sister?” he asked Fleur.

“Oui,” Fleur said in a tearful voice. “Gabrielle. Your ‘Arry saved her.”

“He’s quite the hero,” Fred said, leaning down to help Harry to his feet. “Bit of a Gryffindor there Darlin’.”

“Ta,” Harry murmured, letting Fred wrap a supporting arm around his waist while he grabbed Luna’s hand tightly with his empty one.

“There’s Diggory!” Theo cried.

The group all turned and saw Cedric Diggory, who had a bubble around his head, dragging Cho Chang to the shore with him.

“You saved Fleur’s sister but not our classmate?” Neville asked.

“I didn’t make a deal with Diggory, did I?” Harry said. “Didn’t save Katie Bell either.”

“Talk later, Poppy now,” Sirius said. “C’mon, you’re shaking Pup.”

Harry glanced down at his hand curiously and saw that his arms were shaking hard enough to shake his spear.

“I don’t feel cold,” he said.

“Adrenaline crash along with the physical exertion it must have taken to swim to the bottom of the lake and drag two additional children back up with you,” Snape said. He led Harry’s group, along with a tearful Fleur and Gabrielle, to a set of benches where Madame Pomfrey was waiting with her hands on her hips.

“Pepper-Ups for all three of you!” she said as she immediately wrapped Luna and Gabrielle in blankets. “This tournament is a death trap! The Black Lake, in February, really?! Whose bright idea was it to give our children hypothermia?!”

“Ma’am I’m sure it was Dumbledore’s idea,” Susan said sweetly.

Snape scoffed and handed Harry a red potion. Harry waited until he saw Luna take hers before taking his.

“You swear you’re okay?” he whispered to her.

Luna reached over and grasped his hand again.

“I’m fine, I swear,” she said earnestly. “You were amazing Harry.”

Harry blushed, probably a side effect of the potion, and slumped down on the bench.

Snape, in what might have been the weirdest thing to ever happen to Harry, grabbed a blanket from a stack by Madame Pomfrey and carefully wrapped it around Harry.

“He was panicking the whole time,” Draco whispered with a sly grin. “He kept pacing on the dock and checking his timer.”

“Totally safe, huh?” Harry scoffed up at Snape and shook the spear threateningly near his face. “Then why’d Fleur get attacked? And the merfolk tried to fight me when I got Gabrielle!”

“You fought ze mermen to save my Gabrielle?” Fleur asked, before flinging herself at Harry and sobbing on his shoulder. “‘Ow can I ever repay you ‘Arry??”

Harry was about to suggest a no questions asked favor, but Snape tapped him on his Fleur-free shoulder and shook his head. Apparently, accurately, guessing at Harry’s exact thoughts.

“It’s fine,” Harry said, uncomfortable with Fleur’s very noisy emotions. “You would have saved Lue if it had been reversed, yeah?”

“But I did not! And you did! You are magnifique ‘Arry Potter!”

Harry sent a pleading look to his friends, but they all just smirked or giggled at him.

Bastards.

Harry very awkwardly patted Fleur on the shoulder as Diggory and Chang were brought to the group and given potions and blankets as well.

“What was your time?” Diggory asked Harry as he shook off some of the water dripping on him.

“Thirty nine minutes,” Sirius answered with a proud look towards Harry. “And he rescued two hostages.”

“Show off,” Diggory said with a small grin.

Once Fleur finally finished crying all over him, she kissed him on the cheek and whispered a promise to ‘one day find a way to repay him’.

Which, Harry figured, was as good as a favor as he was apparently going to get.

They all sat in a comfortable silence occasionally broken by Gabrielle’s fluid French being spoken to Fleur, or one of Harry’s friends murmuring something, until Viktor finished up.

“He’s late,” Ron said. “Hour was up when Diggory came back.”

“Sucks to be him,” Blaise quipped, eyeing Fleur with heavy interest.

“He’s got Katie,” Fred said nervously. “You don’t think anything happened to them, do you?”

Harry shrugged and sipped the hot chocolate Lupin brought everyone. He actually hadn’t really considered if Fred would be upset if he didn’t rescue Katie, but it’s not like he could have drug all four hostages up anyway.

Fleur’s lucky he got Gabrielle.

Harry watched Luna carefully while they waited for Viktor and felt relieved that she didn’t look any worse for wear.

“Were you scared?” Neville asked her.

“Oh no,” Luna smiled in Harry’s direction brightly. “I knew Harry would save me.”

Harry was saved having to find something to say to that with the arrival of Viktor and Katie Bell.

“Our last champion has arrived!” Bagman’s magically amplified voice yelled.

“Oh shit. Can someone go get my robes?” Harry hissed with a pointed look at Susan. “There’s something important in there.”

“I’m on it,” Ron offered. “Over on the dock?”

“Yeah.”

Harry watched Ron jog towards his robes as Bagman announced that the judges were going to talk with the merfolk about ‘what happened down in the lake’.

As if it weren’t bloody obvious.

Ron had just handed Harry his robes, who promptly slid the bag of gold to Fred, when Bagman’s voice boomed again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision. Merchieftainess Murcus has told us exactly what happened at the bottom of the lake, and we have therefore decided to award marks out of fifty for each of the champions, as follows...

“Fleur Delacour, though she demonstrated excellent use of the Bubble-Head Charm, was attacked by grindylows as she approached her goal, and failed to retrieve her hostage. We award her twenty-five points.”

Applause from the stands.

“I deserved zero,” said Fleur throatily, shaking her head and smiling softly at Harry. “You are ze ‘ero ’Arry.”

“My ‘ero,” Fred whispered beside him with a wink.

“Viktor Krum, ten minutes outside the allotted hour, used an incomplete form of Transfiguration,” Bagman called, “which was nevertheless effective, and was the third champion to return with his hostage. We award him thirty five points.”

Harry’s friends all clapped politely for Viktor, but Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.

“Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was the second to return with his hostage, though he returned fifteen seconds outside the time limit of an hour.” Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindor’s in the crowd. “We therefore award him forty points.”

“Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect,” Bagman continued. “He returned first, using only a little over half of the hour. AND, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was determined to duel over the safety of the two youngest hostages. Despite Gabrielle Delacour belonging to Fleur Delacour, Mr Potter refused to leave without her!”

Harry’s friends chuckled and he felt his face heat up again. Trust Bagman to twist an awesome moment when Harry stabbed a chief merman with a throwing star, and stole his weapon, and make it sound so pathetically lame.

“Pride, Harry,” Snape leaned down and whispered. “You should be incredibly proud of yourself, as I am of you. Show that pride to them.”

Harry sat up at that and gave Snape an appreciative nod. He should be proud. He was the youngest champion and saved two hostages in almost half the time the other champions took to save one. Did anyone else cut open a chief mermaid today with a metal star and get a brill new spear? Probably not.

“Mister Potter’s actions, timeliness, and outstanding moral fiber have led the judges to award him... FIFTY POINTS!”

“YOU WON!” Susan screamed over the ear splitting applause and yells from the stands. “YOU WON YOU CRAZY IDIOT!”

Harry could feel his cheeks aching from how hard he was beaming. After all his worries, all his anxiety, all his fears...

He won!

He was in first place by a solid thirteen point lead!

Harry’s image of raising the tournament trophy high above his head in front of a cheering crowd was so close he could almost hear Dumbledore having to announce him as the strongest, the best, the most powerful champion.

“The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty-fourth of June,” Bagman yelled over the still cheering crowds. “The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions.”

Three months.

Harry had three whole months until he had to start worrying about what the last task was.

And- he was in first.

He was so pleased that he didn’t even mind when his friends buried him in a many armed tangled hug, and when Dumbledore caught his eye and had the audacity to smile at him- Harry decided that even despite the vow he’d made, he didn’t need to kill him for what he did to Luna.

Today.

He didn’t want to just curse Dumbledore to an easy death and be done with it. He’d draw it out. For at least thirty nine minutes and seventeen seconds. Maybe he’d Crucio him while he cut off his fingers one by one as he listed all the reasons Dumbledore had this coming... He’d be sure to add putting a defenseless thirteen year old girl in the bottom of a lake, surrounded by feral merfolk with spears, on the list of sins Dumbledore had committed when that day came.

But for now...

“Party in the Slytherin common room!” Fred shouted. “Everyone’s invited!”

For now he’d party with his friends.

Chapter End Notes

Up Next: school is boring and recruiting allies is hard.

78%

Three weeks after he’d paid her to look in to Crouch Senior, he finally received a letter from her.

Harry,
I’ve watched Crouch very closely the last couple of weeks. He hasn’t been showing up for work, which his coworkers state is absolutely unlike him. Apparently the man’s a raging workaholic. I thought he was just hiding out at home, hiding from his bosses who aren’t happy with him, but his coworkers say he’s ‘been ill’. He’s been letting one of the Weasley boys, Pucey, carry on in his absence. Pucey told someone that Crouch was sending daily instructions from his home. So that’s where I went next. And oh my Merlin, you won’t believe it! Crouch is home, and he looks terrible, AND he has someone living with him! I didn’t get a real good eyeful of him, but it’s definitely a him! So- I think Old Crouch is sick and having his secret lover nurse him to health while he recovers! OR the secret lover is the one making him sick!
As we discussed, I’ll keep this to myself for now. Instead I’ll do a charming little drama piece to generate readers. Let me know if you’d prefer that I say you’re in a scandalous love triangle with your hostage from the second task or the French champion.
Kisses,
Rita

Harry had smiled with grim satisfaction when he received and read Rita’s letter. His theory had to be right. There was no way that Crouch Senior could be at home, sick, and Polyjuiced as Moody at Hogwarts as a teacher. He didn’t even mind the ‘love triangle’ article bit that Rita dreamed up, he had said she could write a scandalous article about him if she found anything good about Crouch and kept it between the two of them. It was an acceptable arrangement- Skeeter would still get a good article, and he could get solid information on Crouch Senior.

He did add the stipulation that her article not have any slander about him in it, he didn’t want to muck up his chances at becoming Minister one day because of something she wrote when he was fourteen. He wrote her back immediately and said that she could use the love triangle bit with whoever she preferred, as long as she didn’t make it sound like he was cheating on Fred.

And she didn’t.



“The Boy Who Loves?” Hermione laughed when his friends read the next days paper. Harry barely glanced up long enough to see a candid photo of Fleur and him after the second task. It looked like they were hugging, but Harry knew that it was when she had actually been crying on his shoulder.

He shuddered at the uncomfortable memory.

“‘Harry Potter is a boy like none other. A powerful wizard, a brilliant student, and the would-be-suitor to many hopeful students’,” Theo read the article out loud over Hermione’s shoulder. “‘Despite his long-term relationship with Frederick Weasley, see page 3 for a timeline of their love story, it seems as if someone else has set their sights on Britain’s beloved hero. This person is none other than the powerful Veela daughter of the French Ambassador for Magic, Flower Delacour, the Triwizard champion for Beauxbatons School of Magic’.”

“Oh she’s going to be furious,” Fred chuckled, interrupting Theo’s reading. “Imagine her not winning your heart and having her name mispronounced in the paper again!”

Harry shrugged and drank his coffee.

“Doesn’t say I’m cheating on Fred though, right?” he checked.

“Nope, just says that you’ve got people desperately falling in love with you left and right,” Theo said with a small grin. “Poor, adorable, lovable Harry.”

“Pains of fame,” Harry quipped, quite liking the phrase Ron had once used to describe his life.

“Fleur might not like this Harry,” Blaise said with his dark brows raised high. “Makes her sound a bit petty and jealous.”

“You know, like Fred,” Draco smirked.

Harry and Fred both threw toast at him for that.



Surprisingly, it took until dinner that evening for Fleur to catch up to him.

“‘Arry,” she smiled warmly when she walked up to their group at the Slytherin table. “‘Ave you read ze gossip?”

“I have,” Harry shrugged with a casual ‘what can you do’ kind of look on his face. “Sorry about that.”

He wasn’t really sorry. It was better if it was Fleur than Luna. Plus, Fleur owed him anyway. And this way, she wasn’t even aware that Harry had set it up.

“I regret to eenform you zat I will no longer be compeeting for your love,” Fleur smiled, politely ignoring the gobsmacked looks on Ron, Neville, and Draco’s faces. “I ‘ave decided zat Meester Weasley eez a perfectly suitable partner for you, oui?”

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “If you change your mind though, I bet you could beat him in a duel.”

“Oi!” Fred cried. “That’s not fair!”

“I will keep zat in mind,” Fleur winked and tossed her hair back. “I also wanted to ask you if you would like to train together for ze next task. We could work on deefensive magic until we know what ze task eez. Perhaps zair eez somezing I can teach you?”

“Perhaps,” Harry said thoughtfully. “Yeah, okay. Wanna do it next weekend?”

“Perfect,” Fleur beamed. “And feel free to bring Meester Weasley, he may be incroyablement jealous if not, oui?”

“Oui,” Harry winked charmingly. “We’ll meet you in the entrance hall next Saturday morning then, thanks Fleur.”

Fleur strode away, the eyes of multiple wizards, and a handful of witches, following her until Harry hissed loudly and glared at them all.

She wasn’t a fucking treacle tart. Harry hated the way people’s eyes lingered on her. Fleur was a champion, she was chosen. She was more than just a pretty girl, she was a powerful witch. She might have failed the second task, but Harry would like to see one of these prats face a dragon.

“Well, I can’t win against that,” Fred said with a teasing grin. “If this is the end of us, just know that I’ll go down fighting for you Darlin’.”

“Nah,” Harry shrugged and grinned across the table to Fred. “I suppose I’ll keep you around a bit longer.”

“Such a gentleman,” Fred sighed with a hand over his heart.

Harry chuckled a bit and considered what Fleur thought she would have to teach him.

No offense to her or anything, but she hadn’t even gotten past the grindylows in the lake. He doubted that Fleur could teach him anything, but it would be a good time to try and officially add her to his gang.



To Harry’s never ending surprise; Fleur actually did have something brilliant to teach him.

“We can duel in ‘ere?” she asked next Saturday morning when Harry led her Fred, and Viktor, who found them during breakfast and asked if he could join as well, to Snape’s empty classroom.

“Probably,” Harry said. “Snape let me before.”

He hadn’t asked him; but he doubted if he would mind either.

“Vairy well,” Fleur smiled at him and tied her long hair back in a low bun. “What do you know of dueling?”

“Quite a bit,” Harry smirked. “Wanna see?”

“Oui,” Fleur said. “You and Meester Weasley. I can see better eef I am watching.”

“‘Kay,” Harry turned an innocent smile to Fred.

“I should have just let Fleur have you,” Fred sighed.

“You are scared of Harry?” Viktor asked, his dark eyes gleaming with amusement. “Brave lion.”

Harry laughed, both at Viktor finally understanding the Hogwarts house traits and at him mocking Fred when he’d never even seen him duel before.

“Fred’s a genius, I’m just better,” Harry said, clearing the desks away with a small flick of his hand. “Ready daaaaarling?” he drawled to Fred.

“As I’ll ever be Sugar,” Fred said with an easy smile as he took his place across from Harry. “Try not to mess up my pretty face this time.”

“Oh, was that you I cut in second year?” Harry asked. “Whoops.”

Fred shook his head, but pulled his wand out and took a loose dueling stance.

“Bow,” Fleur said as she erected a shield around herself and Viktor.

Fred did some dramatic loopy bow, but Harry just ticked his head in an imitation of one. He knew this was just for sport, but he’d never bow to anyone.

“Beegin!”

Fred immediately went on the defensive as Harry lazily tossed spells towards him.

”Protego!” Fred cried, putting a shield between them. “No Unforgiveables Harry!”

“We’ll see,” Harry laughed. He wouldn’t hurt Fred like that, not if he didn’t need to.

And he didn’t need to.

Harry kept up a stream of spells steadily enough to keep Fred from firing back, but not so quick to end the duel. He could finally feel himself waking up from the dull haze he’d been in as he tracked Fred’s constant movements.

After a few minutes though, he was bored.

Levitate him, upside down, he ordered his magic with a hard enough tug to send Fred ten feet in the air. And his wand please.

Fleur and Viktor both clapped when Harry caught Fred’s wand.

“Brava!” Fleur cried. “You are a natural ‘Arry!”

“Ta,” Harry murmured, walking slowly up to Fred with a small grin on his face.

“What are you doin?” he called up to him.

“Hanging around,” Fred called back down, his voice warm and good natured considering his position.

Harry let out a laugh and then released him.

“You could have caught me,” Fred grumbled as he rubbed his head from where it struck the floor.

“Could have,” Harry agreed, offering Fred a hand up from the floor.

“You use spells, you are quick and powerful, but you use no elements?” Fleur asked Harry after Fred got to his feet.

“Elements?” Harry cocked his head to the side and thought carefully what she meant. “Like wind and stuff? I’ve used lightning before, does that count?”

“Oui,” Fleur nodded. “But zair eez one element zat eez most powerful in a fight: fire.”

Harry’s eyes must have lit up with the reminder of the beauty of Nott Manor burning from the fiendfyre because Fleur suddenly smiled sharply.

“Oui, ‘Arry. We will duel now.”

Harry moved back to his position and watched Fleur carefully as Viktor put up a shield around himself and Fred.

“Bow to each other,” Viktor grunted.

Fleur ticked her head proudly in the same manner Harry did. Which he could respect. Fleur was stronger than people gave her credit for.

“If I win, I want us to be official allies,” Harry offered.

“We shall see,” Fleur said, her smile suddenly mischievous. “You are vairy confeedent.”

“Oui,” Harry smiled. “It’s well-earned.”

“We shall see,” Fleur repeated, taking a graceful dueling pose.

“Begin,” Viktor said.

And, fuck.

Fleur was fast.

Harry was suddenly put in the awkward position of having to immediately take a defensive position. Fleur was throwing spells at him quickly, moving fast enough that it was now obvious that she had Veela heritage.

But Harry was fast too.

He used one hand to dispel and block the incoming, silently spoken, curses and hexes coming from Fleur’s wand, and used his other to begin sending his own spells at her.

He couldn’t be charming right now, he needed to win. So he threw everything he could think of.

Bone breaking curses towards her legs, cutting curses at her arms, even a skin boiling hex that wasn’t quite legal, according to the book Snape gave him and Theo over the summer, towards her face.

And Fleur was dodging them.

“Brill,” Harry laughed, not pausing in his dual offensive and defensive spells. “You’re quick.”

“Veela are more zan simply pretty faces ‘Arry,” Fleur said, keeping up her steady stream of spells while she let her movements block Harry’s curses. “We are warriors as well.”

“Be in my gang,” Harry said, ducking an incoming spell that shattered a shelf behind him. “I need more warriors.”

“You are fighting a war, ‘Arry?” Fleur asked, spinning around away from another bone breaking curse Harry threw towards her chest.

“I will be,” Harry said, laughing outright at the easy and graceful way Fleur moved away from the spells. He wished he was part Veela. “And you’d have a chance to be a part of it.”

“What eef I do not wish to be a part of a war in a country I have no place in?” Fleur asked, increasing her spell fire.

“Who says that when the Dark Lord comes back he won’t try and invade France?” Harry asked. “Then you, your family, everyone you love will be in danger.”

Fleur narrowed her blue eyes at him and Harry had only a split second sense that she was going to change her attack before she did.

“I would kill anyone who tries to ‘urt my family,” she said before throwing fireballs at Harry.

Fucking fireballs.

That she just pulled up from her hands.

The first one caught Harry by surprise and burnt his leg clear through his trousers.

The second pissed him off.

“Fred’s mum made me this jumper,” he snarled, forgetting entirely his charming persona he meant to keep up. ”Bleed.”

Harry wasn’t going to let her dodge this one. He hoped Fred and Viktor weren’t in the way, because he sent seven spells towards Fleur, one was guaranteed to hit her, even if the other six destroyed more of Snape’s classroom.

“You cut me!” Fleur gasped, one of Harry’s spells indeed landing on her left hip. Harry took her slight stumble from the impact and immediately pulled on his magic, throwing her wand to the side of the room.

“Give up?” he asked her.

“Never,” Fleur smiled, and it wasn’t her normal and pretty smile. This one was sharp and mean and every bit a warriors smile.

He liked this one better. It was more real.

Harry smiled back just as sharply as Fleur continued throwing fireballs and dodging spells.

He wanted Fleur in his gang bad. Almost as bad as he wanted Not-Moody.

“Water beats fire,” Harry laughed, swiping one hand down to cause a heavy pouring of water right on Fleur’s body, sizzling out the fireball she had in her hand.

Bind her.

Fleur shrieked when she was suddenly tied up and immobilized.

“I do not give up, but you win,” Fleur said. “You are quite intéressant ‘Arry Potter.”

“I get that a lot,” Harry said, snapping his fingers to release Fleur. “So, allies?”

Fleur studied Harry just as hard as Harry sometimes studied people before she extended her small hand to him.

“Allies,” she said with a bright smile. Harry nodded and shook her hand once before quickly letting go.

“Vat about me?” Viktor grunted from his spot alongside Fred. “Can I not join?”

“Do you want to?” Harry blinked at him. “Your Headmaster is literally a Death Eater.”

“He vill not be my Headmaster after this year,” Viktor said. “And yes. I vish to join you.”

“Brill,” Harry nodded at him. “Two rules if you both want in: I don’t owe favors to anyone, ever. And if you betray the gang then I’ll kill you.”

Viktor looked slightly discomforted by that, but Fleur laughed brightly again.

“Veecious,” she said.

“Is it a deal?” he asked them both.

“Deal,” Fleur agreed immediately.

“Yes,” Viktor grunted about twenty seconds later.

“Go again?” Fleur asked Harry. “You can try ze flames yourself now, oui?”

“Alright then,” Harry got in position and was getting ready to order his magic to draw up little fireballs when the classroom door banged open and Snape stormed in.

The four students froze as they took in Snape’s furious face.

“What have you done?” he hissed at Harry. Harry wasn’t sure what he meant, until he looked around the classroom.

“Er... I’ll fix it,” he immediately offered, not realizing the extent of the damage the dodged spells had been causing. In his defense, usually someone put up a full dome to shield when Harry dueled before. “We were practicing for the third task.”

“Was the task to see who could break the most of my belongings?!” Snape asked.

“Well it hasn’t been announced yet,” Fred said seriously. “So they need to be prepared for every possibility.”

“Go.” Snape pointed towards the opened door. “All of you- go. Immediately.”

Harry followed the other three quickly moving students, but paused in the doorway.

”Fix it,” he ordered his magic harshly, waving his hand over the room.

He smiled cheekily at Snape once the room was repaired.

“Done,” he said. “See ya.”

Harry ran off quickly before Snape had a chance to retort.



The next couple of weeks, Harry decided that now that he’d recruited two powerful allies, it was time to move ahead with his next plot.

Recruit Not-Moody.



Harry reread Skeeter’s letter multiple times as he drew conclusions in his head and planned on the best way to approach the man.

If Crouch Senior was at home sick, then it had to be Crouch Junior at Hogwarts. And he was the one who, on Halloween night, said someone probably put Harry’s name in the goblet to try and kill him. And it wasn’t like 2 out of the last 3 defense teachers hadn’t tried to kill him. So-

Did Barty put his name in the goblet to try and have the tournament kill him off as a favor for Timmy? Or did Barty know Harry wanted in the tournament and was doing it as a way to get in his good graces?

If he was trying to kill him, why tell him to fly and send him gillyweed (because Lue said she didn’t send it, so Barty was really the only option left for that)? But if he did it to earn a place within Harry’s gang, why not tell Harry he did it? Why the secrets?

The secrets didn’t matter anymore though. Harry was sick of the games and the dancing around each other. Not-Moody kept avoiding him, but he couldn’t forever. And Harry was ready for some answers.



“Professor, could I talk to you?” Harry asked politely at the end of his next defense class, surprised that ‘Moody’ didn’t just dart away like he had been doing recently.

‘Moody’ stared at him for a long moment before he nodded his head curtly, his dark hair flipping with the movement.

“My office then,” he grunted. “Come on lad.”

Harry smirked as he followed ‘Moody’ from the classroom through another door to his office- apparently something was going to be decided one way or another today.

“Have a seat,” ‘Moody’ pointed to a chair, but Harry shook his head. If it was going to be a fight, he wouldn’t start from a seated position.

“I’d rather stand,” Harry said. “Feel free though.”

‘Moody’s’ magic eye seemed to scan Harry from top to bottom, probably checking to see what weapons Harry had on him.

Except...

“Ugh,” he blurted with his nose crinkled. “Can you see through people’s clothes with that thing?”

“What?” ‘Moody’s’ mouth popped open and he stared at Harry, Harry’s face thankfully, with both eyes. “It’s a magic eye Potter, it sees what I want it to see.”

“That’s not an answer,” Harry said with a disgusted look towards him. “There are children in this castle.”

‘Moody’ sat down heavily in his chair and gaped at him for another moment before suddenly letting out a loud and barking laugh.

“You don’t make a damn bit of sense, do you lad? No, I’m not using my eye to see through children’s clothes. Is that what you wanted to talk about?”

“No,” Harry readjusted his bag on his shoulder and made sure his right hand was free to catch the blade he would have to release from its holster if it came down to it.

“I want to know how you escaped Azkaban and faked your death.”

‘Moody’s’ wand hand twitched before the man let out another chuckle. This one sounded rather forced though, and Harry was pleased to know that he had been right about who he was talking to.

“Someone put a confundus charm on you, eh? Constant vigilance Potter. Run off to Madame Pomfrey, she’ll sort you out.”

“Quit lying,” Harry said softly but coolly. “We both know who’s hiding under Alastor Moody’s identity, don’t we Barty?”

‘Moody’ immediately jumped to his feet and brandished his wand, he had it at Harry’s throat really before Harry could even blink.

I’m either recruiting him, or killing him, Harry decided. He was too quick, too smart, to let Timmy keep him.

“Who told you that?” ‘Moody’ growled. “I could kill you now and disappear forever Potter.”

“Or we could be allies,” Harry offered, raising the tone of his voice just loud enough to cover the light snick of his dagger dropping in to his hand. “You think Timmy Riddle has power? You’re wrong,” he murmured. “I have power the Dark Lord knows not, I am the one destined to beat him. Wouldn’t you rather be on my side?”

When ‘Moody’ didn’t say anything for a second, Harry took the opportunity to make a deep, and lasting, gash in the man’s side.

“Don’t ever touch me again though,” Harry said, pushing the surprised man away. “Constant vigilance there Barty, yeah?”

“What do you want?” ‘Moony’ snarled, his free hand pressing down on his bleeding side and his tongue flicking out to wet his lips in what seemed to be a nervous gesture.

A nervous gesture that Harry had never seen before.

Which was interesting.

“To be allies, but if we can’t be allies, then I’m going to have to kill you,” Harry said flatly. “You’re clearly a genius, just like Snape said, but if you’re not with me, you’re against me.” Harry twirled the dagger as he sent a silent locking spell to the office door and windows. “Decide now.”

“What could a little boy with a lucky streak and a small talent for magic have to offer me?” Barty, for it was definitely Barty Crouch Junior, sneered. Harry was relieved he’d dropped Moody’s low growls, the masks were finally being dropped. Though he was quite insulted by the ‘small talent’ remark. Nobody could use magic like Harry could. Nobody.

“The Dark Lord is rising again, back to his full power,” Barty said, “and when he does- I’ll be his most favored, his most cherished-“

“You’ll be the first one I kill,” Harry said calmly as he continued to twirl the dagger. “If you join him, even knowing what all I can do and I can offer you, then you’ll be the first one I kill.”

“HA!” Barty let out a loud laugh, but Harry didn’t miss the way his tongue flicked out to his top lip again. Harry was glad he was nervous, he should be. “You think you could kill me?”

“Full disclosure?” Harry asked, using a phrase he’d heard Theo use before. He leaned forward to the wall Barty had his back to and smiled sharply. “I’ve already killed two of Timmy’s followers, and I promise you’ll be next.” He resumed twirling his dagger as he returned to his casual position. “Unless you join me.”

“Join or die?” Barty asked. “That’s an interesting move from the boy hero of the light side. I wonder if Albus knows what his hero is really like?”

“I wonder if Albus considers me a hero at all,” Harry said lightly. “I dunno about ‘hero of the light side’ either. Dark, light, pureblood, muggleborn, we’re all magic. We’re all special. We all have power. Who cares about that other stuff?”

Barty reached down, and Harry immediately raised his knife in a defensive gesture, but Barty just lifted his hip flask and took a long swig, his eyes never leaving Harry’s face. Harry wasn’t entirely sure, but he thought he saw a spark of interest in his normal eye.

“Power is what’s important to you?” Barty asked. “Join me on the Dark Lords side. He’ll see the power in you, the potential. He could teach you things you can’t imagine.”

“He offered that before,” Harry shrugged, his stance irritatingly casual, but his muscles tensed and ready for a fight. “But he killed my parents and ruined my life. He has to die. And I’m going to do it, aren’t I?”

“You won’t,” Barty hissed. “You can’t kill him Potter. You can’t imagine the lengths he’s gone to on his quest to stay immortal. Join him. Join us.”

Harry lifted his hand and let out a fissure of Magic hard enough to shatter a mirror on the wall behind Barty.

“I said no,” he said coolly. “What’s he ever done for you Barty? Huh? Let you go to prison? Let your dad hurt you? He doesn’t care about you. He used you. He’s using you now, isn’t he? I wouldn’t. If you were one of mine, you’d matter. You’d be free Barty.”

Barty didn’t say anything, he just licked his lips again while his magical eye spun to the door.

“Your friend is waiting in the corridor,” he said hoarsely. “Go.”

“I’ll give you a week,” Harry said. “I won’t tell anyone who you are, but you only have a week to decide. Then I’ll kill you. Acceptable?”

Barty’s normal eye flashed with something that was definitely amusement.

“Snape’s kid through and through then, aren’t you?”

Harry lifted one shoulder in a light shrug, seeing another hopeful selling point.

“I don’t belong to anyone, but Snape, your friend, is one of mine,” he said. “You guys could be on the same side again. The right side, the winning side, the free side. Something to think about Professor.”

Harry backed towards the doorway, keeping his face clear of expression, but his eyes trained on Barty’s hands.

Right before he stepped out of the doorway he flicked his wrist and healed the wound on Barty’s side. He didn’t have his magic remove the scar though, it would stay as a reminder of what he could do.

“One week,” he called. “See ya then.”

Harry stepped out in the hall and grinned at Blaise.

Sometimes it was annoying when his friends wouldn’t leave him alone, but he appreciated Blaise’s inherent distrust of defense professors alone with Harry.

“Heard something break in there,” Blaise said lightly as he fell in to step beside Harry.

“Broke a mirror,” Harry said. “Moody’s a tough man to recruit.”

“Library?”

“Sure, let’s do it.”



While his friends studied for the exams in June (“Exams are only six weeks away! This is our last year before OWLS! We need to study now!” Hermione declared shrilly), Harry watched Neville.

Neville who was one of the first people to join his gang.

Neville who he shared a birthday party with.

Neville whose parents were in a hospital for the rest of their lives because of the man Harry wanted to recruit.

“Nev, can we talk?” Harry asked, startling his friends with his abrupt question.

“Sure Harry.” Neville looked a little too relieved to close his potions textbook. “Where to?”

“Suppose you don’t wanna see the Chamber of Secrets?” Harry asked with a smirk. Last time he took someone down there, Theo in his third year, he’d been convinced Harry was going to kill him.

“Er...” Neville looked nervously towards Ron, who shook his head quickly. “I’d rather not,” he finally said diplomatically.

“Fine,” Harry sighed. “My dorm then.”

Neville gathered his things and quietly followed Harry down to the dungeons, and up to the boys dorm. Harry warded the door against eavesdroppers before sitting on his trunk and watching Neville.

“Do you believe in second chances?” Harry asked him after Neville sat on Ron’s trunk and faced him.

Harry didn’t, but Neville was a nice person, so he might.

“Depends,” Neville said thoughtfully. “Depends on what the person did with their first chance, if they regret it or not, and how they’re going to be different the second time.”

Harry nodded, that was a logical thought process.

“If someone hurt you, badly, but they did it because someone else was making them- would you forgive them?”

Neville furrowed his brows down while he seemed to think about the answer.

“I’m not sure,” he said slowly. “Are you talking about someone following You-Know-Who?”

“Timmy,” Harry corrected his perceptive friend. “And yeah, kinda. Do you think any of them deserve a second chance? A chance to be on the right side? Our side?”

“Some of them, maybe,” Neville said. “But some magic changes people Harry. I know you don’t believe in dark or light magic, and I understand it, but Gran says there are some things that are so dark they change the core of who a person is.”

“Like what?”

“Like... Like Bellatrix Lestrange,” Neville said, all but spitting the name of Cissa’s sister. “Shes killed and tortured so much that her soul is twisted, dark and disgusting, just like her. She’s exactly where she belongs.”

Harry tilted his head and studied him curiously.

“Would you kill her?” he asked. “If she was here right now, would you kill her for what she did?”

“Yes,” Neville said with no hesitation. “If I ever saw her- I’d kill her.”

“And her husband? And Crouch Junior? Would you kill them too?”

“I-“ Neville hesitated. “Yeah, probably.”

“Because they tortured your parents?” Harry prodded.

“Exactly.”

Harry hummed thoughtfully while he tried to think. He didn’t want to lose Neville, but he didn’t want to lose the chance to steal a bloody genius away from Timmy either.

“How do you know who did it though?” Harry asked. “Did they all three confess? Are you sure about who cast what?”

“Why does it matter?!” Neville cried. “Crouch is dead, and the Lestrange’s are in Azkaban. My parents- my parents won’t ever leave the hospital Harry! Why does it matter?”

“Because Timmy’s coming back,” Harry said bluntly. “And lines have to be drawn, don’t they? So I need to know, because you’re mine and I’ll stand back so you can get revenge, which matters more to you- killing the people who tortured your parents, or killing Timmy?”

“Killing Timmy,” Neville said immediately. “But if I can kill a few Death Eaters along the way, then I’ll do that too.”

“Death Eaters,” Harry repeated, finally seeing a loophole in Neville’s airtight logic. “What if they weren’t Death Eaters anymore?”

“I won’t work with Bellatrix,” Neville said, his eyes hard and his jaw firm. “Don’t ask me to Harry.”

“I won’t,” Harry assured him. “We can kill Bellatrix the second we get a chance. Her and Pettigrew both, yeah? But- but say Crouch Junior wasn’t dead, and didn’t want to be a Death Eater anymore, would you work with him?”

“Not if he’s the one who cursed my parents,” Neville said obstinately. “Bellatrix confessed, she bragged about it in court Harry. I’ll probably never know for sure who cast what, but if he cursed my parents then I would kill him too if I could.”

Harry sighed as he stared in Neville’s damn stubborn eyes.

He solved one mystery, only for another to fall in his lap.

He was starting to wonder how Dumbledore and Timmy did this for so long- recruiting people was a pain in the arse.

“Alright,” he conceded. “I’ll try and find out for sure who did what. Er, for your peace of mind,” he added hastily.

“How?” Neville asked him.

Harry just shrugged but got to his feet.

Seemed like it was time to go talk to Snape.

Chapter End Notes

Up Next: Severus may have no idea what Potter is up to, but he knows it’s something.