Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
Harry McGonagall - Chapter 35 - Navigating the Darkness
A/N Italics in dialogue will usually mean that the speaker is using the French language to express the message I've written in English. As previously stated, I don't speak French and have no desire to butcher that language.
--HM--
"Lumos!" was the first spell that came into Harry's mind as he tried to look around the complete darkness he'd stepped into. He looked around to see he was in a cave-like tunnel. Whether he was in a real or artificial cave didn't really matter at this moment. All that mattered was that he had to walk forward, keeping an eye out for the Lethifold or Dementor Harry was sure would make an appearance. Because he wasn't feeling the effects of a Dementor, he was fairly certain it would be the other creature attacking him…but from where?
If he used his Patronus charm now, it would give away that he knew what to expect, which would cause all kinds of trouble. Not to mention how difficult it was to sustain. He'd completely wear himself out magically. Then, just as he couldn't sustain it any longer, the monster would make its entrance. In other words, keeping a Patronus with him wasn't an option at this time. Perhaps when he was older he'd be able to handle that, but not today. He took another step forward, not noticing the black cape-like figure silently gliding along the floor about ten feet away from him.
--HM--
"I hate this…watching and not being able to do anything!" exclaimed Hermione from the stands. She was sitting between Brianna and Brigit watching a huge projection of the event. The audience was watching the pitch black tunnel, only able to see what Harry's light spell revealed, which didn't include his nemesis.
They had previously watched a Lethifold nearly suffocate Krum before he'd managed a Patronus that took the shape of an arctic ice wolf that chased the monster away long enough for Krum to make it through the tunnel, where he was given a silver cube about the size of an apple. With her Omnioculars, Hermione had determined that the object was like a Rubix cube, except that each square had a rune inscribed on it, rather than a different color. She imagined that something would happen if the runes were properly aligned and was looking forward to examining one with Harry after the task was completed, which brought her back to the present.
Harry had just turned a corner in the cave when something jumped out in front of him.
--HM--
With every step Harry took in the dark tunnel, his heart was beating faster and faster. Although it wasn't hot, sweat was beginning to form on his brow. He could hear a noise in the distance, but couldn't identify it. He was pointing his still-lit wand in front of him when he turned the corner and saw it.
In front of Harry, something was moving on the floor. In the darkness, he couldn't make out its shape except for the golden eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dark. He pointed his wand toward it and was about to fire a curse when the monster in front of him meowed. He moved his wand closer and could see it was a simple black cat, and released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.
He walked around the cat and couldn't help but notice the distant sound he'd heard earlier wasn't so distant. It sounded like flapping wings that were getting closer and closer until he could see a bat flying toward him. He dived to the ground instinctively and watched about a dozen bats fly above him and continue down the cave. He was about to get up when something started sliding onto his body.
--HM--
"No! Harry; use your Patronus!" shouted Hermione from her seat.
"You do realize he can't hear you, don't you?" asked Brianna without moving her own eyes from the display. She wouldn't admit it, but she was scared, too.
--HM--
As Harry felt the Lethifold's clammy touch on his ear, he panicked for a moment before the word Patronus seemed to echo in his mind. As he felt the living black cloak move toward his face, he pictured kissing Hermione that very morning and, while tightening the grip on his wand, shouted, "Expecto Patronum!" His silver tabby cat shot out of his wand and immediately turned, running through Harry, filling him with joy, until it was facing the Lethifold. It seemed to bite the dark creature, causing it to let go of Harry before sliding off as fast as it could, with a silvery white cat in hot pursuit.
He slowly stood up as his heart rate went down to normal. He was panting like he'd just run a marathon. After a moment of catching his breath, he realized that he was still in a timed competition and began to run the rest of the way down the passage. While there were still bats, cats and probably rats in the tunnel, he knew he'd faced the real challenge, so he didn't slow for them, figuring he needed to make up time for how slowly he'd started off.
Before long, he turned a corner to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He continued running until he was nearly blinded by the light that surrounded him as he exited. While he was still blinking as his eyes adjusted, he heard it announced in French, "Harry McGonagall has completed the task in nine minutes and thirty seconds - ten seconds quicker than Krum!" While the crowd was cheering, he accepted his silver cube from the judge, being told that it contained a clue for the next task.
"The judges will now show their scores," the announcer continued. Professor McGonagall used her wand to write a nine in the air. Harry figured she didn't want to appear biased, but still wished she'd have given him a ten. Madam Maxime and the head of the French Department of Games and Sports also gave him nines. Karkaroff gave him a four and was rewarded with much `boo'ing from the audience. The head of the French Department of International Relations gave Harry a ten, making his total score a forty-one.
Just as Harry had computed his total, Hermione's voice from behind him announced, "You're tied with Viktor Krum." He turned and smiled at her, waiting until she was close enough and kissed her, much to the crowd's satisfaction, if the new round of applause was any indication. They separated quickly and walked, hand-in-hand, to the bleachers and joined Brianna.
"Good job, Harry," she said before adding with a smirk, "I could've done it faster."
"Ha-ha."
"The task did seem a bit easy," she added.
"What did you expect," replied Harry with a smirk. "Them to make the champions steal a dragon's egg."
That statement earned a laugh from all of Harry's group. When she'd finished giggling, Brianna commented, "Still, Aunt Minnie should've given you a ten! Karkaroff did that for Krum! Then you'd be in the lead."
"I can't believe they'd judge this competition with something as subjective and arbitrary as this system," complained Hermione. "There should be specific points…"
"…like a test or homework problem, right?" interrupted Harry. "It is, after all, a school competition."
At that time, it was announced that Fleur was entering the tunnel, and while they watched the part-Veela, they continued their conversation.
"Exactly. For example, there should be a set time limit. If you go beyond that, you lose a certain amount of points per minute. Then, if you performed the Patronus correctly…"
They continued discussing how they thought the tournament should be judged while Fleur, and later Cedric, went through the event. Fleur got forty points while Cedric, who ended up fastest through the maze, got forty-two. When the event was over, Harry and Hermione walked hand-in-hand to the Great Hall for lunch with the rest of the group.
"Harry," his girlfriend asked enthusiastically once she had filled her plate, "can I see that clue you were given?"
"After lunch," he replied before jabbing a piece of meat on his plate. "It's not really considered good manners to be messing with something like that during a meal here."
"Alright, Harry. I guess I am a bit eager. I just want to solve the puzzle."
"I understand," he replied with a grin. "It's part of your nature. In fact, it's a very cute part of your nature." She blushed as the others, especially Brianna, smirked at her.
Trying to change the subject, she asked, "I know Harry told you all about C.A.R.E." The French students nodded. He'd mentioned it in one of their many mirror conversations. They had all joined. "Do you think one of you might be able to start a branch here?"
Four pairs of eyes bulged out and stared at her. Harry and Brianna were used to Hermione, but his new friends weren't, and therefore were surprised she'd suggest that. Finally, after about five seconds, Jean Luc replied in English, "We will consider it."
She then turned to Harry. "While I'm here today, I'd like to meet some of those headmaster portraits you told me about."
"Sure," he agreed. "I wonder if they can help with the clue."
"Wouldn't that be cheating?" asked Brigit.
"I don't know," Harry shrugged. "They are available to everyone."
"Good point."
They continued the meal in quiet conversation until they were finished. Harry was grateful that his aunt had walked up and volunteered to take Brianna on a tour of the school so that Harry could have a walk with his girlfriend.
"I really have missed this," he commented as he looked at their joined hands.
"Me, too." She gave him a quick kiss before they resumed their journey.
"I wish they'd let me stay at Hogwarts and just show up for the events."
"My mum said that sometimes it's good for a couple to be separated for a little while, to help them realize how much they need each other."
"I didn't need this tournament to tell me I needed you," he admitted as they continued walking until they reached their desired destination. "There's one particular portrait I'd like you to meet. He brought her in front of the painting of a man with light blond hair and a goatee that appeared to be in his fifties. If one looked closely, a few white hairs could be spotted amongst the blond, but they weren't easy to see. The name beneath the portrait made Hermione gasp - Dominique Malfoy.
"Hello, young lady," said the portrait in French.
"Hello, sir."
Turning to Harry, he asked, "Is this the beautiful woman you have told me so much about?" causing both of them to blush.
"Yes. She and my sister came here for the first task. She's Hermione Granger, the most brilliant witch in the world."
"Harry!" she scolded. "I am no…"
The portrait interrupted her rant. "Every young man should feel that way about his lady, don't you agree, Miss Granger?" She nodded, surprised. "Surely it is not your goal to convince Mr. McGonagall that you are not worth his time. If each partner in a romance considers him or herself the fortunate one, both will treat each other very well, and their love will blossom. For instance, as Mr. McGonagall has a much higher opinion of you than himself, I'm sure that you have a much loftier opinion of him than Mr. McGonagall has of himself."
She blushed slightly. "Y-yes I do, Mr…Malfoy." She honestly tried to keep all bitterness out of her voice when vocalizing the former headmaster's last name, but apparently there was still a detectable trace in her inflections because he chuckled for a moment.
"I can see you've noticed my last name. Let me assure you that I am ashamed of what my great-great-great grandson Lucius has done. He has made a disgrace of our family! The Malfoys who left France for England were neither stuck-up nor prejudiced, and I have no idea what occurred to change my descendants so much. On behalf of the Malfoy family, I apologize for every word he or young Draco has said to you."
She grinned slightly. "Thank you, sir, but you are not responsible for their behavior. They are the ones who should apologize, not you. If I held every Malfoy responsible for the actions of a few, I'd be as guilty of prejudice as they are."
"You are very wise, Miss Granger."
"Thank you, sir."
Turning to the Triwizard Champion, Dominique Malfoy asked, "How did the first task go? You appear uninjured."
"He did wonderfully," proclaimed Hermione.
"I go through," claimed Harry.
"What sort of creature was it that you faced? You suspected it would be either a Dementor or a Lethifold."
"A Lethifold, sir."
"They made him go through a dark tunnel that was projected so the spectators like me could see."
"No doubt they made it as frightening and disorienting as possible," the painting agreed.
"After I got through, they gave me this cube that's supposed to contain a clue for the next task." He produced it out of his pocket. Hermione snatched it immediately out of Harry's hand and examined it, making sure that Dominique could also see it.
"Some sort of ancient rune puzzle," the portrait commented after a few moments. "Alas, that was my worst subject. I was much more gifted in Charms and Arithmancy."
Harry was enjoying watching his girlfriend bite her bottom lip in a very kissable cute way so that he couldn't really concentrate on the markings. After about five minutes of her soundlessly examining every side, she muttered, "It can't be this easy, can it?"
This brought Harry's attention back to the magical Rubix cube. "Let me see it, Hermione." While he was looking at it, Hermione explained what she suspected. "That does seem a bit too easy, doesn't it?" he asked, agreeing that her hypothesis did seem likely, but it would put the runes in an order they'd seen in one of their first Ancient Runes classes. He shrugged his shoulders and turned the cube appropriately. Suddenly, a loud, ear-piercing scream emanated from the magical object, causing Harry to drop it as the noise persisted. Finally, he bent down and moved the runes out of alignment before picking it up.
"I would imagine," said the portrait with a slight smirk, "that you guessed incorrectly." However, neither human was paying attention as their ears were still ringing.
"I'll see you later, sir," said Harry, "when I can hear properly again."
"It was nice meeting you, sir," managed Hermione. "This is going to take some research," she commented in English to Harry before pulling a camera out of her purse. "I'm going to take pictures of all six sides of that cube so I can study them at Hogwarts. Also, I'd like to stop by the library here."
By coincidence, they ran across Brianna and Minerva when they were approaching the library, so the five of them walked into the library together. However, Hermione seemed to disappear into a world of her own as she saw all the books she'd never read stacked around her. Harry chuckled and muttered that his girlfriend looked like a toddler in a candy store, earning a giggle from his two female companions that weren't in a world of their own.
Hermione was soon pulling out a pen and notebook (parchment, quill and ink was far too impractical to use outside of class work) and was writing down titles of the books that interested her while muttering that she wished she could spend more time here instead of going back to Hogwarts that night.
"Surely zat ez not ze only reason you would wish to ztay here, eez eet, `ermione?"
The English witch looked up in surprise to see Fleur Delacour beaming at her. She had naturally recognized her from their meeting nearly one and a half years before at the really, really long Quidditch game. "Hi, Fleur," she responded in French.
"I was happy to see you kissing Harry this morning. I was right about him being smitten with you, wasn't I?"
Blushing, Hermione agreed.
"I can tell you that many girls have attempted to flirt with Harry, but have had no success at all. His heart belongs to you."
Hermione grinned. "I know I can trust him. He'd never be unfaithful to anyone he was dating."
"That may be true, but he's not even tempted. You're the only girl he wants," the part-Veela insisted. "He loves you."
Blushing, Hermione nodded, "I know."
"Good. I'll leave you to your exploration of our library."
--HM--
After dinner, followed by a passionate kiss between Harry and his girlfriend, Hermione and Brianna portkeyed back to Hogwarts. After that, time seemed to pass quite quickly. Neither Harry nor Hermione had figured out the clue to the second task two weeks later when a special announcement was made to the school at dinner by Madam Maxime while Harry was eating with his French friends.
"As usual, we will be having a Yule Ball. However, this year, as part of the Triwizard Tournament tradition, it will occur on Christmas Day itself, and the dancing will be opened up by the four Champions and their partners."
`Just great!' thought Harry. `I have to dance in front of people. At least mom taught me how so I don't make a fool of myself. I hope Hermione can come.' At the thought of his girlfriend, he glanced in Aunt Minnie's direction. She seemed to know what he wanted to ask and nodded with a small grin on her face.
"I assume that means Hermione will be able to attend," asked Pierre, who'd been watching Harry exchange the look with his aunt.
"Yeah," he replied. "Now I just have to ask her."
"If she was willing to come to watch you fight a Lethifold, of course she'll come for a dance," said Brigit.
"You're right. I'm not even sure why I feel nervous asking my girlfriend out."
"If you are nervous, then it's best to get it over with. Call her," suggested Jean Luc.
"I will, tonight," he decided.
--HM--
"Of course I'll come, Harry," Hermione replied happily that night. "How could you think I wouldn't?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe I thought you wouldn't want the attention."
"I kissed you twice in front of that whole school, passionately," she pointed out.
With a smirk, he replied, "Believe me, I remember."
"Good. You'll get more of the same this Christmas," she said seductively. After a few moments, she added, "Maybe I can talk my parents into spending Christmas break in France."
"You'd still need to portkey here, probably," said Harry.
"I know, but I happen to like France."
"I'll like France better when you're here."
"You should write those corny lines on cards and sell them," laughed Hermione, causing her boyfriend's ears to turn pink.
"I know it sounds corny, but I really do miss you," replied Harry.
"I know, Harry, and I miss you, too."
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
--HM--
The next two weeks went by quickly and enjoyably for Harry, despite the fact that neither he nor Hermione had solved his clue for the second task. The only real annoyance he had were the few dozen different French girls that asked him to the Yule Ball. He politely declined each invitation the same way. "Thank you for the invitation, but I'm already going with my girlfriend." Some of them took that rejection well; others glared at him. He really couldn't understand their problem. As his girlfriend had pointed out before, they'd kissed very publicly, so it should be common knowledge that he was taken.
"It's not that they don't know about your girlfriend. It's just that they think they can distract you from her. Most boys your age aren't very faithful to their girlfriends," Henrietta explained. "You are a very desirable boyfriend right now. You're from a different country. You're a Triwizard Champion who performed just as well as his older competitors, exceeding almost everyone's expectations."
"In other words," said Pierre. "They want a piece of you."
"Well, I'm afraid they're too late," proclaimed Harry.
"I know that and you know that, but they won't believe that until they try."
And try they did, all the way up until Hermione arrived at Beauxbatons on Christmas morning.
--HM--
Please review. Thank you to those who have.
Sorry it's such a short chapter, but my life is going to be hectic for the next few months, but I want to post something once a month so you don't think I've abandoned the story.
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