Arch Mage, the Path of Magic Chapter 34 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans, Kairomaru is here with another chapter of Arch Mage, the Path of Magic! As the First Task draws closer, Harry still hasn’t found out what kind of Magical Creatures are being brought to Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. However, information can come from the most unexpected places sometimes. Friends can bend the rules a bit while looking out for one another. But before the First Task, Harry still has a responsibility or two, not to mention ceremony to go through for the Triwizard Tournament itself.

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 34 – Here There Be Dragons, Wand Weighing

Harry casual maintained a Protego while Professor Moody taught the Fourth Year Class of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. He was half-focused on the lesson, the other half of his mind still trying to figure out just what kinds of Magical Creatures would be used in the first task.

‘I couldn’t find any traces of Magic being used to conceal something in the lake. There’s nothing within the castle that I can find either. That only leaves the Forbidden Forest, but where exactly would they keep whatever they’re bringing in? Closer to Hogsmeade would make more sense to prevent any of the Champions from discovering them…but then they’d have to worry about transporting the creatures all the way up to Hogwarts on the day of the First Task.’ Harry mused over his current lack of success, trying to put himself in the place of the Tournament organizers. Magic made many things easier, of course, but Harry couldn’t shake the feeling that those in charge would want the Triwizard Tournament to be as showy as possible, especially for the first task.

“Locomotor Mortis!” Moody cast the Leg-Locker Curse at Harry suddenly, with more than enough power to break his Protego.

Harry pivoted to the side, a simple and standard movement learned by anyone that was taught Dueling, and dodged the curse, the nearly invisible spell hitting the wall behind him.

“Constant Vigilance!” Moody said loudly, looking at Harry sharply before turning his eyes (both real and artificial) onto the class as a whole. “A Shield Charm can block many common jinxes and hexes, but it is not infallible! Most curses carry enough power to break through a standard Protego. However…” He motioned for Harry to send a curse at him.

Harry pointed at Moody and spoke the incantation for his curse so that everyone in class would know what he was casting. “Defodio.” The Gouging Curse hit Moody’s Protego and made a brief shower of sparks, but the Shield Charm held up.

“As you can see, a Shield Charm can be strengthened with more magic and stronger intent, but simply not being in the path of a curse is better than taking a gamble on whether or not your shield will hold.” Moody said and several students wrote down his words into their notes. “Now, who can tell me why the Gouging Charm is classified as a curse?”

Hermione’s hand was the first one in the air.

“Granger.” Moody nodded to Hermione.

“The Gouging Curse was created as a Charm to help clear a path through earth and stone, assisting with digging and other such tasks. It gained the ‘Curse’ designation when it started being used against people, rather than for its intended use.” Hermione answered succinctly, having learned in her time at Hogwarts (and from her friends) that overly long answers weren’t what the Professors wanted when they asked a question in class.

“Correct.” Moody nodded sharply. “Five points to Ravenclaw.” Hermione smiled at that. “Make note of that.” Moody told the students. “Many spells that were created for simple reasons or to make certain tasks easier have been weaponized by Dark Wizards and Witches throughout history. If you hear someone casting a spell that has no business being cast where you are, assume the worst and move! Constant vigilance!”

The students quickly wrote Moody’s words into their notes.

When class ended a short time later, Professor Moody made sure to give the students their next assignment before anyone could start packing up.

“Your assignment is to research the history of Charms that have been turned into Curses, pick one of them, and then give a detailed report on what the Charm was created to do and what it was actually used for that got it designated as a Curse. I want at least eighteen inches, but no more than two feet!” He had no patience to read some longwinded report that would more than likely be copied word for word from a book. “I’ll be collecting them during our next class. Dismissed.” He hobbled out the door first, his artificial eye moving this way and that to check his surroundings.

As the students began to pack up their things and leave, Harry, in his position as TA, spoke up. “Miss Granger, could you stay a minute?”

Hermione stopped what she was doing and looked at Harry in confusion.

Once the last of the students had left, Harry merely waved his hand and the door shut behind them.

“What’s going on, Harry?” Hermione asked her best friend curiously. Inside, however, her mind was running fast and she felt butterflies in her stomach. ‘Is…is Harry going to…to…’ She couldn’t even finish the thought as her cheeks turned pink, her secret fantasy seemed like it was about to play out right now!

Harry smiled at Hermione as he walked closer, putting Hermione between himself and the long desk behind her. “Nothing bad, Hermione. I just wanted to ask a question.”

Hermione swallowed once before speaking. “What kind of question?”

“You read up on the Triwizard Tournament’s history… Would you happen to have noticed any patterns to the Magical Creatures that they’ve used in past tournaments?”

“O-Oh…I…not really.” Hermione managed to get out after pulling her mind from the ‘less than pure’ track it had started to go down. “It’s usually just a dangerous creature and the goal of the task changes. But they don’t seem to use any specific creatures or anything. It might be that the chosen creature is decided upon by the organizer’s ahead of time and the First Task is built around the creature in question.”

Harry nodded at that, thinking over what information that he had. “I’d guess that they wouldn’t use a Cockatrice like last time, given its rampage is what led to the last tournament being cancelled and the entire Triwizard Tournament being shelved for over a century.”

“Probably not.” Hermione agreed as she felt the heat fading from her cheeks.

“Hm? You’re looking a little red, Hermione…are you alright?” Harry asked as he softly placed his hand on her forehead to check her temperature.

Hermione’s face went straight back to bright red. “I-I’m fine, H-Harry.” She managed to stutter out after a second. “I feel f-fine. I was just thinking.”

Harry pulled his hand away after not feeling the heat of a fever from Hermione’s forehead. “What would you be thinking about that would make your face turn red like that?”

“N-Nothing important.” Hermione shook her head, looking around the room, specifically anywhere that Harry wasn’t.

Harry looked around the room, wondering if Hermione was looking at something. He even briefly activated his Mage Sight spell to look, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. Seeing the way that Hermione was starting to fidget as she packed up the last of her things, Harry blinked as his mind made the connection (courtesy of his experience with Tonks and now Fleur). “Oh…”

Hermione almost flinched at the word.

“What has become of our sweet, rule-abiding Hermione?” Harry grinned at Hermione playfully. “Having such thoughts in the classroom about the TA.”

“Harry!” Hermione swatted his shoulder and looked away, her face burning red as she grabbed her things. She came to a dead stop as Harry pulled her into a warm hug from behind.

“Sorry, Hermione… I was just teasing.” Harry apologized and squeezed Hermione a little tighter for a moment.

Hermione would never admit how readily she practically melted into Harry’s hug as she let him hold her. “I-It’s fine, Harry… I just…wasn’t expecting it.”

Harry smiled as he placed a soft peck on Hermione’s cheek.

“H-Harry?” Hermione felt her cheeks burn as she turned in Harry’s arms to look at her best friend.

“Yes, Hermione?” Harry asked with a little grin.

“Does…I mean…is this…?” Hermione didn’t know how to ask what she wanted to know.

Harry tilted his head a little. “Is this…what?” The little grin had become a smirk now.

Hermione pouted cutely. “Prat.” She still pulled Harry into a hug and laid her head on his shoulder though.

“Who, me?” Harry questioned, even as he returned the warm hug.

“Yes, you.” Hermione said as she enjoyed their shared embrace.

The two stood there, just holding each other for a while, before eventually pulling away. With her heart beating like a drum, Hermione leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on Harry’s cheek, just a bit more than the peck that Harry had given her. She pulled back and looked at Harry with a blush on her cheeks that just made her look adorable. Harry smiled and pulled her back into a hug, holding her close and making Hermione smile as she returned the hug.

“So…” Harry drew out the word as he let Hermione pull back a short time later. “What kind of thoughts were you having about being alone with the TA after class?”

“Shut up…” Hermione lightly swatted Harry’s chest and turned away. She put the strap of her bookbag over her shoulder without looking at Harry.

Harry chuckled and opened the door for Hermione, walking side by side with her towards her next class, which was Runes. Hermione had a cute smile on her face as Harry walked her to class. As they were heading towards the stairs, Hermione spoke up.

“I’ve been thinking more about how I look at Magic…and how I understand it.” Hermione revealed as they reached the stairs.

“Oh?” Harry looked at Hermione with the gleam of curiosity in his eyes. “Are you going to try and guess your ‘right question’ again?”

Hermione shook her head once as they walked up the stairs together. “No…not yet. I don’t think I have my own interpretation of Magic right now; but I’m trying to look at it in a way that’s different than just what the books say.”

Harry nodded in understanding. “That’s a good place to start.” He knew Hermione, who believed in the knowledge imparted by books, would have a difficult time with seeing past what she’d already read. But she was trying to move past that stage and open her mind to a way of seeing and understanding Magic that was her own. ‘She’s not trying to force it anymore.’ Harry smiled at Hermione’s progress, knowing that with a bit more time his best friend (and maybe something a little more now) would reach her own understanding of Magic.

“I’ve also been looking more into Arithmancy and Runes too.” Hermione said as they reached the next floor landing. “I think I might have an idea for creating something myself, but I don’t know enough just yet.”

“That sounds interesting.” Harry said with a little gleam in his eyes. As they continued walking up the stairs his curiosity couldn’t be held back. “Are you going to share your idea?”

Hermione smiled at Harry. “Not yet.” She nearly burst into giggles at the way Harry’s expression dropped into a flat stare.

Harry shook his head once as they reached the next landing. “Tease.”

“Harry!” Hermione’s cheeks turned pink at the implication.

Harry only chuckled at how flustered Hermione got from the simple teasing.

Hermione smiled as the two got to the door of the Runes classroom. “Thanks for walking me to class, Harry. You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to.” Harry said, returning her smile with his own.

“Once I learn a bit more and get closer to an actual plan for my idea, then I’ll tell you about it.” Hermione promised with a grin.

Harry let out a dramatic sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to wait.”

Hermione nodded once. “You will.” She headed into her Runes class with a little laugh.

“I’m sure it’ll be amazing, Hermione.” Harry said under his breath as he continued on his way. He fully believed in Hermione and her brilliant mind, whatever she was working towards would undoubtedly be interesting.

-Later ~ Care of Magical Creatures-

“You’re doing a great job, little guy.” Harry said to the Porlock that he was feeding leafy greens to.

Porlocks were rather small, only reaching a height of two feet on average when they were fully grown, and covered in a large amount of rough, shaggy hair that could range from dark brown to a reddish color. They had large noses, small arms ending in four stubby fingers, and they walked on two cloven hooves.

Hagrid had gotten a small group of them for the Third Year class after Beauxbatons’ Abraxans had arrived at Hogwarts, since Porlocks guarded horses as part of their instinct, keeping pests and small predators away from the herd. But Porlocks were wary of humans, mistrustful even, and usually ran away if humans approached. Hagrid’s lessons for this first part of the school year were focused on gaining the Porlocks’ trust, taking care of them, and studying their behavior as the small group ‘protected’ the Abraxans in their pen.

Given that the Abraxans were absolutely massive and had a Ministry Classification of XXXX, when fully grown, they didn’t really need protection. But the giant equines didn’t seem to mind the Porlocks’ presence, even grazing right beside their ‘protectors’ during the day.

“Mnnh.” The Porlock let out an odd sound, but accepted the fresh leafy greens as a snack. It still wouldn’t let Harry touch it, bolting away any time that Harry tried, but it would accept food from him now.

Hagrid, keeping his voice low to not startle the Porlock, stopped next to Harry with a smile. “Doin’ alright there Harry?”

Harry smiled at the Porlock and then looked at Hagrid. “We’re making progress, I think.”

“I think he’s startin’ ta warm up to ya, Harry.” Hagrid agreed with a chuckle as he watched the Porlock finish off its snack and then wander back towards the Abraxans’ pen to ‘guard’ the near elephant-sized winged horses again. “Say, Harry…” Hagrid lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned down a bit to get closer to Harry. “Do ya think ya can stop by my shack after dinner tonight? There’s somethin’ I think ya need to see.”

“Something I need to see?” Harry looked at Hagrid curiously.

Hagrid nodded slightly. “Aye, but I can’ be sayin’ nothin’ here…not technically supposed to be tellin’ ya.”

Harry didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what Hagrid was trying to help him with. “I’ll be there, Hagrid.” He nodded to the large Professor, one that he could easily consider a friend, especially if he was going to go out of his way to help him with the Triwizard Tournament.

“Good lad, Harry.” Hagrid smiled at Harry before heading over to some other students that weren’t having as much luck getting their Porlocks to trust them.

-Hagrid’s Hut ~ After Dinner-

Harry had told his friends about seeing Hagrid after dinner, hinting that it was for help with the Triwizard Tournament. Sneaking outside wasn’t hard when Harry could become invisible, soundless, and could fly; so he’d made it to Hagrid’s hut without any trouble.

“Hagrid, what is it you want to show me?” Harry whispered to the Gamekeeper. Hagrid was oddly dressed up, as much as the large man could be given his sheer size. He even looked like he’d tried to comb his thick, shaggy hair and beard.

“Shhh…Harry, just keep yerself invisible and follow me.” Hagrid instructed with a whisper. “Don’t make a sound, alright?”

“Alright…” Harry agreed as he reapplied his spells and vanished from sight again.

Hagrid waited for a few minutes with the invisible Harry before they both noticed someone approaching across the grounds. “Ah, Olympe, over here.” Hagrid called out to the Headmistress of Beauxbatons.

“Mr. Hagrid, you said you had something important to show me this evening?” Madame Maxime appeared from the gloom of the night. The large woman was clearly curious about whatever Hagrid had told her at some point during the day.

“Aye,” Hagrid nodded to the woman, and if Harry wasn’t mistaken, his Care of Magical Creatures Professor was actually blushing. “I thought we could take a little stroll towards what I’d like to show ya tonight.” Hagrid offered with his best smile. “I promise ya won’t be disappointed.”

“Very well then,” Madame Maxime took Hagrid’s arm when he offered it to her. “Lead the way.”

Harry followed at a slight distance behind the two of them as they made their way through the Forbidden Forest. The pair made a path through the forest just by walking, so it was easy for Harry to just follow along. As they got deeper into the dark woods, Harry began to hear strange sounds. It almost sounded like muffled roaring? He followed along until a bright light lit up the forest. The Spellcrafter stopped in his tracks as he saw what he was sure Hagrid was trying to show him.

“Dragons.” Harry mumbled under his breath; his eyes were wide in surprise at seeing the three massive beasts.

There were three fully grown, enormous, vicious-looking dragons rearing on their hind legs inside three separate enclosures that were fenced with thick planks of wood. The great beasts were roaring and snorting, shooting torrents of fire into the dark sky from their open, fanged mouths. The flames were blasting out, fifteen meters above the ground on the dragons’ outstretched necks.

Harry had studied up on Dragons a bit out of curiosity and easily recognized the three species that had been chosen for the Triwizard Tournament. The dragon with the scarlet, smooth scales and a fringe of golden spikes around its snub-snouted face with extremely protuberant eyes was a Chinese Fireball, sometimes called a ‘Lion Dragon’ due to the spikes around its neck. The scales of the second dragon were silvery blue, and the powerful flame it was shooting into the air was also a brilliant blue color. From the spikes on its head and the rather short muzzle it had, Harry was easily able to identify this one as well, a Swedish Short-Snout. They were rumored to have the hottest fire among all Dragon species.

But it was the final Dragon that took the cake in Harry’s opinion. It was massive, with black scales and a lizard-like appearance. Its baleful yellow eyes, bronze horns and similarly colored spikes that protruded from its long tail were all well-known to anyone that had ever looked into any book that featured Dragons. The Tournament organizers had brought a Hungarian Horntail to the Triwizard Tournament!

‘Safer than previous years, my arse! That thing could easily kill someone in the First Task!’ Harry cursed internally as he quickly headed away from the clearing. Dragons were all classified as XXXXX Beasts, known Wizard Killers, and unable to be tamed at all. Even one of them was worse than a Cockatrice, and even though the Dragon Handlers that were taking care of the three Dragons seemed competent, this was definitely far more dangerous than the beast that had gotten the Tournament cancelled so long ago. ‘They probably just wanted the biggest spectacle that they could make for the return of the Triwizard Tournament and didn’t think about the actual competitors.’

A shadowy figure made leaves crunch several meters from Harry’s position. In the light from the dragons’ fiery breath, Harry saw Karkaroff’s face clearly for a brief moment. The Durmstrang High Master was disappearing into the shadows and gloom of the trees a second later, clearly heading back towards the Durmstrang ship.

‘Looks like all three Champions will know about the Dragons ahead of time.’ Harry mused to himself as his feet lifted off the ground and he flew through the forest until he broke through the treeline and was back on the grounds not too far from Hagrid’s hut. He didn’t stop there though; he flew towards the Beauxbatons carriage to tell Fleur what he saw. Even if Maxime was going to tell Fleur, and Harry was certain that she would, he wouldn’t leave it up to chance.

-Hogwarts Library ~ Next Afternoon-

“Dragons?!” Daphne barely stopped herself from shouting when Harry told her what the three Champions would be up against in the First Task.

“That’s mental…” Tracy seemed stunned by the knowledge.

Hermione was worried, and she handled that worry by bringing a stack of books about dragons to their shared table and setting them down with a thump. “I’ve gotten the most well-known books about dragons that I could find. Surely there’s something that will keep you two safe.” Hermione looked at Harry and Fleur, worrying her lip in the way that Harry (and Fleur) found cute.

Luna smiled as she sent her almost ever-present Kooni over to grab the top book from the stack and bring it to her. “Thank you, Leafy.” She smiled at the little spirit, even patting it atop the hug affectionately.

“Oo…” The Kooni made a noise before moving to rest on Luna’s shoulder like it normally did.

“Let’s help Harry and Fleur look up safe ways to handle dragons.” Luna smiled at her friends as she opened the book.

Astoria looked at Luna flatly. “I don’t think there is a ‘safe’ way to handle dragons.”

“Still, we should help however we can.” Daphne said as she took the next book in the stack and opened it. “I wish I was further along in my Healing studies… I might’ve been able to brew something that would prevent burns.”

Tracy took the next book as Hermione handed it to her. “Isn’t that what a Flame Freezing Charm is for?” She perked up and turned to look at Harry and Fleur. “You two should definitely learn the Flame Freezing Charm!”

Fleur giggled softly at Tracy’s small outburst. “Veela learn that particular Charm very young…for obvious reasons.”

“Already know it.” Harry nodded, giving Tracy a small smile. “But dragon fire might be able to overcome it. The spell was made with the idea of not burning yourself on fires for cooking and heating around the home back in the day. It can handle any normal fire easily, but dragons are another matter entirely.”

“Do you actually have to fight the dragons?” Astoria asked as she accepted a book from Hermione. “That doesn’t seem like much of a competition between the three champions.”

Hermione hummed thoughtfully at that. “It’s true that the goal of the First Task changes and can be any number of things. Maybe it’s about not fighting the dragon?” She opened up her own book and started to read. “We should look up protective spells first and foremost anyway.”

“Thank you all for looking out for us.” Harry smiled at his friends.

“It’s much appreciated.” Fleur agreed, giving a soft smile to the younger girls.

Daphne looked at Harry. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Harry.” She locked eyes with Harry for a moment before she blushed and looked at Fleur. “I don’t want you to get hurt either, Fleur!”

Astoria giggled behind her book.

Tracy was snickering behind hers.

Hermione peeked at Daphne over the top of her own book.

“Thank you, Daphne.” Fleur said with a melodious giggle that made Daphne hide behind her own book.

Harry could only smile. ‘I’m lucky to have so many good friends.’ His eyes drifted over to Daphne and then Hermione. ‘Or maybe more than friends?’ He wouldn’t want to assume, but Hermione’s feelings seemed clear now, he just wasn’t one-hundred percent clear on Daphne’s feelings yet.

-November 21st ~ Weighing of the Wands-

“I’m here…” Harry said with a slight yawn as he walked into the room designated for the Weighing of the Wands Ceremony. He was technically on time, though everyone else had clearly shown up several minutes, or more, earlier than he had.

“We were starting to wonder, Mr. Potter.” Dumbledore smiled genially at the prodigious Spellcrafter. “Everyone else had arrived, but we were missing one-third of our champions.”

“I get caught up in my studies, Headmaster, my apologies.” Harry said with a lackadaisical grin.

“Studies, mon chéri?” Fleur questioned playfully as Harry sat next to her.

“Studies.” Harry nodded with a little grin. He gently took Fleur’s hand in his making her smile as she lightly squeezed it.

The room chosen for the ceremony was a fairly small classroom with most of the desks pushed to the back so as to leave a large space in the middle of the room. Three of the desks, however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long velvet cloth. Five chairs were set behind the velvet-covered desks, and Ludo Bagman was sitting in one of them, talking to a Witch wearing magenta robes that Harry had only ever seen a few pictures of before.

Viktor Krum was standing in a corner with Karkaroff and neither of them was talking to anybody. There was a paunchy man, holding a large black camera that was smoking slightly. He was clearly watching Fleur out of the corner of his eye the entire time. Fleur was ignoring the cameraman entirely, well-versed in doing so thanks to the countless men that got caught up in even the tiniest amount of her natural Allure.

Bagman suddenly spotted Harry. The slightly portly man got up quickly, and nearly bounded forward to speak with him. “Ah, here he is! Champion number three! Good to see you, Harry! Nothing to worry about, it's just the Wand Weighing Ceremony!” Ludo informed Harry, even though all three champions already knew about the Wand Weighing in advance. Honestly, the former Professional Beater was a bit much with how strongly he came on.

“I am aware, Mr. Bagman, thank you.” Harry replied as politely as he could. He’d much rather be working on his spellcraft right now, even more so if he could convince Fleur to come with him, given what the two could get up to together after a good ‘magic fight’.

“After the ceremony there's going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter,” Bagman added, gesturing toward the witch in magenta robes that was walking up to the three of them. “She’s doing a small piece on the Tournament for the Daily Prophet....”

“Maybe not that small, Ludo,” Rita Skeeter cut him off with a smile, her eyes on Harry. Her hair was set in elaborate and curiously rigid curls that contrasted oddly with her heavy-jawed face. She wore jeweled spectacles. The thick fingers clutching her crocodile-skin handbag ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson.

“I’m very aware of who she is.” Harry responded as he gave Rita a flat look.

Sirius had rejected every request for an interview that had been sent his way over the last few years. That didn’t stop Rita Skeeter from sending more though. The vile ‘reporter’ -though calling her that seemed like an insult to genuine Journalists- wasn’t one to give up on getting her scoop and then twisting it into a story of half-truths and speculations that painted the subject in a negative light.

She’d only stopped her near harassment after Sirius had threatened a lawsuit against the Daily Prophet near the beginning of 1990. But Skeeter’s very next article, conveniently labeled as an ‘opinion piece’, had made more than enough speculations about why no one had seen Harry Potter since Halloween of Eighty-One. None of said speculations had been good, and one had practically accused Sirius of keeping Harry locked up against his will.

Andromeda and Ted had BOTH had to step in to keep Sirius from hunting Rita Skeeter down that day. It was a memory from before Hogwarts that Harry was sure he’d remember forever.

“I wonder if I could have a little word with Harry before we start?” Rita asked of Bagman, her gaze still fixed on Harry. “The youngest Champion, you know...to add a bit of color?”

“Certainly!” Bagman agreed with a quick nod before blinking. “That is, if Harry has no objection?”

“No.” Harry replied instantly, his tone both flat and final. He noticed Fleur giving the older woman an unimpressed look out of the corner of his eye.

“If everyone could take their seats, we can begin the Weighing of the Wands.” Mr. Crouch spoke up strongly, though the man still appeared tired. Harry noted the heavy bags under the man’s eyes, Mr. Couch’s condition certainly didn’t seem to have improved at all since the last time that Harry had seen him.

Rita gave a small ‘tch’ as she walked away.

Harry and Fleur were joined by Viktor as the three Champions were now all sat in the three chairs facing the Organizers. Fleur was in the center chair, Viktor to her left and Harry on her right. Harry looked over at the Organizers, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Mr. Crouch, and Ludo Bagman had all sat down already. Rita Skeeter had settled herself down in a corner; Harry saw her slip a parchment out of her ugly, crocodile skin handbag, spread it on her knee, suck the end of an acid-green quill, and place it on the parchment. The magical writing instrument stood upright by itself, poised and ready to write down everything that Rita wanted it to.

“May I introduce Mr. Garrick Ollivander?” Dumbledore introduced the Wand Maker while taking his place at the Organizers’ table. “He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the Tournament.”

Harry looked at Ollivander for the first time as the old Wizard with large, pale eyes entered the room. Having never needed a wand, Harry had never been to the well-known Wand Maker’s shop. The old Wizard gave off a slightly odd feeling of mystery that Harry couldn’t place.

Ollivander came to a stop in the middle of the room and looked at the three Champions briefly. “Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?” Ollivander requested with a polite smile.

Fleur stood up after giving Harry’s hand a gentle squeeze. She walked over to Ollivander and handed him her wand gently. Harry saw the instant the Wand Maker’s eyes lit up with interest and curiosity.

‘Is that what I look like when I find interesting new Magic?’ Harry briefly wondered to himself before focusing on Ollivander again.

“Hmm...” Ollivander hummed as he looked the wand over. He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it up to his eyes and examined the Focus more closely. “Yes,” he murmured quietly. “Nine and a half inches...inflexible...Rosewood...and containing...dear me...”

“A hair from the head of a Veela,” Fleur nodded to the Ollivander with a smile. “One of my grandmother’s.”

“Yes,” Ollivander nodded in understanding. “Yes, I've never successfully used Veela hair myself, unfortunately. I find they make for rather temperamental wands on the few occasions I’ve tried. However, this suits you remarkably well, Miss Delacour. It’s an excellent match.” He smiled at Fleur before he ran his fingers along the length of the wand, checking for any small scratches or bumps and then he held it properly. “Orchideous!” The old Wizard cast and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip.

“Excellent, it's in fine working order.” Ollivander nodded as he scooped up the small bouquet and handed it to Fleur along with her wand.

“Thank you, Mr. Ollivander.” Fleur gave him a smile and nod as she returned to her seat next to Harry.

“Mr. Krum, if you please.” Ollivander nodded to the Professional Quidditch player.

Viktor got up and half-slouched as he walked over to Ollivander. He held out his wand for Ollivander to take and stood with his hands in the pockets of his robes. Viktor didn’t seem at all perturbed by the inspection of his wand.

“Hmm…” Ollivander hummed before a small smile came to his face. “Ah, this is a Gregorovitch creation, a fine Wand Maker, though the styling is never quite what I would do…” He trailed off as he began to examine the wand. Ollivander lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes. “Yes...Hornbeam and Dragon Heartstring?” He looked at Krum, who nodded in confirmation. “Rather thicker than one usually sees...quite rigid...ten and a quarter inches…. He does love to give his creations a bit of extra strength. But no one is here to hear about our little rivalry.” Ollivander chuckled softly. “Avis!”

The wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and through the open window into the sunlight. Harry watched them get a good distance away before they all poofed back into non-existence. The Conjuration didn’t have a very large range before it failed, it would seem.

“Very good,” Ollivander smiled as he returned Viktor’s wand. “It’s in excellent working order.” Viktor nodded to the old Wand Maker before heading back to his seat. “Which leaves…High Sorcerer Potter.”

Harry gave Fleur’s hand a gentle squeeze just as she had done before. He got to his feet and walked straight up to Ollivander. He smiled at the old Wizard before presenting his empty hands. “I’m afraid I have nothing for you to examine, Mr. Ollivander.”

“Ah, yes,” Ollivander nodded, his pale eyes looking at Harry intently. “Yes, yes, yes. I remember that you never stopped by my shop, Mr. Potter. I had considered that you may have simply gone to another wand maker for your wand, or perhaps had been chosen by a wand from one of your forefathers.” Ollivander smiled at Harry with an air of mystery. “But to my surprise, you had simply never needed a wand at all. Most curious…”

“Magic doesn’t require a Focus, only understanding and focus.” Harry said to the Wand Maker with a small smile.

“True enough, I suppose.” Ollivander said with a nod.

Harry’s smile turned into a grin. “But if you’d like to share some knowledge of the Magic of Wand Making, I wouldn’t say no.”

Ollivander laughed lightly for a moment. “I’m afraid the secrets of wandlore aren’t so easy to obtain, Mr. Potter.”

“Of course, Mr. Ollivander.” Harry gave a nod to the Wand Maker before he returned to his seat next to Fleur. He didn’t expect Ollivander to agree or tell him anything. ‘But it could’ve been interesting.’ Harry thought as he held Fleur’s hand when her hand sought out his.

“Thank you all for your time.” Dumbledore spoke as he stood up from his seat at the Organizers’ table. “You may go back to your lessons now, or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as today’s classes are about to end.”

Being a bit hungry, Harry was more than fine with heading straight to dinner with Fleur. The two stood up and prepared to leave, still hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, someone had to ruin those plans.

The camera man standing next to Rita cleared his throat, none to quietly, and Bagman opened his mouth.

“Photos, Dumbledore, photos!” Bagman called excitedly. “All the Organizers and the Champions, what do you think, Rita?”

Harry really wanted to hex Bagman right about now…but was pretty sure he wouldn’t get any of the spells he wanted to use past Dumbledore.

After almost a dozen more photos than Harry thought were necessary, everyone was finally able to leave. On the way out, he once more spotted Rita Skeeter, this time taking her acid-green quill and putting it back into her crocodile skin handbag. Wondering what ‘speculations’ she’d written about the relatively simple Weighing of the Wands, Harry summoned the parchment to his hand faster than Rita could react.

“Hey!” Rita squawked a second later.

Harry held up the parchment, letting Fleur read it too, and quickly saw far more embellishments and outright lies written than would’ve been possible to fit into the relatively short time they’d spent on the actual ceremony.

“When did Ollivander say my wand was ‘inferior’?” Fleur asked as she read over the line on the parchment.

“Must’ve been before I was misquoted as calling wands ‘useless’ and ‘only for those to foolish to really use Magic’.” Harry replied, as he read Rita’s ‘quote’ from him.

Viktor, having been able to read the parchment over Harry’s shoulder even from a distance (sharp eyes being an almost mandatory trait for a Professional Seeker), scoffed at the parchment. “Vhen did Ollivander say Gregorovitch wands are ‘from a second-rate Wand Maker’?”

Ollivander turned his pale eyes onto Rita, the look devoid of any warmth and seemingly boring into the woman’s soul if the way she recoiled was any indication.

“Also, you’ve apparently bewitched me with your ‘Veela charms’ Fleur, and are trying to eliminate me as competition.” Harry read off with a roll of his eyes.

“I believe that I’m starting to understand why so few people in Britain know any truth about Veela.” Fleur looked annoyed by the accusation that Rita had written. The Veela had gone through centuries of distrust and even persecution from Witches and Wizards because of jealously, envy, and lies like this.

Madame Maxime was outright glaring at Rita now, her large frame imposing as her shadow practically swallowed up the lying reporter.

Dumbledore stepped in at this point before things got truly out of control. “I believe that will be enough.” He said with a clam tone that had been perfected over decades as an educator. “Miss Skeeter, I see that some of your ‘disagreeable’ tendencies haven’t changed since you were a student here at Hogwarts.”

Rita now looked like she was reliving just such a time as she practically cowed before Dumbledore’s disappointed gaze.

Fwoosh

The parchment of lies in Harry’s hand was reduced to tiny ashes that fell to the floor.

“Well, we’re heading to the Great Hall for dinner. Someone should probably talk with Miss Skeeter about her lack of integrity.” Harry said as he and Fleur left, leaving the room hand-in-hand once more.

Both gave each other wicked little smiles as they walked down the corridor together. It was good to nip a potential problem in the bud whenever possible.

-End Chapter-

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Rita Skeeter…SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

Harry is shown the three dragons by Hagrid. Now knowing what they’re up against, Harry and Fleur start preparing with help from their friends.

Speaking of which… Hermione and Harry have advanced their relationship a little further! So cute~

Hermione is finally starting to make headway into her own interpretation of Magic too! What’s this ‘idea’ for making something that she hinted at?

As the First Task rapidly approaches, what methods will the Champions use to deal with their individual dragons?

Keep reading to find out!

Until I get your reviews, later!