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A new article was released by Rita Skeeter and instead of writing about one witch or wizard but two. She had written about Noel and Hagrid.
Rita had overheard Hagrid talking about his giantess mother. Giants were known to be ill mannered and angry, they were amongst one of the groups that were discriminated against and outcasted, many living in the north near the mountains. She had also written about Noel who was a classified half-breed because of her dad's lycanthropy.
Rita linked the two together in the article saying that Dumbledore had a habit of housing half-breeds and protecting them. She continued to say that Dumbledore should rethink who he houses while Harry Potter is in the castle, as everyone knew that Giants and Werewolves sided with You-Know-Who during the wizarding war.
Noel had read the Prophet with teary eyes as Rita continued to say things about herself and Remus. She burnt the newspaper and sent an owl canceling her subscription as she charmed her bed draped shut. Heartbroken and saddened.
She ignored her roommates and refused to eat dinner. She knew she couldn't hide forever but she would as long as she could.
Which ended up lasting a week.
Luna would come in and update her on what people were saying. No one cared about Noel's status as much as they did about Hagrid's because everyone had figured it out the year before when their professor's condition was exposed but Luna was honest and told her that a lot more people were talking about it.
Luna told her about the temporary Care of Magical Creature Professor who would be taking over for Hagrid who had too gone into hiding since the article came out.
Noel was upset, she didn't care about her blood status but she did care about people knowing. People who weren't at Hogwarts especially because she knew what people like her and her father faced.
They faced alienation and discrimination. They faced hardships that are set in stone and Noel didn't want her life to be harder than what it already was. It was unfair to her and to Hagrid to have their private, personal information to be exposed like that to the public without their consent or knowledge.
A week had gone by when Harry had finally had enough. He wanted to give her space and he would check in with Luna but he missed his friend and if he couldn't get through with Hagrid then maybe he would with Noel.
He made his way to the Ravenclaw common room and after several attempts at the riddle he was finally able to get in. He had never actually been to her dorm.
When they hung out there they stayed in the common room so they wouldn't disturb her roommates.
Harry spotted a 1st year and kindly asked her if they knew where Noel's dorm was. They eagerly helped him and lead him towards the room. Harry was half expecting the stairs to to turn into a slide like they normally would in the Gryffindor tower but they stayed put and in no time he was in front of her door.
He knocked first, waiting patiently for a reply but after several minutes of knocking he was faced with nothing. He had two options; keep knocking and wait for her to open or open the door himself and walk in.
He continued to knock until finally Noel opened the door. She looked startled to see him. Her eyes and nose were red as her cheeks were flushed. Harry tried not to give her a pitying look but he felt awful.
"What are you doing here?"
"I came to make sure you were okay. I read the article Noel and no one cares-"
"-No one who matters cares." Harry amended at the face of disbelief Noel gave him.
"Come back Noel. Don't let that foul woman and her lies take you away from the people who care about you." He pleaded.
Noel sighed and opened the door wider for him to enter. "Fine. But tomorrow, not today."
Noel led him to her bed where she laid down comfortably as he sat down tentatively. Noel rolled her eyes and lifted the blanket up for him to get under.
"Have you figured out the egg yet?" Noel started, when they both got comfortable as much as they could in the bed.
"Not yet. Actually, Cedric came up to me the night of the ball. He said that I should take a bath with it." Harry said softly.
"Have you tried?"
Harry shook his head sheepishly. "No. I've been a little distracted."
"You should take it to the prefects bath. You helped him with the dragons, it's only fair he helped you with this." Noel suggested.
Harry hummed, he had a little over a month to figure out what the next task was. "Maybe."
Noel watched his expression with small amusement, knowing Harry will wait until the last minute like he did last time.
She turned and dug through the books that were on her night stand and on the floor to looking for the one she had gotten for Christmas.
She settled back and wordlessly handed it to Harry, who opened it up to the bookmark and started to read to her. They stayed like that for a while, he would occasionally stop and to ask Noel if she was listening who hummed back in response to let him know that he could keep going.
Harry usually hated reading, he would avoid his school textbooks at all cost and when he did read it was a book about quidditch.
He would never admit this to Ron or Hermione but he enjoyed this. The quiet reading where he and Noel are both engrossed in the book and they don't need to talk to enjoy each other's company. If it was either him reading or Noel. Either way he liked it, a lot. But he especially liked it when Noel read, he liked her voice and the way it's warm and soft. He liked her accent and he would sometimes catch a phrase or word that she said differently than he did.
He had missed her these days that she was away and as he stayed up at night missing her he doesn't know how he survived without her for his first 2 years at Hogwarts.
He wishes that he would never have to miss her like that again.
"Harry? Are you okay?" Noel asked worriedly when he had stopped reading.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, yeah. Sorry just in my head is all. Do you want me to keep going?"
Noel contemplated her options but decided against it, it was getting late. Her roommates would be back in no time and Harry's friends are probably worried about him.
"No it's alright, we can finish another time."
Harry looked around the dorm room, it wasn't much different, a lot more spacious with slightly bigger windows, the only difference was the ceiling that he was sure was charmed to match the night sky. He smiled when he spotted the little dragon in a cushion that was sitting on top of a vanity.
"Have you named him?" Harry asked, pointing to the dragon.
"I wanted to name him something cool but it was becoming difficult to come up with a name so I named him something boring."
"What is it?"
"Mars."
"Well that's not bad. You could've named it something worse like... Dan or something."
Noel laughed, a true genuine laugh every since the article came out she'd been so sad and now she's laughing at the ridiculousness of naming the dragon Dan that she couldn't help but realize how stupid everything was. Harry gave a small smile at her happiness and felt like his did a job well done.
Noel walked Harry out all the way to the corridor and promised him that she would be in class the next day.
Noel visited Hagrid later that night. If anyone knew what she was feeling would be him and maybe if they both talked to each other they would both feel better.
She kicked on the door a few times. She could hear Fang barking and whining from the other side and she sighed defeated.
She slid down the door onto the step and just talked. Maybe she was only talking to Fang or maybe she was talking to Hagrid but it didn't really matter anymore.
"I hate her, you know? I really, really do. She's a troll who deserves bad karma but what I know is that what she wrote is total and utter bullshit! I know who I am and I'm sure you know who you are as well, Hagrid. Why does it matter who we come from when you and I are no less of a witch or wizard than the next person. I love my dad, I wouldn't change him for anyone especially for someone who is pure-blood because you know what that means? That they're inbred and that to me is more disgusting than being half-breed. I love my nain who was a muggle. She taught me so much about life and what it means to live. I'm not ashamed of who I am or who I came from, neither should you be Hagrid. Why should we care what people think of us when the people that we love and love us back don't care either. Please don't shut us out, we all care about you. We all love you no matter who you've come from. We're blood and bones Hagrid, that's all that matters."
Noel hadn't been sure that he heard her until she heard a sniff from the other side of the door. She stayed there for a while hoping that he would come out but the sun had started to set. Slowly she made her way back to the castle hoping that she would see him tomorrow when she had his class.
By no time both Hagrid and Noel were both feeling better. Hagrid went back to teaching as if nothing happened and Noel continued on with her quiet school life. Harry had updated her on some things here and there but for the most part Hogwarts for once felt normal.
That didn't last very long however. Harry had finally taken Cedric's advice about listening to the egg in the bath and now their biggest concern was how go get Harry to breathe underwater for a long periods of time.
Harry and Noel were in the Owlery together the day after he figured it out and he was letting her in on what had happened with Moody and Snape as he sent a letter to Sirius retelling him as well.
"I get that Snape hates you Harry but does he hate you enough to put your name in the Goblet? I don't think so."
Noel said as she tried to work out what had happened. "Why was Mr. Crouch here? Has he been faking being ill? Also, why did you give Moody the map! It was my turn to have it this week!" Noel complained.
Harry laughed awkwardly, having forgotten at the time that they shared the map. "I forgot."
"Of course you did." She muttered rolling her eyes.
"Why would he be here in the middle of the night and miss a big event like the Yule ball? Even if he was looking for something, why did it have to be in such a late hour?" Harry asked her.
"There's something missing." Noel paced up and down. What could she possibly be missing?
Harry ended her inner turmoil by asking her if he could use Asra this time to send a letter.
"Yes of course! Did you add that I said 'Hi'?" She asked as she walked up to him so she could tie the letter to her owl.
"Yeah. He said hello to you too in the last letter."
They walked back in and went straight for the library so they could start tackling the task of trying to figure out a way for Harry to breathe underwater.
"Of course, the ideal solution would be for you to Transfigure yourself into a submarine or something," Hermione said. "If only we'd done human Transfiguration already! But I don't think we start that until sixth year, and it can go badly wrong if you don't know what you're doing..."
"Yeah, I don't fancy walking around with a periscope sticking out of my head," said Harry. "I s'pose I could always attack someone in front of Moody; he might do it for me..."
"I don't think he'd let you choose what you wanted to be turned into, though," said Hermione seriously. "No, I think your best chance is some sort of charm."
"Why don't you try the bubblehead charm?" Noel suggested pulling out a 7th year charms book.
"It's a 7th year charm though and considering that you can't do a summoning charm which is 4th year..."
Harry glared at her but took the book nonetheless. He scrunched his face up as he read the instructions.
"Harry, you have a few weeks. I'm sure you'll get it in no time!" Hermione encouraged but she didn't look so sure herself. "You focus on that and in the meantime us 3 will look for an easier alternative." She suggested.
Noel, Ron and Hermione scavenged the library's for any books that could give them an easier idea than the one that they had but they found no luck. Harry continued to practice off and on but had no luck.
Time went by quickly and it finally hit February. Noel was getting more anxious as the days went by and Harry still had no success with the charm. Asra had also come back and the letter had a simple sentence on it.
Send date of next Hogsmeade weekend by return owl.
Harry turned the parchment over and looked at the back, hoping to see something else, but it was blank.
"Weekend after next," whispered Hermione, who had read the note over Harry's shoulder. "Here — take my quill and send this owl back straight away."
Harry scribbled the dates down on the back of Sirius's letter, tied it onto the brown owl's leg, and watched it take flight again.
"What's he want to know about the next Hogsmeade weekend for?" said Ron.
"Dunno," said Harry dully.
"C'mon, we have magical creatures!" Noel said trying to cheer him up.
Today he had managed to capture two unicorn foals. Unlike full-grown unicorns, they were pure gold. Parvati and Lavender went into transports of delight at the sight of them, and even Pansy Parkinson had to work hard to conceal how much she liked them.
"Easier ter spot than the adults," Hagrid told the class. "They turn silver when they're abou' two years old, an' they grow horns at aroun' four. Don' go pure white till they're full grown, 'round about seven. They're a bit more trustin' when they're babies... don' mind boys so much.... C'mon, move in a bit, yeh can pat 'em if yeh want...give 'em a few o' these sugar lumps...
Noel hadn't been in class when Professor Grubbly-Plank showed the adult unicorn but these were beautiful. She stepped closer to one of them, slowly and gently she pet it. Her hands going up to its head and around its eyes completely enthralled she hadn't realized the glow until Hermione came up to her and distracted her.
"You were glowing." She said wide-eyed.
Noel retracted her hands as if she had burnt them and stuffed them into her robes. "Did anyone see?" She asked anxiously.
Hermione shook her head but was looking at Noel with a scrutinizing look trying to figure out what had happened. Noel avoided her eyes and tried to step away from the foal but it followed every step she took. This grabbed the classes attention as the unicorn wouldn't leave Noel alone.
She looked at Harry pleadingly to help her but he didn't know what to do. The classes oooed and awed as the animal walked around Noel in a circle, their gold horn glistening as the sun hit it.
Finally, Hagrid called them over for feeding.
"I guess animals attract other animals." Draco sneered as he looked at Noel with disgust.
"Says the ferret. I've been working on my charms you know, maybe this time I can turn you into one permanently. Or if that doesn't work I could just break your nose again. " Noel said angrily.
She smirked when he took a step back when she moved to grab her wand. "That's what I thought."
The lesson went on as it normally did. Malfoy stayed in his corner sulking and Hagrid was doing an excellent job teaching the class about the unicorns.
The group of 4 had expired to skip their classes after that. The second task was the next day and Harry was still having trouble with the charm Noel had suggested.
"I don't reckon it can be done," said Ron's voice flatly from the other side of the table.
"There's nothing. Nothing. Closest was that thing to dry up puddles and ponds, that Drought Charm, but that was nowhere near powerful enough to drain the lake."
"There must be something," Hermione muttered, moving a candle closer to her. Her eyes were so tired she was poring over the tiny print of Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes with her nose about an inch from the page. "They'd never have set a task that was undoable."
"They have," said Ron. "Harry, just go down to the lake tomorrow, right, stick your head in, yell at the merpeople to give back whatever they've nicked, and see if they chuck it out. Best you can do, mate."
"There's a way of doing it!" Hermione said crossly. "There just has to be!"
She seemed to be taking the library's lack of useful information on the subject as a personal insult; it had never failed her before.
"I know what I should have done," said Harry, resting, face- down, on Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts. "I should've learned to be an Animagus like Sirius."
"Yeah, you could've turned into a goldfish any time you wanted!" said Ron.
"Or a frog," yawned Harry.
"Maybe even a cute little crab." Noel piped up from her end of the table.
"Professor McGonagall told us, remember...you've got to register yourself with the Improper Use of Magic Office ... what animal you become, and your markings, so you can't abuse it...."
"Hermione, I was joking," said Harry wearily. "I know I haven't got a chance of turning into a frog by tomorrow morning...."
"Oh this is no use," Hermione said, snapping shut Weird Wizarding Dilemmas. "Who on earth wants to make their nose hair grow into ringlets?"
"I wouldn't mind," said Fred Weasley's voice. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked up. Fred and George had just emerged from behind some bookshelves.
"What're you two doing here?" Ron asked.
"Looking for you," said George. "McGonagall wants you, Ron. And you Hermione."
"Why?" said Hermione, looking surprised.
"Dunno . . . she was looking a bit grim, though," said Fred.
"We're supposed to take you down to her office," said George.
"Noel you're here!" George greeted her.
"Hi George."
"Any wolfish tendencies yet? You don't want to bite me do you?" He joked.
"Not yet, full's in a couple of days." She went along.
"We'll meet you back in the common room," Hermione told Harry as she got up to go with Ron — both of them looked very anxious.
"Bring as many of these books as you can, okay?"
"Right," said Harry uneasily.
Noel and Harry watched the 4 leave and Noel gave Harry a sympathetic look as he looked back at the books anxiously.
"We'll figure something out, I'm sure." She tried to reassure him. Harry nodded mutely, feeling sick and worried.
At eight o'clock the library had finally closed.
"If you want we can keep going? We can try my common room's library?" Noel suggested, but Harry shook his head, "No, it's alright. I'm gonna wait for Ron and Hermione to come back."
"Suit yourself. Good night."
"Night."
By the next morning, Noel and Neville had met early in the morning. They decided to go to the task together.
"Moody let me borrow a book about water plants and look at what I found yesterday!" Neville showed her a page in a book called 'Water plants and their properties.'
"Gillyweed?" Noel asked, confused looking at the slimy looking plant on the page.
"Uh yeah it allows the consumer to breathe underwater."
"Neville you're a genius!" Noel exclaimed. She gave Neville a kiss on the cheek and dragged him to the Gryffindor common room.
"C'mon we have to show Harry!"
"He wasn't in the dorm this morning." Neville told her slightly out of breath as they ran up the steps.
Noel stopped abruptly causing him to bump into her. "Where is he? The task starts in an hour!"
"C'mon Nev let's check the library." They hastily made their way towards the library and there they found Harry asleep with his face smashed against the pages of a book.
Noel approached him and poked his face to wake him up. His face twisted but he didn't awaken so Noel continued to poke him.
"Stop poking me." He grumbled.
"Harry James wake up!"
He opened his eyes slowly and jumped back a little as he came face to face with Noel.
"What-"
"No time! You have a little over 30 minutes before the task! Neville found an amazing solution! It's called Gillyweed, it's a water plant that lets humans breathe underwater. It doesn't say how long it lasts but I'm sure it'll be fine. Here, eat this." Noel gave him a bowl of oatmeal that she had snatched from the kitchens and packed everything up for him as he ate quickly.
"Do you have Gillyweed?" He asked Neville now that they were running out.
"It's used in potions! Maybe Snape has some?"
"Oh yes, let's just steal from Snape!" Harry said sarcastically but he stopped having an idea. "I can ask Dobby! Maybe he can get it for me."
"Call him now, you're going to be late."
"Dobby? Who-?"
She was cut off when a house elf appeared in front of them. She noticed that he was wearing different colored socks and a knit tea hat as well as a jumper that looked similar to one Ron had.
"Dobby is here to help Harry Potter sir!" He said excitedly. He pulled out a slimy looking ball that scarcely resembled a handful of rat tails and thrusted it into Harry's hand.
"Dobby, do you know what the second task is?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Harry Potter has to go into the lake and find his Wheezy —"
"Find my what?"
"— and take his Wheezy back from the merpeople!"
"What's a Wheezy?"
"Your Wheezy, sir, your Wheezy — Wheezy who is giving Dobby his sweater!"
Dobby plucked at the shrunken maroon sweater he was now wearing over his shorts.
"What?" Harry gasped. "They've got . . . they've got Ron?"
"The thing Harry Potter will miss most, sir!" squeaked Dobby.
" 'But past an hour —' "
"— 'the prospect's black,' " Harry recited, staring, horror-struck, at the elf. " 'Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.'"
"Harry, you have to go!" Noel said, pushing him out as Neville and Dobby both ran behind them.
"Dobby hears things, sir, he is a house-elf, he goes all over the castle as he lights the fires and mops the floors. Dobby heard Professor McGonagall and Professor Moody in the staffroom, talking about the next task....Dobby cannot let Harry Potter lose his Wheezy!"
That vanished Harry's doubts and finally he started to run faster trying to make it to the docs where the tournament is being held.
"Dobby is supposed to be in the kitchens, sir!" Dobby squealed as they made it to the entrance hall.
"Dobby will be missed — good luck, Harry Potter, sir, good luck!"
"See you later, Dobby!" Harry shouted, and he sprinted along the corridor and down the stairs, three at a time.
The entrance hall contained a few last-minute stragglers, all leaving the Great Hall after breakfast and heading through the double oak doors to watch the second task.
They starred as Harry flashed past, sending Colin and Dennis Creevey flying as he leapt down the stone steps and out onto the bright, chilly grounds.
Noel and Neville kept a steady pace and eventually they made it to where the judges were sitting. They watched with anticipation as Harry chewed on the Gillyweed, eating it as fast as he could.
The crowd laughed obnoxiously when all the other champions dove into the water but Harry was still standing, waist deep.
Eventually he finished chewing and with one last look around he dove in.
Noel hadn't expected that this task would be so boring. Bagman announced what they were doing but because it was underwater there was no one anyone would see what was happening. Noel stood with Neville as they both anxiously waited to see if the plant had worked.
Cedric was the first to return. He had Cho by the arm as they both gasped for air when they broke the surface.
Madam Pomfrey spotted Noel and dragged her along to tend to the champions. Pomfrey gave them Pepperup Potion while Noel wrapped them in towels and blankets. The two huddled in together trying to get each other warm.
Noel and Madam Pomfrey worked together while the other champions surfaced. Krum with Hermione and Fluer who came back alone, Noel tried to call her down as she continued to cry for her sister who she was unable to save.
"Fleur, tu dois te calmer, Dumbledore et Madame Maxine ne laisseront rien lui arriver."
Fleur you need to calm down, Dumbledore and Madam Maxine won't let anything happen to her.
But her reassurances weren't sticking because there was a nervous tremor in her voice. Harry hadn't come back yet. He had exceeded the time limit by almost half an hour.
Noel turned to look at the water as applause arose and cheering grew louder from the stans. Not only was it just Ron and Harry but Gabrielle as well.
Dumbledore and Ludo Bagman stood beaming at Harry and Ron from the bank as they swam nearer, but Percy, who looked very white and somehow much younger than usual, came splashing out to meet them. Meanwhile Madame Maxime was trying to restrain Fleur Delacour, who was quite hysterical, fighting tooth and nail to return to the water.
"Gabrielle! Gabrielle! Is she alive? Is she 'urt?"
"She's fine!" Harry tried to tell her, but he was so exhausted he could hardly talk, let alone shout.
Percy seized Ron and was dragging him back to the bank ("Gerroff, Percy, I'm all right!"); Dumbledore and Bagman were pulling Harry upright; Fleur had broken free of Madame Maxime and was hugging her sister.
"It was ze grindylows...zey attacked me...oh Gabrielle, I thought... I thought..."
"Come here, you," said Madam Pomfrey.
She seized Harry and pulled him over to Hermione and the others, wrapped him so tightly in a blanket that he felt as though he were in a straitjacket, and forced a measure of very hot potion down his throat. Steam gushed out of his ears.
"Harry, well done!" Hermione cried.
Noel knelt down beside him, she was so overwhelmed with emotions that she had no words. She wanted to punch him and hug him all at once because why does his stupid hero complex always get the best of him. He made her crazy with worry only to find out that he was trying to save all of the captures instead of his own.
Noel took two deep breaths and waited for Ron and Hermione to stop talking to him so she could say something, quite literally anything to him.
"Merlin, Harry." She said exasperated. Harry turned to look at her with a sheepish smile he paused when he saw the look on her face.
"I'm okay El."
Noel gave a watery laugh and threw her arms around him, giving him a tight hug. She felt his body tense at the initial contact but relaxed and wrapped his arms around her.
"You scared me shitless." She laughed, hooking her chin on his shoulder. Harry laughed and gave a tired sigh. "I'll try not to next time."
Noel let go and beamed at him. "An impossible task, I'm sure."
Harry rolled his eyes, but just then, Ludo Bagman's magically magnified voice boomed out beside them, making them all jump, and causing the crowd in the stands to go very quiet.
"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 magnificent head.
"Cedric Diggory, who also used the Bubble-Head Charm, was first to return with his hostage, though he returned one minute outside the time limit of an hour." Enormous cheers from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd.
"We therefore award him forty-seven points."
"Viktor Krum used an incomplete form of Transfiguration, which was nevertheless effective, and was second to return with his hostage. We award him forty points."
Karkaroff clapped particularly hard, looking very superior.
"Harry Potter used gillyweed to great effect," Bagman continued. "He returned last, and well outside the time limit of an hour. However, the Merchieftainess informs us that Mr. Potter was first to reach the hostages, and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all hostages to safety, not merely his own."
Ron and Hermione both gave Harry half-exasperated, half- commiserating looks.
"Most of the judges," and here, Bagman gave Karkaroff a very nasty look, "feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However . . . Mr. Potter's score is forty-five points."
Harry's stomach leapt — he was now tying for first place with Cedric. Noel, Ron and Hermione, caught by surprise, stared at Harry, then laughed and started applauding hard with the rest of the crowd.
"There you go, Harry!" Ron shouted over the noise. "You weren't being thick after all — you were showing moral fiber!"
Fleur was clapping very hard too, but Krum didn't look happy at all. He attempted to engage Hermione in conversation again, but she was too busy cheering Harry to listen.
"The third and final task will take place at dusk on the twenty- fourth of June," continued Bagman. "The champions will be notified of what is coming precisely one month beforehand. Thank you all for your support of the champions."
Noel stood up and held out for Harry to grab. "You better go with Pomfrey before she drags you by the ear."
"We'll hang out later okay?" Harry states but it came out more as a question.
Noel smiled and nodded. She joined up with Neville again as they both headed towards the castle alongside everyone else.