*Warning this chapter contains profanity and sexual remarks.
Chapter 15: Please Tell Me You Didn't Say Dragons
The next morning Claire walked into the Great Hall by herself; Harry said he'd meet up with her later. As she sat down at the Gryffindor table, she glanced at the other end of the table to see Ron talking to Dean and Seamus. She was still mad at him, but she was beginning to miss him. Sure he was annoying at times, but still he was the brother she never had. However, she knew that the both of them were too stubborn to say sorry; and she still held some anger towards him. Claire couldn't imagine how Harry felt considering the two of them were as close as she and Hermione were. Speaking of Hermione, she walked into the Great Hall at that very moment with her teeth back to normal; though her front teeth weren't as large as before. Claire asked Hermione about this as she sat next to her. Hermione told her she let Madam Pomfrey shrink them smaller.
"My parents were going to get me braces, but when this incident happened I sort of took advantage of it," Hermione explained.
"Very Slytherin of you, Hermione," Claire teased.
Hermione rolled her eyes and said, "Where's Harry?"
Just then, Harry came into the Great Hall. He spotted them and sat in front of them.
"Hey, Claire. Hey Hermione, your teeth are back to normal." Harry said.
"Yes, I know. So, did I miss anything at dinner last night?" Hermione asked.
Claire and Harry exchanged looks.
"Well..." Harry explained how he was taken out of Potions for an interview with Rita Skeeter and how he discovered Jason Saxton was the son of Rita Skeeter. When he was finished Hermione dropped her jaw in shock.
"Jason Saxton is Rita Skeeter's son?" Hermione said. "But they have different last names. Was he adopted?"
Claire nodded. "Yeah."
"He never told you who his mother was?" Hermione asked.
"No. When we dated he was very vague about his personal life. All he ever told me was that he was adopted, he lived with his adoptive parents in London, his real parents were dead, and his favorite type of music." Claire said.
"You mean you dated for at least five months and that's all you know about him?" Hermione said in disbelief.
"Yep," Claire replied. "Like I said he didn't talk much about his personal life. He usually asked about my life, but I didn't tell him all that much except about growing up with the Weasleys and what type of music I listened to."
"That's kind of suspicious that he didn't say anything about his life, don't you think?" Harry asked.
"Some people just don't like to talk about their personal lives." Claire said.
"Have you talked to Saxton about this? You know, finding out about his mother?" Hermione asked.
Claire shook her head. "I haven't had time since I now have two weeks of detention with Snape."
"What?" Hermione said. "Why?"
"I was trying to go to the hospital wing to see if you were ok and he said if I left I would be joining Harry and Ron in detention. I left and also I said something about his nose being huge and he gave me two weeks of detention." Claire explained.
Hermione sighed. "Really, Claire?"
"What? It's the truth!" Claire said defensively.
"Have either of you talked to Ron about Saxton?" Hermione asked.
"Not like he's been wanting to talk to us," Claire muttered angrily.
Hermione sighed again. "You three need to make up."
"No thanks," Harry said angrily. "I'd prefer to be friends with people who believe me. And besides I didn't start this. He did."
"Oh, honestly! It's obvious the both of you miss him!" Hermione said impatiently. "And I know he misses you both— "
"Miss him?" Harry scoffed. "I don't miss him..."
"And neither do I." Claire huffed.
Hermione sighed defeatedly. "Fine, neither of you miss him! But one day you three will have to talk to one another."
"And today isn't the day," Claire said stubbornly.
"I got a letter this morning from Sirius and Carina." Harry said, changing the topic. "They sent me a list of jinxes and spells that could be useful in the first task. We could go out by the Black Lake after breakfast and practice them."
"Sure." Claire said.
"Yes, that's a good idea. The first task is three weeks away. But first we should stop by the library. There's a few books I saw in there the other day that I think would help with preparing for the tournament." Hermione replied.
"Alright, but I left the letter up in the boys' dormitory so I'll meet you both at the Black Lake." Harry said.
After they finished breakfast, Claire and Hermione headed to the library while Harry went up to Gryffindor tower. When the girls reached the library they searched for the books Hermione talked about. As Hermione led them down the aisles of books, Claire noticed Viktor Krum sitting at a table nearby with a bunch of fangirls gushing over him. Claire tapped Hermione's shoulder and pointed over towards Krum.
Hermione rolled her eyes and groaned. "Oh yes. He's been here practically everyday. It's quite annoying when I'm trying to study and all I hear are his fangirls squealing about how good he looks in his uniform. Honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about! They only like him because he's famous! I bet they wouldn't even look at him twice if he couldn't do that Wonky-Faint thing— "
"Wronski Feint," Claire corrected her. She felt a pang in her chest imagining Ron's reaction of Hermione talking about Wonky-Faints.
"Whatever," Hermione replied, pulling a book from one of the shelves. "The whole purpose of a library is to read not squeal over hot boys. He doesn't even read when he's here. I don't even know why he bothers coming here everyday."
Claire glanced at Krum and noticed that he kept glancing over at Hermione.
Claire smiled slyly. "Hey, 'Mione. I think I know why he's been coming here everyday."
"Why?" Hermione inquired.
"Well, judging by how he keeps looking at you, I think you're the reason." Claire replied.
Hermione blushed lightly. "You're just making it up."
"If you don't believe me, then look at him right now." Claire said.
Hermione sighed defeatedly and looked over at Krum to see him looking at her. Their eyes connected for a few moments and Krum sent her a genuine smile. Hermione sent a small smile to him in return before looking away with pink cheeks.
"You were saying?" Claire said.
Hermione muttered, "Shut up."
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"What took you two so long?" Harry questioned as Hermione and Claire met up with him near the Black Lake.
"Hermione had an admirer in the library," Claire said.
Harry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, while Hermione's face turned pink.
"Let's have a look at the letter Carina and Sirius sent you, shall we?" Hermione said, taking the letter from him to turn the attention away from her pink cheeks.
Hermione read over the letter. "Hmmm, Anteoculatia, not sure how helpful that one will be. Ascendio could be useful. Protego is handy for needing a shield. Augamenti is a difficult sixth year spell. Some of these are extremely difficult."
"I also found a couple of old school books in my trunk that could help." Harry said, handing Hermione several books.
"Maybe we should start with the ones that would be useful for the task that we've already learned the past four years. Just as review, then you could try the harder ones." Claire said.
"Good idea," Harry agreed.
"Alright," Hermione began handing the stack of books to Claire. "Claire since your wand's broken, I'll help Harry when he uses defense spells."
"What am I supposed to do?" Claire questioned.
"You could read off the spells. Start with The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1." Hermione instructed. "Harry stand several feet in front of me. What's the first spell, Claire?"
"Wingardium Leviosa. Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Claire said.
Hermione rolled her eyes recalling their first year when she corrected Ron's pronunciation of the spell and ended up battling a troll in the girls' bathroom.
"Alright, Harry, we'll need something for you to levitate." Hermione said. "Claire hand me one of those books."
Claire handed her one of the books she wasn't using. Hermione laid the book flat on the ground.
"Ok, go ahead, Harry." Hermione told him.
Harry made a swish and flick motion with his wrist and said, "Wingardium Leviosa."
The book floated three feet above the ground. Harry then said the counter charm causing the book to float back down to the ground.
"Great job. Next one, Claire." Hermione said.
"One done, seven hundred more to go," Claire muttered, before reciting the next spell.
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Claire, Harry, and Hermione spent five hours by the Black Lake practicing spells. They managed to practice all the ones they already knew that would be helpful for the tournament and started the list Sirius and Carina had sent. It was dinnertime when the three friends walked back to the Great Hall. They just entered the entrance hall when Claire heard her father calling her name.
"Claire!" The Doctor spotted his daughter with her two friends. "Do you have a moment?"
Claire motioned for Harry and Hermione to go along.
"Yeah, what is it, dad?" Claire asked, when Harry and Hermione left.
"I spoke to Professor Sprouts today and she said there were potions used on the plant." The Doctor said.
"Yeah, I know. The Dementis Effeminatus potion. That's what made the Snargaluffs go haywire." Claire replied.
"There was evidence of another potion that was used as well." The Doctor said.
Claire furrowed her eyebrows. "Another potion? What was it?"
"Mutavi Ferrum Occultus. Professor Sprout said it's barely ever used in potions. They don't even teach it here because of that reason. Also because it's an extremely difficult draught if attempted." The Doctor said.
"What does it do?" Claire asked.
"It changes the molecular make-up of an organism to where the molecules are similar to those of a metal, but it still retains the appearance of the organism. The potion's color blends in with the object and can only be detected if the suns' rays hit it because it gives the plant a glossy shine." The Doctor explained. "That potion is also the reason why the Sonic Screwdriver worked on the plant."
Claire processed what her father had told her before speaking. "But why would someone use those potions on the Snargaluff plants?"
"I'm not entirely sure. It could've been a prank. Though based upon the difficulty of the potion I don't think it was used as a prank." The Doctor said. "Professor Sprout doesn't seem too worried about catching the culprit."
"Probably because she's glad the plants aren't going crazy anymore and trying to murder people." Claire muttered.
"Were you and Hermione helping Harry prepare for the tournament?" The Doctor asked.
Claire nodded. "Yeah, mom and Sirius sent us a list of spells and we checked out a stack of books from the library."
"How's Harry holding up?" The Doctor asked.
"Seems fine at the moment," Claire said. "Though I think as the task gets nearer he'll get more worried."
"Haven't seen that ginger boy hanging around you three lately." The Doctor said.
"Harry and I aren't on speaking terms with Ronald at the moment," Claire replied. "He thinks Harry put his name in the cup. He's also jealous of Harry getting all the attention."
"You should try talking to him to see if you can talk it out," The Doctor said. "That'd be a silly thing to lose a friendship over."
"Ron started it so he should be the one to fix it. I'm not talking until Ron talks first and apologizes to Harry." Claire said stubbornly.
"Alright, but from what Professor Snape told me the three of you will be seeing each other in detention. By the way, should I be scolding you for getting detention?" The Doctor questioned.
"Considering he gave me detention for wanting to check on Hermione after she was hit with a jinx, no. Also, I said he had a big nose." Claire said.
The Doctor laughed. "Well, if that's the reason you got detention then it's alright. Your mother would've done the same thing. And in all honesty, Snape really does have a large nose."
Claire laughed with her father.
"Well, I'm starving. Let's go eat." The Doctor said.
That evening, Claire told Hermione and Harry about the two potions used on the Snargaluffs.
"That's odd." Hermione said as Claire finished.
"I know and the thing I can't figure out is why someone would do it." Claire replied.
"Maybe your father was right about it being a prank. It could've been one of Fred and George's prank." Harry said.
Claire shook her head. "No, they wouldn't waste time tampering with plants. They'd much rather prank the Slytherins or Snape or even Filch. And besides the potions that were used were really advanced and Fred and George aren't that good at potions."
"Wait a second," Hermione said suddenly. "Your father said the Mutavi Ferrum Occultus potion changed the molecular structure of the Snargaluffs and that's what allowed the Sonic Screwdriver to work on the plants."
"Yeah, I did. Where are you going with this, Hermione?" Claire questioned.
"Well, doesn't it seem strange?" Hermione said.
"I think we've established that so far," Claire replied.
"Think about it for a minute," Hermione began. "Someone made those plants go crazy and changed their molecular structure to resemble that of a metal. Now this person must've known that certain spells such as Stupefy or the Full-Body Bind Curse don't work on inanimate objects, which since the plant's molecules were changed to that of a metal's those spells had no effect on the plant. So, that would make our wands useless against the plant."
Claire had no clue where Hermione was going with this, but motioned for her to continue.
"Meaning the Sonic Screwdriver would've been the only thing to stop the plant; unless someone was daring enough to tackle the plant with no weapons, but that wouldn't really work now that I think about it considering it'd be like trying to stop a moving car with your bare hands. Anyways, my point is the culprit must've known about your Sonic Screwdriver." Hermione finished.
"That's a bit farfetched, Hermione." Harry said.
"Yeah, I agree with Harry." Claire agreed. "Besides, if the culprit did know about it that still doesn't explain why they'd go through all the trouble of turning the Snargaluffs' molecules into metal."
"Maybe they were trying to harm someone." Harry said.
"That's possible." Hermione said.
"But then who was the culprit trying to harm?" Claire questioned.
"Professor Sprout," Harry suggested.
"Or maybe one of her students..." Hermione trailed off.
There was a silence before Claire spoke.
"You think it might've been whoever put Harry's name in the cup?"
"Wouldn't put it above them," Harry muttered.
The clock in the common room chimed as the big hand hit the eleven. The three friends said goodnight to one another before heading to their dormitories for the night.
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Harry's nerves about the first task seemed to grow as it drew nearer; though some of the nerves dissipated during his preparations for the task. He was thankful Claire and Hermione helped him and that the other houses seemed to treat him a lot better; he was sure it had something to do with Claire's speech. However, things changed the next week. It was Monday morning when Rita Skeeter's article about the Triwizard Tournament was released. The daily owl post had been delivered and a copy of the Daily Prophet found its way into each of the students' hands.
"Can't wait to see what lies Skeeter came up with this time," Claire grumbled.
Hermione began reading it out loud to Claire and Harry. "'Harry Potter aged 12, one of the top students in his year, is a suspect entrant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. His eyes swimming with the ghosts of his past as he told me what his parents would think if they were still alive. I suppose I get my strength from my parents. Harry says. I know they'd be very proud of me if they could see me now. Yes, sometimes at night I still cry about them, I'm not ashamed to admit it. I know nothing will hurt me during the tournament, because they're watching over me.'"
"I never said that!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione stopped reading out loud. She looked at the newspaper in shock.
"What did she say about me now?" Harry inquired.
"It's not just about you, Harry." Hermione said.
"Who else is she talking about?" Claire asked.
"You and me." Hermione said.
"What? Let me see that." Claire snatched the newspaper from Hermione and began reading it allowed. "'Harry has at last found love at Hogwarts. His close friend, Colin Creevey, says that Harry is rarely seen out of company of Claire Smith, a beautiful Half-Breed, daughter of a Pureblood, Carina Smith (nee Black) and John Smith (The Doctor) an alien who invented the Time-Turner, as well as the niece of the recently declared innocent Sirius Black. Harry has also been seen with one Hermione Granger, a stunningly pretty Muggle-born who, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school. Recently, Claire and Harry have been caught sleeping together (see page seven for photo of the two caught in the act). It also seems that Harry is not the only boy Claire hangs around. My resources report she has been seen with Jeremy Anwir; an older boy, who's from Durmstrang Institute. I've yet to discover if she has slept with him, but considering her mother's history, I would not think of it below her. One can only hope these are just rumors and Claire Smith has not attempted sexual relations with Harry Potter or Jeremy Anwir for I'm sure the world isn't ready for another Black heir.'"
Hermione looked sympathetically at Harry and Claire who's face was burning red from anger and embarrassment.
"Harry and I never did that! We're not even together. And Jeremy and I are friends. How can she—ugh!" Claire exclaimed. "What photo is this woman talking about anyway?"
Hermione took the newspaper and flipped to the page. The photo was of her and Harry on the couch wrapped in each other's arms.
"Merlin," Claire groaned. "This photo was taken way out of context. This woman's basically implying I'm a—a—"
"Tart." Hermione offered.
Claire laid her head on the table.
"I'm sorry she brought you into this, Claire." Harry said.
"It's not your fault, Harry." Claire replied. "It's this stupid woman's fault."
"I bet she's saying those things about you because of your mom." Hermione said. "Remember, your mom said she and Skeeter were enemies back in school?"
"You think being an adult she wouldn't stoop so low. I just hope this whole article blows over and no one takes it seriously—oh, shit." Claire cursed. "I just thought of something."
"What?" Harry asked.
"I know my mom, dad, and Sirius won't believe the article, but that doesn't mean Fred and George won't..." Claire said.
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The next weeks were some of the worst weeks for Harry. He served Snape's detention with Claire and Ron. Ron had still yet to speak to either him or Claire; he hadn't even tried to talk to them about Rita Skeeter's article. It was though Ron thought them to be invisible. But Ron not talking to him wasn't the worst of his problems. Though he had yet to be confronted by Fred and George about Rita Skeeter's article, Harry was taunted by other people—Slytherins, mainly—quoting the article at him as he passed and making sneering comments.
"Since when have you been one of the top students of your class, Potter? Or is this a school you and Longbottom have set up together?"
"Hey, Potter! What'd you have to do to get Smith in bed? Did you make her feel sorry for you about your dead parents?"
"Want a hanky, Potter, in case you start crying in Transfiguration?"
"Hey—Harry!"
"Yeah, that's right!" Harry found himself shouting as he wheeled around in the corridor, having had just about enough. "I've just been crying my eyes out over my dead mum, and I'm just off to do a bit more—"
"No—it was just—you dropped your quill."
It was Cho. Harry felt the color rising in his face.
"Oh—right—sorry," he muttered, taking the quill back.
"Er...good luck at the first task on Tuesday," she said. "I really hope you do well."
Which left Harry feeling extremely stupid.
Hermione and Claire were't exempted from taunts from their peers. Though Hermione seemed to keep a straight face, Claire only got angrier as she had the worst of the sneers directed towards her. Harry and Hermione were surprised that she hadn't hexed the taunters yet.
"Stunningly pretty? Her?" Pansy Parkinson had shrieked when she spotted Hermione. "Ha! I've seen dirt pretty than her!"
Hermione held her head high and said in a dignified voice to Claire and Harry, "Just ignore it."
But it seemed Claire had finally broke.
"You sure you weren't just looking at your own reflection, Parkinson!" Claire retorted.
Pansy sneered. "Don't talk to me, slut."
"I've been called worst by better." Claire scoffed.
"At least I'm not a whore." Pansy said.
"Takes one to know one, Parkinson." Claire remarked. "Talk to me when you come up with better insults."
Then Claire walked away with Hermione and Harry.
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"I fucking hate Rita Skeeter." Claire said through gritted teeth as the three of them headed to the Gryffindor tower.
"Join the club." Harry grumbled as they passed several older male Slytherins who were laughing at them.
"Hey, Potter! Are you using Smith this weekend? If not, could I have a go?" A boy with blonde hair and brown eyes said.
Claire was about to turn around and hex the boy, but Harry had already beaten her to it. He had pulled out his wand and shouted, "Stupefy!"
The boy was thrown across the floor with the other Slytherins rushing over to him to see if he was alright.
"Protective over your woman, aren't you, Potter?" The boy sneered.
Harry was held back by Hermione and Claire.
"Don't, Harry," Claire said to him, while glaring at the boy. "Forget about him. He's an ass."
"But you want this ass, don't you, slut?" The boy shouted.
"Asinus!" A voice shouted.
A brown light engulfed the Slytherin boy's head for a second before it disappeared and the boy's head had changed into a donkey's. Claire, Harry, and Hermione held back laughter as the boy tried to talk, but all that came out were "he-ha's". The boy and his Slytherin friends scampered away from them, no doubt taking a detour to see Madam Pomfrey. The three friends burst out laughing.
"Ok, which one of you fired that spell? That was hilarious!" Claire said smiling.
"You mean you didn't do that?" Harry asked.
"No. My wand's broken remember. If I even try to use it, then I'll blow something up." Claire said.
"I did it." A voice said.
They turned around to see Jason. Claire felt the smile disappear from her face. Harry and Hermione shared a look before looking at Claire.
"Can I talk to you?" Jason asked.
"Oh, so now you want to talk to me?" Claire said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Yes." Jason said simply.
Claire sighed and told Harry and Hermione to go on without her.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
Claire nodded. "Yes, I can take care of myself."
"We'll just be around the corner. Yell, if you need us." Harry said.
Claire gave him a small smile. "Thanks. Also, thanks for sticking up for me with that boy, Harry."
"Had to repay you somehow for that speech you gave the other day." Harry said.
Jason cleared his throat. Claire noticed Harry looked like he wanted to rip off Jason's head.
"Any day now would be great." Jason said.
"I mean it, Claire. Yell if you need us. I won't hesitate to hex him." Harry said before he left with Hermione.
Claire and Jason stood in silence looking into one another's eyes. Claire was growing uncomfortable with the silence.
"I'm sorry," Jason said suddenly. "For ignoring you and for what my mom wrote about you. If I knew she was going to write those things about you I would've stopped her."
"Little late for that now, don't you think?" Claire retorted.
"I forgot how stubborn you were." Jason muttered.
"Look, Jason, say whatever it is you want to say so I can leav—" Claire said.
"I love you." Jason cut her off.
Claire froze, staring at him dumbfounded. She shook her head. "No, no. You don't get to say that."
"Claire, listen—"
"No, fuck you!" Claire shouted. "You think you can just say that after shutting me out for months without a reason as to why! You thought you could just appear out of the blue and turn some guy's head into a donkey's because they called me a slut! No thanks to your mother's article, mind you. You thought by doing that you'd win me back only to desert me again without an explanation! What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"Claire, I had to stop seeing you. It was for your own safety." Jason explained.
"My own safety? So what, now I can't take care of myself? What the hell is putting my safety at risk?" Claire questioned.
"I can't tell you everything, but—"
"How convenient," Claire scoffed. "I'm starting to think you're lying."
"Listen to me for a fucking second, would you?!" Jason shouted in anger.
Claire bit her lip to keep from speaking.
"Please, just listen." Jason said in a calmer, almost pleading tone.
Claire could see the desperation in eyes and decided to let him speak.
"I know I've been a complete arse for not telling you why I stopped talking to you," Jason began.
"You could say that again," Claire muttered.
"I wish I could tell you the full reason, believe me, I really do, but I can't. You just have to trust me and I know that'll be hard for you, but just try to, please." Jason pleaded. "I stopped seeing you to keep you safe. Some things happened and this was the only option. I shouldn't even be talking to you now, but I had to. I care about you, Claire, a lot."
Claire stared at him. She could tell he wasn't lying, but it still didn't make her any less angry with him.
"If you care so much about me, what can't you tell me the whole reason why you left?" Claire questioned.
"I told you, I just can't." Jason said.
"Then what was the point in talking to me if you're not explaining the complete story? I think I deserve at least that."
"You do deserve a full explanation, but I can't tell you. And I didn't just want to talk about us, Claire. I wanted to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
"Stay away from Jeremy. He's bad news."
"How would you know?"
"For Merlin's sake, I went to school with him! That's how I know. He was one of the biggest jerks there!"
"Not counting you, I assume."
"Merlin, would you listen to me, Claire?"
"I am listening, Jason. And you have no right to tell me who I should stay away from! I can be around whoever the hell I want! You don't own me!"
"I do when the person might be trying to hurt you!"
"I'm done talking to you." Claire started walking away from him, seething with anger. Jason grasped her arm, stopping her. She looked into her eyes.
"Fine." he said simply. "If you want to hang around him, suit yourself. Just be careful."
Claire jerked her arm from his grip and glared at him, "You know, I'm starting to wish you never talked to me."
Claire walked down the hall. What gave him the right to show up and play the knight and shining armor for a second? What gave him the right to say he loved her when he was the one who stopped talking to her? Now he was telling her who she should be around. He had no right! He was probably just jealous that she hung around Jeremy instead of him. Well, if he hadn't of screwed things up with us, then it wouldn't be this way, now would it? She thought to herself. She turned a corner to see Hermione and Harry. Hermione looked at her concerned.
"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.
"No." Claire answered truthfully.
Harry, surprisingly, slung his arm around her shoulders. A strange feeling of comfort rushed over her at the action.
"It was Saxton's lost when he decided not to speak to you. Don't let him get you down, Claire. Anyone would be lucky to have you." Harry said, blushing slightly, though it was unnoticed to Claire.
She smiled softly at him in appreciation. "Thanks, Harry."
Claire failed to see Hermione smirking at the two of them as they headed back to Gryffindor tower; Harry's arm still slung around her shoulders.
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Though comments about Skeeter's article were made towards Claire, Harry, and Hermione, they still prepared for the task. It seemed time was speeding up as the task drew nearer and nearer. Claire and Hermione could see the stress on Harry's face as he practiced or was taunted about the article in the halls. The three of them were thrilled when the next Hogsmeade date was posted. Claire and Hermione didn't have to convince Harry all that much when they said Hogsmeade was a well needed break. The three of them met in the Gryffindor common room the Saturday before the first task for Hogsmeade. Harry had brought along his invisibility cloak.
"You're not going with Ron?" Harry asked Hermione.
"Oh...well..." Hermione went slightly pink. "I thought we might meet up with him in the Three Broomsticks..."
"No," Harry and Claire said flatly.
"Oh Claire, Harry, this is so stupid—"
"We're not meeting Ron," Claire said. Harry nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, if you want to see him you can, but we're not and I'm wearing my Invisibility Cloak." Harry said.
"Oh all right then..." Hermione snapped, "but I hate talking to you in that cloak, I never know if I'm looking at you or not."
Harry pulled the cloak over his body and the three of them set out to Hogsmeade. Harry felt wonderfully free under the cloak; he watched other students walking past them as they entered the village, most of them sporting Support Cedric Diggory! badges, but no horrible remarks came his way for a change, and nobody was quoting that stupid article. However, he did see some people glancing and laughing at Claire. He had a mind to hex them and Claire had a feeling about this and whispered, "Don't worry, Harry. Doesn't bother me anymore."
They soon entered Honeydukes. Claire had bought several packages of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Jelly Beans and Chocolate Frogs when she remembered something.
"Crap! I almost forgot." She said.
"What did you forget?" Hermione asked.
"I have to stop by the wand shop here," Claire held up her spellotaped wand. "I don't think I can wait till the next Hogsmeade visit. I can barely even do the spells we're learning without it sparking."
"We'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks, then?" Harry said.
Claire nodded. "Yep. Order me a butter beer too, please. I'll pay you back when I get there. See you two later."
Claire departed from Honeydukes with a bag full of candy. She walked to the wand shop. The front of the building held the name Ollivanders Wand Shop. It was a chain from the one in Diagon Alley. Claire opened the door to the shop. The shop wasn't too different from the one in Diagon Alley. There were thousands upon thousands of cubbyholes each containing a wand on the walls. She spotted a man who appeared to be younger than Ollivander, perhaps earlier 50s. His hair was brown with strands of gray; though there were more gray than brown strands. He was of average height and he had the same pale silver eyes as Ollivander. She was sure he was related to Ollivander somehow. The man looked up.
"Hello, there," The man said. "Derek Ollivander. How can I help you?"
"Hello, well, you see my wand broke several weeks ago," Claire handed him her wand.
The man looked at the wand. "I see. You've certainly done some damage. What did you do with it?"
"It was a crazed Snargaluff in Herbology." Claire said.
He chuckled. "That would've done it."
Derek looked at the wand for a few minutes before looking at Claire.
"Well, I have some good news." he said. "You won't be needing a new wand. Your wand can be fixed easily. If you'll just wait here for a few minutes it'll be fixed."
"Sure, that's fine." Claire replied.
Derek took her wand and disappeared to the back of the shop, away from Claire's sight. Claire walked around the shop while she waited. Derek returned ten minutes later with her wand. Her wand was no longer held together with spellotape. It looked brand new.
"There you go. Good as new." Derek said. "That'll be one galleon."
"Thank you so much," Claire thanked him handing him the correct change.
"It was no problem. Have a good day." Derek said.
"You too." Claire headed to the Three Broomsticks.
As she entered the Three Broomsticks, she spotted Hermione at a table on the other side of the room. She also noticed that Hagrid and Moody seemed to be leaving from it. She suspected Harry was sitting across from Hermione with his Invisibility cloak on. Claire walked over to them. Hermione saw her and said as she got nearer, "Did you get a new wand?"
"Nope, the man was able to fix it. I thought I'd have to pay for a new one." Claire said.
"That's good. Harry scoot over so Claire can sit." Hermione said to the empty spot across from her which was occupied by Harry in his Invisibility cloak.
"Why can't she sit next to you?" came Harry's voice.
"Because people keep looking over at me like I'm crazy talking to thin air." Hermione said.
"Well, in a way you are talking to thin air," Claire replied sitting down when Harry told her to. "Anyway, why were Hagrid and Professor Moody over here?"
"Hagrid wants me to meet him at his cabin tonight at midnight." Harry said.
"Why?" Claire asked.
"Don't know. I guess I'll find out when I go." Harry replied.
"I don't think it'd be a good idea to go, Harry." Hermione said. "It'll be after curfew."
"Like he hasn't done that before," Claire said sarcastically.
"And it might make you late for Sirius." Hermione replied.
"I was planning on talking to Sirius to." Claire said. "I'll talk to him until Harry gets back."
"See, Hermione? It'll be fine." Harry replied.
"Oh, alright," Hermione said. "Just don't get caught. Now, I'm going to see if I can get some of the villagers involved with S.P.E.W."
"Good luck with that," Claire muttered as Hermione left.
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Later that evening, Claire was alone in the common room sitting on the couch. Harry had left about an hour ago to see Hagrid and Hermione had gone to bed. Claire glanced at the clock above the mantel. It was almost one in the morning. Suddenly, Sirius' head appeared in the flames of the fire.
"Hey Uncle Sirius. I was wondering how you were going to show up without leaving the house." Claire greeted him. "How's house arrest been treating you?"
"It's boring!" Sirius complained. "Your mum has tried to force me to read, for fun! Can you believe that? Who in their right mind reads for fun?!"
Claire rolled her eyes. "Well, at least you only have until June. Then you're free."
"Wish it'd come faster," Sirius muttered. "Anyway, where's Harry?"
Claire explained that he'd gone done to Hagrid's hut because Hagrid told him to earlier.
Sirius nodded. "How's Harry doing?"
"Well, it's obvious he's stressed about this whole tournament thing, though he won't fully admit it. Things have gotten worse since Skeeter published her latest article." Claire said.
"Ah, yes, Carina and I have been keeping up with the Daily Prophet. I believe I told you no boys, didn't I? And what's this about you and Harry sleeping together?" Sirius questioned.
Claire groaned. "You don't actually believe that article, do you?"
"I don't know, the picture of you two together looked pretty convincing." Sirius said skeptically.
"The picture was taken out of context." Claire explained. "Harry and I fell asleep on the couch the night he got in a fight with Ron. We were talking and we fell asleep. Nothing else happened I swear."
Sirius stared at her for a second. "Ok, fine, but don't let it happen again."
"I promise." Claire said. "So, Remus is staying with you and mum now?"
Sirius nodded. "Yeah, they'd say hello, but yesterday was a full moon and your mum is taking care of him. They send their hellos though."
"Oh, that's right. I forgot yesterday was a full moon. Is he alright?" Claire asked.
"Yep, nothing he hasn't gone through before." Sirius said.
Suddenly, the portrait to the common room opened and Harry came through with his Invisibility cloak in his hands looking extremely nervous.
"Hey Harry, Sirius is here," Claire said to him.
Harry turned to her. "The first task it's dragons."
Claire looked at him in shock. "Please tell me you didn't say dragons."
But the look on his face said it all. Dragons were the first task. So that was why Hagrid told him to meet him at his hut.
"So I guess it'd be kind of useless asking how you are then," Sirius said to Harry.
Claire sent a glare at Sirius before turning her attention to Harry. "Don't worry, Harry. We still have time before the task. There's bound to be some spell to help defeat dragons."
"Claire's right, Harry," Sirius agreed. "Dragons we can deal with, but first since you're here now, I have some other things to talk to you about. Karkaroff, the Durmstrang Headmaster, he was a Death Eater."
"You mean those things that we're at the World Cup?" Harry asked.
Sirius nodded. "Yes. Anyway, Karkaroff, he was caught, he was in Azkaban with me, but he got released. I'd bet everything that's why Dumbledore wanted an Auror at Hogwarts this year—to keep an eye on him. Moody caught Karkaroff. Put him into Azkaban in the first place."
"So, that's why Karkaroff looked so scared of Moody when the schools arrived." Claire said.
"Why did they release Karkaroff?" Harry asked.
"He did a deal with the Ministry of Magic," Sirius said bitterly. "He said he'd seen the error of his ways, and then he named names...he put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place...He's not very popular there, I can tell you. And since he got out, from what I can tell, he's been teaching the Dark Arts to every student who passes through that school of his. So watch out for the Durmstrang champion as well."
"Okay," Harry said slowly. "But...are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he's a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing."
"We know he's a good actor," Sirius said, "because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn't he? Now, I've been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry—"
"—you and the rest of the world," Harry said bitterly.
"—and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman's article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. Yes, I know she says it was another false alarm," Sirius said hastily, seeing Harry about to speak, "but I don't think so. Especially since Claire told Carina and I about her dreams. I think Voldemort's spy from Claire's dreams tried to stop Moody from getting to Hogwarts. I think they knew their job would be a lot more difficult with him around. And no one's getting to look into it too closely; Mad-Eye's heard intruders a bit too often. But that doesn't mean he can't still spot the real thing. Moody was the best Auror the Ministry ever had."
"So...what are you saying?" Harry said slowly. "Karakaroff's the spy from Claire's dream who's trying to kill me? But—why?"
Sirius hesitated.
"Strange things have been happening lately," he said slowly. "First with Claire's dreams showing Voldemort talking about coming back to power. Then the Death Eaters becoming more active than usual lately. Especially at the Quidditch World Cup where one of them set off the Dark Mark...and then—remember that Ministry of Magic witch who went missing?"
"Bertha Jorkins?" Harry said.
"Exactly...she disappeared in Albania, and that's definitely where Voldemort was rumored to be last...and she would have known the Triwizard Tournament was coming up, wouldn't she?"
"Yeah, but...it's not very likely she'd have walked straight into Voldemort, is it?" Harry said.
"Listen, I knew Bertha Jorkins," Sirius said grimly. "She was at Hogwarts when I was, a few years above your dad, Carina, and me. And she was an idiot. Very nosy, but no brains at all. It's not a good combination, Harry. I'd say she'd be very easy to lure into a trap."
"So...so Voldemort could have found out about the tournament from her?" Harry said. "Is that what you mean? You think Karkaroff might be here on his orders?"
"I don't know," Sirius said slowly. "I just don't know...Karkaroff doesn't strike me as the type who'd go back to Voldemort unless he knew Voldemort was powerful enough to protect him. But whoever put your name in that goblet, whether it was Karkaroff or Voldemort's spy, did it for a reason, and I can't help thinking the tournament would be a very good way to attack you and make it look like an accident."
"Looks like a really good plan from where I'm standing," Harry said, grinning bleakly. "They'll just have to stand back and let the dragons do their stuff."
"Right—these dragons," Sirius said, speaking very quickly now. "There's a way, Harry. Don't be tempted to try a Stunning Spell—the dragons are strong and too powerfully magical to be knocked out by a single Stunner, you need about half a dozen wizards at a time to overcome a dragon—"
"Yeah, I know, I just saw," Harry said.
"But you can do it alone," Sirius said. "There is a way, and a simple spell's all you need. Just—damn, it was on the tip of my tongue. What was the name of the spell again—?"
Sirius stopped speaking when Claire and Harry began to hear footsteps coming down the spiral staircase behind them. Claire and Harry weren't sure if it was a bright idea for anyone else to see Sirius' head in the fireplace; even though he was innocent and on house arrest. They didn't need people to report that they saw him and risk giving him more time on house arrest.
"Just send a letter. Go!" Harry hissed.
Sirius disappeared with a pop! Claire and Harry turned their attention to the spiral staircase. Who decided to go for a stroll at one o'clock in the morning and stopped Sirius from telling Harry how to get past a dragon?
It was Ron. Dressed in his maroon paisley pajamas, Ron stopped dead facing Harry and Claire across the room, and looked around.
"Who were you two talking to?" he said.
"What's that got to do with you?" Harry snarled. "What are you doing down here at this time of night?"
"I just wondered where you—" Ron broke off, shrugging. "Nothing. I'm going back to bed."
"Just thought you'd come nosing around, did you?" Harry shouted. He knew that Ron had no idea what he'd walked in on, knew he hadn't done it on purpose, but he didn't care—at this moment he hated everything about Ron.
"Sorry about that," Ron said, his face reddening in anger. "Should've realized you didn't want to be disturbed. I'll let you get on with practicing for your next interview in peace."
Harry seized one of the POTTER REALLY STINKS badges that Colin Creevey had been trying to fix off the table and chucked it, as hard as he could, across the room. It hit Ron on the forehead and bounced off.
"There you go," Harry said. "Something for you to wear on Tuesday. You might even have a scar now, if you're lucky...That's what you want, isn't it?"
Claire watched as Harry strode across the room toward the stairs; she half expected Ron to stop him, but Ron just stood there in his too-small pajamas as Harry stormed upstairs to the boys' dormitory. Claire turned to head up to the girls' dormitory, but stopped midway and looked at Ron. He had taken a seat on the couch and was holding the badge Harry had thrown at him. She saw him throwing it into the fire. She contemplated on whether to talk to him. Claire walked over to him and sat on the couch.
"You know, you have the worst timing, right?" Claire teased him, breaking the silence.
Ron just stared at the fire ignoring her.
"You going to apologize to Harry, yet?" Claire asked. "Harry's your best friend and right now he needs your support."
Ron remained quiet.
"We were talking to Sirius about what spell to use for the first task before you showed up. Harry found out from Hagrid that it's dragons." Claire said.
"What?" Ron said in disbelief.
"Yep, Harry's going to battle fire-breathing dragons Tuesday." Claire replied.
Ron was silent for a moment. "I was stupid, wasn't I?"
"Could you be a bit more clear?" Claire asked.
"Believing Harry put his name in the cup," Ron explained.
"Yes, yes you were," Claire nodded her head.
"Sorry for yelling at you," Ron apologized.
"Not the first time we've fought." Claire said. "I guess I'm sorry too for yelling at you. But you still need to apologize to Harry."
"What if he doesn't want to forgive me? Wouldn't blame him really, I was sort of out of line," Ron said.
"It doesn't hurt to try, Ron," Claire replied. "I mean you apologized to me and I forgave you."
"I guess you're right," Ron muttered.
"Always am," Claire said.
A silence fell upon them for a second.
"So, are you going to explain Skeeter's article to me?" Ron questioned.
"There's nothing to explain. She wrote an article full of lies." Claire said.
"What about the picture of you and Harry together?" Ron replied.
"It was taken out of context. Now, I'm going to bed." Claire said. "Night Ron."
"Night Claire." Ron replied.
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What are your thoughts on this chapter? Good? Bad? Eh? Leave a comment on your opinion of the chapter please! If you have any questions about the characters or things that haven't been explained send me a PM or leave it in the comment section. I'll try to answer as much as I can in the books, but if not then I'll probably answer them in the author's note in the last chapter of this book. Also, if you haven't already, please go and vote for who you think Claire should go to the ball with; Jeremy is an option now. I already know who she's going to the ball with but I'm curious to hear (see?) your opinion. Thank you soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much for all of the support, reviews, and favorites.