I TOTALLY REMEMBERED ALL BY MYSELF TO POST AND DEFINITELY WAS NOT REMINDED BY FIRE_GIRL87 LITERALLY TWO SECONDS AGO. NOPE. OK WELL ENJOY
Leo stood in a corner as Harry, Fleur, Viktor, and Cedric got their wands checked by some guy named Ollivander. Everyone's wand was okay, so they moved on to pictures. Dumbledore allowed Rita Skeeter to come back in for the pictures, though she seemed to be more focused on glaring at Leo than positioning the champions for the paper.
After they had finished, Dumbledore allowed Harry and Leo to go back to the common room, since classes were about to end. A few minutes after they got back, Hermione and Calypso came in. Ron came in a few minutes later, but went right past them, upstairs. The friends hung out for a while, Hermione and Harry doing their homework, and then headed down to dinner. They made sure to go down early so that Leo and Calypso could talk to Dumbledore, but when they walked in, he wasn't there. They stood in the doorway, looking around for a while, then decided to go ahead and sit down. Right as they started walking, though, they heard Dumbledore's voice outside. Leo and Calypso quickly turned around and left the Hall, following the sound of his voice.
"-can't allow you to stay on the grounds, Ms. Skeeter," they heard him say. "These kind of things are not allowed!"
"Dumbledore, that is exactly what the boy told me!" Rita Skeeter said.
"Harry did not say that, and you know it, Rita!" They heard a ruffling of papers. Leo and Calypso looked around the corner to see the two. Dumbledore was closing a newspaper and handing it to Rita Skeeter. "I must ask you to leave," he said sternly. "Tonight." Rita frowned and snatched the paper. She huffed, and walked away quickly. Dumbledore turned and saw Leo and Calypso before they could duck back around the corner. "Oh, hello there!" He waved and walked over. "Did you two need to speak with me?" They nodded.
"If you don't mind, of course," said Calypso. Dumbledore chuckled.
"Meet me in my office any time after dinner. Now, go enjoy you dinner!" Leo and Calypso thanked him and walked back into the Great Hall.
"What do you think Rita Skeeter wrote about Harry?" Calypso asked Leo. He shook his head.
"I don't know, but whatever it was, I'm sure we'll find out soon."
The sat with Harry and Hermione, eating as quickly as possible so they could meet Dumbledore quickly. They told Harry and Hermione all about the conversation they had heard between Rita Skeeter and Dumbledore. Harry groaned.
"Oh, no. I don't even want to know what she wrote." Just then Draco Malfoy called from the Slytherin table.
"So, Potter, is it true that you still cry about your parents?" He and his friends laughed. Harry groaned again.
"My life is over," he said. Hermione patted his hand.
"You don't know that's in the article. Malfoy could just be making that up." Harry shook his head.
"I doubt it. Look, he's holding the Daily Prophet." Sure enough, Draco was looking at the newspaper, laughing, and showing it every once in a while to his buddies. Harry and the others ignored everyone for the rest of dinner. The group finished quickly and headed upstairs. Leo and Calypso grabbed the list of needed parts and left Harry and Hermione to their homework. They hurried back downstairs and peaked into the Great Hall. Dumbledore wasn't there anymore, so they headed to his office. They turned a corner to find Dumbledore heading for his office as well.
"Professor!" Leo called. Dumbledore turned and smiled.
"You two are in a hurry aren't you?" He smiled. "I don't blame you. If my dragon was in complete pieces, I would want to put him back together as soon as possible." When Leo and Calypso looked at him strange he quickly added "I saw the list of parts you're holding." They chuckled. "Shall we?" Dumbledore gestured toward the staircase leading to his office at the end of the hall. The three walked up the stairs and entered Dumbledore's office. Leo was fascinated by it. There were gizmos and strange mechanical things everywhere. Calypso was fascinated by the books everywhere. Dumbledore sat down at his desk. "So, you've got all the parts you need?" The two nodded. "And you're sure it's everything?"
"We took him apart. He was so broken we were going to have to anyway." Dumbledore nodded, and Calypso handed him the list of parts. "Well, this might take a while to get. I hope you don't mind staying a bit. I want to make sure Festus gets the best, so it could take a couple months." Leo nodded.
"Thank you so much, Professor," Calypso said. "You really don't have to do all of this. We can manage with just the most important parts." Dumbledore shook his head.
"No, you have a long journey ahead, and Festus deserves only the best." He smiled. "Anyway, it gives you a longer time to support Harry." He paused. "Speaking of the tournament, I was wondering if I may ask a favor of you."
"Anything," they said at the same time.
"You must promise me that you will not mention a word of this to anyone." They nodded.
"Of course," Calypso said.
"The first task is retrieving a golden egg from a dragon." Leo and Calypso gasped. Dumbledore held up his hand. "We are attempting to make the tasks safer, so that no one dies," he continued. "In the first task, the dragons will be mechanical." Leo grinned. "I would like you two to help build them." Leo's grin widened.
"We'd be happy to, Professor!" Dumbledore smiled.
"Good. We have all the parts ready deep in the forest so no students will accidentally stumble upon them. All the tools you could possibly need are there as well, but if you find that you are missing a tool, please tell me, and I will get it to you as quickly as possible." Leo's smile took up half his face.
"We won't let you down, Professor! When do you need it done by?"
"I need it done in a month. I know it's not a lot of time-"
"Don't worry. We can do it." Dumbledore smiled.
"There will be other wizards to help you build them, though I doubt you will need them much." He chuckled. "I'm sure you could do it by yourselves, but more hands always help. Plus, I could use your expertise!"
Leo and Calypso decided to start working on the dragons the next day. They went back to the Gryffindor common room to talk to Harry and Hermione.
"We won't be able to follow you in classes much for a while," Leo told them. "We-uh-we have to separate Festus's pieces into piles for when Dumbledore gets all our parts." Harry and Hermione nodded.
"Maybe we can get out of class and help you sometime!" Hermione suggested.
"Oh, no, that won't be necessary, but thanks!" Calypso said quickly. "It shouldn't take too long. Um-Leo and I need to go focus on the different piles things need to be in." The two nodded.
"Don't let us hold you up," Harry said kindly. "Do whatever you need."
Leo and Calypso got up and sat in a corner, where no one was around. Leo pulled out blueprints to the dragons Dumbledore had given them as they were leaving. He had also given them magical pictures of the four dragons they had to make that moved. Calypso studied the pictures and wrote down different things about them that they needed it to do and how it should act. Leo studied the blueprints so he would have an idea of where to start in the morning. They decided to get up before dawn so they would have plenty of time to work. Dumbledore had told them how to get to the kitchens, so they knew they could get an early breakfast.
"Let's meet down here at, let's say, four?" Calypso planned. Leo nodded. He was so absorbed in the blueprints that he wasn't paying much attention. He wished Festus were still conscious. He would have loved to know that there were other mechanical dragons around. The two were getting tired, and they had to get up early, so they decided to go to bed. They told Harry and Hermione "Goodnight," and headed upstairs.
"Remember," Calypso whispered to Leo when they were out of earshot. "We have to meet downstairs at four." Leo rolled his eyes.
"I know, mother!" Calypso smiled and kissed him on the cheek.
"See you in the morning, son."
Leo opened the dorm room to find Ron sitting on his bed, doing homework. Ron looked up, and then averted his eyes. "Stop acting like I don't exist," Leo snapped. "Harry hasn't done anything and there's no reason to ignore all of us anyway."
Ron looked up. "I'm not going to listen to a bloody liar, two lunatics, and a know-it-all." He got up, grabbed his book, and pushed past Leo.
Leo remembered the other boys coming in, but Ron must have come in much later because Leo couldn't remember him coming back. When he woke up, though, Ron was there. He quickly and quietly got up and dressed and hurried downstairs. Calypso was already there. She rolled her eyes.
"You're late, as usual." She took his hand. "I think I've done enough sitting around waiting for you." They quietly left the common room and followed Dumbledore's instructions toward the kitchens. They reached the giant painting of fruits, and Leo tickled the green pear, which turned into a doorknob. He opened the door, and the two were greeted by possibly hundreds of little . . .
"Elves?!" Leo exclaimed. One of them in strange clothing pushed his way to the front.
"Dobby is very happy to meet Harry Potter's friends!" he squeaked. Calypso bent down to his height.
"Hello!" she held out her hand, and the elf shook it. "Who is Dobby?"
The elf looked confused. "I is Dobby, miss. You is Harry Potter's friends?" The two nodded.
"I-uh-I like your-um-clothes, Dobby!" Leo had just noticed Dobby's mismatched, neon socks. Dobby smiled so wide, it seemed to cover his entire face.
"Thank you!" he suddenly gasped. "You need foods! Dobby will go get Winky!" Dobby quickly turned and ran toward the back of the kitchens. The other elves continued to swarm Leo and Calypso. They finally fought their way to the back of the kitchens where Dobby had gone. As they turned a corner, they saw another elf sobbing at a table. Dobby sat next to them, attempting to calm them down. Dobby looked up. "Winky is sad because she is free. Dobby does not understand. Dobby was happy when he was freed!" Winky sobbed even louder. "Mr. Dumbledore is even paying Dobby!" Winky sobbed louder yet again. Calypso walked over to Winky, sensing what was wrong.
"Hey, Winky, could you get me something to eat?" Winky looked up and half-heartedly smiled.
"Winky would be happy to get miss a foods!" Winky sniffed and hopped down from her chair. She hurried over to a cabinet and grabbed a basket. Then, she hurried over to another set of cabinets and grabbed handfuls of food, piling them into the basket. When the basket was full, she grabbed a few napkins, covered the food, and hurried back over to Calypso. "Here's you go, miss!" Calypso happily took the basket, and Winky left them to go help the other elves. Dobby shook his head.
"Dobby doesn't understand why Winky likes to serve." Dobby suddenly jumped and ran toward the many stoves off to their left. "Dobby almost forgot that he made a delicious surprise for Harry Potter's friends! Mr. Dumbledore told Dobby you's were coming, so he made it all by hiself!"
"Oh! Thank you, Mr. Dobby," Calypso said kindly as she took the food that Dobby had wrapped up in tin foil. Dobby gasped, and his eyes filled with tears. "I didn't say something, did I?"
"Oh, no, miss!" Dobby sniffed. "Dobby just doesn't hear such kind words very often! Thank you miss and mister! Now, go help Harry Potter like Dumbledore said you's were!" Leo and Calypso said goodbye to the elves and headed out to the forest. They walked for what seemed like an hour, following a map Dumbledore had given them to get to the clearing where the dragon parts were. Finally they reached the campsite of the wizards that were going to help around a bit.
"Um-hello?" Leo called out. There was a rustling in one of the tents. A tall man stepped out. He had bright red hair, and looked a bit like Ron.
"You Leo and Calypso?" he asked. He looked pretty young, but he was beat up. He had scabs, scratches and burns everywhere. The two nodded. "I'm Charlie Weasley," he said, and stuck out his hand. Leo took it.
"I'm-uh-obviously Leo, and this," he motioned toward Calypso, "is obviously Calypso. Are you Ron's brother?" Charlie laughed.
"That obvious, eh? Yeah, Ron's my little mini-me." He laughed again. "How about y'all go ahead and go over to the clearing and start figuring stuff out and I'll wake up the rest of the boys?" Leo and Calypso nodded and started toward the clearing. Leo suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Whoa." Calypso followed his gaze. There, in front of them, were four giant piles of random parts. "Well," Leo said cheerfully. "This will be fun!"