Chapter 17
Harry and Hermione sat sombrely in their compartment as the train made its journey through the countryside towards their home away from home, around them their friends were catching up with each other, Lavender was animatedly explaining the fashion she had seen in Australia to Pansy, Neville and Dudley were discussing the odd plants that had been found in forest around the manor, and Ginny and Luna were speaking in whispers. The mood as they entered the castle was dark, the normal excited chatter was replaced by uncertainty, as even though the attack at the World Cup had been thwarted, the Prophet and the Quibbler were both reporting that Voldemort had returned, and people were uncertain about what to make of the situation. As they sat at the Gryffindor table Harry and Hermione knew something was different, there was a gap where they expected to see Sirius in the position designated for the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, it was instead empty, and he was sat between Remus and Severus. The smirk he was wearing was a hint that something was happening, the fact that Nanny was also wearing a subtle smile sent warning signals through both of their spines.
"Good evening, and welcome to another year here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Nanny smiled as she stood to greet them. "It is good to see that soo many of you have returned, in light of the recent news, it is a testament to your commitment to your education, you will notice that there has been a change to our staffing again this year, which will be explained directly after our newest students have been sorted into their houses."
"What's happening?" Dean demanded of Harry.
"We have no clue." He replied. "My family are being sneaky about it, but if I had to guess Sirius has stepped aside in favour of a new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, someone more experienced, and is now for-filling a new role."
"But didn't he used to be an auror?" Lavender asked as the first years were lead into the hall by Professor Flitwick. "Who could be more experienced?"
"An older one?" George chuckled. "You know Mad-Eye retired last month."
"Could be my less handsome brother." Fred chuckled. "But what of Sirius?"
"Could be just about anything, oh brother of limited intelligence." George retorted.
"Whatever it is both he and the headmistress think that it is a brilliant idea." Hermione sighed. "And given that I doubt it will be anything too absurd, but who knows what he managed to get her to agree to."
By this point the sorting hat had sung its song, advocating that they continue to break the house boundaries, and unite as a school to face the darkness of the world. They all watched with great attention as each of the near 60 students were called forward and sorted into their houses. After the last student had been sorted, Evangeline Zabini into Slytherin with her older brother, Nanny took to the podium once mor.
"Good evening." She smiled. "And to those of you who have just been sorted, welcome to your new home away from home, I am Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, and I hope your time spent here is fruitful and that you endeavour to become the very best witches and wizards that you can no matter if you have known of magic all of your life or have only just discovered it's wonders. To aid you in your journey I will first introduce your professors, and I do apologise to the older students who know most of them, but I do advise they listen as there have been a few changes that will prove to be very important for them to remember. First and foremost Professor Fillius Flitwick, deputy headmaster, head of Ravenclaw, and our Charms master, this year he will be assisted in his classroom by his apprentice Penelope Clearwater. Next going in order of seniority and years of service in each post, Professor Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff, and our Herbology mistress, then Professor Serverus Snape, head of Slytherin, and our N.E.W.T level Potions master, and our final head of house, Professor Remus Lupin, our head of Gryffindor, and our Transfiguration master. For Arithmancy we have Professor Septima Vector, for Divination we have Professor Sybil Trelawny, for Flying and Quidditch we have Professor Rolanda Hooch, for Ancient Runes we have Professor Bethesda Babbling, for Care of Magical Creatures we have Professor Wilhelmina Grubby-Plank, for Astronomy we have Professor Aurora Sinistra, for Potions up to O.W.L we have Professor Sirius Black. Now being introduced to all of you this year for History of Magic we have Professor Alfonso Dinozzo and lastly for Defence Against the Dark Arts we have a recently retired Master rank Auror, for the muggle raised amongst us that is similar to a police officer, Professor Alister Moody."
As she mentioned his name the door to the antechamber was thrown open and the magical eyed man stomped into the room, and stopped beside Nanny.
"Headmistress." He nodded to her. "Feels good to be back in the castle, thank you for asking me back."
"Think nothing of it old friend." Nanny smiled. "And one final announcement before we begin our opening feast, this year Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be playing host to two other schools, they will be arriving in October, and be staying for a newly revived tournament. The details of which will be given to you closer to the time, but as the participation in this event will be limited to those among you who are over the age of 17, the normal school events, such as quidditch and upper years duelling will continue as normal."
The murmur around the room built as Nanny moved to sit in her seat and broke into a dull roar as she sat down and the feast appeared.
"What is that all about?" Fred demanded of Harry and Hermione.
"We have absolutely know idea." Hermione replied.
"We have been a little preoccupied this summer." Harry added. "But I am glad that she specified an actual age not just 'of age' I really just want a quiet year after what we've had to deal with over the past three."
"Agreed." Hermione nodded.
"But where is the adventure for the rest of us mere mortals who get their kicks vicariously through the two of you?" Neville asked with a chuckle.
"Make your own." Harry retorted. "We've been through enough, besides we need to focus our attention on training ourselves for Voldemort, he's coming after us due to some stupid prophecy that he and Dumbledore believe I'm the key component of."
"Fair point." Neville sighed as the twins became quiet again.
"He could show up at any point." Hermione supplied. "We were thinking that it might be good to get as many students as possible training for him showing up here."
"What does the book say about him?" Neville asked.
"The Peverall grimoire has little left it can tell us, Voldemort has found a way to hide himself from scrying, which includes my great grand uncle's foresight." Harry replied. "So we wait and train."
"How's that going anyway?" George queried.
"The staffs feel better with each passing day we use them." Hermione stated. "But we need a different approach, none of our family have ever faced him, that's more than likely why Moody has come to teach here, he can teach Defence Against the Dark Arts during the day, and train us most nights."
"That would actually make a lot of sense." Fred nodded.
"But why have him as a professor, why not just bring him in as a tutor to you guys?" Dean asked.
"Probably has something to do with the tournament."Harry supplied. "It wouldn't surprise me if there was a rule that states only certain persons can help the participants, or that professors can't help."
The rest of the feast passed with as much joviality as could be managed given that the two main entertainers had lost a brother less than a week before, and before long Harry and Hermione found themselves alone in their suite. The start of term passed without incident, they both excelled in their classes much as they had since the day of the troll incident. As they entered October the atmosphere of the school became more and more excited as the pending arrival of the other schools approached, it was widely accepted that Moody was an excellent professor, and as his fourth year Slytherin and Gryffindor class entered on the second Monday of October his smirk had them on edge.
"Good morning everyone." He greeted them as the last of them had taken their seats. "Today we are going to be discussing a topic most grave, how many of you can tell me about the levels that the ministry and more specifically the DMLE use to categorise spells." Hermione's hand shot into the air. "Anyone other than the Potters?" Nobody moved. "Very well, Hermione if you would."
"The ministry currently has 5 Levels of spells, in order of raising ability to harm a person they are household, defensive, offensive, lethal, and unforgivable, within each of the the list of known spells is listed in order of the damage that could be dealt by them to person, for example within household spells, the spell of dust removal is low on the list as when used on a person it will just remove their dead skin, but the spell to clean spilled liquid is near the top of the list as it can remove all of the liquid from the human body." She explained. "Each category has them listed in this way except for the unforgivables, they are listed as being equal mainly due to their inability to be blocked by conventional shield charms, and using any one of them on another sentient being will earn you a one way ticket to Azkaban, more than likely the maximum security levels."
"Excellent as always." Moody smiled. "10 points to Gryffindor, now who can tell me about the unforgivable curses?"
"I know one." Goyle blurted out confidently. "Dad claimed he was under the Imperial curse."
"Not quite Mr Goyle." Moody sighed. "Anyone else like to answer?"
"The imperius curse." Daphne replied. "Is classed as unforgivable as it allows a person to control another's actions, and is almost completely undetectable, only master legillimancers have been able to detect a difference in a person's passive thoughts and their actions."
"Excellent description." Moody smiled. "5 points to Slytherin, you should note that with a sufficiently strong will and sense of self you can throw off the curse, all those who chose to hide behind it were admitting to being incredibly weak willed individuals. So it is best to maintain CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Now what's next?"
"I know one." Neville stated. "The cruciartus curse, it causes extreme pain in every one of the nerve endings in the targets body, it leaves the victim with muscle spasms, tremors, and speech problems with only a few seconds use, after a minute it can cause brain damage, after 5 minutes it can kill you, those with occulmancy training can survive less than lethal exposure by retreating behind their mental shields, but coming back is much more difficult and requires help from skilled professionals."
"Aye lad, it was a good day when your parents were brought back to you." Moody nodded. "5 points to Gryffindor. And the last curse?"
"Avada Kedavra." Harry whispered causing most of the room to gasp. "Heard it a couple of times the night mum died."
"Sorry Harry." Moody sighed placing a hand on his shoulder. "Didn't realise you had that memory. Now the killing curse as its name suggests is instant death to anyone that has the unfortunate luck to have it cast at them, only Harry has ever survived and nobody knows how, I'd wager his mother played a part in it but again it's only conjecture. So given the nature of the curses and their inability to be blocked conventionally, how do you think you can avoid them?"
"Dodge them?" Dean asked.
"Excellent Mr Thomas, 10 points to Gryffindor." Moody nodded. "Through the application of CONSTANT VIGILANCE you can learn to anticipate an opponent's spells and dodge them, so using stinging hexes only we are going to be practicing dodging spells, so pair up and I'll erect some duelling wards."
By the time the lesson was over everyone was sweating but most of them were smiling. Moody had been able to get nearly everyone to dodge the spells sent at them. The only downside to the lesson was that they had to make a list of spells that fell into the other categories of spells that Hermione had mentioned, it started with 5 spells, and one was added for each spell that they failed to dodge, Seamus had the longest list to make in Gryffindor.
"Are there even 30 spells in some of these categories?" He asked as they sat down in the great hall for lunch.
"Seamus the ministry has thousands of spells categorised." Harry stated.
"In every section." Hermione added. "Some aren't used much anymore, but the system was brought into use in 1674 when the DMLE discovered that they needed a way to differentiate between crimes."
"Oh had your dodging lesson then?" Susan asked as she joined them.
"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Seamus has the longest list in Gryffindor, but Crabbe has the longest list to make from the whole class, how did you do Sis?"
"Only 5 extras you?"
"Hermione and I only have 5 to find." Harry chuckled. "Who has it worst off in your class then?"
"Ernie has to find 28, and Mandy in Ravenclaw is looking for 33, how many is Crabbe after?"
"54." Dean laughed.
"Ouch." Hannah giggled as she sat next to Neville and kissing his cheek.
"Something you want to tell me Nev?" Harry asked with a smirk.
"I… er… I…" Neville stammered.
"Neville and I are dating." Hannah cut him off. "I decided that I couldn't wait any longer, I wanted what I've seen you two have together so I kissed him last week."
"Congratulations." Hermione smiled. "It's about time, if you had let Neville make the decision you'd have been waiting for several more years."
"I'm not that bad." Neville protested.
"Yeah mate you are." Harry chuckled. "You took 8 weeks to decide why you weren't happy with the party plan last year and change it, this was so much bigger than that, besides you are still trying to decide on whether you want to change the temperature in the greenhouse at the manor because the venomous tentacular isn't doing as well as you or Aunt Petunia are happy with and it's been months."
"CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" Nanny called out. It took less than a second for the noise of the great hall to die away. "Thank you, now you have all been wondering about the tournament I informed you of during the welcome feast, today I shall tell you of the great honour that we have been granted. We have been chosen to host the Triwizard Tournament, last held in the late 1700s, this tournament was disbanded due to the large number of deaths of the participants, so we have adjusted the rules in such a way that will provide more safety. No participant will be underage, the tasks have been assigned to challenge the participants while reducing the risk of death. Next week we will be receiving our visiting competitor schools, The Durmstrang Institute of Magical Arts and The Beauxbatons Academy of Magical Learning."
"Awesome." One of the twins whispered.
"While the other schools are here you will be on your best behaviour, we are the oldest school of magic in Europe, which is why we are proud to be the host school of this renewed tournament." Nanny continued. "Which is why your heads of house will be holding lessons in your common rooms devoted to ensuring your etiquette and behaviour do not cause an international incident, many of our guests are going to have family in positions of power in their home countries, we do not want to upset them."
The week that followed was full of anticipation, and much embarrassment for those in their common rooms that had to be taught their etiquette lessons, Harry and Hermione were glad to have spent time with Nanny and Gran over the past two summers. The morning of the 24th saw a change in the school routine, all of the classes were cancelled and the students were encouraged to help the professors in readying the school for their guests, most of the older students saw it for what it was but the younger years all happily learned what was being taught without realising that they were learning at all, and at 4 o'clock the entire school were outside on the lawn that faced the Forbidden Forest, each house lined up by year, with the youngest at the front by the professors and the oldest nearest the castle.
"How much longer?" Seamus moaned after 10 minutes of waiting.
"Can't be too much longer." Harry chuckled. "Besides it's only been 10 minutes, what's the hurry it's a nice day."
"Aye the weather is grand, but I'm cold."
"Did you forget your wand?" Hermione queried.
"No." Seamus snapped. "But how does that help."
"Seamus what was the first spell we learned in charms in our second year?" Harry asked.
"I don't know." He grumbled. "I barely remember what I had for breakfast today, how am I supposed to remember that?"
"It was a warming charm." Lavender giggled casting at him.
"Thanks Lav." He smiled. "How did I forget about that?"
"Probably the same reason you don't mess with fire spells." Harry chuckled. "When was the last time you blew something up with a spell?"
"Last week." Seamus grimaced. "The pumpkin I was levitating ended up coating me and Hagrid in smoking goo."
"Best thing I ever saw." Dean laughed heartily.
"Everyone quiet our guests are nearly here." Remus interrupted their camaraderie.
"Where?" Lavender asked.
"There." A seventh year said pointing over the forest. "Looks like one of the old flying carriages."
"Well spotted Mr Sylwen." Severus nodded to his student.
The entire school watched in awe as the carriage continued to grow in size as it skimmed across the tops of the trees, and as the winged horses directed the carriage out over the lake, every one saw a red flag appear from the still black surface, it was followed by the mast and rigging of an old frigate raising swiftly from the depths. Whispers broke out amongst the students as the carriage landed with a large thundering crash bouncing several times before it came to a stop near the edge of the forest, Harry and Hermione were both shocked at the size of the vehicle, it was as tall as the trees of the forest, and painted in a soft powder blue, and decorated with golden accents, the driver at the the front climbed down as soon as the horses had stopped and moved to open the door on the side of the carriage. Their attention was divided as the ship was now mooring itself alongside the boat house and a gang plank was being lowed to the shoreline.
"Madam Maxine." Nanny greeted the tall woman who had stepped out of the coach. "Welcome to Hogwarts."
"Bonjour Madame McGonagall." The woman smiled. "It is good to be here, such a wonderful day to travel the weather has been perfect."
"I'm glad to hear it." Nanny smiled. "I can see you have brought the large carriage I thought your students would be staying within the castle."
"That is the plan, but several of them are hesitant to do so, one due to the reaction most males have to her, and the others do not wish to participate in any foreign customs."
"Then why are they here?" Harry questioned quietly to Hermione.
"Probably just want the glory of having beaten us at something." She whispered back. "Some of the French are still salty about the fact that we stepped in and helped with Hitler and Grindelwald."
"It's not our fault they gave up so quickly." Neville stated. "The French only held out a couple of months before they bowed to Grindelwald and once we were able to get a force over there he was taken out in a matter of weeks."
"Please head inside." Nanny suggested to the French arrivals. "Please sit wherever you wish any of the houses will be glad to host you at their tables."
"Merci." Madame Maxine smiled before leading her students into the school via the clock tower courtyard.
The students were kept waiting for a further 10 minutes as the students of Durmstrang gathered on the shore and appeared to be waiting for someone else to leave the ship. When someone finally did and they had made their way up to them Nanny appeared to be shocked.
"Greetings." She said worriedly. "Is your headmaster not joining us?"
"I am afraid Professor Kakaroff is unable to leave the wards of the ship." The leading man replied. "Something to do with his former life and the wards of your school not allowing him to enter, he requests that you remove the ward to allow him access."
"Unfortunately that particular ward is necessary for the protection of my students I cannot remove the ward without breaching the oath I took as Headmistress, honestly I had momentarily forgotten about his former vocation." Nanny stated. "But he was informed of the ward before he departed, and that if he was indeed marked by the man he used to call master that he would not gain entry, that is non-negotiable."
"Then he has ordered me to withdraw from the tournament." He sighed.
"That is not possible." Nanny stated. "The contract he signed as Headmaster will strip him and his accompanying staff and students of their magic if he tries to leave."
"Very well." The man sighed. "I shall take his place. I am Master Valentin Romanovitch, the Deputy Headmaster."
"Welcome to Hogwarts." Nanny smiled. "Please head inside you may sit where you wish, all of our houses will welcome you with open arms."
The feast to welcome their guests was as lavish as any Harry and Hermione had been to in their time in the castle, but unlike normal it was littered with dishes from Eastern Europe and France, both of them enjoyed the new foods and hoped that they would be available through out the year. Once the meal was over Nanny stood at the podium to address the school.
"Now that we are all fed, I feel it is time to inform you of how this tournament will proceed." She stated calmly once the hall was silent. "In 7 days I shall unveil the impartial judge that will choose one champion from each of the participating schools, it will be accepting applicants for exactly 24 hours, once you are chosen there will be no turning back, as to withdraw after your name has been chosen will see you stripped of your magic, the only way out is to complete the three tasks that must each be at least 3 months apart, the first will be held on Saturday the 26th of November, giving each champion 25 days to prepare."
"What about those that will turn 17 during the tournament?" Fred asked standing up.
"Mr Weasley I am happy on your mother's behalf that only those older than 17 as of the 31st of October will be eligible to enter, I believe your family has had enough heartbreak this year without the chance of you or your brothers being injured."
"Yes ma'am." George nodded as he pulled his twin down into his seat again.
"Now as I was saying, we have brought our guests here a week before the choosing ceremony to allow them to become accustomed to the routine of the castle before we hand their fates over to the impartial judge, so please make them feel welcome and help them if they seem lost." She stated before dismissing the hall.
Over then next week Harry and Hermione spent their time dodging questions about their relationship from the guests and avoiding Viktor Krum who was incessant in his pursuit of Hermione, who their friends told them he called the one that got away. It was a glad couple that left the castle after lunch on the 31st.
"So two heads of house and both potions professors missing for the afternoon." Harry chuckled as he and Hermione walked through the school gate with his adoptive father and honorary uncles. "Let's hope there aren't any problems."
"Indeed." Sev nodded. "But Minerva knows where to find us, besides the usual feast has been postponed until tomorrow and we aren't needed for the lighting of the Goblet."
"Goblet?" Harry and Hermione questioned together.
"As you won't be here when it's unveiled I suppose we can tell you." Sirius sighed in fake hardship. "The impartial judge that Nanny was on about is the Goblet of Fire."
"It is an immensely old artefact that was created for the first tournament, it makes a judgment of the character of the person who adds their name to its flame and stores it, once it has been alight for 24 hours it makes a choice for each school that has been entered, how it makes its choice is unknown, but there have been some truly odd choices in the past." Remus explained.
"I think one year a seventh year decided to add their younger siblings name, he was a bastard and he wanted to remove the legitimate heir so he could claim the family title." Sev continued. "The younger brother, a third year went on to win, he lost and eye and his left leg, but he proved to be the best champion for Durmstrang that year."
"Why are going so early anyway?" Hermione asked.
"The family wants to see you, we asked Dudley to come as well but he decided he thought that our group was too big already." Sirius replied. "We happened to agree seeing as none of us know where Tom is right now, so tonight it's only 6 of us going, only Petunia is joining us, and we have a group of 6 Aurors already hiding around the cemetery."
"Sounds good." Harry smiled.
The couple spent the afternoon playing with their goddaughter, and just relaxing in their home. At 6 o'clock the group arrived outside the cottage in Godric's Hollow, Sev was a mess as the actual events of the fateful night were explained to the 3 who hadn't been there the year before as they walked through the house, and Petunia was holding on to Harry as if he was going to suddenly disappear if she let go.
"Wait." Harry said as they reached the entrance to the graveyard.
"Why?" Petunia asked.
"Because of what happened last year." Hermione sighed as she pulled out her wand. "Homenom Revelio."
There was no response to the spell at all beyond the 6 Aurors that they were expecting, each of the nodded at the group when they felt the spell reach them, Hermione nodded and lead Harry into the graveyard leaving the others to follow behind them. As they reached the graves Harry and Hermione each conjured a wreath of lilies before they touched the headstones.
"Good evening mum and dad." Harry smiled as their spirits rose from their graves.
"Harry it's soo good to see you son." James smiled before he looked over Harry's shoulder at the rest of the party.
"TUNI!" Lily squealed. "You came?"
"Yes Lily I'm here." Petunia smiled. "I'm soo sorry for what Vernon did to Harry, I tried to stop him but…"
"Nonsense." Lily smiled. "You have nothing to apologise for, you are not your ex-husband, besides Harry forgave you that is enough for both James and I."
"Sev." James nodded to the potions master. "No luck with the regrowth yet?"
"Unfortunately not." Sev sighed. "The formula Lily had has proved to be too unstable, the limbs regrown on the test lizards have all exploded after the muscle growth failed to stop with the rest of the limb, and I cannot seem to adjust for it correctly."
"Don't worry about it too much." Lily smiled. "I'm sure you'll get there eventually."
"With theses two I'm certain you are correct." Sev nodded. "Did you know they cured Remus, Frank and Alice?"
"We do, but you definitely helped, hell you did most of the work." James replied. "Why is the group so small this year?"
"Mum and Nanny are busy at Hogwarts, Dudley and Susan decided it was better to have a smaller group given that Voldemort has his body again, and the Longbottoms aren't sure they want to intrude on our family time right now." Harry sighed.
"Which is ridiculous given that Alice is Harry's godmother and that we are godparents to Harmony, I mean honestly how much more intertwined can two families get short of marriage." Hermione added.
"Alice is probably fretting about seeing me." Lily stated. "Much like Sirius would have had he known I was going to be here the first time."
"Tell her she has nothing to worry about." James sighed. "It's not her fault that she and Frank were attacked. Now then on to happier things, Harry yet again I have been asked to remind you to open the safe behind Charlus and Dorea in the portrait room, they left you something and you keep forgetting to open it."
"In his defence he has had a troubling few years." Sirius said trying to keep a straight face. "Never known anyone to live such a hectic life especially as a teenager."
"We certainly won't argue with you there." Lily frowned. "Between Dumbledore, pushy purebloods, Dumbledore, escaped death eaters, Dumbledore, a manic witch hellbent on killing him, and then there's Riddle still after him."
"Won't be long on that one mum." Harry stated confidently. "Mione and I have been training hard with our staffs, next time he shows his head near us we can handle him."
"We hope." Hermione added. "We have had some success with them, and together we have managed some tremendous magic but that battle could easily go either way, I mean he's got soo much more experience and…"
"Enough Hermione." Lily cut her off.
"By doubting yourself you will second guess the decisions you will make when you fight him." James stated. "He will try to capitalise on any hesitation, lethally, while I agree that you shouldn't underestimate him, you need to trust in each other's abilities."
"But…" Hermione began.
"It's exactly what we've been telling you Hermione." Remus stated.
"Sorry." She replied glumly.
"It's ok love." Harry smiled at her. "We know how hard it is for you to turn off your analytical mind sometimes."
"I had the same problem." Lily nodded. "I found focusing on what could be lost helped me maintain my calm during a duel."
"That actually makes a lot of sense." Hermione smiled softly.
The family stayed and chatted with the spirits of Lily and James for as long as they were able, Petunia was in tears again as they portkeyed back to the manor, Harry and Hermione wasted no time in returning to the family room with their suite.
"It's getting late you two should be sleeping." Dorea admonished them as they walked in.
"It's not as late as you think." Harry retorted as he started to examine the frame Dorea was standing within.
"What are you looking for Harry?" Euphamia asked.
"Grandfather's safe." James stated. "This used to be a vault."
"I condensed it down into a space behind this frame." Charlus nodded as he and Fleamont joined them. "Then enchanted it with a secrecy rune, only I or Dorea could reveal the secret, which must have been a problem as even as this painting wasn't able to speak of it until now."
"So how does Harry know it's here?" Fleamont asked.
"Aunt Dorea sent a message with Mum's spirit, has every year since I returned to this house, I just keep forgetting about it." Harry replied as he found an indentation that matched his house ring. "Not that I know what's inside."
The frame flashed momentarily as he pressed the Potter signet ring into the required indentation, and opened just enough to allow him to slip his fingers behind it and pull it open completely. The inside was glowing a soft shimmering white light that Harry and Hermione knew fairly well.
"A pensieve!" Hermione gasped. "And it's full of memories."
"This is the Potter family pensieve, it has been used to store our family secrets and history for generations." Fleamont stated.
"Indeed." Charlus smiled as he and Dorea walked into his brother's frame. "But I bottled those up and they're on the shelves at the back, this one contains something better."
"Better than our family legacy?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"No those memories are important, and you should view them another day but the ones we collected for you are a gift not a lesson." Dorea said. "We collected them for you from the moment we knew Lily was expecting, and we kept collecting them right up until we died."
"But what are they of?" Hermione asked.
"Harry." Charlus replied. "We were worried about Tom, and the thought that none of us would be able to raise him, so we collated every single moment of his life and a few other things we wanted to share with him."
"How long will it take to view them?" Harry asked. "I'd like to do it now but it's got to be more then 2 years worth of memories."
"It's not really possible to know as none of us have ever used these memories, but the legacy as you called it only took about an hour and that has hundreds of years of history." Charlus replied.
Harry and Hermione watched happily as memory after memory played out in front of them, they watched his parent's wedding, then their pregnancy announcement, followed by every interaction that Charlus and Dorea had with them until Harry was born, they witnessed the feildus being performed by Dumbledore naming Petigrew as the secret keeper, then there were memories that could have only been sent by James and Lily while they were in hiding, and the final scene was of Dorea apologising for not being able to do more for him or his parents. Harry was in tears as Hermione lead him to their bed, he knew in his mind that his parents had loved him, but seeing it had driven home how much he had missed out on in Vernon's home. Harry and Hermione had still not left their suite at lunchtime the following day and Sirius had had enough, he marched through the outer door and up the stairs to their bedroom, he pounded on the door for several minutes.
"Is there a problem Dad?" Harry asked from the door to his study.
"What?" Sirius asked in confusion.
"Don't confuse him Harry." Hermione admonished from her wardrobe. "He was expecting us to still be in bed."
"To be fair he's missed us being in bed by 10 minutes." Harry chuckled.
"What do you need Sirius?" Hermione asked as she entered their entryway.
"Just wanted to make sure that you were up and about, we need to be at the feast tonight as the champions are being selected." He replied. "Besides someone need to make sure you two aren't pushing your relationship too far, how am I supposed to do that if I don't turn up at random times."
"Dad you are aware that we promised each other to wait until after our O.W.L.s, we don't feel ready yet." Harry stated.
"Speak for yourself." Hermione giggled as she took Harry's hand and pulled him away from his gapping godfather. "But we can discuss that later."
"You're going to give him an aneurism." Harry chuckled as they made their way towards the floo.
"I know but we're married, what we do is up to us, and if Daddy trusts you enough to release your vow, then your father needs to learn to keep his nose out of our business."
"I'll correct the mutt for you." Viv smiled as they passed her in the library. "Or better yet I'll get Amelia to do it for me, she has a knack for tightening his leash when needed."
The mood in the castle was jovial as they walked through the halls towards the feast that evening, it was the first time that they had been seen by any of their classmates since they had left the previous day having returned directly to Sirius' office and spent the remaining time with Severus working on their limb regrowth project.
"Hey guys." Neville greeted them as they arrived at the Gryffindor table. "How was the trip to the cottage this year?"
"Therapeutic." Hermione stated as Harry looked somewhat depressed. "But Harry remembered he needed to look for the family safe, he found a pensive full of memories of his formative year with his parents, it showed him just how much he missed out on after his parents were killed."
"Merlin Harry, how are you not a blubbering wreck?" Pansy asked.
"I have the most amazing wife on the planet." Harry replied sheepishly, as he squeezed Hermione's hand. "She helped me sort through all of the issues I was having."
"So any ideas on who's going to be chosen?" Lavender asked.
"We haven't even seen the Goblet, let alone know who has put their names in." Harry replied.
"The Goblet is in the antechamber off of the entrance hall, the one the firsties wait in." George stared. "And Babbling put a runic ward over the door that blocks anyone who is not 17 from entering."
"Stops any item not held in a human hand as well." Fred grumbled.
"I take it you still tried then Fred?" Harry asked.
"Me and a few of the other 6th years who turn 17 this year gave it our best shot last night." He replied.
Their idle chatter continued as they ate the exquisitely cooked feast, and just as the desserts were served Nanny stood and walked the entire length of the hall, she returned with 4 goblins who were carrying the goblet between them, as soon as it was placed down in front of the high table, the blue flame turned purple and everyone in the hall stopped talking.
"In a few moments the Goblet of Fire will have been alight for its governed 24 hours, and a champion will be selected from each of the three schools, to those of you who have been brave enough to take the chance to enter I wish you luck." Nanny said happily, as she watched the flame and motioned for Madame Maxine and Deputy Headmaster Romanovitch to join her by the goblet.
As the flame turned red Madame Maxine held up her hand and a small fan of folded parchment fluttered down into it.
"Ze Champion for Ze Beauxbatons Academy of Magical Learning is Mademoiselle Fleur Delacour." She called out happily.
A tall blonde girl stood and walked towards her Headmistress, Harry and Hermione noticed that the rest of the group from the French group looked disgusted at the goblet's choice. Deputy Headmaster Romanovitch stepped forward as soon as Fleur reached her destination and the flame turned red again as a perfect square of parchment fluttered down to him.
"The Champion for The Durmstrang Institute of Magical Arts vill be Mister Viktor Krum."
The quidditch star leapt onto the table amidst a thunder of applause, he flexed his muscles and flashed smiles everywhere, Harry glared at him as he noticed the looks Viktor was giving Hermione. After he had jumped off of the table and ran up to his professor, who quickly erected a silencing charm and looked to be shouting at him.
"Now that our guests are selected I wish each of the Hogwarts students who have chosen to enter the best of luck." Nanny smiled as the red flames lit once more, as a small scrap of lined paper fluttered down from the goblet. "Our final selection and the Champion of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is…"
"HARRY POTTER!" A new voice rang out across the hall.
Everyone was looking around in confusion as they looked for the source of the voice except for Harry and Hermione, they knew instantly what was happening and quietly slipped away from their seats and into the nearby antechamber.
"It's time." Harry said worriedly.
"How do we do this there are too many innocent people in that room?"
"How about some levity while we get some walls in place?"
"Oh, like what?"
Harry smirked and Rose brought herself forward.
"But I think you need to shift too." She said looking at Hermione lovingly.
"But I haven't introduced Hugo to anyone else yet." Hermione replied nervously.
"Then it'll be a shock for everyone." Rose stated as she stripped out of her male uniform.
"You're right." Hermione sighed as she closed her eyes and relaxed, in moments a taller man with short blond hair stood wearing her uniform. "I hate the change when I'm dressed."
Rose giggled as she quickly helped Hugo remove his female uniform. The couple stole back into the great hall to see the doors fly open and a black robed figure standing in the entrance hall with a hood up over his face.
"Where is Harry Potter?" The person asked.
"Sorry to disappoint you sir, whomever you are." Nanny said as she spotted Rose and Hugo. "But there currently isn't anyone by that name in the building."
"Do not toy with me Headmistress." The figure growled throwing back their hood. "I am Lord Voldemort, I have come for my nemesis, he has taken what is mine, my life, my followers, my power, and I want it back."
Rose and Hugo stepped forward in front of Nanny and looked sheepishly at Tom.
"I'm sorry sir but only Hugo and I have the surname Potter here are you sure you're in the right place?" Rose asked innocently as the students gasped, the twins thought it was hilarious but years of experience hiding their prank helped them school their expressions.
"Yes you stupid girl, this is Hogwarts and he is here, he has to be here." Tom roared as he looked around the room for Harry.
Rose slipped the elder wand into her hand and silently cast a spell to pull walls out of the stone floor, they shot up to the ceiling between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, and the castle responded by making the gap between them wider.
"What is this?" Tom demanded as Rose put her wand away.
"Hogwarts protects her student Mr Riddle." Nanny replied. "I have been able to release the strangle you put on the wards while you were here as a student."
"You dare use that name." Tom said menacingly. "AVADA KEDARVA!"
The sickly green spell leapt from his wand towards her but Nanny stood her ground, Rose and Hugo took this as their cue and time in the hall seemed to slow down around them as their staffs materialised in their hands. They both slammed them into the floor at their feet and a block of stone shot of from the floor in front of the deadly spell and with a deafening crack the spell and the stone disappeared.
"That's enough of that Tom." Rose stated sweetly. "You see you are correct Harry James Potter-Merlin is here, I am he when I want to be, I am Lady Rose Lily Potter-Merlin, metamorphmagus child of James and Lily Potter."
"Nice try girl but no one can change their gender completely."
"Once again Tom you prove you are not that knowledgeable about magic, all metamorphs can but not all are as comfortable in both forms." Hugo stated. "Rose and I are."
Voldemort didn't respond and instead turned his attention to the wall beside him, when it remained in place after sever spells he moved to the other side, Rose and Hugo shared a look and he waved Tilde in a grand arc, causing a disuilisionment to settle over the walls allowing Voldemort to see through them at the students and vice versa.
"Those stone walls are a part of the castle Tom." Rose stated. "Your magic will be unable to affect them, while they protect the students." She pointed Sihde passed Tom at the doors which slammed shut and disappeared leaving a solid stone wall in their place. "You came here for a fight Tom, perhaps you should get on with it."
Rose and Hugo both pulled out their wands and stepped towards Voldemort, as soon as they stepped off of the raised section that held the staff table another wall sprang up behind them.
"Two on one is hardly a fair fight Harry." Voldemort said trying to appeal to her noble side.
"Neither is throwing killing curses around like confectionary, and my name is ROSE." Rose retorted. "The very first cast you made was with intent to kill, all we've done so far is limit your potential targets."
"And besides you are nearly 60 years our senior." Hugo added. "But then again what do you care about being fair, your tactics involve superior numbers and unblock-able spells."
"True." He conceded as he lunched a chain of silent spells at them.
Rose waved her staff and a purple barrier absorbed the inbound magic. Hugo cast several piercing hexes towards Tom from his wand and a blasting hex from his staff. Tom sidestepped the lances but deflected the oversized blasting hex towards the ceiling, his wand was in motion launching a near constant stream of spells in a wide array of colours, Rose held out her staff let go and it began to spin wildly in her palm creating a golden dome over her and Hugo.
"You cannot win Potter." Voldemort hissed after several minutes of casting to no avail.
"Is that so Tom?"
"As you have pointed out I am the superior magical in this fight and once I'm done with you I shall release the monster, that was hidden under the school by Slytherin himself to kill everyone else here."
"Oh Tom you just proved how out of touch you are." Hugo chuckled heartily. "She's been dead for over a year, Harry killed her, and that diary you stored your soul in."
"What?"
"That wasn't even the first piece of it I destroyed, not long after you had Quirrel let in that first troll I had a core binding removed and the piece that was hitchhiking in my scar was forced out and subsequently removed from existence." Rose replied. "Since then we've managed to find and destroy, the ring, the diadem, the locket and the cup. You're mortal Tom, and in a room with no door, unbreakable windows and behind some of the strongest anti-aparation wards known to exist."
"How did you find it about them?" Voldemort demanded letting his wand drop to his side.
"Sorry Tom, Peverall family secret." Rose laughed as her staff stopped spinning, she thrust it towards Tom as Hugo copied her movements and two beams of pure white light sped towards the megalomaniac.
Voldemort froze for several moments before he borrowed a play out of Rose's book and conjured a stone shield, the first beam cracked it and shot up into the ceiling the second beam shattered it and together they sent Tom tumbling backwards across the floor.
"Really Rose a bolt of pure magic?" Hugo huffed. "I know we're powerful and all but that's just wasteful."
"Needed to use the element of surprise to launch a Hail Mary." Rose replied not taking her eyes off of Voldemort, who had landed prone on the floor and was just starting to get up.
A deafening crack rang through the hall and just as Voldemort was on his feet a large chunk of the ceiling landed next to him.
"That was clo…" He began, only to have an even larger chunk fall and crush him.
"Well that was a little anticlimactic." Hugo chuckled, as the walls fell away.
"Calm down please." Nanny shouted to the hall as the noise rose again. "I am sorry to all of you for having to witness this, but I was in aware he had entered until he called out, and unfortunately at that point there was nothing I could do to prevent it."
"It could have been far worse." Rose sighed. "I got those wall up as quickly as I could."
"Indeed you did." She smiled at her adoptive granddaughter. "It is good to meet you Hugo, now I suppose we need to finish tonight's drawing of the champions, before we get everyone off to bed and allow the Aurors in to sort out the mess. Are you ready?" As the entire hall cheered in an hesitant manner she continued. "The champion for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is a most loyal man, who has braved many tough situations, with both cunning and impressive knowledge, I give you Cedric Diggory."
A tall blonde haired boy stood up at the Hufflepuff table and bowed to Nanny and the other staff before he was carried out of the hall by the rest of his house. It took several minutes for the hall to clear leaving Rose and Hugo stood with their adult family.
"Well done Pups." Sirius smiled at them. "Just wait until Amelia gets here, she regretted not being able to something to do with the American Ambassador only being free now to go over some important ICW business."
As soon as Amelia arrived she pulled Rose and Hugo into a tight hug, while the Aurors and Unspeakables began to secure the area around Voldemort. After several hours and the use of a pensieve everyone of the new arrivals was in awe of the Potters, and what they had achieved. Life for the soulmates changed dramatically following the death of Riddle, the news of what had happened spread throughout Europe like wildfire, and nobody wanted to antagonise them, even Viktor Krum sent them a letter apologising for his behaviour towards Hermione. Harry and Hermione finally got to feel like the teenagers that they were, they spent quiet weekends on dates in Hogsmeade, cheered on their champion as he completed the obstacle course that was the first task, albeit with some darker magical beasts to avoid. Several months after their battle not long after the Ministry New Year's Eve ball had started they were both presented with an Order of Merlin for their troubles granting Hermione a seat on the Wizengamot in her own right, which was immediately proxied to Alice to give their family an additional voice in the chamber.
The years began to pass quickly once their lives were no longer at risk, both scored highly on their O. and spent a full summer away from their family at their Greek estate, upon their return they were informed that Bellatrix had finally awoken from her coma following the spell they had used to remove her dark mark. She told a gruelling tale of being sold off by her father on her 17th birthday to a man that preferred to sleep with his brother and kept obedient using a dark ritual that caused her pain whenever she was nice to any one, after months of pain she gave herself willing to their master as it was the only way to survive. Frank and Alice set the tone the family took when dealing with the formally dark witch and she was welcomed in with open arms.
By the time Harry and Hermione had finished their N.E.W.T's the magical world had changed completely Amelia was sitting her third term as Minister, and had taken the death of the second Dark Lord to have arisen in half a century as a spring board for change, all magical races had voices in the Wizengamot chamber, each department, baring the DMLE, was broken down into race, and Department of magical Creatures only dealt with the ones who weren't capable of speaking a recognisable language.
Life was good to the Potters, Harry went on to join his old team captain playing as the seeker for Puddlemere United, while Hermione dove into a role in the Department of Mysteries. Harry was even given the opportunity to play for Scotland at the World Cup held by Japan, they had come up against Bulgaria in the quarterfinals and the match had lasted 6 days before Harry managed to edge on Krum and win the match 1250 - 1000, Scotland took home the trophy and Harry bowed out of the professional game to spend time at home with his pregnant wife.
In the years that followed the two of them took turns in who would become pregnant, and the house was soon full of many pattering feet, their first born were a set of twins, James and Lily, who were carbon copy of each of their parents except for the eye colour, both had one brown and one green eye on opposite sides. Rose followed up a year later with Iris, who inherited their Metamorph abilities from birth, but was blessed with her mother's fiery red hair when not transformed. Hermione continued her over achieving spell with triplets Daniel, Nathan, and Charles, all identical and sporting black hair with a decidedly busy quality. Rose ended their childbearing experience with a set of twins of her own Daisy and Holly both with bushy red hair and shining blue eyes.
Their family were all content and happy, Neville married both Hannah and Susan allowing for the Bones name to continue, between them they had 6 children of their own, twins Dillis and Lysander Longbottom who much like the Potter twins were copies of their parent, Jason Bones a red haired Neville, and triplets Lucy, Leanne, and Laura Bones all of whom were identical to their mother. Dudley and Pansy didn't get married until the Triplets arrived, having spent years dancing around each other before he gave in and asked her, but he chose to forgo his father's name and became a Potter instead, they only had one child after they nearly lost Pansy during the delivery, Horatio Potter, the spitting image of his father with his mother's black hair.