Chapter 19: Tri-Wizard Quiddich and Hogsmeade
Summary:
Harry has an odd experience with consequences, the first game of the Tri-Wizard Quidditch Tournament and Harry finally gets his first visit to Hogsmeade for the year.
Harry clenched his fists tightly as he took in his surroundings. He was in a dark corridor that seemed more like a tunnel than a hallway, an eerie purple light the only thing lighting his surroundings the source of which was a door at the end of the path. He didn't know where he was, much like how he got there as the last thing he remembered was lying in his bed at Hogwarts and staring up at the canopy. There was nothing behind him, only darkness and Harry honestly feared the shadows behind him were hiding things enough that he didn't dare tread in that direction.
What made it all worse was that he was without his wand, meaning he was utterly helpless magically and would need to rely on his wits if something happened. With no choice he forced himself to step forward straining his senses so that he'd have at least some warning in case he needed to run.
Finally after what could have been minutes or hours, the latter most likely due to the burning of his legs, he found himself standing in front of the glowing purple door. Thankfully nothing had jumped out of the shadows within that trek yet at the same time that made him worry about what could be lurking behind the door even more.
As he reached towards the door he found himself yanked forward, liked being hooked by a portkey, only instead of spinning he found himself passing through the door harmlessly and coming to a stop moments later. When he regained his bearings he discovered he was standing within a large chamber illuminated by elevated torches burning with eerie purple flames and which cast the room in a purple glow.
The chamber was for the most part empty, except for the figure before him. It was a large and muscular creature with glowing flame-like purple hair, glowing purple eyes, two curved black horns, and sharp claws jet-black armor and a long smoky black cloak. Despite this its body didn't seem to have any mass, almost like it was there and yet not there at the same time. Harry gulped knowing instinctively that this creature could only be Death itself.
"So you've arrived." Its voice was a deep baritone full of power despite the fact that it spoke softly.
"Fear not Raven, for this is not your end. This is merely the beginning of your journey."
"The beginning?" questioned Harry finally finding his voice.
"Indeed. Those trinkets you collected were for a purpose. I would not allow those…siblings of mine to circumvent that purpose." Said the creature.
"Siblings?" questioned Harry absently his mind stuck on The Hallows being referred to as trinkets.
"A story for later. For now just understand that it was them who turned back time. Knowing what they planned I simply had Zerachiel extend the offer to you that allowed you to keep your memories." Said the creature.
"I thought so, you're Death itself aren't you." Said Harry somehow calm despite his belief.
"I am, or rather a personification. Unlike my counterparts, I do not have a set physical form. I exist in too many places simultaneously to allow for that."
"So why am I here?" questioned Harry warily.
"You sought this place out. You can answer that question."
Harry paused at that, he'd been operating under the assumption that Death had summoned him, the idea that he'd come on his own had never even crossed his mind. He didn't even know where 'here' was and yet somehow he'd travelled there on his own. Thinking furiously his eyes widened as he realized that his last thought before sleep claimed him had been questioning the nature of his powers and what being 'Master of Death' truly meant.
"Is that what mortals are calling it? How presumptuous, as if any could do something as absurd as master death." Said the creature with a chuckle that was surprising considering the topic while Harry blushed realizing he'd spoken his thoughts.
"As for the powers bestowed upon you there are several that you've gained due to mastery of those trinkets. The skills granted by the rock you have already you have utilized Soul Summoning, the ability to summon spirits, as well as Soul Burial, the ability to release spirits from the living world.
The stick upon being absorbed repaired the damage from the suppression of your magical core. The cloak, granted you a basic level of stealth via invisibility, however that is yet another ability that will improve over time."
Harry said nothing, for the most part those abilities of the Hallows were known to him, though he hadn't realized what the Elder Wand had done upon being absorbed into his body.
"There are several other abilities you may gain in time. Unfortunately as you are now you are simply too weak to unlock them let alone utilize them. It will be up to you to remedy that problem and as you grow to a suitable level of strength you may in time discover those abilities for yourself.
One that I will tell you is Detection, the ability to sense magic. It is one that all who use magic possess though one that has been forgotten, the basic level is what lets you see magic and magical creatures however as stated that is the basic level and thus can be further developed."
"The way you talk about these abilities, you're talking about something other than me reaching my magical maturity aren't you." Said Harry frowning.
"Whilst they were certainly innovative in their interpretation of Magic, the wand wavers of your world have hardly scratched the surface of what Magic is truly capable of. Contrary to what they believe your world is yet to see a true battle mage though their interpretation of one was certainly interesting.
In answer of your question Magic is part of your body like a muscle, it can grow stronger or weaker with usage. Your people focused too much on magical ability itself and neglected the body as such magically they have only seen partial gains and began to grow weaker over time. With the correct training that deficiency can be corrected."
When Harry awoke it was earlier than he was used to yet somehow he was still fully rested. Truthfully he wanted to treat what happened as a dream, but he knew it happened, he'd actually met and had a civil conversation with the personification of Death. There were questions he'd had that went unanswered but despite that he was content now in that he now understood how to control his powers, specifically the summoning ability so that he didn't keep doing it by accident.
Grabbing his wand from beneath his pillow he cast a quick tempus spell and saw it was barely past five in the morning and thus he still had nearly two hours before he would usually wake up. Stepping out of bed he made a quick trip to the loo and after finishing his business returned to the room and sat himself down in front of his trunk and thus out of the way of anyone who woke up.
Slipping into meditation was easy now after all the practice he'd done to find his animagus forms. However this time instead of doing that he focused on his magic itself trying to find his core itself. He'd never been taught how to tap into his magical core in his classes, just been told it was there and where his magic came from. One of the things he'd come away from his recent meeting with was the knowledge of how to tap into his magical core and what to do when he did.
He didn't know how much time passed but when he opened his eyes he felt energized though he was also covered in a light bit of sweat. The room was still dark and neither Dean's nor Seamus's beds looked like they'd gotten out so he didn't think that much time had passed. He hadn't done any physical exercises since his last year of primary school before coming to Hogwarts and as such found himself struggling through the exercises he'd chosen to start the day 25 squats, push-ups and sit-ups.
Despite the burn caused by the exercise, Harry quickly pushed himself up from the floor and after checking the time found he still had some time to kill. Rooting around a bit in his trunk withdrew some old clothes and put them on before slipping out of the dorm room, up the stairs and out of the empty common room. A quick usage of two of the secret passageways had him emerging near the Room of Requirement and after the obligatory pacing the door appeared allowing him to enter.
Inside he was greeted with an indoor running track with a grass field in the center and one of the walls showing a large clock with the current time showing he still had an hour and a half before he would usually be up. Transfiguring his clothes into a breathable sweatsuit he took off at a jog.
Soon he was running and while not a full speed sprint was still going faster than he'd ran during anything outside of emergencies in years. By the end of his second lap he decided he was done especially as his legs and lungs were burning. Flopping down into the grass he took some time to rest only getting up when the clock showed he only had 30 minutes left before he would usually get up.
Making his way back to the common room was easy enough, though he stopped to dispel the transfiguration on his clothes and after making his way back to his dorm room grabbed the supplies he prepared and headed directly for the showers.
The first week of the new term had been a time of adjustment. Being away from their homes once more and outside of parental supervision many had spent the week trying to temper the flames of their lust. In Gryffindor Tower there had been another bit of adjustment. The effects of publicly exposing and defanging Cormac McLaggen in front of the vast majority of the House were now showing themselves. McLaggen himself had become a shell, he'd lost a lot of respect in the eyes of the House.
While no one had confronted the boy outright since their return to the castle it was clear that he'd lost the popularity he once enjoyed. Conversely Harry, Neville and Ron had all been elevated in the eyes of their housemates and as a consequence so had their bonded, though only Hermione, Katie, Parvati, Sakura and Lavender were really in a position to truly experience it, though even the non-Gryffindor bonded had experienced a bit. For some it was as simple as acknowledging their presence if they spotted them walking the halls or the grounds.
For others it was a bit more extreme for instance Arya Chapman, Gryffindor's female 7th year prefect, had seen Harry in the library walked over and offered to suck his cock right then and there. He'd been so shocked by such a public approach outside of the Lion's Den that she'd taken the opportunity and acted sinking to her knees and crawling beneath the table. From there she'd proceeded to suck his cock for the next half hour before Harry finally exploded in her mouth.
Stacy Nettle and Mya Collins, both 6th years also tried similar tactics in that time. Ron and Neville were also approached but not in as extreme a manner as Harry had been. People also begun seeking his input on things, especially House matters as if he was suddenly an upper prefect. There had also been several requests that he hold another class like the one for Patronus Charm he'd done at the beginning of the school year from some of the Gryffindors and a few inquiries on if he would do so from students from the other Houses.
At the moment Harry found himself sitting at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. The Great Hall was packed full of students, which being a Saturday morning would normally not be the case. Today however wasn't just any Saturday, it was January 10, which meant it was the day that would kick off The Tri-Wizard Quidditch Tournament.
While only one game would be played that day that game would pit Beauxbatons against Durmstrang, which meant people would get to see Viktor Krum play on the Hogwarts pitch. Earnie McMillion from Hufflepuff and Blaise Zabini from Slytherin were running the bets on the entirety of the Quidditch tournament which had Durmstrang as the odds on favorite due in large part to the participation of the International Quidditch star.
While the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons were firmly behind their own teams the students of Hogwarts were more split. Slytherin was for the most part firmly behind Durmstrang with some notable exceptions amongst the House. The other three Houses were split between the two, some of the students were behind Durmstrang once again mostly due to the presence and participation of Victor Krum. Others were for Beauxbatons, and it was amongst this number that the Potter Coven was counted, after all Ciri was one the French team.
The game was set to start at precisely nine o'clock that morning which meant they had nearly two hours before it began. After the game they would be able to visit Hogsmeade, the first time they would be able to do so under the new visitation rules.
While the girls had gone once before just prior to the First Task, Harry had been unable to attend that day due to the fact he'd needed to get a new wand and the other two Hogsmeade days following that had been dedicated to preparing for the Yule Ball and thus had not given him a chance to visit the village.
As usual Harry had a girl sitting on either side of him, on his right Daphne sat with her usual poise, back upright and impeccably dressed as always with not a hair out of place. Despite sitting at the center of the Gryffindor table Daphne still projected that same air that the Ice Queen of Slytherin was known for, though a full year before she originally established it if he remembered correctly. On his left Katie projected a much more relaxed image, leaning into his side and resting her head on his shoulder.
Hermione sat on the other side of the table framed between Parvati and Padma, Susan rather than sit with them was over at the Hufflepuff table with Hannah sitting on either side of Megan Jones. She and Dean Thomas apparently decided to give dating a try after the Yule Ball. Outside of the bonded couples those two were the first legit new dating couple since the LPA went into effect, though it helped that Megan was an Enchantress level witch, even if she only barely passed the threshold there were very few wizards at her level and only Harry was above her.
Ciri and Fleur were also missing though that was due to the fact that both were sitting beside their friend Gisele who was also newly bonded though not to Viktor Krum. Sue Li was currently standing near the Head Table speaking with Professors Flitwick and Inkwood; at least until they broke up and she made her way back to the Gryffindor table taking the seat beside Katie once more.
"So Professor Flitwick doesn't have any books covering wand-lore. However Professor Inkwood thinks the origins of wands is a fascinating subject and stated he'd check his sources and see what he could find." Said Sue Li.
"Will you tell us what's got you so interested in wands now?" questioned Hermione.
"I just think that it's odd. Wands are a central part of our ability to wield magic but all anyone knows is they were a replacement for staffs. We know they allow us to cast and shape our magic but how and why did we need them in the first place. Why is it that we can use magic with wands but can't do anything but accidental magic without them?" questioned Harry.
"We know wandless magic is possible thanks to Ciri's memories. If that's the case why does everyone believe it's impossible for us but every other magical race don't need wands." Said Harry over the bond.
"You have a theory." Said Daphne in return.
"What if wands are drawing out our power. None of our classes ever went into how to actually tap into and manipulate our magic, just straight into using it. What if that's one of the reasons for why we are so weak as a people." At this the bond went silent for all of a few seconds before Harry felt every one of the girls dive into the bond in full.
The creature formerly known as Voldemort spent much of his time within his possessed homunculus body sleeping. As the body was that of a baby there wasn't much else he actually could do, but more importantly sleeping helped him conserve his power so that it wouldn't burn out his current vessel too soon. Of course being what it was the body would eventually decay and fall apart no matter what he did, however sleeping helped to stave off that inevitable conclusion.
He knew for sure that he was currently asleep, there was no other reason for why he currently found himself standing in his adult, pre-ritual enhanced body. Looking around himself he also knew that this was more than a dream, he felt a keen sense of awareness that he would never associate with a dream.
There was an ominous glow in the distance that caused him to scowl as he felt distinctly like he was being summoned, an idea he despised. He was Lord Voldemort; it was he who summoned others not the other way around. Regardless he found himself almost marching towards the glow and before long found himself standing at what appeared to be the mouth of a cave.
"So you are the one I sensed." Came a deep, sinister voice that may have caused a lesser man to shiver, Voldemort however stood unmoved.
"Such a malevolent soul to reach me even here. Yes I understand it now. You crave power above all else, enough to even carve away pieces of your very soul. Yet you cling to life, so much so that you survive even in your current state. While not purposeful you have completed many of the steps necessary. Very well let us see if you are worthy enough to inherit the power you crave."
Before he could comment he found himself surrounded and quickly engulfed by red energy. Then Lord Voldemort, the most evil and feared Dark Wizard in the recent memory of the British Isles screamed.
Dora was sitting in the auror bullpen bored out of her mind when Harry's voice had come over the bond. She like the rest of the girls had been unable to resist the urge to dive fully into the bond and upon emerging had risen from her seat and gone directly into Frank's office to relay Harry's theory.
Before she knew it she found herself within the Department of Mysteries alongside Frank and Amelia across from the man she recognized as Jasper Truman thanks to the memories of Harry's meeting with the man and the freaking Minister of Magic William Silverthorne.
"That is a troubling theory and will indeed require investigation." Said Truman.
"Make finding out a priority. If true the discovery could go a long way in helping us recover a bit of our reputation amongst the international community." Said Silverthorne.
"Do you think that could cause them to pull the plug on the LPA?" questioned Dora.
"No, we're stuck in this now. Even if this addresses the power issue there is still the population concern." Said Amelia shaking her head.
"Still this challenges the very foundation of what we know of how our magic works. What if we can grow more powerful even after our Maturity." Said Frank.
"Auror Tonks please relay to your bonded to keep this suspicion private for the time being. Madam Bones if you could read in Madam Pomfrey at Hogwarts. I would appreciate if she would monitor the members of the Potter Coven since I doubt they will refrain from following Heir Potter's example." Said Silverthorne getting a hasty nod from the youngest person in the room.
"It would not be a bad idea to run our own tests, at least on the physical end to determine the correlation between physical fitness and magic. If we could borrow a few members amongst the aurors it would be appreciated." Said Truman.
"How many are you thinking?" questioned Amelia.
"Five should suffice. Any other numbers I'm sure we can come up with in house." Said Truman.
"Frank?" questioned Amelia.
"I can make that work. Auror Tonks would be included in that number since she would be doing it on her own time anyway." Said Frank causing Dora's hair to go from pink to red while she blushed.
"May as well include Shack as well. I've noticed he's been putting on a bit of weight." Said Amelia.
"How long do you need?" questioned Silverthorne.
"Give me a week to get things in motion and I'll get back to you with a plan for the fitness stuff." Said Truman.
Time seemed to move at a fast pace as before they knew it the Potter Coven found themselves sitting within the stands at the Quidditch Pitch. The entire section of the stands they were taking up was filled with either a Potter, Longbottom or Weasley coven member, something made easier as they were in the traditional Gryffindor section. Aside from them students from Beauxbatons were also present as well as the usual contingent of Gryffindor students. Usually the Gryffindor students were joined by Hagrid but today he was in the staff section beside Madam Maxine.
The rest of the stands surround the pitch were also full of people. The students of the three schools were of course all in attendance but also present were parents of the students and anyone else that wanted to personally witness the game. Like the official tasks of the Tri-Wizard Tournament all of the other events were opened for the public to attend, which went a long way to explaining the number of aurors in attendance who stood out easily in their red robes.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Hogwarts and the start of the Tri-Wizard Quidditch Tournament! For those of you who don't know my name is Lee Jordan and due to the special nature of today's event I'm being joined by two Hogwarts alumni who also used to work this booth. First the voice of the Wasps, Nelson Feather!"
"Hello everyone, glad to be back." Said Nelson.
"Also joining us is the voice of the Harpies, Danica Reynards!"
"That's right I'm back! Badger pride!" exclaimed Danica.
"For those of you who are interested we've also got teams of French and Bulgarian commentators who will be covering the game over the wireless. Also as a reminder for those of you who may have forgotten or aren't aware the rules of this tournament state games have a three-hour time limit." Said Nelson.
"That's right. So if the snitch isn't caught whoever has more points at the end of that time wins. But if the score is tied we go into sudden death, one-on-one Chaser versus Keeper just like penalty shots with the teams swapping turns. Whoever scores first wins the game. Now with that done let's talk teams, Danica let's start with Beauxbatons" said Lee Jordan
About twenty minutes into the game Harry realized that even without the breakdown of the teams he would've still understood this was a game of playstyles. Durmstrang played a high intensity defensive style with the Beaters using the bludgers to disrupt plays and Chasers darting about trying to either block or intercept passes.
Their Keeper in Harry's mind wasn't that good, while the score wasn't high he'd let shots through that Harry knew Oliver or Fleet from Hufflepuff would have stopped easily. Beauxbatons by contrast was a passing team. Their defense wasn't bad, but it was clear their strategy revolved around movement.
Initially that meant they were going with passes, the Quaffle never remaining with any one Chaser for more than a few seconds. That had at least been the case until Durmstrang intercepted three straight passes. After that they shifted strategy to speed pushing their brooms and using short tosses when their flight paths were interrupted.
Ciri was having a great game, scoring three of the five goals made against the Durmstrang keeper. Due to their early dominance Durmstrang was up by twenty but Beauxbatons had been able to rally well after the change in strategy and Durmstrang was having trouble keeping up.
Two hours into the game and the score was locked at 70 for both teams. Offensively Ciri was the biggest standout scoring 4 of her teams 7 made shots and pulling off aerial stunts that most of the Potter Coven was almost unanimously positive Harry was to blame for. On the other side Konstantin Dachev, one of Durmstrang's chasers was the biggest threat intercepting five passes and scoring three of their 7 goals.
As for the seekers neither Krum nor Beauxbatons's seeker Beaumont had been able to locate the snitch to this point, though it was clear to see that Krum was the more experienced of the two. Catching the quaffle after a blocked shot by Durmstrang, Ciri shot towards the other side of the field her body low against her broom.
Dropping a few feet allowed her to duck under a bludger that would have slammed into her right side before she ascended to a higher altitude. As she neared the goals on the Durmstrang side of the pitch two of their chasers came right at her and as they closed in for a Body Blow she dropped the quaffle at the last second. The ball was caught easily by her teammate Ève Gaubert who quickly flew up and into the scoring area heading towards the rightmost goal and as the Keeper moved to stop her spun the broom and lobbed the Quaffle at the goal on the left.
"…THE SNITCH! KRUM'S CAUGHT THE SNITCH!"
The exclamation was followed by a cannon blast ending the came just before the quaffle passed through the goal.
It took nearly an hour and a half after the game for Ciri to make her appearance. After cleaning up from the game the teams were surprisingly allowed interviews with journalists from Quidditch magazines from all three territories as well as newspapers. Ciri was surprisingly upbeat when she emerged considering her team lost, though learning about the interviews certainly explained the excitement. Regardless the Potter Coven were amongst the last students of the appropriate age to leave the castle grounds and head to Hogsmeade.
The village of Hogsmeade located in the Scottish Highlands was the first all wizarding village in the UK. To the surprise of no one the village was covered in fresh snow though the cobblestone streets were clear enough for people to walk. The LPA had its effect on the village as well, J. Pippin's Potions for instance was actually advertising fresh Contraceptive Draughts. Other changes could be seen as a few previously abandoned buildings had been converted into new shops.
One of the new shops was a ladies shop which was made obvious as it had mannequins in the windows modeling lingerie. Rather than split up the girls led Harry on a tour of the new shops with two of them on his arm the entire time they wandered the village. Walking into a lingerie store with Fleur and Susan on his arms caused him to blush deeply and he also saw embarrassingly enough he wasn't the only guy inside. Neville for instance looked like he was ready to run.
He was thankful none of the Weasley boys were in the shop as he spotted Ginny holding up a pair of rather skimpy and lacy red panties. She dropped them as if they were on fire when she spotted him before blushing brightly, hastily turning and walking away dragging Luna along with her to the other side of the store. He found the shop sold other things as well, scented candles and oils, lotions, soaps, perfumes and more. Harry didn't know how long they were inside but when they emerged, this time with Parvati and Katie taking up his arms he was blushing even more than before.
The next shop they entered was even worse as they walked into an actual sex store. While it wasn't as bad as the one he and Sirius discovered in Diagon Alley there was still an assortment of sex toys all over the place. Unfortunately that thought conjured the image and location of the place in his mind causing all of the girls to pause and he knew he was doomed to visit that place soon as well. In the end they left with a dozen ring clips to attach leashes to their chokers and spell activated bullet vibrators and nipple pasties. The fact that all of the girls left the store wearing the pasties showed how serious they were about him using them.
They next stop was the Three Broomsticks for an early lunch next and just passing through the doors was a relief. Despite the cold air outside the warmth inside of the inn could be felt as soon as they entered. Then Harry started noticed the first change to the place. Instead of being immediately inside the pub they were in a sort of reception area where a hostess was seated, showing that Madam Rosmerta was no longer the only person working the place.
She wore a long dark green skirt that went down to the ankle with a single long split along the front that exposed brown boots that went about halfway up her calves and nearly the full length of her legs. She matched the skirt with a midriff baring top of the same color that laced closed in the front, held up by straps exposing the top of her chest yet also sported sleeves that left the shoulders bare and went down to just below the elbow.
They were able to check their coats and cloaks in exchange for tickets and then each given wristbands, all of them blue except for Penny who received a red one due to her age. Once that was done they were allowed through the door into the pub proper. Once inside Harry saw the area that made up the ground floor had been expanded, larger than he remembered it being with more tables taking up the additional space. The crowd was as always a mix of students and adults, whereas previously there had been a respectable distance between the two groups there was now more integration, yet another development brought about due to the LPA no doubt.
There were more barmaids inside wearing the same outfit as the hostess and were clearly there to act as more than servers as he could see a few sitting with patrons, some were in booths, another on a stool and a couple were even sitting in the laps either straddling facing someone or facing away from them. A moan had him instinctively looking towards it, which meant looking upwards to one of the bridges that crossed the length of the space on the second level where he found a woman bracing herself against the railing half bent over and bare breasts exposed as someone fucked her from behind.
Moving away from the entrance they made their way further into the pub and into a large circular booth in the left corner of the room. Rather than being forced to slide across the seat the table was broken into sections allowing them to simply walk through the gaps and sit. That's when Harry noticed the subtle magic at play as the space within the booth was actually bigger than it looked as it seemed to extend to fit them all and still give them room.
Menus appeared in front of them as soon as they got settled along with another a slip of paper that rested on top of each menu. Picking up the paper Harry found it was a betting slip for the game between Beauxbatons and Durmstrang with a minimum bet of 7 sickles. None of them bothered placing bets, you had to be 17 to legally bet on magical games and sports, which is why Hogwarts had its own betting pool for the students, the entrance rates were lower but so was the prize for winning.
Madam Rosmerta chose that moment to make her appearance. She stood out from the rest as she wore a long red skirt and her top while similar in design to the rest of the girls on staff fully covered her torso but left a generous amount of cleavage on display.
According to Sirius the woman had been a fixture of the place since she was a Fifth Year when she won the place off the previous owner due to a bet and legend was she'd been part of the same class as McGonagall, though she still looked as if she was only in her mid-twenties.
"Mr. Potter, I'm glad to see you again. I was beginning to think you were avoiding this place." Said Rosmerta.
"No, ma'am I was just kept busy on Hogsmeade days leading up to the Yule Ball." Said Harry.
"Alright well as you can see there have been a few changes. Also as a rule no sex on this floor, if you start feeling frisky go upstairs and the private rooms and those can still be rented. Also next month I'm opening up a third floor which will work as a dance club." Said the woman her words getting several of the girls excited at the prospect.
"Now then what can I get you all?" questioned the woman.