"What?!" the blonde and brunette gasped. "She quit teaching entirely?" Hermione asked.
"Not entirely, just Fourth Year Care class, though she's hesitant to resume the other years just yet. She told Dumbledore as we sat down for lunch that she couldn't take the strange behaviour anymore and promptly refused to teach any more lessons. It's a shame too, she likes teaching that class. Looks like you'll be getting Hagrid back sooner than we anticipated."
"Grubbly-Plank said he was on an assignment for Dumbledore, what was he doing?" Susan asked. McGonagall gave her a look.
"That is for Professor Dumbledore to know," McGonagall said as Pomfrey finished her checkup. "Poppy?"
"They're both fine, other than signs of elevated stress levels, and the…ah, usual effects of their condition, they're both fine, physically. I still recommend letting them skip their class for today. Unfortunately, I can't do anything about the gossip mill as I'm sure that's already working overtime."
"At least Malfoy and his friends aren't here to make it worse," Susan muttered.
"I need to tell Rubeus to be extra careful with the foals around you three, and maybe Mister Potter as well, from now on. What on earth got into those animals? Dumbledore promised to have Hagrid look at them before your next lesson with the unicorns if you continue to study them that is." McGonagall said.
"Have Unicorns ever…acted like this before?" Hermione asked.
"If they have, the wizards or witches involved didn't make it public knowledge. It certainly hasn't happened here before."
"You think…" Susan mused.
"What?" Pomfrey asked.
"You think the Gift might have had something to do with it? I mean, the research material we found hinted that those affected could turn to animals for help if the situation was that dire. Maybe they're aware of it? And they're drawn to us?" Susan clarified. The two elder witches exchanged looks, and Hermione got a thoughtful look on her face.
"If that were true, the older foals, the ones that were approaching maturity, would have offered to let us suck them off." She gave a quick apologetic glance to the older witches, then continued, "Although, considering what happened with the mare today…"
"The Horntail did the same, but Harry wasn't close enough to touch her." Susan shrugged.
"What?" the older witches asked, taken aback.
"Yeah, during the first Task, after Harry gained the trust of the Horntail, she turned around to pick up the golden egg, and when she did, she lifted her tail and flashed her vulva and anus at him, quite deliberately, if what Harry said was true," Susan said.
The two older witches exchanged surprised looks. "I thought she was just stretching," Poppy muttered.
"I don't recall Fleur mentioning any attraction between animals and humans affected by the Gift, but then, we didn't ask, the focus of that discussion was the origin of the curse and the Veela as a species," Hermione said with a shrug. "Might be worth talking to her again. If we can pin her down. Haven't had much time to talk to her."
"It's…worth a shot. When are you three planning to Bond with Mister Potter? If doing so will remedy this situation, I suggest you get to it."
"Professor…how did the staff let things get so bad with Draco and Snape?" Hermione asked. "For years Draco was a little tyrant, and Snape wasn't much better, especially towards Gryffindor. Why wasn't something done sooner?"
McGonagall sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose after taking off her glasses. "I've been asking myself that same question for months now. Since November. The Bylaws protect the Headmasters of the participating schools during the duration of the Tournament, as well as the Champions, from any form of litigation, save for the most serious crimes such as murder. Professor Dumbledore is the Head Administrator of the hosting school, but, I feel, that as soon as the winner of the Tournament is declared, Dumbledore, and likely several of Hogwarts staff, will be at the very least arrested. Whether I will be among that number or not, I cannot say. Only your Aunt knows whose head is headed for the block, Miss Bones. I'm sure recent events are the real reason Madam Umbrage was sent here. The Ministry likely feels it needs to step in, and has made moves to do so under the guise of the Tournament. I guess we will see with her over the coming months."
"I hope she doesn't go after you, Flitwick or Sprout." The girl replied.
"Unfortunately, as Heads of our respective Houses, we're likely under even more scrutiny," McGonagall said, the weight of her words slowly sinking in.
"Do you think Umbridge will be trouble?" Hermione asked.
"It is difficult to say at this point. Just try not to antagonise her or give her anything she can use. Unfortunately, it might already be too late for that given what happened today."
The group fell into silence for a meant, before Hermione decided to change the subject.
"Daphne said her mother is planning to take us all to Gringotts the next Hogsmeade Weekend, so we can use the Goblin's security system to wash this curse off of us," she said.
"You think it will work?" McGonagall asked.
"The theory is sound, but we won't know until we try. We're also taking Luna along, to get that hex on her taken care of," Hermione replied. McGonagall pursed her lips.
"You have two free periods on Wednesday afternoon, yes?" Hermione and Susan nodded.
"Then I will send an owl to Eleanor Greengrass and ask her if she can take you then, after lunch."
"I'm not sure about Luna though," Hermione said.
"You let me worry about Miss Lovegood," McGonagall replied with a smile.
-=-=-=-
The school was still very much talking about the previous day's events the following day. Harry stalked around the castle, shooting dirty looks at anyone who crossed his path and started making various horse noises.
'What the bloody hell did I do to deserve this? First my name comes out of that damned Goblet, then Draco hits me with a curse that makes me constantly horny and have to eat pussy to live, now I've got a Merlin-damned Unicorn mare trying to seduce me in class! And what's worse, she almost succeeded! And for some bloody reason, I can't stop thinking about her, and the more I do, the more turned on I get!' he raged internally, resisting the urge to take a swing at Justin Finch-Fletchley as the Hufflepuff walked past, smirking and making clip-clopping sounds with his tongue, then quickly leaving and laughing.
"Bastard." Harry muttered.
'Calm down dear, you'll stress yourself.' Susan said over the link.
'Can't help it.' He replied.
"Harry Potter?" a voice called a few minutes later after he'd turned into another corridor.
"What now?" he grumbled, turning to see Poppy Sweeting approaching him, looking rather hesitant, yet sporting a disarming smile.
"I was wondering if you want to talk to someone about…yesterday."
"Not particularly. The entire school is making fun of me and I'm not happy about the treatment Hermione and Susan are getting." He replied.
"I'm sorry, I've seen people teasing you guys, it's horrible. I've spoken to a few in Hufflepuff and told them to stop, but I don't think they're listening. Even Cedric has told them to pack it in." Poppy said apologetically.
"Thanks for the effort at least." Harry sighed. Then he looked at her more closely, "You're in Third year, right?"
"Yes." She nodded.
"Right, I kinda missed the Sorting my second year."
"How did you manage that?" she asked.
"Combination of a House Elf making me and my friend late for the Express, so we missed it and had to take his dad's flying car. seen by 7 muggles."
"Oh yeah, I remember that Howler." Poppy cringed.
"It's just…I don't know; that mare has been acting weird around me for weeks now; my friends think it might have something to do with the curse we're all affected by, especially considering what the foals did, but if that were true, it would have happened sooner." Harry said.
"Thought you didn't want to talk about that," Poppy said gently.
Harry shrugged, "Believe me, I'd rather not, but for some reason, I can't put her fully out of my head."
"Have you ever interacted with her before this term?" Poppy asked. Harry got a thoughtful look on his face.
"I think she's the same Unicorn I rescued with Firenze my first year. At the time, we both thought she was dead, but apparently not."
"What happened?" Poppy asked, so he filled her in on the details, leaving out the part about Quirrell being the host of Voldemort's disembodied soul.
"He was attacking Unicorns and drinking their blood?! Was he insane?! I'm glad he's dead! If I'd caught him doing that, I would have killed him myself!" she growled.
Harry smiled wanly.
"Well, I think we might have figured out why she's so keen on you. You saved her life, she must feel she either owes you a life-debt or feels compelled to thank or reward you in some way, and the only way she knows how is…well…offer herself as a potential mate," she blushed.
"That's all well and good, I'll add her to the fanclub." Harry replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "That doesn't explain the thing with the foals going after Sue and Hermione though."
Poppy nodded. "Now that is unusual behaviour, I've never heard of Unicorn foals actively suckling from a woman before, though I suppose it could be feasible in situations where the witch is rearing orphaned foals, but even then, she would usually stick to bottle-feeding." Poppy mused.
"Well, Grubbly-Plank apparently quit teaching Fourth Year Care, so we're likely to get Hagrid back soon, I'm sure he'll know how to stop any future 'incidents'," Harry mused.
"Maybe," Poppy replied. "Look, try not to dwell on it too much, weird is practically to be expected here from what I've seen the past 3 years. I'll see what I can do about getting the others to stop teasing you."
Harry smiled at her, "Thanks Poppy." and with that, the two went their seperate ways.
Diagon Alley, Wednesday afternoon, February 1st
With a rush of green flame, the public Floo access point ignited and disgorged the small group of students and their adult escort. After picking themselves up (at least in Harry's case), they made their way to the bottom of the white steps that led up to the doors, flanked on each side by Goblin guards.
Giving the guards a polite nod, the group passed through the two sets of doors and into the main foyer.
"Which Vault do we go to? We can't just ask them if we can take a shower in their security system." Harry asked.
"We'll use Mum's family Vault. Vault 690." Daphne said as they approached the long table filled with bankers.
"What is your business with Gringotts today?" the rather bored-looking Goblin asked.
"We're here to return some items to the Haddock Vault. Vault 690." Eleanor Greengrass said as she handed over the gold key.
"Follow me then." The Banker took it and moved off towards a door. The group followed behind him.
Pushing the door open, they saw a platform on the ledge of what looked like a cliff, and right in front of it was a quad rail track. Harry of course recognised it immediately and got a queasy feeling in his stomach as the Goblin whistled, and one of the carts rolled into view and came to a stop.
Harry looked at the cart, then at his lovers and Eleanor, wondering how they were glint to do the seating arrangement. There was enough room for all six of them, three per side.
Harry soon found himself sandwiched against the forward railing next to the driver's seat, with Luna on his immediate left, and Hermione on her right. The girl seemed quite comfortable squished in there and gave him a rather out-there smile. "Hello, Harry." Susan snorted on the other side of the cart, which she, Daphne and Eleanor had to climb into by awkwardly chiming over the middle of the cart, which wasn't exactly easy.
Harry gave Luna an awkward smile.
"All settled in? Off we go then." The banker said, and then the cart began to move.
As the various platforms indicating the locations of each vault whizzed past, Harry did his best to ignore the spinning frame as it rotated around the body of the cart, which somehow stayed orientated the right way despite the twisting quad rail track it was following.
"Here it comes," Daphne said. As one the group looked to see the huge waterfall cascading down from above. Harry braced himself, as the cool water washed over him.
He wasn't quite sure what to expect, but he had at least expected something to happen. But there was nothing. No diminished feeling of arousal, no fading tiredness.
His momentary confusion was quickly forgotten, however, when he became acutely aware of the jubilant — and very naked — Luna Lovegood, who was grinning to herself as Hermione on her right suddenly noticed her friend's state.
"Luna! What the hell?!"
The brunette's cry drew the attention of the others in the cart, including the banker, who almost fell out of his seat just as the wheel frame spun around the cart's body. "My word!"
"Luna! Why are you naked?" Eleanor asked, looking over her shoulder at the small blonde, eyes wide.
"Because of the waterfall," Luna said simply as if that explained everything.
"That can't be! The Thief's Downfall isn't supposed to do that!" the poor banker cried, panicking as he pulled back on the controls, bringing the cart to a stop in front of a platform where a Goblin guard stood.
"Vault Number?" the bored-sounding guard asked, raising a brow at the naked human female sitting in the cart, but otherwise said nothing.
"V-Vault Six-Six Hundred and…Ninety…" the banker babbled. The guard nodded and gestured.
"On your way then."
They quickly moved on, and the passengers quickly got back to the issue at hand.
"Luna. Why are you naked? And don't tell us it's because of the waterfall." Hermione asked.
"But it is. It washed off the disillusionment charm I was using. Hopefully washed off the hex as well. Once we get back to Hogwarts, we'll be able to see if it worked, or maybe we can find something in the Vault I can try on, if you don't mind, that is." The blonde replied. Daphne and her mother exchanged a look before Eleanor rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure we'll be able to find something for you."
After maybe 10 or so more minutes of the roller coaster cart ride, at least that was how Hermione described it, the cart came to a stop next to another vault platform.
The entrance to the Vault was a short walk from the platform, and Harry and Hermione took note of the finely worked rock that made up the curved wall of the tunnel that was roughly at most 3 metres across by her rough calculation. Hermione had seen no evidence of mining equipment, and it would have taken something pretty big, like a Tunnel Boring Machine, to dig a tunnel this size. Or a large drill, perhaps, but she hadn't seen any way the Goblins could have easily positioned such machinery to drill into what was essentially a vertical cliff in the underground cavern for this or any other Vault.
"What did you use to dig the tunnel leading to the vault? Or the vault itself? If you don't mind me asking?" She ignored the warning glance from Daphne, Susan and Eleanor, her curiosity overriding her logic.
"Oh, we use Rock Eaters for the tunnelling. They're a subterranean species, well adapted to living and moving around underground, and they're perfectly built for burrowing through loose soil and rock." The banker said happily, clearly not bothered about giving away Gringotts Secrets.
"'Rock Eaters'? I have not heard of that species before. What are they? Giant worms?" Hermione asked.
"No," Eleanor said, her voice carrying an edge to it. "He means dragons. Specifically, a species perfectly adapted to life underground, though they're capable of coming to the surface, their extreme sensitivity to bright light, like sunlight, means they don't do it very often. Usually, only long enough to snatch prey. My ancestors called them Whispering Deaths. Because of the whisper-like noise they would make when they're close by, that would usually give them away before the ground shaking would."
The kids all exchanged looks, though Luna seemed less concerned as she happily walked along, completely unconcerned about the stone floor on her bare feet. Eleanor didn't say anything else, though she silently wondered how many Whispering Deaths the goblins had, and if they had any of their larger, more dangerous cousins hanging around.
She hoped not.
-=-
Eventually, they came to a seemingly dead end when the tunnel opened up into a large room with a metal door set into a frame in the wall with a rather intricate-looking lock. There was a smaller tunnel off to one side.
Harry made a move to step towards the door but Eleanor put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Wait," She whispered.
"There's nothing here," He replied, looking around.
"There is."
Then, Harry's sense of danger was piqued, and he suddenly felt like they were being watched.
The Goblin stepped forward, lifted a whistle to his lips and blew.
They all cringed as the loud whistle echoed off of the high walls, and a hiss answered it; soon, a team of Goblins clad in armour carrying large baskets of fish suddenly came hurrying out of the side entrance.
Harry heard the hiss again and quirked an eyebrow. It wasn't Parseltongue, as the hiss didn't translate for him. The Goblin team paused in front of the door, and then a ripple above the door indicated something moving. Multiple somethings.
"No sudden moves," Eleanor whispered to the group as three large orange-red dragons, each of which looked rather thin and lanky, with an overall length of what Harry guessed was about 50 feet, and a wingspan of 30 feet, with large yellow eyes, a curved horn on their snouts, two lateral horns at the back of their heads. A pair of antennae with leaf-like protrusions extending back from behind their horns, as well as an array of spines down its back and along its tail, which was long, thin and whip-like.
"Are those…" Hermione asked in awe, eyes wide with fascination and a little apprehension.
"Changewings," Daphne whispered, eyes wide.
"They can make themselves invisible?" Harry asked as the Goblins started throwing fish at the dragons, who caught them; then they started moving the carts of fish back towards the side entrance, and the dragons soon followed to keep up.
"Yes. They can change the colour of their scales like a chameleon, though far more effectively. So effectively, they can render themselves virtually invisible, like a living invisibility cloak. They can remain fully concealed while moving. Exactly how they do it isn't known. Changewing scales are actually one of the materials used in making Invisibility cloaks, the other being Demiguise fur. Changewings can also spit highly corrosive acid instead of breathing fire." Eleanor said quietly as the dragons left the chamber, and soon the Banker stepped up to the door and inserted their vault key.
"What's a Demiguise?" Harry whispered.
"A magical ape-like creature that lives in the far east. It can turn invisible and see the future. As Mrs Greengrass said, its fur is used to make Invisibility Cloaks, but they only last about 20 years or so before the fur's magic wears off." Hermione replied. "I'm surprised we haven't covered them yet, actually."
"I think my cloak is older than 20 years, and still works," Harry replied.
"Then there must be something unique about it. Demiguise fur and Changewing scales can both be used, but the fur is easier to get in enough quantities without killing the owner of the material needed," Eleanor replied.
A distinct click-click-click-thunk was heard, and then with the whine of metal hinges that desperately needed oiling, the door slowly opened. When it was fully open, the group slowly walked in, surveying the stacks, piles and collections of various artefacts, books, scrolls, pieces of jewellery, weapons, and even pieces of armour and uniforms, some looking like they dated back nearly a thousand years, or more, a mixture of uniforms and armour ranging from World War 2, all the way back to leather and plated metal and chain-mail sets of armour that wouldn't have looked out of place in the Crusades.
At the back of the Vault, on a display stand, sat three mannequins, each wearing pieces of armour. One seemed to be comprised of dark brown or black leather that, as they got closer, Harry realised was actual dragon-hide armour, though he had no idea from what. There were red skulls painted on the pauldrons, and the belt had a silhouette of a dragon of some sort, that was curled up into a circle. At the top of the armour sat a helmet of some sort, pure black, which only seemed to have two holes for eyes, and several studs on its surface, going up over the forehead and crown, and along the chin-line.
At the feet of the armour, on the silk base of the plinth, sat a sword and scabbard.
The armour to the left of the first set they noticed looked like it had been fashioned with a woman in mind, metal hemispherical pauldrons and leather arm guards, which seemed to have fur lining, a tunic that seemed to be made of dragon-hide and what looked like a leather skirt that seemed to be styled similar to a Greek or Roman Pteruges Harry and Hermione had seen on school trips to museums, — the few that Harry had managed to go on before Hogwarts at least — though these seemed to have metal spikes decorating them, and animal skulls around the belt. A fur-lined hooded cloak hung on the shoulders of the tunic.
Below them was a pair of leather fur-lined boots, that looked pretty nondescript. In front of the boots was an ornate-looking double-bladed axe, with a handle as long as a human arm. The blades looked sleek and polished, almost brand new, with what looked to Hermione like Nordic runes carved into their surfaces, though she couldn't make out the rune set.
The final piece of armour, which was to the right of the first set they noticed, was slightly taller than the other two, and seemed to be a full-body suit made of dragon-hide with fur wrappings and what looked like claws on the bracers, with a fur-lined cape on the shoulders, and a strange blue face mask or helmet, with four horn-like spikes, two large eye holes, and what looked like tusks.
"Wow…" Hermione breathed, staring the the glass case that held all three sets.
"The armour and weapons of the first three humans known to tame, train and ride dragons. Though it was later discovered there was a tribe of warrior women who achieved flight with the aid of baby Razorwhip dragons clinging to their backs." Eleanor said, pointing to each item. "On the right, the armour of Valka Haddock, the Chieftess of a tribe of Vikings credited with being the first humans to learn how to tame and handle dragons, if my family's Grimorem is to be believed. The middle set, the one with the sword, belonged to her son, Hiccup The Great, better known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third-"
"You're kidding!" Harry said, accidentally interrupting her, he couldn't help the incredulous grin that spread across his face, as he turned to look at her, only to notice her looking at him with a stern frown, a brow raised. "Oh, uh, sorry. Continue."
"As I was saying, Hiccup Haddock the Third, first recorded dragon rider, son of Valka and Stoick 'The Vast' Haddock, the Chief of the Hairy Hooligan tribe, and finally, the armour and axe of my maternal ancestor, Astrid Hofferson, the second recorded dragon rider, who eventually became Hiccup's close friend, eventual lover, then wife. They hailed from around the seventh century, and sometime during the 9th century, one of the Haddock sons married a witch, learned of the magical world and became part of it. A few generations ago, my mum's great-grandfather I think, one of his sons was a squib, who fled to Denmark and changed his name to Kullersen, to escape Grindelwald. Kullersen being Danish for 'son of Haddock', then from Denmark, then when the German Blitzkrieg overran Denmark, France and Poland, they made their way to America, where they remain to this day."
"Wait a minute, hold on! You're saying that the first humans to learn to tame, handle, train and ride dragons, were Muggles? And that you have muggle relatives?" Hermione said, eyes wide as she stared at her friend's mother in disbelief.
"Yep. That's something no trained handler alive today will tell you, if they know the true origin of the craft at all. The idea that three muggles were the founders of the profession of dragon handling, is something most pure-bloods just can't fathom. It's not known if the witch this Haddock son married was a pure-blood or not, but she was, at the very least, a muggle-born. Once magic was introduced into the Haddock bloodline, these three armour pieces and weapons were recovered and restored, then enchanted with charms, rune arrays and wards, and then moved in here." Daphne explained, gesturing to each piece. Then paused for a moment.
"As for me having distant relatives in the muggle world, we haven't had any contact with that side of the family for many years, though thanks to an arrangement made with Gringotts, we have been able to keep tabs on them. So we know that side of the family is still around, even if they don't go by 'Haddock' anymore."
She then turned to back to the weapons.
"The sword of Hiccup Haddock was said to be able to burn, so when magic came to the family, the sword was restored along with the armour, and the blade was enchanted to be able to be set alight without melting, by using the piece flint in the cross-guard that used to ignite the fuel source it traditionally used."
"What was the fuel source?" Susan asked.
"A highly flammable, yet extremely sticky substance that was naturally produced by a species of dragon native to Norway, a distant cousin of the Norwegian Ridgeback. This particular dragon could coat its entire body in this substance, which it could then ignite, effectively setting itself on fire as an intimidation tactic."
"How does it coat itself in the gel?" Hermione asked.
"Pores in the skin," Daphne replied.
"Merlin…" Susan breathed.
Nodding, Daphne continued her tale. "Just be thankful you never faced one of those in the First Task, Harry; I'm honestly not sure if you'd have come out of that alive if you had."
She then turned to regard her maternal ancestor's dragon-hide armour and weapon.
"The Axe of Astrid Haddock nee Hofferson. It carries runes meant to keep it perfectly balanced no matter who wields it, and it also has a permanent sharpness ward carved into it, along with a complex set of anti-theft and recall runes, allowing it to be summoned back to the hand of the wielder if it is lost, dropped or thrown. And if it is thrown, it will always hit its target, according to legend. There are also apparently supposed to be some enchantments that make it impossible for anyone without Haddock blood to be able to even pick it up."
"Though since the armour and axe haven't been used in centuries, it's difficult to say for sure if that is true," Eleanor said.
"Remember that Kransen I wore for the Yule Ball?" Daphne asked, the others nodded, "It came from here."
"Speaking of which," Eleanor said, reaching into her robes and pulling out the familiar-looking headband. She then waved her wand at the glass case, and it opened. A second wave of the wand had the Kransen levitated into place on the mannequin's head.
"There. It'll stay there now, until Daphne's wedding day. Traditionally, a Viking shield maiden like Astrid would have worn that headband constantly, but the Hogwarts Uniform didn't allow for it, which is why Daphne didn't wear it all the time."
"Okay, so let's find something to put on Luna and see if that hex has been washed off. Pick something not valuable." Hermione said. Soon, Luna found herself dressed in a simple cotton shirt and skirt, and hastily conjured shoes and socks. Though she didn't look too happy about it.
"Are they uncomfortable?" Eleanor asked, concerned. Luna shook her head.
"She's just upset she had to put clothes on," Susan said with a smirk. Eleanor chuckled.
"Ah, one of those free-spirited types."
"Well, they don't seem to be disintegrating, and they're made of fabric that would have started to degrade by now if the hex was still on you, so looks like that trip through the waterfall worked. Unfortunately, I think Luna is the only one it worked on." Susan said, frustrated. The other teens nodded.
"Yeah, it didn't work on me," Harry said.
"Well, it was a long shot anyway. At least we can cross it off the list now. But hey, the trip wasn't a total loss." Hermione said, giving Luna a gentle smile.
"Alright, let's get you kids back to the castle," Eleanor said, giving her ancestors' relics one final glance before leaving.
"If your family hadn't fled the continent, would you have attended Beauxbatons or Durmstrang?" Harry asked. Eleanor thought carefully as she walked, leading them back to the door.
"I'm not sure, honestly, likely Durmstrang." She replied.
-=-=-=-
Wednesday, February 8th
The week following their visit to Gringotts started thankfully devoid of any embarrassing situations involving Unicorns or any other magical beasts. Hagrid's return to teaching Care of Magical Creatures, fully replacing Grubbly-Plank, saw to that. The first thing the half-giant had done was release the Unicorn mare that seemed to have a crush on Harry back into the forest, along with the foals that had been with her in that class. He'd quickly found replacements, this mare showing decidedly less tolerance for boys; however, even Harry, who had approached as a test and nearly got stabbed by her horn.
Luna hummed to herself as she walked through the corridors on her way to the Hall for lunch. It had been a week since the hex had been washed off of her, and as much as she liked having cotton clothes again, she did miss the casual nudity she'd enjoyed under various illusion charms. Still, her plan was nearly ready; she just had to be sure of the phrasing; she didn't want to get it wrong, after all. While she had started Bonding with Harry, she didn't get to do it as much as she would have liked to. If all went well, her plan would change that.
Her research had been informative. She'd questioned Fleur at length on the subject. Fleur had naturally been happy to answer Luna's questions, which had mainly revolved around certain aspects of Veela physiology and how it differed from that of humans; what she'd learned had truly fascinated her, and, if she were honest with herself, made her extremely jealous.
She'd also questioned Fleur at length, usually at meal times, about the Gift of Aphrodite, how it worked and what it did to those it affected. Fleur had been more hesitant about answering those questions, and when Luna had asked about the cure, what it entailed and what the result was, Fleur had gotten very tight-lipped with her answers.
Luna had got the impression she was treading into taboo territory. Since the Gift was tied to the very origins of their species, it made sense to Luna that Veela as a whole didn't like to talk about it much, at least among outsiders. But Fleur had reluctantly answered Luna's questions and affirmed or denied Luna's various speculations when they were off point.
This led to another question from the girl that Fleur had initially struggled to answer.
If there was a cure for Hermione, Susan and Daphne, why hadn't Fleur told them yet?
The answer Luna had eventually extracted from Fleur had confused the girl.
"Eef zey knew what eet deed, would zey steel want to go zrough wiz eet?" had been Fleur's eventual response.
"I would," Luna had replied casually.
"Luna?" a voice called out to her. She turned, catching sight of Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe and Margot Smythe approaching her, looking rather uncomfortable. Luna paused, tensing in hesitation. These girls had mocked her beliefs over the past few years, always insisting that the creatures she could see did not exist. Despite their claims, she could see swarms of Wrackspurts flitting around their heads as they approached.
At her feet, the 6 legged dog she had taken to calling Jasper, who had the body of a Labrador, the short legs and head of a Corgi and the tail of a Husky, which usually showed her who she could trust and who she could not — by growling at those who were untrustworthy — the same dog that had led her to Harry, Hermione, Susan and Daphne all those months ago, and then guided her to Fleur when she'd started wondering about her current project, growled at them menacingly. Though, of course, the girls couldn't see it.
"Yes?"
The girls came to a stop and exchanged looks, each silently asking the other who should go first.
Finally, Cho spoke first.
"I…we…look Luna…we wanted to apologise."
Luna tilted her head. "For what?"
"For…well…everything. Locking you out of the common room at night…naked…taking your things…the…hex on your gown for the Ball." Marietta said, nervously. Luna Lovegood was known to be one of the school's most aloof and calm people. Many called her air-headed. She'd never been seen arguing or fighting with anyone. She was always calm, some would say eerily so.
But everyone had their snapping point, and the three girls were honestly worried about what Luna might look like if she lost it.
Outwardly, Luna didn't react, just blinked owlishly at them, but internally, she started to seethe.
That gown had belonged to her mum, had been her wedding gown, and had been promised to Luna for her wedding day one day. It had been hand-made by Luna's grandmother, who had died when she was very young, so Luna barely remembered her.
"You destroyed my mum's wedding dress? The one my grandmother made for her?"
The question's flat, eerily calm delivery was scarier to the girls than if Luna had started spitting fire and hurling curses at them. The only indication that Luna was even reacting emotionally was the slight raising of an eyebrow and the narrowing of her grey eyes.
The other girls all flinched at Luna's description of the dress's history and sentimental meaning to her.
"Um…yeah…"
"Why?"
The girls looked at each other, unsure how to answer.
"I'll tell you why," Luna said, not giving them a chance to respond. "You are cowards. You choose to attack someone you perceive as weaker than you or somehow lesser than you just because they can see something you can not. There will be repercussions for this."
The girls seemed to sag with acceptance at her words.
"In the meantime, I will be informing Professor Flitwick of what you have done and let him deal with you in the short term. And I also want none of you to ever speak to me again, or come near me, ever again."
"Well, that's going to be kind of difficult, considering we're in the same House." Cho snorted, rolling her eyes.
'Only for 5 more days.' Luna thought.
This confrontation had solidified things in Luna's mind and set her decision in stone.
Deciding to make good on her demands of them, Luna turned and walked away, fighting the tears that were threatening to fall as her fists started to shake.
-=-
The first of the mannequins shattered as Luna's curse hit it, then another, then another.
Luna stood in the Duelling arena the Room had summoned for her, tears of grief and rage pouring down her face. An inner voice told her, insistently, that she should go seek out her true friends and draw comfort from them, but the rest of her was too angry and grief-stricken and wanted to lash out and break something, and she wanted that something to be wooden dummies, each wearing one of the faces of the three girls who had taken one of the last connections she had with her mother, rather than something that could easily be replaced.
She'd already informed Flitwick of the encounter, and what the girls had admitted to, and he had thanked her for bringing it to his attention and promised he would deal with the matter. She had also then written a short letter to her father. Then she'd gone from the Owlery straight to the Room, where she'd finally let the cork bottling her emotions pop.
After several hours, Luna had left the Room, noting that it was almost dinner. She'd missed a couple of classes, no doubt she'd get detention for that, but she supposed the staff would go easier on her if she explained she had been dealing with some distressing issues that had suddenly come up.
The first time she noticed something had changed was the downright depressed looks on the faces of Chang, Edgecombe and Smythe in the Great Hall that evening. Evidently, Professor Flitwick had already made his displeasure at their actions known.
That night, Luna joined Harry and his group; after explaining the day's events to them, she'd suddenly found herself buried under a pile of arms, embraced in a 3-way hug, then got one from Harry, something she greatly appreciated. Though Hermione had asked her why she hadn't come directly to them so she could vent, and Luna's rather simple reply of: "Better I break something in the Room, than here." Seemed to have been enough to mollify them, though they did extract a promise from her that should anything like that happen again, she was to seek them out for comfort rather than let herself suffer alone.
That night, she had been offered a place in their bed, to which she gladly accepted, and had fallen asleep in an embrace consisting of Hermione, Susan, Daphne and Harry, all four of them as naked as the day they were born, with a truly happy smile on Luna's face, after all, all four of her new bed-mates had taken the time to comfort her. When she'd offered to return the favour, they had politely declined, Harry going as far as saying, while kissing his way up her wide-spread thighs towards her very wet and swollen vulva, "No Luna, this is for you, tonight this is all about you." With no more words, Harry planted a kiss right on Luna's lips, and then set to work, Hermione and Susan soon joined him, and Luna found out what it was like to have three people licking her at once.
And while they did that, Daphne had offered her full breasts to her, which she had gladly accepted and suckled on hungrily.
The next morning, after trying to swallow Harry's penis and suck Hermione, Susan and Daphne dry to the point of dehydration through their vaginas before they'd even gotten out of bed, Luna sat down to breakfast at the Gryffindor table, casting an apologetic glance over to Fleur.
Then the mail arrived.
Surprisingly, there had not been anything in the Prophet about the events in Care of Magical Creatures. Which Harry and his friends were somewhat relieved about. Hagrid had returned to teaching the class the Monday following that class and had taken great care to keep Harry away from the mare, and none of the girls had been eager to get close to the foals this time, despite Hagrid repeatedly assuring them that unicorn foals normally don't try to suckle from human women or girls and that they were perfectly safe to approach.
Still, nobody had taken him up on it.
Harry had privately asked Hagrid why he'd talked to Rita, knowing she had been forbidden from the school grounds. Hagrid had offered a helpless shrug of his giant shoulders by way of apology but hadn't been able to explain, she'd just caught him off guard, and his naturally kind and trusting nature had been exploited.
Harry had just fed the delivery owl a piece of bacon, with the fat trimmed off, of course, when several loud voices boomed through the hall, making almost everyone jump as all eyes turned towards the Ravenclaw table, and the three hovering Howlers that had opened in front of the three white faces of Cho Chang, Marietta Edgecombe and Margot Smythe.
"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR DESTROYING AN IRREPLACEABLE FAMILY HEIRLOOM! DO YOU KNOW THE PAIN AND HUMILIATION YOU CAUSED THAT POOR GIRL?!"
"HOW DARE YOU BRING SUCH SHAME TO THIS FAMILY! WE RAISED YOU BETTER THAN THIS YOUNG LADY…"
"UTTER DISGRACE! WE EXPECT BETTER BEHAVIOUR FROM A FIFTH YEAR! I DARE SAY THIS SHOULD COST YOU YOUR POSITION ON THE HOUSE TEAM…"
Harry, along with most of the rest of the students, and even some staff, winced as the acoustics of the Hall amplified and echoed the screaming voices of the parents of the three girls. The only one who didn't flinch or cringe was Luna, who happily continued to eat her breakfast, all the while imagining the aftermath of her plan, and looking forward to the many, many years she would spend happily drinking Harry Potter's delicious and increasingly voluminous sperm. She'd foregone brushing her teeth that morning just so she could keep the taste of it in her mouth.
At the Ravenclaw table, Fleur had cast a dampening charm on her ears to reduce the pain from the high volume, while she looked at the three Hogwarts girls with a look of utter disgust on her face. Part of her wanted to blast these three bitches with a wave of her allure so powerful that it would effectively vegetate them, leaving them near-comatose, drooling and perpetually horny, never to find relief, but she decided that was too good a fate for them.
A more fitting fate would be that none of them would ever know the pleasures a penis could bring them. Sadly, she couldn't think of a way to do that either.
As a final indignation to the three, as they left the Hall following breakfast, they all suddenly screamed as their uniforms and underwear started to unravel, and in less than a minute, the three girls were huddled to one side, naked and mortified, legs crossed and arms and hands making attempts to preserve their dignity. No one noticed the smirk on Luna's face as she slipped her wand behind her left ear.
-=-=-=-
Luna sat on her bed. Her roommate was fast asleep. She turned and looked at the clock, 11:50 pm. She smiled, ten more minutes, then it would be her 14th birthday.
Luna sucked in a breath and readied herself. She went over the incantation one final time in her head.
"It is time." She whispered.
Smiling serenely, Luna started to sing as she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do. She knew that once the Staff found out, they wouldn't be happy, especially with the warning Amelia Bones had given them, especially considering she was currently interviewing staff members at random, which was putting them all on edge. And the Ministry Toad, as some called her privately, was just unpleasant to be around. Luna did not get positive feelings from that woman. Jasper certainly didn't like her. He started growling when Luna first saw the woman sitting at the Head table.
Luna knew she would likely face detention, but that was okay, as long as it meant she got out of the house she no longer felt a part of, though she would miss having free access to the House Library. She didn't want to risk that whatever her father sent her tomorrow would also go missing. She also couldn't go to classes with Harry and the others, as they were a year ahead of her anyway.
"Happy birthday to me…" Luna started to sing quietly as she leaned back a little and thought back to what she had been told by Fleur, along with all her research, and concentrated, as she held her wand in her main hand, and with her other, she reached down between her legs until her fingers found the warm, smooth lips of her vulva, and she started to gently rub.
"…Happy birthday to me…Happy birthday dear Luna…"
She let out a slight moan and sigh as her pleasure started to build, as she imagined the delights she was soon to be receiving, her fingers working more insistently as her arousal grew. Gripping her wand, she positioned it between her legs and slowly, gently fed the tip into her vagina and gently pushed it in, her muscles clenching around the wood, which was just thick enough to provide the sensation she wanted, though she didn't go very deep.
She recalled the spell, repeating it in her head to make sure she got the pronunciation right. As her pleasure and arousal grew, so did the depths of her strokes; her fingers worked more eagerly over her increasingly wet lips and hardened clit, which she pressed against the smooth handle of her wand, causing her to gasp as she finally rolled back onto her bed. As Luna felt her climax finally start to build, she imagined the hard shaft of wood moving inside her was made of something else.
She imagined the piercing green eyes of the man that shaft would belong to looking down at her with love, acceptance and devotion as he made her a woman, his woman. This was a fantasy she had harboured for a while now, and she knew she wasn't the only one. She'd heard her roommate moan his name, too, when she thought Luna was sleeping.
As she felt her climax finally reach its peak, the clock next to her bed announced the hour and the official arrival of her 14th birthday with a chime, and Luna went rigid as her vagina convulsed around her wand as she thrust it in and out of her, her busy, needy fingers pressing her throbbing clitoris and swollen wet lips against the smooth polished wood, her fingers working overtime as she came with a gasping cry.
"…Happy birthday to MEEE!…aspazesthai arpuias!"
Her vision went white, her body jolted as the spell shot into her vagina, hit her cervix, cascaded over her womb and ovaries, and spread out from there, through her body, and an exquisite sensation of warmth and euphoria washed over her, as the wave of energy travelled outward from her vagina, leaving behind a warm, tingling sensation that immediately sent her body into spasms as a second orgasm, one of the most powerful orgasms she'd ever had, shook her body like an earthquake and Luna passed out. Had her curtains not been silenced, her roommate might have investigated the odd spell casting and would have found a naked, sweaty Luna unconscious on her bed, with the biggest, happiest grin that the girl's face could produce and her wand still buried inside her.
-=-
The next morning, when she woke, Luna groaned. She felt unusually tired and hungry, and horny.
As awareness came to her fully, she smiled as she realised what the arousal burning within her meant.
'It worked!' She mentally cheered.
Gently, she pulled her wand from her body and, with a yawn, sat up and examined herself.
She ran her hands down over her front, feeling her body thrum with arousal as her fingers first touched her hard nipples, her small but firm, and sensitive breasts, her flat stomach which tingles as her fingers ran over it, and down to her lower lips, which were still wet and slightly swollen and tender, her clitoris erect and throbbing as she touched it.
She gasped as a jolt shot through her at the touch; she was surprised at how sensitive she was now. Out of curiosity, Luna gently prodded her hard little nub, hissing as another electric jolt shot through her as it throbbed painfully.
Quickly, she got out of bed, grabbed a towel, and made her way to the Ravenclaw showers.
One shower, and several orgasms in quick succession later, and Luna was walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast with a spring in her step, a serene smile on her face, an ever-dry charm on her skirt, and no knickers or bra.
The only issue was how to inform Professors Flitwick and McGonagall, and corner Harry long enough after breakfast to suck his cock and get her real breakfast.
As she sat down next to Harry, Hermione on his other side, she wriggled in against him, pressing herself in with a smile as she loaded her plate.
"Morning Luna, happy birthday." He said, wrapping an arm around her for a quick hug.
Luna's smile widened as the mail arrived, Hedwig and 4 other owls, one of which was Archimedes, her father's owl, landed in front of her, all carrying a magically shrunken package.
The only ones who had sent her birthday presents in previous years were her father and for a time, Ginny. Now she'd gotten one from her father, Harry, Susan, Daphne, Hermione and Ginny.
From Hermione, she got a book entitled "The Budding Naturalists' Guide to Rare and Exotic Animals all over the world and where to find them!"
From Susan, she got a Wand Holster, Auror grade, complete with a standard set of anti-theft charms. There was also a note attached to it, 'So you don't have to keep it behind your ear'.
"Just so you don't accidentally knock it loose from your ear," Susan said, smiling.
"Thank you, that has been a concern for me lately," Luna replied, remembering that time she'd been locked out of Ravenclaw Tower without her wand.
"Thank you, all of you. This means a lot to me." She said, smiling happily as she slipped the gifts she couldn't wear into her bag after Susan helped her put the holster on her arm.
After breakfast, Luna moved quickly up to the head table to intercept Flitwick. "Professor, may I speak with you quickly?"
"Of course, Miss Lovegood, it will have to be brief; however, I have classes to teach, and you have lessons to attend." Luna nodded in understanding.
"This won't take long, I just wanted to inform you that I'll be spending my nights in Harry's private quarters in Gryffindor Tower from now on."
This made Flitwick draw up short and caught the ear of McGonagall, who was still in earshot as she turned round. "For what reason, Miss Lovegood?"
"Last night, I cast the Gift of Aphrodite on myself." She said casually. "It was a birthday present to myself. I'd planned to do it for a while now, but my encounter with Cho Chang and her friends a week ago finalised my decision."
Flitwick and McGonagall stared at her in shock, before they both face-palmed.
"Oh, Amelia is going to love this…" Flitwick muttered.
"Why? How?" McGonagall asked. Luna blinked at her owlishly, in a way that McGonagall found a little unsettling.
"As I said, I've been planning this for a few months now, I've been doing research, asking Fleur questions, that sort of thing. As for how, well, last night I cast it on myself while masturbating, using my wand like a dildo and—"
"Alright! Sorry I asked…" McGonagall raised a hand, cringing. 'Note to self, be careful about asking direct questions to Luna Lovegood.'
"Why did Miss Delacour not stop you? Did she not warn you of the dangers of this curse?" Flitwick asked.
"She did try to talk me out of it once she realised why I was asking all those questions. But I told her I knew what I was doing. And I do."
The two Professors exchanged looks, then looked back at her with frowns of disappointment. "Miss Lovegood, if things were so bad for you in Ravenclaw, you should have come forward months ago, and we would have tried to rectify the issues then; neither Filius nor myself are like Snape; we would have tried to help you if you'd only trusted us," McGonagall said.
"Perhaps, but recent events have proven that the student body might not be so willing to trust the faculty with serious matters. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find Harry real quick."
Without a bother word, Luna turned and headed for the door, leaving the two stunned Professors in her wake. Despite her best efforts, her delay cost her valuable time, and she failed to reach Harry before the bell for the first classes of the day rang.
"Oh poo." She muttered, as she was forced to divert to her class, the feeling of hunger and arousal still present, and if anything, the thought of what she had planned to do to Harry only made her latter state more prominent, as her vagina seemed to respond by clenching tightly around something that wasn't there, and her clit throbbed, the sensitivity of her labia had seemed to increase nearly 10 fold, and no matter how many times she'd masturbated in the shower, how many orgasms she'd had, it had no effect. She was as horny now as she was right after casting the spell the night before.
For a moment, Luna started to second guess her decision, but then just shrugged. She'd just have to try to ignore it until she got close to Harry.
As the day went on, it turned out that she didn't get close to Harry until after dinner, as right after lunch, she had gotten swept along with her house, and she knew he had Herbology, Care and then double Divination all before Dinner. So, it was at about 5:55 pm when she made her move.
Waiting by the golden statue of the Hogwarts Architect that stood just outside of the antechamber that led to the Great Hall, Luna grabbed Harry's arm, shooting a quick questioning look to the other three girls, who smiled and nodded. She gave Harry a quick smile before dragging him up the staircase to the left of the statue, then at the upper level, she turned left, passed a cabinet that Harry noted had a strange keyhole in the door, then another hard left to a door Harry realised he must have passed thousands of times but never noticed. It had a curved top with what looked like a blackboard set into it and seemed to be surrounded by 10 symbols depicting various magical creatures.
Luna tapped the door with her wand, and a set of numbers appeared. Harry quickly scrutinised them. The top was a 9 inside a circle, which itself was inside a triangle. There was a circle at each point. The bottom left was 2, the top was a picture of what looked to Harry like a Hydra, with three heads, and the bottom right was empty.
The number below it was a 4 in an inverted triangle. The top left had a 0, the top right was empty, and the bottom was 1.
"What the heck is this?" He muttered.
"It's an Arithmancy Door," Luna said casually.
"What does it do? And why haven't I seen it before? I've walked past this section of wall I don't know how many times, and never seen it." Harry said as Luna raised her wand and aimed it at the engraving of what looked to Harry like an ape on the door frame and muttered a Lumos. The number '4' appeared in the empty circle of the top puzzle, then she aimed at the picture of the Hydra and cast Lumos again, and the number 3 appeared in the empty circle of the bottom puzzle. There was a click, and the door swung open, revealing a small room packed with covered chairs, stacked boxes and various odds and ends.
Before Harry could ask what was going on, Luna grabbed his hand and dragged him in, pulling the door shut behind her.
"They're Arithmancy puzzles set up all over the castle. There's nothing that special about them beyond the method used to lock the doors. Only those who are taking Arithmancy know about them; Professor Vector sometimes challenges her students to try and unlock them all and see what they can find in the rooms, as she sometimes hides things related to assignments in the rooms. The puzzles reset and change every midnight." Luna explained.
Harry took a quick look around the small room, there wasn't much there, a few shelves with old dusty books and some old brooms in a rack, and oddly enough a stack of old cauldrons to the right of the door as they entered. There was however a bench in front of what looked like old filing cabinets opposite the door. Luna moved to sit on the bench and quickly reached for his trousers, unceremoniously pulling them down and freeing his erection.
Before Harry could say or do anything, she had already taken the first half of his shaft into her hot wet mouth, her tongue dancing over every square millimetre of flesh it could reach as the girl sucked the rest of his length in with a hungry moan.
She'd used her lips to roll his foreskin back, so when his glans rubbed against her tonsils, she moaned deeply and started to swallow; she then took him deeper until the muscles at the back of her throat started to massage his tip.
She then looked up at him and smiled at him.
"Luna…" Harry said with a gasping moan, "If you wanted to give me a blowjob, all you had to do was ask…"
"Wasn't sure if I'd be able to last until tonight." The girl said as she quickly came off of him to reply, gave his glans a quick kiss, then lick, before she dipped her head and went for his balls.
"Let me know when," she whispered before she started to lick.
'Harry?' Hermione asked over their link.
'It's Luna; looks like she wanted some one-on-one attention…usually I'm the one doing the licking… ohhhh…'
Harry had to admit; Luna seemed particularly enthusiastic as she gently doted on him with loving open-mouthed kisses and licks on first one orb, the other, then she switched to long lazy strokes with her tongue before closing her lips around one of them and gently sucked. He couldn't help himself, so he started to gently thrust his hips forward, Luna giggled as she looked up at him, his shaft resting on her beautiful face.
It didn't take long for his climax to build. Over the past couple of months, especially since Susan and Daphne had got involved, was that his 'fuse' seemed to be getting shorter, while the volume of his output had increased.
It had him a little worried if he was honest with himself.
'We don't care about you having a short fuse, Harry; it's beneficial in some situations. Great for quickies.' Susan said with a giggle.
With a groan, Harry let Luna know that he was about to finish, and she moved up to his tip, closed her lips around it and sucked lovingly as she gently cradled his balls, stroking them. His shaft twitched, then slightly swelled on her tongue, and suddenly her mouth was filled with his warm cream which she hungrily gulped down, the feeling of tiredness and hunger she'd felt all day abating. Several more spurts followed, her cheeks bulging slightly before she gulped again. Eventually, the flow stopped, and she released him, giving his tip one last loving smooching kiss. Then she quickly stood and turned round, pushing him into the seat in her place, unfastening her skirt, and letting it drop.
Harry blinked, staring at her smooth, wet and swollen labia as she raised a foot and put it next to him on the bench, put her hands on the back of his head, and thrust her hips forward. Harry smiled, took hold of her hips, and looked up at her.
"Guess this is more of a special birthday present then?" he asked.
"That, and a new routine for me. I'm going to be sucking your penis a lot from now on."
Harry blinked as her words took a moment to register.
'Oh shit, she didn't…' Hermione said.
'I think she did…' Susan replied.
'Yeah, something seems a bit off.' Daphne said.
"Luna? Are you sure you're feeling okay?" Harry asked, "Didn't cast any spells on yourself recently, did you?"
"Drying charm after I got out of the shower," Luna replied as she pushed her pussy against his face. Harry gave her a gentle kiss and a lick. Luna smiled and hummed as she began to rock her hips. "And a little spell to help me with Bonding with you last night."
'Oh bugger, she did.' Hermione said with a sigh in her voice.
"You cast the Gift on yourself?!" Harry asked or tried to, being that Luna's vulva was being pressed into his mouth.
"I did. Now stop talking and start eating my fanny."
Harry decided that if Luna was going all in, then so was he, so when he started licking again, he also started hissing as his tongue slowly traced between her inner and outer lips, only to grunt in pain as Luna painfully pressed his face into her snatch, even covering his nose. Not that that bothered him much, as his mouth was flooded with liquid treacle tart, which he hungrily gulped down. Deciding that wasn't enough, he then moved his tongue to her opening and started tracing circles around it, smiling to himself as he felt it clench, almost as if she were trying to grab his tongue with it. An impatient whine from his impromptu partner made him smile despite himself. He decided he liked teasing her. He circled her opening again with his tongue, hissing faintly.
Luna reacted by putting her other foot on the bench and, hanging on to the wall for leverage, started to grind against his mouth, letting out little growls each time she did.
"Gonna fuck your face…mmm!"
Harry held her bum in his hands, gently squeezing and massaging the globes of warm muscle as Luna made good on her promise and started to rock her hips more insistently. Soon she was panting and pushing his head back into the wall, making small whine-like grunts and growls as she rolled, thrust, ground and jerked her hips, spreading her legs as wide as she could.
"Stick a finger in me…in my bum…Please…!" she gasped.
When he complied, Luna arched her back and moaned, her muscles squeezing his fingers hard as he gently worked them into her. At the same time, he started to push his tongue into her channel, finally giving her what she wanted. What breaths he could take were full of her warm, beautiful scent. When he started to hiss more forcefully, Luna jerked, going stiff for a moment before her body started to shake, and a second orgasm washed over her, and his mouth was once again flooded, and he eagerly drank her essence down. Finally, after coming down from her high, she stepped down and turned round, giving Harry a wonderful view of her pert cheeks, which he stole a quick kiss of, which made the girl giggle and moan again as she gave her hips a little wiggle, trying to encourage another kiss, which he gave.
"While I'd love for you to lick my bum too, we do need to get to dinner…" Luna smiled as he stood, and she quickly kissed him, moaning again as their tongues briefly duelled; then she stepped back and smiled at him, her face still flushed, before turning to the door and stepping out.
Harry waited a moment, before he followed, wondering how crowded their sleeping arrangements were going to get now that it seemed Luna would be staying full-time.
Not that he minded.
-=-=-=-
Valentine's Day.
At breakfast the following morning, Valentine's Day, Hannah was sat next to Neville at the Gryffindor table, smiling at him affectionately as he shifted in his seat as if he was waiting for something.
Eventually, the mail came, and to Hannah's surprise, an owl landed in front of her carrying two small boxes, which Neville enlarged after untying. Each was about the size of a shoe box. Hannah turned and smiled at Neville after opening the first box to show a selection of her favourite chocolates, and even a few selections from a few muggle brands, according to Neville, picked out with the help of Hermione.
She was about to reach for the second box when it croaked. She arched an eyebrow as a grinning Neville tapped the box with his wand.
The box flipped open, and a pair of bulbous eyes peered over the top at them. They looked to Neville then the croak came again. They turned to Hannah, who was watching it cautiously, before a frog jumped out onto the open lid, reached down into the box, pulled out a small top hat and cane before it stood upright on its back legs, smiled, and started to sing.
"Hello, my baby!
Hello, my honey!
Hello, my ragtime gal!
Send me a kiss by wire
Baby, my heart's on fire!
If you refuse me
Honey, you'll lose me
Then you'll be left alone, oh, baby
Telephone and tell me I'm your own!"
When he was done singing, he dropped the cane and plopped down on all fours in a regular squat, just like any other frog.
Hannah sat, wide-eyed, a look of shock and amusement spreading across her face, whereas Neville looked rather embarrassed. The commotion had attracted the attention of several others at the table, and even some of the other tables, who had turned to look to see what was going on. Hermione was grinning, as were several other muggle-born students; clearly, they were in on whatever prank this was.
"Well, that is…rather original," Hannah said with a smile; she turned to Neville and kissed him deeply.
"It was originally written in 1899, but didn't become well known until 1955." Hermione said before she turned to Neville, "Where did you hear that song? And isn't that Trevor? What did you do to him?"
Finally, Hannah released her death grip on her boyfriend and allowed him to breathe and swear the question. "It's Trevor, I did a bit of transfiguration on him. He wasn't supposed to sing that song. He was supposed to sing a song I wrote."
"You wrote a song for me?" Hannah asked, her eyes tearing up slightly as she felt her heart swell with affection. She was going to be dragging him into either a broom closet or one of those Arithmancy doors today, and he wouldn't be leaving until she'd sucked him dry.
A snort from the table drew the attention of everyone who sat at it who was in earshot.
"Yeah, but honesty, songwriting ain't his strong point. Take it from me, kid, stick to plants, and leave the songwriting and singing to the pros." The frog said, giving Neville an apologetic look. "Incidentally, I'm also available for weddings, christenings, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs."
Harry was about to ask what a 'bar mitzvah' was until an owl dropped a large envelope at his plate and then flew off without waiting for payment. It hadn't been Hedwig. It had been one of the school's owls. Curious, he took out his wand and scanned it. His training with Moody had evidently started to pay off. Finding the envelope clean of any jinxes, he opened it to find it full of magical and animated photographs.
And promptly closed the envelope rather quickly as his face flushed.
"What is it?" Neville asked.
"Nothing!" Harry yelped.
"Someone sending you nudes, Harry?" Dean asked. Hermione reached for the envelope and opened it, noticing the contents. There were a lot of photos, mostly showing the framed crotch of a girl, a redhead judging by the few traces of hair she could see under the rather busy-looking fingers. However, in some other photos, the hand was gone, showing the flushed, wet and aroused lips of the girl who took the shot.
"Susan, did you, by chance, borrow Colin's camera recently?" Hermione asked as she studied the bare legs, arse and red bush in the photos. She needn't have asked, she could easily tell this wasn't Susan. That fact was reinforced when she spied a few of the photos that showed the girl's torso, but not her head, but enough to show her rather small chest, flat stomach and swollen labia, clearly right after an orgasm.
'Who the hell-?' Daphne asked.
'Ginny.' Hermione replied, her brown eyes narrowing as they fixed on the younger redhead, who was doing her best to look inconspicuous as she ate her breakfast.
'How do you know?' Susan asked.
'I've seen her in the shower for the past two years, I know what she looks like naked. Most of these are her, some aren't, and I don't recognise them.'
'Want me to have a word with her?' Harry asked.
'She might take rejection better coming from you, Harry. Then again, it might make her more determined. We'll both talk to her, later today.' Hermione replied.
-=-=-=-
As it turned out, they didn't get a chance to track Ginny down until after Potions.
"Ginny!" Harry called when he saw her walking with some of her friends. They all turned to look at him and Hermione, and then they all giggled, blushing. Harry had to wonder how many of them had contributed to his 'present'.
"Yes, Harry?" She said as they came to a stop, she gave him a nervous, and what she hoped was flirtatious, smile. She completely ignored Hermione's sharp look.
"I think we need to talk. Privately." Harry said. This got more giggles and some "Oooooh!"s from the other girls.
"He means you lot bugger off." Hermione snapped.
"Give us the details later, Gin!" One of the girls called as they left, laughing.
"Yes?" Ginny asked, smiling.
"Just what do you think you were playing at with those photos?" Hermione asked.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Hermione growled. "What if Ron, Fred or George had seen them?"
"They didn't, did they?" Ginny asked, eyes widening, then she cringed, realising too late that she'd just outed herself.
"No, I kept the envelope closed once I realised what was in it. The only others who saw besides me were Hermione, Susan Luna and Daphne." Harry said, crossing his arms. "I just want to know why you did it and who else was in those photos."
"I thought you'd like them, that's all. I mean, you're eating three pussies, what? Two or three times a day? So some photos shouldn't bother you."
"They do when the vagina in said photos belongs to a girl he thinks of as a sister." Hermione countered.
Ginny scoffed. "No, he doesn't."
"Yes, he does. You, your brothers and your parents are the closest thing he's had to a family before he met Sirius and Remus, your family took him in and showed him the magical world outside of Hogwarts. He thinks of Ron, Fred and George as near as brothers, and he thinks of you as a sister. Even though you're 3rd cousins." Hermione said the last part she said more to herself than the confused girl before her.
"Wait, what was that last part?" Harry asked.
"My point is, Harry sees you as a little sister, not as a potential romantic or sexual partner," Hermione said, choosing to ignore Harry's question. Ginny scowled at her.
"Then maybe I should hear that from him!" Ginny snapped, glaring at the older girl, her eyes then turned to Harry, as she struggled to hold back tears, the reality that her private gift to him was being rejected, and any possible future she had envisioned where she was at his side, either as Mrs Potter or Mrs Black, as she knew he was related to Sirius, just as she was — though in her mind, she didn't care about that part — was crumbling before her.
"I'm sorry Ginny, but she's right. I do see you as a little sister, as Ron's little sister. I told you that back in November when you tried to give me a blowjob in that broom closet, remember? And if I'm perfectly honest, the last thing I thought I'd ever see, or even want to see, would be a magical photo of you…masturbating."
Ginny flinched; yes, she recalled him saying that, but at the time, she'd just brushed it off.
"Who are the other girls?" Hermione asked. Ginny shrugged.
"Some older years, mostly, and my friends who volunteered to help me out."
"We're going to need their names, we'd rather not have to tell McGonagall about this, because then I'm sure she'll send a letter home, and the last thing this school needs is to be deafened by the Queen of Howlers, and the last thing I'm sure you want is for her to tell the entire school what you did while she's admonishing you," Hermione said. Ginny momentarily flinched, then scowled at the moniker for her mother, even if Ginny privately agreed with it.
"Don't feel bad, Ginny, there are plenty of other boys in this school for you to choose from. You could have any one of them you want, just be yourself and get to know them." Harry said.
"Fine!" Ginny growled, as she angrily wiped away tears of frustration and fury. She'd just have to try again, Harry would come around, eventually.
So she begrudgingly gave the names of those who had helped her, hoping that McGonagall wouldn't find out and send a letter home to her Howler-Happy mother.
-=-=-=-
As the group, which now included Luna, left the Great Hall, Cedric caught up to them.
"Hey guys, how are things going?"
"Fine, just on our way to a late lesson with Professor Moody, he decided to give us private lessons on defence after the whole thing with Draco, but he's been letting us off the past couple of weeks since the trial," Harry replied.
Cedric nodded, "Yeah, he's a bit of a hard-ass, that one."
"Well, he is an ex-Auror," Susan replied.
"Listened to your Egg yet?" Cedric asked. Harry shook his head.
"I've had so much to deal with lately, I haven't even thought about it."
"Well, don't leave it too long," Cedric replied as the group soon reached the Defence Classroom and Hermione knocked.
"Enter!" came the voice from within.
"Thanks, Cedric. We'll deal with that later after this exercise." Harry grinned. Cedric smiled and retreated. He had homework to finish after all. Anything to distract him from the recent decision he'd made in his personal life regarding Cho Chang. Learning what she and her friends had done to Luna the day before had disgusted him to the point that, for Valentine's Day, his gift to Cho had been to break up with her after breakfast.
It seemed that she and her friends had somehow been struck by the same jinx they had hit Luna with, and were now being forced to wear rather uncomfortable clothes on top of the humiliation of everyone in the Hall seeing them naked after each of them had got a Howler.
-=-=-=-
Moody stumbled back, his shield buckling under the combined assault of the four girls. Potter had been giving them pointers, and they seemed to hit a lot harder than he thought they would. He honestly wasn't sure what he could teach them, but he found himself struggling to come up with ways to counter their apparent skill increase.
As he reached for the flask of Polyjuice and took another sip, under the guise of drinking water, Crouch analysed his situation. He knew the girls were already Bonding with Potter, he could see the magical threads connecting them, just as clearly as he'd seen the aura around Luna the previous morning when she'd entered the Great Hall for breakfast, and he'd realised immediately what she had done.
He figured they were already communicating telepathically. Sadly, the mental arts weren't something he'd focused on during his studies, so he couldn't read their thoughts as well as Snape could have. And that mental connection provided them with a clear advantage, one they were beginning to take note of.
The oddest, and most novel trick had come from Lovegood, who had conjured a feather pillow in front of his face and then made it explode, which had sent him into coughing and sneezing fit, almost so bad his false eye nearly popped out. She'd followed that up by transfiguring…something…that had then proceeded to spank him.
At first, he'd thought about pitting them against each other, but quickly tossed that idea when he realised 4 of the 5 could easily communicate with each other, and there was no way they could prove they weren't, not that he cared about Lovegood getting trounced all that much.
Frankly, the girl creeped him out, especially with the way she looked at him with those wide slowly blinking eyes, and the way she kept telling someone called Jasper to "Stop growling at the man with a peg-leg."
He deflected a stunner from Granger towards Greengrass, who used a hastily conjured mirror to reflect it at him, so he dodged. He answered with a banishing charm that Bones barely missed, the spell clipping her left shoulder and sending her spinning, only to be caught by Potter, who sent a Flipendo back at him. Despite the few weeks they'd skipped on their training, Potter was handling himself rather well, and while he'd done less training with the girls, which he put down to schedule conflicts, they were also doing well, though he figured it was because Potter was helping them.
Technically that was cheating, but there wasn't much he could do about it.
After dodging a few more banishing spells and blasting curses and failing to hit his targets when he retaliated, he finally had enough.
"Alright, that's enough for tonight." He panted, breathing heavily as sweat soaked him. This Polyjuiced body wasn't in as fine a condition as he would have liked. The constant limping with a peg leg was annoying as hell too. With sighs of relief, the others sagged and started to lean into each other. Crouch rolled his eyes.
"Oh, quit complaining, you're all actin' like I made ye run a few laps around the grounds. Don't tempt me."
Then his magical eye turned to Harry, who was breathing hard and taking a drink from a glass of water Susan had conjured. "Figured out your egg clue yet, Potter? Saw Diggory talking to you lot when you got 'ere."
"Cedric dropped a hint. We're going to look into it," Harry replied.
"Hmm, good, good. Took you long enough, the task is next Thursday. They'll be telling you next Monday." Moody said with a faint smile. 'Finally, thought you'd never get it.'
The others looked at each other. That…wasn't a lot of time to research.
"Alright, scram, you've got research to do," Moody growled.
Taking the dismissal for what it was, the exhausted group filed out, leaving Crouch to his thoughts. He'd been made aware of the change in plans for the Task, and while he hadn't been entirely pleased, as any number of things could go wrong during the extra time, it would hopefully help eliminate Potter's competition. He had considered trying to turn Potter against Delacour, Krum, or even Diggory, but had ultimately decided against it, as the girls would easily spot the manipulation for what it was even if Potter did not, and he couldn't risk that. Once again, he found himself cursing that little bastard Malfoy for throwing the proverbial dung bomb into his Master's plans.
'The little shite is getting what he deserves now.' He thought grimly.
A thought crossed his mind, that Malfoy might try to avenge his son during the second Task, and that made Crouch pause. As loathe as he was to admit it, he'd have to try and stick close to Potter during the Task, and take care of anyone who tried to ensure he never reached the finish line.
-=-=-=-
"Champions of heart and skill
Visit our realm if dare you will
Hear yee the cadence of our song
But time passes, tarry not long
Trusted with a treasure are we
Whose loss to you would painful be
Lament you would, and cry and pine
For what was yours is now all mine
Sunset is the appointed hour
To return to the castle tower
For what we have we always hold
Ends now this does our story told"
With a click, muffled by the water of the swimming pool-sized bath, the metallic shell of the water melon-sized egg closed. With confused expressions, the five naked teens surfaced, each taking a moment to shake the water out of their hair and ears.
"Okay, how can we hear what it's saying underwater, yet above it's an illegible shriek?" Harry asked.
"It's Mermaid song. They can only be understood when speaking underwater. It is possible to decipher their language above water, but it's difficult." Hermione said, taking hold of the egg and moving to the edge of the swimming pool-sized bath in their private bathroom.
"'Trusted with a treasure…' 'Whose loss to you would painful be' sounds like you'll have to retrieve something important from them," Daphne said.
"But what? The only material thing that was important to me was my Firebolt, and the dragon took care of that; then there's the Christmas presents I got from all of you, and while, yes, they're all important on a sentimental level, I don't see them being handed over to the Mermaids." Harry replied.
"Us," Luna replied.
"What?" Daphne asked.
"It's us. The treasure he would painfully miss is us."
The others all looked at each other, the younger blonde's logic unfortunately sinking in.
"They wouldn't…" Hermione said, shaking her head.
"Seriously? After the last four years? Putting a 3-headed dog behind a locked door first years are taught how to open their first week here? Then the snake second year, the Dementors last year and covering up Draco and Snape this year? You think they won't stick us at the bottom of the lake for Harry to come and get us as part of this trial?" Daphne asked, incredulously.
"Well, when you put it that way…"
"The song said Sunset is the appointed hour, so what? He has a day to swim around the lake looking for us? Doesn't seem so bad, and I can't see it taking a day, the lake isn't that big. Plus I'm sure the Mermaid village is pretty hard to miss." Susan said.
"Plus I think I'd notice if all of you suddenly went quiet on me," Harry replied.
The girls all exchanged looks, before Hermione finally decided, "Well, for now, we'll concentrate on charms that can help us breathe underwater, the Bubble Head charm is the best option I think. We can check the library over the week and if that fails, we ask the Room for instructions."
"We could just refuse to participate." Daphne ventured.
"I'm sure they've thought of that if they decided to go the hostage route," Harry muttered.
"I wonder who Cedric's hostage will be since he dumped Chang." Daphne mused. The others shrugged.
"I'm tired of all this grim talk, time for some fun," Luna said. She took a breath and dived underwater, heading straight for Harry.