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Chapter Thirty Six: Preparations are Key

Hogwarts was now back in full swing as the third task of the Triwizard Tournament was only two months away. Harry didn’t know what task he’ll be going up against but he ruthlessly prepared. When most students were studying for exams, which Harry fortunately did not have to take, Daphne, Theodore, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione were hard at work researching any kind of spell that might help Harry get through the third task and any unforeseen circumstances that whoever stuck Harry’s name in the goblet that may come along with it.

Harry used his own personal library but Snape had also given in a pass to use the restricted section of the main Hogwarts library. Snape seemed rather willing to let Harry use the restricted section to increase his chances of winning the tournament after Cedric Diggory made a snide remark about Slytherins that Snape managed to overhear. Snape threw the boy in detention for a week, giving him a disadvantage in preparing for the tournament while giving Harry a distinct advantage in the Triwizard, at least over Cedric. Then again no one ever accused Snape of being impartial or fair. Snape never once claimed he was impartial or fair either.

So that lead to this day where Theodore, Daphne, Hermione, Ginny, and Harry were in an empty dungeon classroom, pouring over book after book, looking for anything that might help Harry in surviving the third task of the Triwizard Tournament.

“Look at this one,” commented Hermione leafing through a rather large tome. “/Gelu/, it gives your opponent a severe case of frostbite, paralyzing them so they are unable to move to attack you. Of course, it could be countered by most fire spells.”

Harry pulled out one of his many lists that he was taking notes on.

“We’ll file that under the use the next time a Death Eater jumps me file,” said Harry, scribbling on his parchment. “I appreciate you all taking time out of when you should be studying for exams to help me find things I can use for the third task. Your grades may take a hit but…”

“Don’t worry about it Harry,” said Hermione waving her hand dismissively. “Grades aren’t as important as getting through to the third task prepared and out in one piece.”

“On the plus side, we’ll be sure to get high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts,” said Theodore.

“Yeah by the time we’re done, we’ll know pretty much every deemed acceptable by the Ministry offensive and defensive spell,” said Daphne, thumbing through a book absent mindedly. “We’ve dipped into N.E.W.T. level magic and beginning level Auror magic. We’re the most aware students in the school by a long shot.”

Harry just nodded his head absent mindedly; he had to learn every spell, every curse, every bit of magic that he could find out about for his own survival. The plan for Harry was for him to survive whatever the third task of the Triwizard Tournament was, not necessary win it because winning and losing mattered little to Harry at this time.

“Harry, are you okay?” asked Ginny. She was really worried about Harry, he seemed extremely jumpy and paranoid these days, especially at the third task got closer. It did not seem like he got any sleep in quite a while.

“What?” asked Harry stumbling out of his thoughts about the third task. “No, I’m fine. Just looking over my list of spells that I can use in the third task.”

Ginny dropped the subject quickly, because if Harry wanted to talk about what exactly was troubling him, he would do it when he felt like it and not a second before.

“I think we should stop now, break should be over in five minutes,” said Daphne, consulting her watch.

“We can pick this up later,” said Hermione as she joined the others placing the books back in Harry’s bag.

Harry scribbled down a few more notes before reluctantly putting his work away. He needed a test dummy to practice some of these spells on and the Room of Requirement would be the perfect spot to give Harry the tools he needed. Harry had a feeling this may be the most crucial moment in his entire four years of Hogwarts so far.

Time went on, with Harry preparing for any possible dangerous situation that could possibly happen in the Triwizard Tournament. His knowledge of curses expanded greatly in these many weeks and while he wasn’t quite at Auror level, he might have had knowledge of the average seven year student which put in on par with the other competitors in the Triwizard Tournament.

This all lead to less than a month before the third task. Harry had been informed that Ludo Bagman wanted all the champions to meet at the Quidditch field at Nine O Clock at night for information pertaining to the third task. Crouch was once again absent and Harry had a feeling that he was forgetting something that might have happened that left a clue to Crouch’s condition but he just couldn’t quite grasp exactly what it was.

Harry reached the field a few minutes before the meeting was supposed to take place, the other three champions already there. The three were muttering about what might lay ahead in the third task, shutting Harry out of the conversation. Harry really didn’t care; he wasn’t that keen on forming alliances with the other champions, his only goal was self perseveration and getting through the third task without something bad happening. Harry looked behind him and backed off horrified.

“What in the hell did they do to the most sacred land of the Quidditch Field?” hissed Harry underneath his breath, looking around at the twenty feet high hedges in disgust. They seemed to have been grown into a maze of some sort, with twists and turns through the pathway. A theory developed within Harry’s mind about what the third task may be but he decided to wait for confirmation before jumping to conclusions.

In a flash, Ludo Bagman bounced onto the field, looking rather excited as always. Harry still had the impression that Bagman acted like an overblown cartoon character to get people to notice and pay attention to him.

“Good evening everyone, hope everyone is ready for the third task, happening on the 24th of June,” said Bagman happily. “This task is the grand finale of the Triwizard Tournament and it looks pretty straight forward if I may say so myself. Still, can any of you guess the surprise from what we have here on the Quidditch field?”

No one spoke. Harry knew but he did not really feel like humoring Bagman by saying anything after he defiled the Quidditch field.

“Maze,” grunted Krum breaking the silence.

“That’s absolutely correct!” said Bagman excitedly; giving Harry an impression that Bagman had a future career as a game show host. “Like I said a few moments ago, this task is a pretty straight forward one. The Triwizard Cup will be in the center of the maze. To win this task and get full points, you need to simply get to the counter located in the center of the maze.”

“That’s it,” said Fleur skeptically. “All we have to do is get through the center of ze maze.”

“No, it’s actually not that simple,” said Bagman. “There will be a few varieties of magical creatures that you have to get past. Enchantments will have to be broken and there are a few trick paths that will lead back to the beginning with no way to retrace yourself. Should be exciting shouldn’t it!”

Harry joined the others in nodding politely; even through it was a bit forced. Anything would be excitement when your own neck wasn’t on the line for it.

“I believe that is all we need to be discussing so if you would head back up to the school, that would be excellent,” said Bagman before waving his hand at Harry. “Harry a quick word if you will please.”

The other three champions walked up to the school without another word as Harry wondered what exactly Bagman wanted to talk to him about.

“Yes, Mr. Bagman, what did you want to talk to me about?” asked Harry.

“Just a bit of idle conversation, Harry,” said Bagman. “You’re the youngest champion in the tournament so you would be at a bit of a disadvantage and all. So if you want a few tips, a few pointers to get through the maze. A little preview on some of the obstacles maybe so you can research ways onto counteract them, then I will be more than happy to give you a helping hand.”

“No thanks, Mr. Bagman, I’m fine,” said Harry with a bit of forced politeness.

“Harry, you got thrown into the Tournament when you truly did not want to compete,” said Bagman. “With three other competitors with a few more years of education a head of you, definitely putting you at a right disadvantage. So if I can do anything to help, anything at all, feel free to ask.”

“I’m fine, really, Mr. Bagman,” said Harry.

“Alright Harry but if you change your mind…” said Bagman before walking off leaving Harry alone to ponder why Bagman would be helping.

For a brief moment, Harry wondered if Bagman had put his name in the Goblet of Fire but why would he be trying to help him if he did? Plus, Bagman didn’t seem like the scheming type that would put together a plan. Harry walked back towards the school, thinking about the Triwizard Tournament third task. One thing was for certain, Harry was able to formulate a clearer strategy now that he knew exactly what he had to face off against in the third task. It was less than a month away and Harry was going to go into the maze completely prepared with a strategy to get him out of the maze.

“Three days before the third task Harry,” said Ginny in a tired voice as she was with Harry in the chamber underneath the Slytherin library, making sure her boyfriend didn’t overdo his preparation before the third task. “Don’t you think you should take it easy before you…”

“Ginny, I have to be ready,” said Harry. “You’re supposed to be randomly firing curses at me anyway.”

“Oh I’ll say you’re more than ready…Stupefy!” yelled Ginny but Harry blocked it without a half a second’s hesitation with a shield charm. “See, you know how to block everything I’ve thrown at you…Diffindo!”

“Protego!” muttered Harry, blocking Ginny’s cutting curse. “Yes I know I know how to block anything but one can never be too prepared.”

“Harry, this is insane,” said Ginny before Harry gave her a stern look. “Expello!”

Harry levitated a chair wordlessly in the path, causing the full blunt of the banishing charm to hit that instead of the chair which caused the chair to fly into the wall, breaking into hundreds of tiny pieces of wood. Ginny looked at what had happened in shock, as if she couldn’t believe she hit something that powerful but Harry looked extremely pleased.

“See Ginny, if my reflexes weren’t prepared to block that, I could have been splattered across the wall and all my bones broken,” said Harry.

“It wasn’t that powerful, Harry,” said Ginny modestly.

“Oh yes it was,” said Harry. “Trust me when I say I know when something could be dangerous enough to cause a bit of damage.”

“Well, I do have to admit that my magic packs a bit more of a punch within the past few months,” said Ginny. “I really didn’t think of it but ever since a little after Christmas it seemed as if I was growing in power.”

Harry just nodded; he had a theory on why Ginny might be gaining in power. It was due to the Compatibility Bond that they shared, Harry knew he had to that bond with Ginny, there was no other way. Of course Harry never told Ginny about this bond, mostly because Harry didn’t know enough about Compatibility Bonds to explain it to her fully. All he knew was the two people that shared the bond would be fanatically loyal to each other and would draw upon each others magic.

Harry continued practicing for the third task for about another hour before calling it a night when it was clear that Ginny was getting very irritated with Harry blocking her every attack in the dueling session.

The next morning, as the third task got closer still, the feeling was extremely tense not just because the third task, but because the other students at Hogwarts were working on their exams. Harry woke up early, going down for a quick Breakfast so he could have a few hours to prepare himself for the third task in a mere two days. Of course it had been some time since something extremely bad happened to Harry and it was only a matter of time before something hit the fan.

That morning in the Daily Prophet, Harry saw something that he feared would happen for some time. He had been getting the paper regularly to make sure Darthmorth didn’t make a comeback to sprout his rubbish once more. So far it seemed as if Darthmorth had retired from dragging people’s names through the mud.

The latest article was perhaps one of the most stomach turning pieces the Daily Prophet ever had written.

“Look at this,” hissed Harry angrily to Daphne, Theodore, Hermione, and Ginny one morning.

“It can’t be Darthmorth, you got rid of him and Lucius Malfoy would do everything in his power to make sure he doesn’t come back, because that would throw his son straight into Azkaban if Malfoy broke that agreement with you,” said Hermione logically.

“It doesn’t say its Darthmorth, but it sure reeks of his style,” said Daphne scanning the article with a disgusted look on her face.

The five scanned the article; Harry read it many times and was starting to get a few uneasy looks from some of the other students who had also read the article. Still, Harry felt he had to read it in full one more time, the article was like a car wreck that he couldn’t look away from

The Green Menace: A Daily Prophet Special Report

The Dangerous Truth about Harry Potter’s Secret Family

By The Informant

Just when you thought you knew all the nutcases that threatened the livelihood of all innocent people, more just crop up daily. The latest of the violent terrors that live out there are mean and yes, they are green. Let’s talk Turtles, as in four violent mutated rejects that terrorize the people of New York, while violating the civil liberties of the fair citizens of New York. Popping out of the sewers, they assault unsuspected citizens of New York. Many have had encounters with these vicious creatures, including well respected Muggle New York businessman Oroku Saki, who also has ties to the Wizarding world through his various dealings. Saki says: “These Turtles are a danger to anyone who wants to live an honest, terror free life. They are nothing but trouble for anyone who crosses their path and will not stop their terror on the fair citizens of New York. I fear if they are not kept in check, the danger they possess will spread to other locations.” Sadly, the four mutated Turtle creatures are not the only terror that the poor innocent people they cross have to fear. The mastermind behind the terror of these Turtles is a vicious, blood thirsty mutated rat, only known as Splinter who has been rumored to be an experiment gone wrong by the American Wizarding Government, a government who has been rumored to be attempting to develop secret magical weapons to overthrow established governments like the British Ministry of Magic. No one seems to know where these Turtles and their rat leader would strike next but the most disturbing fact is they got their hands on young Harry Potter at a young age, brainwashing him into following their perverse ideals, taking him away from his rightful guardians Petunia and Vernon Dursley. The Ministry of Magic is taking steps to ensure that Harry Potter will be brought in and deprogrammed from the dangerous ideas that he has developed in what was sure to have been years of terror with this mutated scum, before being returned to his proper guardians, the Dursleys. Potter will be competing in the Triwizard Tournament on June 24/th/ but we wonder what extent the boy would go to win the third task and the Tournament due to the dangerous influence that he went through at the hands of his mutant “family.”

Harry just sat back, holding his breath because he really and truly did not trust himself to speak after reading that utter piece of garbage from the Daily Prophet. A group of first year Ravenclaws shot Harry uneasy looks, as it seemed as if a few people were seeing Harry in a new light due to the unique circumstances of his family. Harry had a distinct impression that his popularity was about to take a slight plunge due to this lovely propaganda piece from the Daily Prophet.

“What is this rubbish about sending you back to the Dursleys?” asked Ginny. “They can’t do that…”

“The only way I’m going back to the Dursleys is in a bodybag,” said Harry in a chilling voice, devoid of any emotion at all and his friends didn’t argue that point because Harry looked deadly serious about the fact that he’d rather die then step one foot into Number Four Privet Drive ever again.

“The only thing I want to know is who in the hell is this Oroku Saki character?” asked Theodore. At the mere mention of Oroku Saki, a look of pure hatred contorted on Harry’s face which Hermione was quick to catch on to.

“You know, don’t you Harry,” said Hermione quietly.

“You’re too smart for your own good Hermione,” said Harry curtly before pulling himself up and walking out of the Great Hall with another word.

Hermione opened her mouth but Ginny cut her off.

“Let it die Hermione,” said Ginny. “Harry will tell you if he wants to and not a second before.”

“But…” said Hermione.

“No,” said Ginny briskly, cutting Hermione off before she could get what she was saying out. “Just let it die.”

Dumbledore sat in his office with an evil smirk on his face. The Daily Prophet article opened a window of opportunity for him. The Wizarding World didn’t take too kindly to things that were different from them for the most part and four giant mutated Turtles and a mutated rat was definitely extremely different. The only reason Dumbledore never went to the Ministry of Magic with the evidence of the Potter boy’s post Dursley living arrangement was that Dumbledore didn’t want to do anything that might damage his credibility but now, Dumbledore had found a way to finally manipulate Harry into the direction where he wanted him to go.

Dumbledore knew exactly who Oroku Saki was and knew he must have had some kind of sinister motive in mind for exposing the Turtles and the rat to the Daily Prophet. Still, Dumbledore could now force a bit of control on Harry, once he got the Ministry of Magic to order Harry back to the Dursleys. The boy would be willing to do anything Dumbledore said to get out of that hell and Dumbledore’s plan would be back into motion. After all, it wasn’t like Potter could legally go anywhere else other than the Dursleys. Black was still on the run, a fugitive due to Dumbledore’s brilliant deception. Lupin was a werewolf and thus had no legal standing to attempt to take the boy in. The mutants were out of the picture and Dumbledore knew Harry Potter had no other living family. Dumbledore made sure of that some years ago, capped off by wiping Lily Potter’s memories clean and living her in that New York alleyway for dead. She had to have expired some time ago and Dumbledore felt it couldn’t have happened to a better person. Lily had always questioned Dumbledore’s word and authority and Dumbledore made her pay the ultimate price.

Nothing would stand in the way of Dumbledore’s plans to take control of Harry Potter.