Harry and Archie sat in silence, the letter they had just received from Stephanie laying open and read on the small table separating their two chairs in front of the Ravenclaw common room's fire place. The former was more silent due to fatigue; training with England had, impossibly, been increased almost tenfold since their first World Cup qualifier match was next week. The latter of the two was confused whether he should feel happy that his very first friend and long time love interest was so happy at her new school, or upset now that he'll probably only get to see her two or three times a year, and only during the summer holidays.
Archie looked forlornly at the several pieces of scented, light blue pieces of parchment for several moments, before deciding to read through it again:
Dear Archie and Harry,
As much as I'm going to miss Archie's, admittedly, sometimes humorous antics and the hours spent mooching off of Harry's hard work in Arithmancy, I truly believe I have ended up in a better place, regardless of the obvious lack of company.
As you both already know, I had to pass an equivalence exam before being accepted in Beauxbatons, because instead of seven years of schooling like Hogwarts, we have only six years of schooling until we sit our graduation exams. Obviously, given that, the curriculum is taught differently and at different times, and as you may imagine, they are currently ahead of the level our class was 'supposed' to be at, making me a little behind, but I'll catch up. Not only that, the compulsory subject list and the elective list are quite different compared to Hogwarts, and I find myself impressed by the selection. Our compulsory subject list includes a Defence class where swordsmanship as well as curses and jinxes are taught, Charms, Transfiguration (which are both pretty much the same), History and a class resembling a combination of Potions and Herbology (I don't know why they didn't just do that at Hogwarts – it makes sense).
As for our electives, they seem to be more geared in preparing us for the real world as much as possible, as well as catering to some hobbies. Subjects like Political and Legal Studies, Business Management, Accounting, Performance Arts, Music, and Ancient Runes are popular choices while we also have Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Astronomy, Self-defence are some of the less popular. I know what you're probably both thinking, 'Why in Merlin's name is a class called 'Self-defence' considered an unpopular class?' the answer is simple, yet embarrassingly infuriating. As the class revolves around learning to physically defend yourself and building up your fitness, the rich and posh who often attend this school see it as beneath them and slave work – which is probably why I chose to take it as one of my electives as well as Arithmancy, Political and Legal studies, Business Management and Accounting. An odd selection, admittedly, but after going through what I did during Hogwarts, one's priorities seem to be altered slightly.
Also, the palace (which is what the school is referred to instead of 'castle') looks like something out of the renaissance period, and it's quite beautiful. Instead of a hall to eat in, we have dining chambers with these beautifully elegant high-back chairs for each of us and expensive looking cutlery. Actually, when I was first given a tour of the palace, I immediately thought Harry must have bought all his room's furniture from the Institute – it wouldn't surprise me you know, they say the craftsmanship on our furniture is unsurpassed and quite expensive…
Instead of houses, we are all randomly assigned to our classes based on our timetables and selected classes, which is sort of similar as people who have similar tastes in subjects are usually paired with you in classes.
Also, no matter which year level you are in, you get assigned a two bedroom dorm room to share with one other girl. The rooms are just beautiful with massive wardrobes, enchanted mirrors, and a beautiful bathroom with small Jacuzzis as well as the usual! Archie, stop thinking perverted thoughts. . .
Archie snorted somewhat sombrely as he re-read that part, conveniently ignoring the flush that had spread over his features at the thought of Stephanie and another beautiful girl sharing a small Jacuzzi. . .
My dorm mate's name is Fleur Delacour; she's a Veela and one of the most beautiful girls I've seen! She keeps telling me that I'm plenty beautiful myself, but I just can't help but feel inferior around her, is that the natural aura Veela exude to other women? Can you tell me Harry? It's really quite annoying sometimes. . .
She's one of the best students in the school, despite her year level. She's the best dueller in the school and her swordsmanship is rivalled by none. It's quite amusing how she's gathered her own fan-club that she completely ignores, or tries to at least. The other girls in the school call her the 'ice queen' because her ignoring them all has given her an image as such, despite how nice she is when you get to know her. In that regard, I think she's just like Harry, except, when you get to know her, she's actually nice and not a bastard (ha-ha).
Oh, and Harry, I don't know if you'll be disturbed by this, but somehow, pictures of you in just your underwear leaked to the media and many (and by many I mean most) of the girls here have huge pinups of you in them on their walls at night. Perhaps you should find out how such pictures were leaked?
Archie chuckled nervously and applied another dose of the anti-swelling tonic he brewed to his lip, for the fat lip that Harry had given him when he read that part of the letter – it was still worth it in his opinion – which hurt like a bitch, he mentally noted that he should try to avoid being punched by a professional chaser in the future.
Also, once a month, fourth years and above are allowed to go into the nearest magical town (Celestial Point) to shop and hang out with friends. This also gives us an opportunity to mingle with the boys from Beauxbatons' boy's campus and party with them should you want to. Our curfew on these nights is one o'clock which is pretty cool. You can imagine the kinds of stories you hear though about these nights, I don't think I'll be going for a while.
I'll talk to you soon, I don't think I'll be able to see you guys during Christmas because I need to take some remedial classes for my electives during the break and summer next year.
With love,
Stephanie
"It's pretty awesome that she's learning self-defence and how to use a sword, better then what we can boast about" Archie grumbled, not sure how to feel about not being able to see Stephanie for so long. It felt like a vice was gripping at his heart and closing ever so slowly, he didn't like it at all.
"Speak for yourself, I've learnt swordsmanship from Remus when I was growing up" he answered tiredly as he sipped at the precious little amount of coke he was able to sneak into Hogwarts via Lizzy, Remus' house-elf.
Archie just stared at him, mouth agape for a few moments "And when were you going to tell me this? And, no offence or anything, but isn't that something purebloods really know about? How did Remus teach you?"
Harry shrugged, as he looked into the fire, ignoring the chatter around them from the other students "It's not really something that comes up in a conversation, I am probably a little out of practise though" he explained "and Remus didn't teach me all that much, I just read the basics out of a book and he let me pretty much make mince meat out of him" he joked, chuckling a little at the memory.
"So you're telling me you've practised pretty much everything a good little pureblood should learn?" he asked with amusement.
He shrugged "Being the last Potter kind of forces me to do these things out of tradition, dancing came kind of easily though due to my Animagus form" he said quietly. He didn't need his fan girls knowing he could dance or anyone knowing he was an Animagus.
The two lapsed in silence once again; only for it to be broken by a third year boy approaching them timidly, ready to dive for cover should Harry try to bite his head off.
"Excuse me, um, Mister Potter sir" he began, Harry chanced a glance at Archie, who seemed to be greatly amused "um, the guys and I were wondering who England would be playing next week in the qualifiers?" he asked nervously, his newfound nervousness having magically appeared at the beginning of the year whenever he addressed Harry.
"Burkina Faso" he answered gruffly, too tired to start any arguments or bite anyone's head off.
"How do you…" he didn't get to finish the question as a glare from Harry shut him up real quick. The action caused Harry's old team mate to laugh as he plopped down beside the duo in the vacant couch.
"No need to be so bitchy Potter" Roger said with a grin, as Harry turned his glare to the handsome boy, who didn't seem to notice or care "I heard they have a really good team this year, you guys confident?" he asked, suddenly sounding serious. Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly from behind his lenses, if anyone else but Roger or his old team mates had asked, he probably would have castrated them, but they had played together for long enough to earn at least some insight to his career, since they helped him get there.
"They rely on their chasers too much, which is usually not so bad, but our chaser team just outclasses them and our seekers are evenly matched, it'll be a long and high scoring game" he predicted, ignoring his grinning ex-team mate who was scribbling down Harry's prediction, probably to place a bet on the game.
"What about you lot? You have Gryffindor later don't you?" Archie asked, as he stretched in his chair and looked out at the morning sun peeking over the mountains surrounding Hogwarts through Ravenclaw tower's huge windows.
"Yeah" he answered enthusiastically "Cho had a real good practise session last night, I think she'll demolish Longbottom" he said with a grin.
"Think?" asked Harry with amusement as he spotted the Asian girl sitting on the other end of the common room talking to her friends "whatever" he got up from his chair with a lot of effort "let me go and get my Potions homework and we'll go to breakfast, where's yours Archie?"
"On my desk under my Potions books" he answered automatically as Harry climbed the stairs to their dorm room. In their room, Harry ignored Anthony Silvers who was lying on his bed reading this month's edition of 'Playwizard' with an obvious tent in his pants. The way the boys in his room passed around those magazines and 'used' them so freely was kind of disturbing to the Quidditch star; he conveniently got disappeared when such instances occurred though.
Harry was surprised when he found Archie's assignment to be far shorter then usual. Wondering if his friend had just forgot to finish his homework; he was surprised to see a perfectly completed essay, one that would match his own standards that answered every question and nothing more.
Archie usually liked to suck up to the Potions professor by adding in completely unnecessary information to his assignments that would show off his knowledge, and it worked, for the most part, as Snape never singled him out to release his frustrations on in class. Harry could only assume that his hero worshipping of the man had all but ended with what happened to Stephanie. . .
Figuring that he, Archie and Cedric would probably be heading to the Quidditch pitch after breakfast, Harry grabbed their scarves and donned some leather gloves and a thick coat for the cold weather before heading back downstairs and to the great hall, Archie following beside him in silence.
Harry, Archie and Cedric were making their way to the Quidditch pitch, the latter of the two talking animatedly while Harry spotted something that caused him to smirk.
"Guys, can you wait for a second?" he asked, the two boys looked at him with confusion, and a little apprehension due to his smirk "I have a bet to cash in on" he elaborated as he made his way towards the strolling Minerva McGonagall dressed in a dark red set of robes and a Gryffindor scarf.
"It's a wonderful morning for Quidditch, wouldn't you agree professor?" Harry asked innocently, falling in stride with the glaring professor.
"Potter, surly you can't expect me to keep up my end. . ."
"I most definitely can" he interrupted, causing the elder woman's eyes to narrow.
"If you'd let me finish, you would know that it would be. . ."
"I agree, quite improper, you probably shouldn't have made that bet" Harry interrupted the steadily angering woman beside him.
"Now see here Potter, I think it fair you release me from such a. . ."
"I disagree" he interrupted once again and used her inattentiveness to catch her unawares with his wand. With a few casual flicks, the students surrounding them, mainly the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, stared in open mouth shock as Harry pocketed his wand again and placed an arm around the Transfiguration professor's shoulder in an overly friendly gesture.
"Why, professor, you look positively smashing" he complimented as the head of Gryffindor was too shocked to speak a word of protest, for she was now wearing sapphire coloured robes lined with bronze thread, a Ravenclaw scarf, and an overly large blue pointer covering her right hand. If the clothing wasn't bad enough, on her cheeks were four blue and bronze stripes, two on each cheek, showing her support to the house of Ravens.
"Potter, reverse what you have done this. . ." she began with a shriek.
"I don't think so professor, you see, we had an agreement, and I do believe that had you won our bet, I'd be holed away right now grading your Transfiguration assignments" he reasoned, as if talking to an infant who had their toy taken away "now why don't you sit with Archades, Cedric and I and enjoy the game, hmm?"
Seeing that she had no way out of this, she devised a plan to make this the last time she'd be humiliated like this.
"I propose another bet!" she countered, as Harry actually let her speak this time "Should Gryffindor win this match, not only will I be off the hook and never have to wear these ridiculous colours again, but you will have to wear Gryffindor colours to every Quidditch game you attend for the rest of your time at Hogwarts, and not only that, should we win, you'll have to go to the upcoming ball with Angelina Johnson!"
Harry looked at her with amusement "Is that all?" he asked sarcastically "Did dear Angelina put you up to this? No matter, but should Ravenclaw win, not only will you have to wear Ravenclaw colours to every Quidditch game for my remaining tenure at Hogwarts, but you will exempt me from all homework assignments from your class – you know full well I don't need them anyway – and give me a permanent waiver to access the Restricted section of the Library whenever I choose to, signed by yourself of course; do we have an accord?"
McGonagall faltered slightly at his demands, and while they weren't overly demanding, considering she had to wear the Ravenclaw colours anyway, the waiver may be hard to get considering she would have to fabricate an actual reason for it. On the plus side though, should Angelina hear what was riding on their victory, she would definitely make sure to win! It wasn't like they could lose anyway, Ravenclaw were fielding rookies and they lost Potter and Ellwood!
"We do" she went to shake his hand, but Harry pulled back last second "having second thoughts Potter? Or mayhap you aren't so confident in your dancing skills, I could teach you, you know" she said, with a tight lipped grin.
"Not at all, professor, I am merely adding a stipulation to our bet" he informed her "Once this match is over, no further bets may be made to back out of the terms required of both of us and you must wear the Ravenclaw colours to this one regardless."
Albeit reluctantly, McGonagall nodded and the two shook hands as a blue light flashed, sealing the deal. Wizarding bets were very much like magical vows in terms of sticking to the terms, however, where you would lose your magic or life should you break a vow, you'd probably only lose galleons when Gringotts was informed of you breaking the terms of the bet; and the magic the flared when their hands shook was a sign that Gringotts already knew of the bets existence.
"Would you care to sit with us then Professor, I'm sure it will be a delightful game" Harry offered with a smirk, only to be turned down by the professor who scowled at him and walked away towards the Gryffindor stands, intent on showing her support by at least sitting with her Lions, even if she were wearing these ridiculous clothes.
"Mate, what the hell just happened?!" Archie said in an awed voice "and why in Merlin's name is McGonagall wearing Ravenclaw colours?" he immediately followed up.
Harry proceeded to tell Cedric and Archie the story of how Harry had made his original bet with McGonagall last year as they made their way up to the Ravenclaw stand.
Archie and Cedric continued to chat about girls, Quidditch and everything in between while Harry silently gazed out around the stadium, waiting for the teams to arrive. Harry noticed, much to his delight, the Gryffindors looking to their head of house with looks of betrayal, anger and confusion while the woman herself was glaring at him from her position beside the commentary box.
Suddenly, roars from the Gryffindor stand could be heard as the scarlet robed students walked out onto the pitch, Longbottom himself sporting a brand-new 'Nimbus 2001' racing broom. It didn't matter what broom he had, even if Cho only had a 'Comet 260', ever since miraculously getting a starting position for the Gryffindor team, he hadn't shown very much promise at all, Malfoy probably had more skill than him while Cedric was the best seeker at Hogwarts by far.
"…arry, Harry, Harry!" his head snapped in Archie's direction when he realized his name was being called.
"What?" he asked, suddenly annoyed that he was ripped from his thoughts.
"You were spacing out, what's up?" he asked his friend, Cedric seemed to be eyeing Cho more then normal now that his conversation with Archie had ended, the girl was currently circling the pitch keeping an eye out for the Snitch while occasionally making dives to disrupt the Gryffindor chasers and intercept passes.
"Thinking what I'm going to do with my waiver" he grinned while Archie frowned.
"Is that all you ever think about? Books? Can't you get a girlfriend or something? I'll only ever have one girlfriend and that isn't happening any time soon, so I need to live vicariously through you!" Archie all but pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.
"You do know that the restricted section has books you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere, don't you?" Harry asked "does 'Moste Potente Potions' ring a bell?"
Archie's eyes lit up at the mentioning of the book that held some of the most useful and powerful potions in existence "Moste Potente Potions, you say?"
Harry mirrored his grin "I do" he said "and so much more. Hogwarts may finally prove to be something other then a waste of my time if I can find some more books on battle charms, transfiguration and ancient runic languages. . ."
"Ancient Runic Languages?" Archie asked with confusion "When have you ever shown an interest in that?"
"I've always shown an interest, it's just that its next to impossible to find valuable texts on the subject" Harry clarified "people like to keep information like that close to their chests, rather annoying if you ask me, but I'd imagine they'd have a wealth of knowledge on the subject in the restricted section" he said, his grin going wider when Roger Davis intercepted the Gryffindor chasers' play and scored a quick goal.
"NICE ONE DAVIS!" Archie cheered "I get that, but why do you want to learn about it?"
Harry looked over to Archie after he finished applauding "Whatever it is that will cure my mother will not be local or easy to find by any means" he began "and Aesculapius' Serpent Staff won't be sitting in some museum, or conveniently enough in the hands of a bad poker playing Goblin either; It's a treasure people would give their lives for."
Archie looked at Harry with amusement "Preaching much?" he joked "you had me at curing your mother, mate" he said, grinning at his friend.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, frowning while his eyes expertly followed the snitch he had spotted not long ago.
"You don't honestly think I'd let you go on this obviously perilous adventure alone, do you?" he asked, grinning at the surprised Harry "you won't be rid of me that easily, besides, I still owe you for saving me from that Vorpala."
Harry didn't respond, but by the small smile gracing his features, Archie didn't think he needed to.
"Hey, what's up with that bludger?" Cedric asked with confusion from beside them, oblivious to their conversation "it looks like its following Longbottom!"
Harry merely smirked at Longbottom's obvious predicament. It looked like someone had cursed that bludger to follow him around, because no matter how much he tried to fly away from it, it would just keep following him.
"Oh my gosh! That thing could kill him at the speeds it's travelling at!" some girl shouted from behind the trio. Harry merely looked to Archie and grinned.
"You think we're that lucky?"
Archie frowned at his friend's cruel sense of humour couldn't help the small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips "I doubt the Headmaster would let anything bad happen to him" he reasoned "right?" he asked, again when no one responded to his comment, now sounding less assured.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night" Harry answered while secretly enjoying the Chosen One's plight "Cho's already caught the Snitch when no one was paying attention, I believe I've won the bet."
Harry looked over to the Gryffindor stands to see a fuming McGonagall glaring heatedly at him, her clothing making her stand out in the sea of red. With a single, over-dramatic, Lockhart like bow, he left the stands and headed back toward the castle early to avoid the masses.
Archie sat in the Ravenclaw common room, finishing up his Charms assignment while waiting for Harry to return from wherever he had disappeared to after the match.
He didn't have to wait long as the door to Ravenclaw tower swung open, allowing Harry entrance holding a small slip of paper, ignoring the stares and finger pointed he naturally garnered no matter where he went these days from his fellow housemates.
"Voila" Harry snapped the waiver, signed with McGonagall's signature in his face before yanking it away so Archie couldn't snatch it out of his hands "she wasn't pleased, let me tell you" Harry joked.
"Where were you? The match ended hours ago, it can't have taken that long to get the waiver" Archie asked, trying not to make a big show of eyeing the slip of paper that Harry began to pocket.
"As I'm sure you've noticed, I went for my run while no one would bother me and all" Harry informed. Not all of his new team's Quidditch training was done with the England team, the coach made sure of that, instructing him to keep fit by going for daily ten kilometre run.
"Is that what that smell is?" Archie asked, wrinkling his nose with distaste "I still don't see why that's necessary for Quidditch players, and how in Merlin's name did you run with those clothes on? You look like you're about to go out on a date!"
"First, you know how much stamina it takes to continuously fly around on a broom and actually pass and shoot the Quaffle, so stop asking" he said, glaring at his friend for saying that he stank – it wasn't that bad – "and I transfigured my clothes while I ran" he informed the boy, while pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance, Archie asked so many stupid questions sometimes!
"Oh, right" he said, sounding rightfully embarrassed "you shouldn't have left the game so soon though, I'm sure you would have enjoyed the show" Archie said with a grin.
"What happened?"
"Longbottom fell off his broom and broke his arm" he said with barely contained mirth.
"Is that all? I was expecting him to break his coccyx or something" Harry muttered, obvious disappointment in his voice.
"Harry, mate, that's not all" Archie began, his grin threatening to split his face in half "after he fell, all the professors went rushing out to see if he was okay, Lockhart being the first one on the scene. . ."
Suddenly, Harry's interest was piqued "This should be funny" he said in anticipation.
"I couldn't hear what was said, but Longbottom looked scared of the twit, and rightfully so, because he waves his wand a few times andvanishes the bones from his arm!"
Harry snorted in amusement, looking around the room and noticing, much to his annoyance, a good majority of the girls eavesdropping on their conversation "at least they weren't broken anymore. . ."
"Yeah" Archie agreed, his voice broken with chuckles "now he has to take a skele-grow potion, not the most pleasant method of regrowing bones, I can assure you."
"Speaking from experience?" Harry asked, with a raised brow.
Archie winced in phantom pain while rubbing his groin "I broke my pelvis when I was younger and playing with Stephanie, she was so fast back then. . ." he trailed off, suddenly all the humour showing through his features vanishing when he remembered his love interest.
"I'm knackered" Harry announced with a yawn, breaking the awkward silence "I'm gonna go take a shower and go to bed, see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, fine, want to start ransacking the restricted section tomorrow?" Archie asked with a grin as Harry nodded absently.
"Yeah, sure, whatever" he answered, glaring at his friend. One thing he definitely didn't want happening was any Ravenclaw, other than the two of them, knowing he had unlimited access to the restricted section of the library.
Suddenly, images of little Charley being mobbed by hundreds of people for his golden ticket to the ever quirky Willy Wonka's chocolate factory flooded his mind, as he suppressed a shiver. He'd have to speak to Archie about keeping a tight lip about the proverbial golden ticket in his pocket.
"Remind me again why we're sneaking into the restricted section when you are well within your rights to be in there?" Archie asked as he and Harry walked towards the library in silence, hidden by a pair of well performed silencing charms to cover the sounds of their footsteps and disillusionment charms to help them blend into their surroundings.
"I told you I don't want everyone else knowing about this, I get enough attention already" Harry whispered to his friend, making sure no one was around to hear a voice coming from nowhere.
"I still think it's stupid, but whatever" Archie shrugged as the two made their way over to Madam Pince, the librarian who guarded her domain with an almost ferocious determination.
"Madam Pince, this is Harry Potter, I have a waiver to go into the restricted section" Harry whispered to her from right in front of her – it was a testament to his skill with the charm that she hadn't noticed him until he spoke.
Pince let out a quiet gasp of shock at hearing a disembodied voice coming from so close to her, but inspected the waiver just the same before squinting at the empty space before her.
"I can barely see an outline of your figures, your work I take it, Mister Potter?" she asked, peering at them through her large lenses.
"Hey, why do you assume it was him and not me?" Archie argued, sounding rather miffed.
"Ah, Archades Montague, I'd recognize that idiotic voice everywhere" she drawled as Archie huffed.
"You'reso not coming to my birthday party anymore" he said, as he crossed his arms over his chest, though the effect was lost on the librarian as they were still quite invisible.
"Ignore him, it's how I stay sane" Harry quipped "if you hear any mysterious noises from the restricted section, or see any books floating out of there, you can rest assured knowing that its just us" Harry assured, not wanting the vindictive librarian drawing attention to them because he borrowed some rare books.
"As long as you check them out with me first before taking them, do as you wish Mister Potter" she said quietly with a small smile. She always liked the quiet and studious child ever since he had asked her about the different sections of the library during his first visit here.
"Thank you" he acknowledged, as the two padded over to the restricted section, ignoring the physical barriers set up and stepping right in.
It seemed they weren't the only ones visiting though as a seventh year Hufflepuff student looked to be searching through the wards section of the restricted selection - probably for his NEWTS. Seventh years could quite easily get temporary waiver for their research assignments, or any thesis they chose to write for their honours or masters in a subject, just by requesting it from the relevant professor, though it was quite rare.
Mainly because all the literature required to pass your NEWT exams, to ministry satisfaction, were easily accessible in the regular section of the library. It was only the truly determined or brilliant that made their way over here into this section to expand their knowledge. A Thousand years of books deemed too advanced for school children lay sorted in these shelves, and Harry couldn't wait to read through them.
"Over here Harry, look, it's the Potions section!" Archie whispered excitedly while dragging Harry by the elbow over to several rows of books "Most Potente Potions, Unstable Concoctions, Battle-worthy Elixirs, To Heal or not to Heal, there's so much here!"
Harry shook his head at his friend's enthusiasm before releasing himself so he could go and look through the hundreds of books on offer himself. He rather doubted he would find anything related to the Serpent Staff, or anything on healing spells or potions that could help his mother in here, mainly because if they existed, he was sure Saint Mungo's would have requested the book long ago. Instead, he busied himself on the numerous books detailing ancient runic languages and their uses in magic.
Archie strolled over to Harry with an armful of texts to find him engrossed in a thick and worn looking tome whose title he couldn't read.
"Having fun then?" Archie asked cheerfully, dumping the five books he was planning on borrowing on the cart which held Harry's ridiculously oversized pile.
Harry made a noncommittal sound of agreement as he continued to read "Did you know the Ancient Egyptians created the basis of the Fidelius charm using runic magic based off their Hieroglyphs?"
Archie just looked at Harry for a few moments, processing that information bit by bit "Wait a second" he finally caught on "couldn't that mean that they hid the majority of their cities and pyramids under the granddaddy of the Fidelius charm?"
Harry looked to his friend, slightly impressed, that he was able to catch his point so quickly "See for yourself" Harry said as he flipped to the appropriate page "this is a map of Ancient Egypt and its surrounding uncharted lands" he explained, shoving the book in Archie's face.
Archie would be the first to admit that he wasn't very good at Geography, or even remotely adequate, but he definitely understood what he was seeing.
"It's big…" he stated, rather matter-of-factly.
"Too big" Harry agreed as Archie continued to inspect the map with a frown.
"That's where Libya and Sudan are supposed to be, right?" he asked, drawing a line with his finger to cut across Egypt's land, where its borders were known to be today.
"Indeed" Harry agreed "now unless twenty percent of Egypt's landmass disappeared off the face of the earth over the last several thousand years, I think it would be safe to say that anything you see on that map, that isn't on today's one, is under their Fidelius charm" he pointed out.
Archie looked at the map for a little while longer, recognizing some places from today's map and not recognizing others for the same reason, before snapping the book closed.
"What good does this do us anyway?" Archie asked, as he handed the book to Harry "If it is under the Fidelius charm, I highly doubt anyone would be alive today that could tell us the secret of its location, so it's useless – for all it matters, the missing land may as well have disappeared off the face of the earth."
"Perhaps" Harry agreed, as he pocketed the book, he had a feeling that map would come in handy in the future.
"Are we done? It's nearly lunch time and we're not the kind of people that can disappear for a whole day without anybody noticing" he pointed out "as a matter of fact, I'm surprised your fan club haven't tracked us down to ask you to the ball again" he had do dodge a cuff to the head from Harry as the two reapplied their 'sneaking' charms and went to see Madam Pince to check their books out.
"Oh come on Harry!" Archie practically begged.
"No."
"Why do you mean, 'No'? Are you saying you wouldn't benefit from this?" he countered.
"Yes."
"You don't even know who's going to be teaching it, it could be Professor Flitwick" he reasoned "aren't you the one always saying to respect him because he was a duelling champion?"
Harry hesitated only for a moment before schooling his features "Doesn't matter, I have an appointment in Burkina Faso tomorrow" he reminded his friend of his Quidditch game.
"But with Slytherin's monster running around and petrifying people, surly you could use the practise!" he tried to persuade his friend with pointless facts.
"Yes, I'm sure 'Slytherin's monster' is a great duellist" he responded dryly "and we don't even know if there is such a thing, stop basing your actions around rumours" he scolded "that's very Gryffindor of you."
Archie sighed in frustration, when Harry didn't want to do something, it was almost impossible to get him to.
"Look, can you just come with me for an hour? If you don't like it, I promise that we'll leave, okay?" Archie asked in a resigned voice, Harry could be so difficult sometimes!
Harry sighed in frustration and deposited Slytherin's diary in his trunk while placing several complicated locking charms on it – the password still eluded him "Fine, but if I don't like it or if I get accosted by idiots, I'm leaving" he warned. Archie grinned widely and grabbed him by the elbow, as if to drag him out.
Harry planted his feet into the ground and resisted easily, it was then that Archie noticed his arms tense and his biceps protrude from his arm, when the hell did that happen? In fact, taking notice of his whole arm, he could see multiple muscles he had only heard of in name protruding from his arm, Quidditch practise definitely agreed with him.
"I am not going out there dressed like this" Harry said "I wouldn't make it to the door" Harry deadpanned, it was then that Archie noticed that Harry was only dressed in some really short football shorts and a singlet. Snickering at the mental image of a pack of she-vultures attacking Harry on his way to the door, he waited for him to get dressed before they made their way to the great hall.
"Wow, I didn't expect to see so many people" Archie mumbled to Harry, as the two stood at the back of the hall and out of sight.
"What did you expect with everyone being as worried as they are?" Harry replied "idiots spreading unfounded rumours about Slytherin's monster aren't helping any either."
"Oh come on Harry, you have to admit that there's something going around and petrifying people" Archie reasoned.
"I know that, you know that, the Professors know that, and so do most of the older students" Harry stated "but it's the younger ones that would listen to whatever is told to them, and rumours are their main source of information."
"So, what…?" Archie asked "you saying they should lie to them?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying" Harry answered "what good does it do to have young children think a monster is on the loose, let alone a monster being controlled by one of the students?"
"I guess you have a point" Archie agreed a little reluctantly. The doors beside them swung open allowing in Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom and Ron Weasley. Being that Harry and Archie were under a disillusionment charm, they stood right beside them without even noticing them, continuing their obviously secret conversation in an environment that they must have thought was secure with all the background noise going around.
"I'm telling you, it wasn't there" Hermione hissed in a whispered voice.
"How are we supposed to get a confession out of Malfoy without the Polyjuice potion?!" Ron countered, his face reddening in anger "you're supposed to be the smart one, think of something!"
"Honestly Ronald, the Polyjuice potion is an extremely advanced potion, I only think I'd be able to brew it and that's if I had the time" she argued "that's more than most would say, I doubt anyone else in Hogwarts could brew it!"
Archie snorted in amusement, which immediately caught the attention of the three second years.
"Did you guys hear that?" Longbottom asked quietly "I thought I heard someone. . ."
"Honestly Nev, there's no one here" Ron sighed "Well, without Most Potente Potions, how else are we going to find out who's petrifying people?"
"You know, Slytherin's monster is probably a snake of some kind, and the only person in the school that can speak to snakes is Harry Potter. . ." Neville said darkly. This time, Harry was the one who snorted in amusement, though it was much quieter then Archie and thus, unheard of by the three second years.
"Harry wouldn't do something like that" Hermione argued, her face flushed in anger.
"Since when are you on a first name basis with 'Harry'?" Ron asked snidely, copying her tone used when saying the Quidditch star's name "That bloody git is gonna cost England the World Cup; I don't see why no one notices it. . ."
"Yeah, he's not even that good at Quidditch" Harry instinctively covered Archie's mouth, or what he hoped was his mouth, knowing he would have given their position away had he been allowed to speak.
"Well. . .I'm not really on a first name basis with Harry Potter. . .it's just. . .never mind!" she sounded extremely flustered "the fact of the matter is, just because he's a Parselmouth and you assume Slytherin's monster is a snake, doesn't make him guilty, honestly!"
"I agree with Nev, it's awfully fishy. . ."
"Hey, who do you think is hosting this club anyway?" Neville asked, changing the subject.
"I don't care, as long as it's not. . ."
There was a collective groan amongst several people when Gilderoy Lockhart appeared from behind a curtain, teeth shining in the light and his cloak billowing extravagantly. He was accompanied by none other then Severus Snape, honestly, Harry didn't know why he even agreed to come.
Raising his arm so the students would stop talking, he called "Gather round all, can you all see me? Can you all hear me? Excellent!"
Harry sent an invisible death glare to his friend, and though Archie couldn't see Harry, he knew that he was being glared at.
"Now, thanks to our excellent Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, I've been allowed to start up this little Duelling Club, just in case you need to defend yourselves just like I have so many times in my life – for more details, see my published works."
"And now, let me introduce to you all, Professor Snape, who has sportingly agreed to be my assistant for this little demonstration" he smiled widely "he tells me he knows a little bit about duelling himself and has agreed to assist me this evening, now never fear children, you'll still have your Potions professor when I'm through with him!"
Harry and Archie figured it was safe to drop their disillusionment charms now that the trio of Gryffindors had joined the crowd of students beside the joined tables acting as a duelling platform.
"You know, I don't think it would be so bad if they finished each other off" Archie mused "you feeling lucky Harry?"
Harry looked to Archie with surprise "Not fond of 'Potions Master Snape' anymore then?" he asked as a dark look crossed Archie's face.
"No" was his simple, uncharacteristic answer.
"Fair enough, but Lockhart really doesn't stand a chance unfortunately, I say we leave and spare ourselves a headache. . ."
"And miss Lockhart getting his ass handed to him?" Archie asked incredulously "I think not!" Harry had to agree with that logic, so he stuck around for that little bit longer.
Harry was actually eager to see what would happen with the look Snape was giving Lockhart; it was obvious the man didn't want to be here.
Lockhart performed an over-the-top bow, his smile never leaving his face while Snape just jerked his head stiffly.
"As you can see, the both of us have performed the standard pre-duel customs and have our wands in the accepted combative position" he announced to the sixty or so students in the hall "on the count of three, we'll cast our first spells – neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course, we can't have Hogwarts without a Potions professor after all" he said with a dazzling smile.
"This will be quick and painful" Harry mumbled as Lockhart did the count down.
"Expelliarmus!" Snape cried, swinging his wand from over his shoulder. He had seen Nymphadora throw better spells than that one; he idly wondered how she was doing.
The Slytherins and majority of the males in the room cheered when Lockhart was sent flying from the duelling platform and against the floor with a sickening crunch.
"Think he's dead?" Archie asked, a little too hopefully.
"We're not that lucky" Harry mumbled, and sure enough, Lockhart got straight back up.
"Excellent!" Lockhart cheered, as he rose on unsteady feet "Professor Snape has just shown us an example of a well performed disarming charm – as you can see, I've seemed to have misplaced my wand. . .ah, thank you miss Brown" he thanked with a large smile as the Gryffindor girl flushed in embarrassment at having his attention glued to her "Yes, an excellent idea to show them that, but if you don't mind me saying, it was painfully obvious what you were about to do, I could have easily blocked it if I wanted to, but I thought it'd be best to let these younglings see the effects of your spell for themselves!"
Snape looked like he wanted to shove a rusty pole up Lockhart's ass, and the man seemed to notice it too, as he yelled out "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come around and place you in pairs, Professor Snape, if you'll assist me?"
Harry and Archie immediately paired up before the professors paired them with others. Snape obviously paired the 'Golden Trio' against his little snakes, but they were mostly ignored by Harry and Archie who were in their own little world.
"Go on, show me what spells you know" Harry urged his friend, who, knowing how good he was with a wand, didn't hesitate in firing off some spells.
"Stupefy!" he said, and Harry was momentarily caught off guard when he had said it fairly quietly and under his breath, however, all it took was a simple shield charm on his behalf to block the spell.
"Been practising silent casting then?" Harry asked his friend, who was grinning sheepishly.
"I see you do it all the time when no one's paying attention, I figured it'd be a useful trick to have" he confessed.
"It is" Harry lectured "it gives you the element of surprise against someone who isn't a Legilimens, because they will rarely know what spell you're casting; for example, you could be firing a string of non-lethal hexes at your opponent, who would lazily block or parry them away thinking less and less of you, whereby you immediately follow it up with something like a killing curse."
Archie was about to lecture him on giving him tactics on using unforgivables until he remembered it was Harry that stopped him from casting one himself not long ago.
"Of course, those spells are an incredible waste of your magical reserves, especially when there's infinitely easier ways to disable someone" he said with a grin as he flicked his wand. Archie nervously turned his head to see a metal spike the size of a baseball bat aimed at his stomach "wouldn't you agree?"
"You're downright scary sometimes, you know that?" Archie said with a nervous gulp. Harry shrugged and vanished the spike.
"I guess, just keep practising the silent casting, it'll pay off in the end" Archie nodded in thanks for the advice, but the two were ripped out of their little conversation when there was a commotion at the duelling stage.
"Dear, dear, I think I better teach you all how to block unfriendly spells" he said, flustered in the middle of the hall "let's have a volunteer pair come up for a demonstration. . ."
"I nominate Malfoy and Longbottom" Snape's cool voice resounded out in the hall.
"Yes, excellent idea, now if you two would come up to the stage?" he said with a smile. Malfoy strutted up while listening to something Snape was whispering in his ear, whole Longbottom looked to Lockhart in anger when he did something that made his wand fly out of his own hand.
"Scared, Longbottom?" Malfoy taunted the Boy-who-lived.
"As if Malfoy" Longbottom countered.
"Just do what I did my boy" Lockhart encouraged.
"What? Drop my wand?" Neville replied grumpily, but Lockhart wasn't listening.
"Okay, there – two – one – go!" he shouted.
Malfoy quickly raised his wand and bellowed his spell "Serpensortia!"
Much to the surprise of everyone of everyone in the hall, a large black snake exploded out of Malfoy's wand and landed heavily between the two of them, ready to strike at the Gryffindor.
"Now, that's a useful spell" Harry complimented, already formulating ideas to utilizing such a spell with his Parseltongue ability.
"Stand back Longbottom" Snape drawled as he drew his wand, enjoying the look of terror on the boy's pudgy features "I'll get rid of it. . ."
"Allow me!" Lockhart tried to enter the scene valiantly, but his actions proved to be anything but. Brandishing his wand, he shot a spell at the snake which launched it ten feet in the air before it landed on the ground with a meaty thump. Enraged, the snake exposed its fangs and prepared to strike out at the closest target, which happened to be a Hufflepuff second-year.
Before Harry or Snape could react, Longbottom yelled out to the snake in a hissing language only Harry could understand.
"Stop! Leave him alone!" he ordered, and miraculously, only to Longbottom at least, the snake stopped its attack. Gasps were heard throughout the hall when Neville was heard speaking the snake language while Harry smirked in amusement.
"Oh this just gets better and better" Archie said to him, as the two vacated the premises before someone decided to pin the blame on the only other Parselmouth in the room.
Archie sat alone in the Ravenclaw common room waiting for Harry to come back to the castle. He had received a Floo call earlier from his friend saying that he would be hanging around the stadium for a few more hours, participating in the mandatory press conferences and doing whatever else was required of the team before arriving back at the castle via the Floo at the Three Broomsticks.
Suddenly, the common room door swung open silently, allowing in an exhausted looking Harry carrying a duffle bag over his shoulder and a two litre bottle of coke in his hand. Aside from what he was carrying, he looked like he had just arrived off the set of a modelling shoot, especially with the way his hair was done and the clothes he was wearing.
"Did you know 'Coca-Cola' has franchises in the magical world too?" Harry immediately asked, with a grin "I just signed on to be their new poster-boy until the world-cup is over" he said, as he sat down heavily on the seat beside him.
"Poster-boy?" Archie asked incredulously "I never figured you for the type . . . at all" he confessed "As a matter of fact I was expecting you to kill the first person that asked."
"Kill someone working for Coca-cola? Are you mad?" Harry asked incredulously, as he transfigured two cushions into glasses for himself and Archie before pouring a glass for the both of them "especially when they have given me five, forever lasting, and constantly cooled bottles of their most popular drinks?" he asked as he set the bottle down.
Archie watched with awe as the liquid in the bottle seemed to rise and refill as if it hadn't even been opened "Not to mention that it never goes flat and the shit load of money they gave me."
"Of course" Archie replied with a grin as he eyed the glass wearily. The glare Harry was giving him was enough incentive though to just take a sip of the drink, so he wouldn't insult him or anything. . .
"You know" Archie said, not quite used to the acidic taste "that's not half bad" he said appreciatively "and you have a never ending supply now, so you can't bitch if I have some when I like."
Harry didn't respond, opting to just clink glasses with his friend.
"So, are you going to tell me how the game went?" Archie asked, suddenly remembering why his friend had left in the first place "People are going to be talking about it all day tomorrow regardless of the result, I'd imagine. . ."
"Yeah, we won" Harry informed him "six hundred and seventy to four hundred and forty, they caught the snitch."
"Wow . . . are keepers that bad in the international league, or are you guys just that good?" he asked, impressed with the unusually high score.
"We're pretty good, I think" Harry agreed "but the keepers aren't bad, believe me, if they were, the scores for both teams would be in the thousands, I swear, Diakite must have saved fifty of my shots, he's definitely the best keeper I've ever seen" Harry complimented the Burkinabé keeper.
"But you guys scored sixty seven goals" Archie pointed out incredulously.
"Yeah, but we had one hundred and seventy five on-target shots, you need to look at all the stats before making opinions" Harry pointed out breathlessly, he still seemed rather tired.
"How's the difference between school Quidditch and International?" he asked with a smirk while taking another sip of the coke, he was starting to see why Harry liked it so much.
"It's on a whole other level" Harry said, sounding as close to excited and energetic as he'd ever been "obviously, every player on each team is the best of the best the country has to offer, and they prove it every second of the game – I was literally dodging a bludger every 10 seconds, it was insane."
Archie chuckled "At least you guys won, hopefully we can make it to the finals this time" Harry nodded, hoping his one World Cup campaign would yield him the trophy, he was rather competitive when it came to sports.
"Oh, guess what?" Harry began "After our win, this new broom manufacturer approached the our management and presented to them their new prototype broom that's to be released this summer" he began, noticing he had Archie's attention, his friend may not like playing Quidditch, but he certainly liked flying "they call it the Firebolt, and they offered one to each of the players if we used it in all our games" he continued to explain, as Archie looked confused.
"I highly doubt they'd do that, the Nimbus 2001 is the fastest broom on the market and all the national teams are using them. . ."
"Is it?" Harry countered "The Firebolt goes from naught to one fifty in ten seconds and has practically full manoeuvrability no matter what speed you're going at, it will be best and fastest broom on the market and because the company is English, they want us to get first dibs on it" he grinned at Archie's stupefied expression.
"Naught to one fifty in ten seconds?" he questioned in disbelief "that's ridiculous; the Nimbus 2001 doesn't even get that high so quickly!"
"I know, here, check it out" he said with a grin as he reached into his bag and pulled out the broomstick that, by all right, should never fit in such a small bag – he must have charmed it to be bottomless.
Harry dropped the broom in mid-air and Archie was about to scream at him, but to his surprise, it just hovered in the air at waist height.
"This beast sports a streamlined, super-fine handle of ash, treated with a diamond-hard polish and hand-numbered with its own registration number" Harry began to explain as Archie looked on in awe. The body of the broom seemed to be made of rich mahogany and the twigs were kept bundled by a ring of gold which had two foot rests connected to it. There also seemed to be a spongy grip to players wouldn't get sore hands from gripping too hard for long periods of time. "Each individually selected birch twig in the broomtail has been honed to aerodynamic perfection, giving it unsurpassable balance and pinpoint precision – if you hadn't noticed, I'm pretty much reciting the sale's pitch they gave to us, but it left an impression, I tell you."
Archie just nodded, afraid to touch it less he break it. It looked almost ethereal as it hovered in mid air with the fire's light shining off of it.
"How much are these things anyway?" Archie asked, as he ran his hand over the broom and admired the craftsmanship.
"Price on request, they said, and don't worry about breaking it, check this out" Harry said with a grin, acting like a child on Christmas morning. He grabbed the broom out of mid-air and, to Archie's horror, swung it with all his strength against the wall as if he were trying to kill something – surely the broom would break!
To his surprise though, other then a loud thwack, there was no blemishes in the slightest on the broom, let alone it having broken "it has an unbreakable charm on it, you can't break it" he said with a grin. Both boys heard footsteps coming from above and groaned when they saw the shocked expression of Roger Davis, as he eyed his broom.
"What in Merlin's name is that?" Roger asked, probably having been woken up by the sound of the broom making contact with the wall.
Archie took the lead this time, explaining the broom's specifications this time, instead of Harry, and marvelling at how stupid he too must have looked when he was admiring it. They got to talking about the broom, which then lead to England's victory.
"Well done mate!" Roger congratulated "we might just have a chance this time, who are you all playing next?" he asked eagerly.
Harry groaned "Don't remind me" he sighed "we're playing against Brazil, then after that, Czech Republic, the team who scores the most out of the three matches played moves on to the next round, so, we're in the lead by a fair bit at the moment" he explained "Czech Republic beat Brazil, but only just at three hundred to two eighty, so we're in the lead by fair."
Archie winced in sympathy when he heard they'd be playing Brazil "I feel for you mate" he said "Brazil have the nastiest beaters in the world, which makes them the best too, you're going to be dodging a lot more bludgers next game. . ."
Harry nodded with a sigh "Coach upped our training regiment again, it's freaking crazy, but the brooms should help us avoid them easily enough – so, did anything happen while I was gone?"
Archie and Roger chuckled "You mean other than Neville Longbottom being hailed as a dark lord bent on killing Muggleborns? Nothing really. . ." he chuckled while Harry grinned.
"I'm knackered, tell me about it while we head to bed" he said, as he carefully placed his broom, and even more carefully placed his infinite supply of coke back in his duffle bag.
That bottle was priceless!
Harry wasn't exactly in a good mood today. He had arrived home from King's Cross for Christmas holidays knowing that Remus wouldn't be able to pick him up because he said he had prior arrangements.
That wasn't the problem though; the problem was that he had to bear with all the congratulatory praise and notoriety that came with being a now successfulQuidditch star. His more then stellar performance being printed in the Daily Prophet the day after their victory sparked this behaviour, and though he didn't like it one bit, he at least got an infinite supply of coke to go with it.
What really made him pissed though was Lockhart trying to give him 'pointers' while trying to be seen conversing with him as much as possible in public. It really took every bit of will power he had to not punch him in the face – best smile from 'Witch Weekly' or not.
Now though, all he wanted to do was greet Remus, who he hadn't seen in a while, and get some much needed rest before training started anew tomorrow.
Walking through Knockturn Alley, the once dark and uninhabited strip off Diagon Alley, which now sported many more stores and an increase in population all because of the inn, he made his way into Moony Nights and into Remus's room.
In the future, he would remember to knock before entering.
He honestly didn't expect to have to, ever, to be honest. . .
. . .but what was happening before him was evidence to the contrary, for a girl who he immediately recognized as Nymphadora Tonks was looking at him in shock and embarrassment while straddling Remus's lap, who was sitting on the single comfortable couch in his room with his back to the door. Harry just thanked whatever gods that were watching over him that he hadn't arrived a minute later, as Nymphadora was already in just her skirt and bra while Remus was topless. However, her swollen lips and the lipstick marks on Remus's face as he turned to look at who had barged into his room were enough evidence for him to realize what was happening.
Harry closed his eyes and walked back out the door, counted to ten, and re-entered, this time to see Tonks and Remus seated on opposite sides of the room drinking a cup of tea each.
"Nymphadora" he greeted cheerfully to the flushed woman, who seemed to be so embarrassed, her hair changed to a dark red colour "a pleasure to see you, clothed I might add" he nodded, as she only flushed further, though mostly due to anger at being referred to by her first name "Remus, busy as always I see" he greeted.
"Hey Lucky, I guess I have some explaining to do?" he chuckled weakly, his lips still slightly swollen, no doubt, from trying to swallow Tonks's tongue a moment ago.
"Let's just forget this ever happened and you leave a tie, or sock, or whatever you crazy youngsters do these days to alert those outside to what is happening inside, eh?" he frowned "why do I get the feeling this situation should be happening the other way around?"
"Because it probably should" Tonks agreed with a nervous smile.
"Ah, Nymphadora, how rude of you to greet Remus so emphatically without even popping in to say hi first, well, waste not want not, I'll let you two get back to whatever it is you were doing" he left the room immediately after that, promising himself to find his Pensieve and deposit that horrid memory; he never wanted to imagine Remus in the process of, or having sex, ever again in the future. . .
Though the view of Nymphadora wasn't all that bad. . .
"Well, that completely ruined the mood. . ."
"Yep" Remus answered truthfully, while sipping his tea.
"Merlin he's such a smart ass" she said while glaring at the door.
"That he is" Remus agreed.
"You think we should get him back? I don't like people using my first name . . . and he does it all the time!"
"I wouldn't recommend it; I haven't been able to catch him off guard since he started Hogwarts."
The two sat in silence for a few more moments until Tonks broke it again "So . . . are we continuing what we started before? I'm still really horny" she commented with a shy grin, being as blunt as ever.
"Yes you are" Remus grinned into his cup and launched himself at Tonks.
Later that day, when Harry went down to check and see if he'd have to run the bar that night, he sighed when he saw Remus's tie hanging from the door to his room.