Harry palmed his wand tightly in his right hand and breathed out slowly. He focused on the effect that he wanted and unleashed his imagination. He knew what effect he wanted, and he wanted it to happen in the physical world. He wanted the magic inside his body to conjure what he imagined to become a reality.
Fixing his mind on what he wanted, he raised his wand. The Holly wand was held loosely with his thumb and forefinger. The handle rested on the inside of his palm, and he gave his wand a counterclockwise twirl.
Suffusio, he yelled, jabbing his wand at the last moment.
The tip of his wand lit up with a blue aura, and a torrent of swirling mass of water formed. He smiled at the success, and as the water began to expand out of his wand, it splashed into the ground, losing cohesion.
"Darn, it! I lost focus again." Harry muttered heatedly and slapped his cheeks to admonish himself.
"Now, let's try this one more time." He muttered as he raised his wand again and performed a counter-clockwise twirl. He jabbed his wand forward and cast the spell once more. This time he focused his mind and refused to be distracted by his initial success.
A swirling vortex of water shot out of the tip of his wand and went straight for a dummy at the end of the room. The force of the water jet smacked away the dummy in question. When he cancelled the spell, the dummy was smashed into bits and pieces of wood.
"A useful spell, but I think it is not going to be of much use against a dragon. Still, it should come in handy someday." He said to himself.
Harry went back to reading the book written by Phineas Black. It had a treasure trove of spells, and the best thing was that most of the spells required little to no wand-waving patterns.
He had found it early on his quest to learn spells that he lacked a certain fortitude in performing complicated wand waving. He found it easy to make mistakes most of the time when he performed certain spells.
For example, he found Transfiguring stone to wood to be a complicated process. There was a half counter-clockwise spin and a whole circular spin of the wand to perform that specific spell. Whenever he performed that spell, he would botch up the spin, and as a result, the stone would only be partially transfigured.
He had noticed that most of the wand-waving patterns are common for Transfiguration spells. Charms tend to be the same but not to the level of Transfiguration. Nonetheless, Transfiguration was a vital field of study in Magic, and he would try harder to master it.
For the time being, he decided it would be better to focus on certain spells. To that effect, he handpicked certain spells from the book, two from each element, to be exact.
The first element he chose to learn was water owing to its safety compared to the other elements. It turned out to be a good choice as he had managed to perform the spell in one day. He was far from mastering it, and he felt that he could tweak the spell somewhat if he practised it repeatedly. To his pleasant surprise, the spell didn't take too much magical energy to manifest. This was owed to the fact that the spell was designed to pull water from the air. The drawback was that the spell would be weaker in dry air.
Now that a sufficiently powerful water spell was in his arsenal, he searched for a spell that could create ice. His vigorous search came to an end when he found the perfect spell. Conscious of the time running out, he began to write down the details of the spell on a piece of parchment.
Harry let out a frustrated growl as the bloody ink began to spread all over the parchment courtesy of the bloody quill. He decided he was going to find a pen or pencil as soon as possible and ditch the ever-useless quill outside of class work. The only hurdle in procuring said item would be his inability to access the Muggle world.
Now that he thought about it, he was in need of a serious wardrobe change. The rags and hand-me-downs he got from the Dursleys needed to be disposed of.
Suddenly, an idea sprung to his mind.
Harry promptly collected all his notes and secured them in his backpack. Pulling over the Invisibility Cloak over his body, he let the Marauders Map guide him straight to the kitchen.
He was quick to move silently under the cover of the Cloak to the Entrance Hall. From there, he moved down a set of stairs to a brightly lit corridor. It was the corridor that led to the Hufflepuff dorms. Moving slowly through the corridor, he found the painting with a bowl of fruits. He tickled the pear, and it let out a giggle before turning into a door handle. He pulled the handle revealing the entrance to the Hogwarts Kitchen.
He was met with a group of House Elves looking at the entrance confusedly. He pulled off the cloak and revealed himself to the little creatures that fed the entire student body of the castle.
"Hi." He greeted them awkwardly with a small wave of his hand.
"Harry Potter Sir has come to the kitchens. Dobby is very happy." said Dobby as a familiar-looking elf dressed in a bowl hat and some khaki trousers barreled forward.
"Hello, Dobby. I see you have taken employment at Hogwarts." He knelt down to be on Dobby's level and gave the little elf a small hug.
Dobby looked like he was going to swoon. Thankfully he didn't and just hopped on from one leg to another with obvious excitement.
"Oh, Dobby is most happy Harry Potter, sir. Dobby gets paid by Professor Dumbledore, sir."
"Good for you, Dobby. I am happy for you."
"Dobby is being a bad elf. No good elf should get paid." A squeaky voice complained with a few hics in between.
Harry found the owner of that voice to be a female elf, one that was familiar as the elf was a recent acquaintance.
"Dobby is a good elf. A free elf!" Dobby declared defiantly.
"A free elf is no good elf." argued Winky and then proceeded to bawl her eyes out. "Winky brought shame to Mr Crouch. Winky be a bad elf. Bad Winky. Bad Winky…."
The elf continued to mutter and began to berate herself. Harry took in the sorry state of the female House Elf. Winky was drunk and was looking like the world had just ended, and she believed she was the reason for that happening. It was a sad state, especially when the large tennis ball eyes were scrunched up with tears running down her cheeks.
"Winky is a good elf." Dobby tried to reassure his elfish friend.
"Winky is given clothes by Mr Crouch. No family would take in Winky now. Winky be a bad elf. A very bad elf like Dobby." The elf continued to cry.
"Sorry, Harry Potter, Sir. Winky is being sad. What can Dobby do for Harry Potter, Sir?"
"Me's being Pitts, sir. Have some biscuits." Another elf appeared by his side with a tray of biscuits.
"Me's be Krafty, sir. How about some warm milk, sir?"
A glass of milk joined the biscuits. Not to be outdone, the other elves began to surround him with offers of different food and drinks. It took him some minutes to calm the little buggers down. In the end, he had to agree to take some biscuits and a glass of milk.
"Hey, Winky, how do you feel about working for me? I'm in need of a little bit of help. You can continue to help in the kitchens here, and you'd only have to run a few errands for me." Harry offered, which made the drunk elf perk up.
"Harry Potter, sir wants Winky to work for him? Wink's being a bad elf, sir."
"I am sure Winky is a good elf. So how about that Winky? You want to work for me?" he asked, and Dobby looked a little downtrodden now.
"If Harry Potter sir is sure, then Winky would be happy to work for Harry Potter sir." Winky nodded, and Harry had to bite back a squeal at the way Winky nodded. It was certainly cute to see those large green tennis ball eyes and flapping ears when the elf bobbed her head.
"So how about that, Dobby? I do have some serious work coming up, and I would be lucky to have your help as well. I will, of course, pay you what you want, and you may remain free."
"Oh no, sir. Dobby is happy to work for Harry Potter, sir." said Dobby excitedly.
"In that case, let's seal the deal with a firm handshake." He took the smaller hands of the two elves and shook them. Winky looked scandalised at the gesture while Dobby was grinning like a madman, or is it a madelf?
Lately, Harry was becoming increasingly attuned to his magic because of repeated usage. It was only because of this he felt a small tug in his energy when he sealed the pact with Dobby and Winky. He was curious to know more about the elf-wizard bond, but for the time being, he let that go as he had better things to worry about.
"What should Dobby do, Harry Potter sir?" asked the elf, excited to do some work.
Unfortunately for Dobby, Harry didn't exactly have some great work to be done right away. He had some general plans, but at the moment, most of them remained just that – plans.
"I will need to get some clothes from Muggle London tomorrow evening. I will give you my Gringotts key tonight. Can you go to the bank and get some Gold and Muggle money?"
"Dobby can do that, Harry Potter sir."
"Good. As for you, Winky, stop drinking. Tomorrow, I believe I will have some work for you."
"Oh, thank you, Harry Potter sir. Thank you." Winky squeaked out amidst a watery laugh.
"Just bear in mind, you two. At the moment, no one should know that the two of you are working for me. So only appear before me when there is no one around. If you have anything truly important, just remain hidden from other eyes if you approach me."
With that part of his plan a resounding success, Harry made his way to the Gryffindor Tower. The curfew was in effect, and he had to dodge several patrolling prefects to make it safely back to the tower.
Before reaching the portrait of the Fat Lady, he pocketed the cloak and the map in his backpack.
"Courage." he said to the Fat Lady.
"You do have that, my dear." said the Fat Lady before swinging open, and Harry climbed into the Common Room that was fairly packed.
In the House of Lions, being out of bounds was not a terrible crime, nor was it frowned upon. Hardly anyone would care what someone was doing out of the tower when the curfew was established. So long as no one lost points, it was an acceptable adventure. This was one of the reasons why the Weasley twins were held in high regard. Everyone knew those two hardly cared for any rules, and they regularly broke them. But to capture them in the act was no easy task. Without capturing them, they would get scot-free and would hardly lose any points.
Walking further into the Common room, Harry noticed Angelina and Alicia talking animatedly near the fireplace. Katie Bell was not far behind the two chasers. He was about to join them and engage in some small talk, but Neville barged into his line of vision.
"Hi, Harry. I did what you asked." said Neville as he handed him a parchment. "The list of magical creatures in water that I know of."
He had nearly forgotten about this little detail. "Thank you, Neville." He patted his otherwise silent friend.
"You're welcome, Harry." Neville smiled. "Do you reckon the first task could be in the Black Lake?"
"Oh, I don't know Neville. I searched for the previous Tournaments, and it is a regular theme for the Champions to face a magical creature. With the Black Lake this close to Hogwarts, I thought some water creature might be what I would have to face in the tasks."
"That makes sense. But there are a lot of other creatures, Harry."
"I know." he admitted as he took a seat on a couch, and Neville sat beside him. "There are a lot of land creatures, and I have ruled out some of them. Here I have got a list of those…" he searched his backpack until finally he took the piece of paper and handed it over to Neville.
Neville began to scroll through the names on his list.
"I doubt they would be using a Basilisk as it can kill with its gaze alone. And Dementors are not exactly best suited for entertaining a crowd, but I have a spell to deal with them. Those are the only two I have eliminated so far." Harry explained.
"You have a way to deal with Dementors? So the rumours are true, then? You chased off a swarm of Dementors last year!" Neville was now looking at him as if seeing Merlin in the flesh.
"Well, I have a spell that could take on the Dementors." Harry admitted, but then he hesitated as he overcame with doubt. "I hope it works as usual. I haven't tried that spell again for a long time." He trailed off in thought as he realised that the Patronus Charm might not be as reliable as he had thought.
"Hmm…" Neville frowned all of a sudden, looking at the parchment. "What about the Manticore Harry?"
"That thing exists?" he asked in surprise, keeping aside his doubts regarding the Patronus.
"Oh, yes. It is common in Western Greece and Egypt." said Neville
"I didn't know that."
"I don't know how you handle being a Champion, Harry. I would have died of fear alone."
"You know I didn't enter myself into this blasted tournament, right?"
"I believe you, Harry. I saw you when your name was called by Professor Dumbledore. All the other Champions were happy except you. You alone were scared." said Neville.
Harry took a good look at Neville. He had to admit that Neville was one observant kid. He just wondered why the previous Harry never bothered to deepen the friendship between himself and Neville. Perhaps Harry Potter was just so grateful to have a friend in Ron Weasley. He could hardly fault the previous Harry for that, as Ron was Harry's first friend.
All the faults of the previous Harry Potter could be traced back to the Dursleys and hence to Albus Dumbledore. Harry was going to break out of Dumbledore's influence one way or another, and this year offered many avenues to that effect. Neville was a treasure trove of knowledge regarding the Wizarding world, and in a few years, he knew that Neville would become a strong wizard.
Why not expedite that right now, he thought as gears in his head turned.
"Neville, would you be willing to help me out with the tasks?" Harry asked as the beginnings of a plan began to form in his head. He knew that it was not polite to form friendships for the sake of influence and power, but he had no choice. Powerful enemies surrounded him, and he needed powerful friends or pieces on the board, so to speak, to take out the major players.
"You want my help?" Neville squeaked out, and the chubby cheeks of Neville reddened, perhaps in embarrassment or fear.
"Out of all my friends, you and Hermione are the only ones that truly believe me. All others think that I cheated. If I was not in Gryffindor, I am sure I would be hated by the Gryffindors as well. So yes, I would like your help if you want to."
"Harry, I don't think I would be of much help. I am… I am pretty much useless. I would only hold you back." Neville admitted with his head bowed low.
"Then we will grow stronger together." said Harry as he squeezed the shoulder of Neville. "Your mother was my godmother. Our parents would have wanted us to help each other."
If nothing else, the last statement persuaded Neville, and Harry saw a little bit of courage return to Neville.
"I will help you, Harry," said Neville making Harry smile at the conviction behind that statement.
"In that case, how about we start doing the Herbology and Transfiguration assignment? After that, we can discuss some possible plans on how to deal with certain magical creatures." Harry offered.
"Sure, Harry."
Harry nodded and stood up from the couch but paused as Neville took hold of his arm. He looked at Neville with a raised eyebrow.
"Thank you for including me, Harry."
Harry smiled and clapped the boy on his shoulders. "I should be the one thanking you, Neville. Now, help me with that Herbology assignment."
The two of them were later joined by Hermione, who was excited to have another member in their advanced research group. Later after they were finished with the assignments, they went back to the topic of Tasks. Harry knew that Neville was very knowledgeable about obscure magical plants and trees. So when he felt that Hermione was firing off her exceedingly well-furnished memory, he subtly directed the conversation. He pitched in and suggested that there was a chance for the tasks to involve plants like the Devil's Snare.
This was the opening he created for Neville. He sat back and watched as Neville listed off some of the most dangerous hostile plant life known to wizardkind. It was an eye-opening conversation, and that night, he felt as if a new trio was being formed. It was just a start, but Rome was not built in a day. He had time and patience as his allies. This was the advantage he had over his enemies and combined that with his future knowledge, he had a shot at overturning the board. The board would eventually reset, but the chaos that he would create in the flip was going to be his opportunity.