Disclaimer:
Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I create.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 345: The Second Visitor Arrives
"Why did you have to do that?!" Lyra shook 'Harry's' shoulders.
"I... I'm sorry. I was told it was very important, but… I can't say more…" Harry apologized.
"Lyra, calm down. I'm sure they had a good reason. Harry isn't the type to do something like this for fun," Daphne told her.
"But it was… it was my first…" Lyra mumbled.
"If it makes you feel any better, Harry was also my first kiss," Ginny told her friend.
"It does not make me feel any better!" Her eyes moved to 'Harry', who she now knew was actually Neville. She realized that he had heard everything she said. "Oh… this is so embarrassing."
"Am I the only one worried about that crack in the sky?" Luna asked.
"No... you are not," Daphne told her. She was also looking at it, wondering if this was one of those events Harry had described to her.
'If this is a Convergence, then that dragon must have come from some parallel reality.' Her eyes landed on the dead boy lying on the ground of the arena.
It was impossible to catch any details, but if that dragon that appeared was an alternate version of the one chained to the ground, then the person who fell was likely a different version of either Harry or Neville.
She didn't care to find out which one it was. The situation was disturbing enough as it was.
"But…" She looked up again. If Harry had already killed the invading dragon, why isn't that crack going away?
At the judges' table, Professor Silverbell and Dumbledore were having the same thoughts as Daphne.
"There's more, isn't there?" Dumbledore asked.
"Definitely, and I don't know how much. But it's too late to stop it. Now we must face this trial and hope to come out on top. Our continued existence depends on it," Silverbell said in a somber tone.
"Excuse me, but what are you talking about?" Headmistress Maxine approached them.
Next to her, Professor Silverbell looked even tinier, like an ant beside an elephant.
"We were—ahh! A giant!" The old gnome had been too concerned with other matters to notice the large woman's approach and got really startled.
She frowned. "I am not a giant! Just a tall woman." She did not like being reminded of her origins.
"We were merely talking about some theoretical experiments that we were interested in," Dumbledore gave Silverbell a knowing look. It would do them no good if more people found out what they knew.
And with Umbridge so close by, that information was bound to end up in the worst possible hands.
The situation was bad enough already; there was no need to make it worse.
"Yes, it's just some theoretical experiment. By the way…" He pointed at the arena. "Who is that boy who just killed a dragon?"
"That's… ehm… Neville Longbottom." Dumbledore could not reveal the secret right here.
"I thought everyone in Britain would recognize the Boy Who Lived," Maxine commented.
"And he wasn't supposed to kill the dragon!" Mister Crouch said. "But then again… that dragon wasn't ours… right?. We don't have to pay for that one." He felt a bit more relief now.
"Ah… the Boy Who Lived… I see. I don't leave my study very often. He looks like a talented young man, not like that other rude pupil of yours…" Silverbell thought about Harry and how bad the first impression he had left on him was.
"And who is the girl next to him?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the arena.
"What girl?" Dumbledore said.
There was only one female champion, and Fleur had already gone into the infirmary castle for further treatment of her burns.
But when they looked, there was indeed a girl with long dark hair in a Hogwarts uniform.
"Did someone sneak into the arena?! This is bad!" Mister Crouch was already thinking of the implications if some random student got killed in his tournament.
"She's definitely one of yours, Albus," Maxine recognized the Hogwarts robes.
Dumbledore's eyes became sharp. He had prepared all the protections on that arena. There was no way for a spectator to just jump in without his knowledge.
"She must have entered in a different way…" His eyes moved to the large crack in the sky and then… to the dead boy on the ground.
"Could it be?…" Dumbledore wondered.
Only he knew that the one down there was actually Harry Potter and the one who fell from the sky was likely another version of himself.
Now a third person appears out of nowhere... there was a likely conclusion to reach here.
Down at the rocky field, Neville was considering what spell to use on the dragon when he felt a familiar magical signature appear behind him.
He turned around, thinking this could be an ambush of some sort, and found himself staring at a young girl with long black hair and deep green eyes.
"It is quite big, I suppose... mmm?..." She looked away from the dragon and proceeded to stare at him.
The girl couldn't hide the surprise on her face.
"Longbottom? What in Merlin's name are you doing here?!"
"I should be the one asking that… only the champions are meant to be here," Neville answered.
The girl raised an eyebrow and gave him a very haughty look.
"Are you mocking me, Longbottom? I didn't think you had it in you." She pointed her wand at him.
"I am the fourth champion… now get out of my arena before I curse you."
He could already guess who this was.
"Your name isn't Potter by any chance?" The moment Neville asked this, he realized he had made a mistake.
Her face contorted in fury.
"You dare use that name in my presence?!" Her wand lit up.
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