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 362: Daphne's Request
"Excuse me?" Fleur glared at Daphne, her eyes narrowing. "I was here first. And what did you do to my friends?"
"I just put them to sleep. And I told you to keep your han-"
"That's enough, Daphne. Let's go." Harry walked past Fleur and dragged his girlfriend off the balcony before she did something stupid.
He wasn't in the mood for this.
"Hold on, Harry. I wasn't done with her," Daphne complained.
"Wait, Mister Potter!" Fleur called after him.
Harry turned around briefly. "I can't go to the ball with you. I'm sorry."
Fleur looked stunned. She had never been rejected before.
"You must be joking…"
Daphne said nothing, but her mocking smile said it all.
"You're a beautiful and elegant girl, Fleur. I have no doubt you'll receive dozens of invitations. And you won't need to use your allure to get what you want." After saying that, Harry turned and left, pulling Daphne along with him.
"What? But…" Fleur stood there, visibly confused, and Harry realized she hadn't meant to use her allure on him.
"She did what?!" Daphne exclaimed. She knew Fleur was part-Veela, but the fact that she had tried to charm Harry was something she wasn't willing to ignore. She was about to pull her wand when Harry stopped her and led her away.
"But Harry, that's not okay," Daphne fumed.
"Leave it, Daphne. She's not in control of her abilities yet," Harry said, holding her close as they walked.
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Daphne eventually calmed down.
"People were already talking about what happened with Ginny…" she said, her voice softening.
"That was just this morning. Do Hogwarts students have nothing better to do than gossip?" Harry huffed.
"Apparently, Lavender overheard a conversation between Ginny and your sister. You know how she is…" Daphne explained.
"So the entire castle knows by now," Harry sighed. That would explain why Fleur had come looking for him today of all days...she must have heard something.
"I just came to check on you. I was a bit worried. I know you care a lot for her," Daphne admitted.
"I feel terrible, but it had to be done."
"I know. You did nothing wrong, Harry," she reassured him.
"Oh, I did. But on the grand scale of mistakes I've made, making a girl cry doesn't even make the top ten." He said this with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"Speaking like that doesn't suit you." Daphne took his hand in hers.
"Then let's talk about something else," Harry said as they walked through an empty hallway. "How did you find me so quickly?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"That's easy. The house-elves told me where you were," Daphne said casually.
"They did?" Harry found that odd. The house-elves were tied to the castle and didn't have to obey orders from anyone who wasn't part of the teaching staff. He was the only exception because he had written his name into the Wardstone of Hogwarts, giving him authority on par with the Headmaster.
But Daphne was just a regular student.
"How strange…"
"Is it?" Daphne didn't seem to see why it was unusual. She then recalled something. "Oh, there's one thing I wanted to show you."
"What is it?"
"Not here. Let's go to the Room of Requirement," Daphne said.
It was a long walk from the first floor, but Daphne didn't let go of his hand the entire time, chatting to keep his mind off the day's events.
It was out of character for her to talk this much, and Harry knew she was just trying to distract him.
When they reached the Room of Requirement, Daphne opened the door, and Harry noticed that it had been shaped into their usual training room.
"Do you need some practice?" he asked. They hadn't had much time for training lately, with the whole tournament taking up most of their attention.
"No, nothing like that." Daphne held her wand up. "I want to show you a new transfiguration I came up with."
"A transfiguration?" Harry was intrigued. He knew Daphne's strengths lay in potions and runes. She had even expressed a desire to study alchemy in the future. But her skill in transfiguration was also above average.
"Okay, pay attention," Daphne said, focusing as she flicked her wand. A large rock, about the size of a soccer ball, appeared in front of her.
Harry watched as she transformed the rock into a cute-looking golem.
"My sister, Holly, would love that. She's obsessed with golems," Harry remarked, recalling how his mother had told him that Holly wanted to attend Hogwarts just to learn how to make them.
"I'm not done yet," Daphne said, levitating the golem onto the ground. She then pulled out a vial filled with a white liquid.
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"You'll see," Daphne replied with a satisfied grin as she poured the liquid over the golem. The dark gray stone absorbed the potion and turned pristine white.
"That looks like… marble," Harry noted, observing the patterns forming in the stone.
"That's just a side effect, I couldn't get it to turn different," Daphne said. "The important part is what it does."
"Then what does the potion do?" Harry asked, intrigued.
"It's an antimagic reagent," Daphne explained, pointing her wand at the golem. "Watch this… Reducto!"
Harry watched as the spell hit the golem's chest, breaking off a small chunk.
"It's not perfect yet," Daphne admitted, a hint of disappointment in her voice. "It reduces the effects of spells, but…"
"You made the golem magic-resistant. That's really impressive. I would've never thought of using a potion for that," Harry said, genuinely admiring her work.
"Were you trying to imitate the white marble golems?"
Daphne nodded. "Yes, I was inspired by them. The potion uses parts from both dragons and basilisks to replicate their near immunity to magic. I used a mixture of blood magic and potion making to create this solution. "
"How long do the effects last?" Harry asked.
"Only about ten minutes. I think I can make it last longer if I figure out the right runic matrix to feed the enchantment so it doesn't wear off. Still working on it," Daphne explained.
"That's… very impressive," Harry said sincerely. This level of ingenuity reminded him of the old Hermione from his past.
"Say, Harry… do you think I could take another look at those golems? It would help me a lot," Daphne asked.
Harry usually wouldn't let anyone into the castle's foundations, but he decided to make an exception this time.
"Alright, I'll take you there."
Daphne jumped at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you!" These were the moments when she allowed herself to lower her emotional guard.
"You know, since we're already here, there's something else we could do…" She wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning closer.
"I can't say no to that request either…" Harry said with a smile.
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