May happily gave way to June, fresh spring flowers now growing happily in the presence of the sunlight. It was not often that the sun was visible at Hogwarts (for it could only be seen during June and July, to be precise), and therefore the majority of the students and delegations had decided to take advantage of the good weather by relaxing upon the Hogwarts Grounds.
Harry and Fleur (as well as the fifth and seventh year Hogwarts students and the sixth years from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang), however, were not among those aforementioned students.
The pair were now unable to relax by the shores of the Great Lake nearly as often as they had before, almost entirely thanks to the abundance of students. Fleur additionally had to worry about her exams as a sixth year student of Beauxbatons. It was true that she was exempt from them, but she knew better than to skip them.
Thankfully, it was now somewhat easier for Fleur to sneak into the Chamber of Secrets. Although Madame Maxime had not turned a blind eye to Fleur occasionally leaving the Beauxbatons Carriage for now apparent reason, she allowed it. That was not to say she allowed it often, or at any time remotely close to curfew - but it was still something.
Unfortunately, getting Fleur into the chamber was just as difficult as ever, chiefly due to her not being a Parselmouth. Both Harry and Fleur were unwilling to use Hedwig to bring her inside; if the bird was seen by so much as a single person, Harry would be in boiling hot water - something he was not interested in experiencing (and something Fleur did not wish for him to experience either).
Thankfully, they had just come up with what Harry thought might be a viable solution. Earlier today Harry and Fleur had gone exploring under the invisibility cloak (which had been washed several times on Fleur's insistence), attempting to find the exact location of the Room of Requirement.
After about an hour of searching, the two had stumbled upon it. It was an incredible room, and certainly something Harry would be interested in taking advantage of if he could.
Harry and Fleur had also been called down to the Quidditch Pitch a few weeks ago to receive their hints for the third task. It was fairly obvious to anyone who saw the pitch that the third task was to make their way through a maze, something which Harry had initially thought would be rather easy.
It turned out, however, that it would not be so simple. For starters, the hedges were immune to almost all types of fire, discarding Harry's idea of burning through them. True, he could simply use Fiendfyre, an incredibly powerful spell Salazar had taught him very recently, but the portrait would likely disown him from the family if he did so. Besides, the Recorder Glasses were still in use; Harry was not foolish enough to use such magic in front of an audience.
Harry was also rather worried about Voldemort's plans for the third task. Riddle was anything but a fool; he would not allow for the world to see himself or any of his Death Eaters. So how did he plan on getting Harry's blood? Yes, there was a good chance that the Recorder Glasses would be damaged during the task, but even then someone would notice something, right?
Unsure of how else to prepare for such an occurrence (given his already immense spell repertoire, as well as his growing proficiency in dueling), Harry had spent the majority of his time working on his Occlumency. He was now completely capable of controlling how much magic he used at a time, allowing the spells he cast and the wandless magic he used to be as powerful as possible.
He could now move onto the last form of Occlumency, the form designed to keep master Legilimens out of his mind. Thankfully, this process was much faster than the previous stage of the art - Harry was getting rather annoyed with having to spend so much time on a single thing, regardless of how beneficial it was.
"So you found their little room?" asked Salazar happily.
Harry had been just about to go to bed when he remembered the events of the past day. It would be good to get Salazar's advice on the room he and Fleur had discovered (with Sirius' help, of course), no doubt. It was for that reason that he currently sat upon the carpeted floor, looking up at the portrait.
"Yes." answered Harry quickly, "Who made it, Ravenclaw?"
"Along with Godric and Helga, yes." answered Salazar, "They were not particularly pleased when I informed them of my little chamber, and so they snuck off to create their own room. Petty, if you ask me. I've no idea as to why they would do such a thing."
Harry snorted in disbelief.
"Can't see why they'd do it either. So, what do you think of the room?"
"It's useful, I admit." said Salazar, "But it is very limited, if my understanding is correct. It can only provide you with objects that are already in the room - it can not provide you with something it does not yet have. That is likely why those three fools spent so much time procuring the most random of objects, in case someone needed them in the future. Unfortunately, most of those objects seem impractical in this day and age."
"Is that it?" asked Harry, disappointment evident in his voice.
"More or less." said Salazar, "It can only transform the room itself, but that can be changed into whatever you imagine. It may not provide you with any new knowledge, but it is still useful and fascinating all the same. Besides, it is more than capable of helping you train."
Harry nodded slowly, before heading over to his bed. He gently pulled back the curtains of the four-poster, falling into a deep sleep.
Harry slowly turned his head to the side, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling that accompanied such an action. He was getting rather tired of such a limiting form, but it was certainly better than the rats and snakes he had possessed within the forests of Albania; the same could be said about his possession of Quirrell a few short years ago.
He sat upon an armchair in the center of a dark room, a beautiful green snake wrapped around him, her head pressing gently against his own. Before him was a balding man on his knees, his head pressed upon the floor in a position often used in prayer.
"Wormtail?" Harry hissed out in displeasure, causing the man who kneeled before him to flinch slightly.
"Yes, m-my lord?"
Harry felt a tinge of amusement rise within him. Even in such a weak form, he was feared.
Although I suppose someone of such low caliber as this fool would be afraid of just about anything.
Moving the thoughts from his mind, Harry turned back to observe Wormtail. The man did not dare to raise his head off the ground, his eyes stubbornly glued to the floor.
"How are our plans progressing?"
The rat-faced man gulped, his eyes still not meeting those of his master.
"A-as you wished, master." said Pettigrew, "Th-the bone is ready, and I ha-have the flesh necessary. I will have Potter's blood by the end of the th-third task."
"You had better." said Harry in a high, cold voice, "The boy has escaped my reach for far too long, a combination of luck on his part, and ignorance on mine. It will not be allowed to continue further."
"Yes, my lord," gasped Wormtail, "Of course, my lord!"
Harry nodded slowly, turning his head to face that of the snake that enveloped him.
"I wish for you to be present as well." he hissed in Parseltongue, "I will not allow the fool to potentially ruin something so important. Besides, I have some theories that require testing."
The snake hissed back in assurance, wrapping herself protectively around her master. Harry once more turned his head to face Wormtail.
"Go." said Harry, causing Wormtail to raise his head slightly, "You have work to do. Nagini is capable of taking care of me, far better than you are, that is certain."
The balding man flinched slightly, apologizing profusely.
"I care not for your excuses." declared Harry, "Find my loyal servants, those of them that managed to avoid Azkaban. Whisper in their ears of my return."
Wormtail nodded, slowly pushing himself off the floor. He bowed once more before slowly making his way to the door. It was painfully obvious that the rat Animagus was doing everything in his power not to look back, likely in fear of what might happen if he did.
"Do not worry, Nagini." Harry hissed to the beautiful snake, "Soon my servants will return, and those who can not - those who are truly loyal - will be freed. We will not have to deal with his incompetence for much longer."
Suddenly the dark room lost focus, his already hazy surroundings fading from view entirely.
Harry shot up from his comfortable bed, his hand reaching for his scar at once. He had not had such a dream in a long time, not since the previous summer at Privet Drive.
It was something that concerned him a great deal. He knew very well that Voldemort could use their connection to create or display false memories within his mind - his admittedly limited research on horcruxes had informed him of that much. So how was it that he once again had a vision of Voldemort, even with him placing so much importance upon his training in Occlumency?
And I didn't even learn anything of use from the stupid vision either.
Hastily opening the curtains of his four-poster, Harry quickly dressed himself and made his way to Salazar's portrait. The man was snoozing within his frame, and as such had no response to Harry's actions. Yet there was something different with the portrait, or at the very least something Harry had never truly taken notice of before.
He seems so . . . old.
Harry truthfully could not conceive a more appropriate description. Yes, Salazar was middle-aged (at least in the portrait, anyway), and that certainly was not what one might describe as old. But the frame, the canvas, and even the paint that formed him seemed rather lackluster, as if it was long expired.
The majority of the portraits in the other parts of the castle did not look like that, as far as Harry could tell. They seemed much newer, and did not seem as though they were in risk of potentially falling apart.
There were a few exceptions to that, of course. Sir Cadogan, a few of the portraits within he headmaster's office, and the pretty mermaid in the Prefect's Bathroom all shared the same quality.
Regardless, it was of little importance at the moment; the dream Harry had just had was far more pressing, that was certain.
"Salazar!" Harry whispered hurriedly, "Salazar, wake up!"
The portrait slowly arose in a lethargic manner, clearly not pleased with having been disturb.
"What?" snapped Salazar.
Harry quickly explained what he had just seen. He was surprised to see Salazar's reaction to the occurrence; it was as though he had expected such a thing to happen, and was now pondering the implications of it.
"I will have to think about this." said Salazar after a while, "I should reach a solid conclusion by the time Miss Delacour arrives."
Harry nodded, slowly making his way out of the study and into the chamber where he continued to practice his Occlumency. He was at a dead end with that; despite how hard he tried, Harry could not seem to improve his proficiency with casting - he had finetuned his use of magic with the aid of Occlumency to the fullest, as far as he could tell.
"There is little to no point for you to continue with using Occlumency to control your magic." announced the portrait slowly, confirming what Harry already suspected, "You have already perfected the art in terms of using it to bolster your magic; to continue with it would be a waste of time at the moment. When Miss Delacour arrives, I will begin teaching the two of you how to use Occlumency to better protect your mind."
"I still have some time before Fleur should be here." said Harry.
"Then we will work on a few spells you ought to know."
"And they are?"
Salazar paused, his head tilted slightly to the left.
"The unforgivables, specifically the Killing Curse."
"Absolutely not." hissed Harry angrily, his voice significantly louder than normal, "You're out of your bloody mind!"
"Am I?" asked Salazar, his voice tired, "I have taught you curses that are all capable of killing others, and yet you are unwilling to learn a curse that does so in a painless manner?"
Harry narrowed his eyes further, attempting to create an argument to support his point.
"Do not attempt to prove me wrong for the mere sake of doing so." reprimanded the portrait, "At the end of the day, it is your choice on whether or not you decide to learn such a spell. But you already know what I will advise."
Harry thought for a moment, before begrudgingly coming to a conclusion similar to the one Salazar had voiced.
"Fine." said Harry, "But I won't use it."
"You do not have too." assured the portrait, "But it is better to know, just in case."
Harry spent the next hour learning how to cast the spell that turned his life upside down, taught by the portrait and the tomes within the chamber. Salazar had recommended he learn mostly from the latter, as it was unwise to become too dependent upon someone else, particularly a portrait.
I'm also becoming too dependent upon Fleur, if that matters.
It was true; while Harry did not necessarily rely on her in the same way he did Salazar, she was indeed something he required. He simply could not remember a life without her in it, and was fairly certain it was true the other way around.
Not that he particularly minded; it was nice, if he was being honest.
Harry had pushed those thoughts aside. According to the book, the Killing Curse required a potent level of hate and a desire to destroy entirely for it to perform to the fullest extent. Harry would not be capable of such a thing while his thought revolved around Fleur.
"She's here." said Harry an hour later, his eyes upon the Marauder's Map, "Hedwig, could you bring her down?"
In that short amount of time Harry had developed a significant amount of skill with the curse Salazar had assigned him. He was not sure how he felt, having talent with that specific spell, but ignored the conflicting emotions that fought within him.
Hedwig sang a beautiful note (which lifted Harry's spirits a great deal) before disappearing in a ball of violet flames. A moment later she reappeared, perched upon Fleur's shoulders.
After a quick series of greetings Harry and Fleur found themselves within the study, sitting before Salazar's portrait. Harry quickly caught her up to speed on everything that had happened: his dream, Salazar's advice, and even reluctantly the curse he had just learnt.
"He is right." agreed Fleur once Harry finished, "Compared to many of the other curses you have learnt, it is a mercy."
"Yes, but I wasn't planning on using any of those."
"So why should this be any different?"
"Moving on," interrupted Salazar, "We have work to do for both of you on Occlumency, and it would be preferred that the two of you begin working on your Legilimency."
The statement caused a rather smug expression to form on Fleur's face, as well as an eye roll from Harry. As it turned out, Fleur had been a natural at Occlumency - to the point where she was only a few steps behind Harry. That had been resolved a few weeks ago - Fleur was now of equal standing to Harry.
From what Harry had gathered, her distant mask of coldness had inadvertently allowed her to develop quite a sound proficiency in Occlumency. She was already capable of using Occlumency to better control her magic. She, like Harry, however, was still incapable of keeping skilled Legilimens out of her mind - something that they would both begin to address today.
Harry had also learnt that he, unlike Fleur, was not a natural in Occlumency, but rather the opposite. It had taken much longer for him to gain proficiency in the art (considering that he had spent the majority of every day for around the last six months practicing), though it was obviously worth it in the long run.
It had taken quite some time to stop Fleur's laughter when she had heard that.
"As I have told you before," began Salazar, his eyes resting tiredly upon Harry, "The art of Occlumency is not to construct shields or such things within your mind, but rather to make it entirely blank, so that there is nothing available for a Legilimens to see.
"Both of you seem capable of doing that much, although we do not truly have a way of testing such a thing just yet." continued Salazar, "Which is why I wish for us to begin Legilimency. Regardless, it will still take quite some time before you can both properly use Legilimency to peer through one's mind.
"Right now I will be giving the both of you an introduction to the basics of Legilimency, as well as the final step of Occlumency."
"And that is?" asked Harry.
"The construction of false memories within your mind." answered Salazar simply, "You must simply force your mind to focus on an occurrence that never happened, so that when a Legilimens enters your mind, that is all they see. Now, grab every tome from the Mind Arts section of the shelf and get to work."
The next several hours were spent slowly developing their skill in the Legilimency. Neither Fleur nor Harry were able to progress their Occlumency further in that time (something which the tomes said would likely damage your mind if done), but they were both able to make slight progress in Legilimency.
Harry was pleased to note that he was much better with Legilimency than he was Occlumency. Within the first hour of practicing he had already firmly developed the first level of the art, something which allowed for him to subconsciously tell whether someone was lying or not.
Fleur had not been nearly as proficient, and upon discovery Harry's proficiency had sent a stream of fire from her palm in his direction. Harry could tell she was pleased, however; her soft smile, as well as the fact that the flames had been just far enough to miss him entirely told him that much.
Salazar had decided against helping either of them with their progression in the mind arts. He had tiredly informed Harry once again that it would be unwise to depend too much upon a portrait. Not that it mattered; according to the portrait, they would not have had any more success with his aid than they had on their own.
Hours later, long after Fleur had left for the Beauxbatons Carriage, Harry lay upon his bed, pondering upon his dream from earlier that morning. Voldemort was planning for someone to take his blood, he knew it.
But you won't get it Riddle, I promise you that.
It was now a week before the third task and a week after the exams that the majority of the students had to take. The students and delegations had therefore taken to lazing around upon the Hogwarts Grounds. It was undoubtedly a pleasant time for them; they had nothing to worry about in the near future (having finally finished their respective examinations), and had the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament ahead of them.
Fleur and Harry were among them on both counts. They too were currently lazing around the Hogwarts Grounds (far, far away from anyone else, surrounded by wards Fleur had set up), and they too had just finished their examinations.
Or, at the very least, Fleur had. Harry was in his fourth year at the moment; those examinations were of little importance in Britain - only the fifth and seventh year examinations (O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s respectively) were of value here. He had therefore decided against taking them, instead choosing to devote his time to more important things.
In Beauxbatons (and Durmstrang, apparently) the examinations of importance were those taken in the sixth and seventh years. The sixth year examinations decided what classes you might be able to take in seventh year, which in turn would affect the jobs you might take.
From the way Fleur had explained it, the seventh year at Beauxbatons was more like a combination of adult life and schooling. Students would learn, yes, but they would spend most of the second half of the school year interning at places they hoped to work at. It was for that reason that Fleur absolutely refused to skip her examinations.
She had spent the majority of the last week preparing for her exams - something which she claimed would also double as training for the third task (although she admitted it was not nearly as grueling). Now that she had finished her examinations, however, she was more than willing to happily venture out upon the grounds with Harry.
"If anyone sees us, we're in hot water, you know that right?"
"We will not be seen." declared Fleur stubbornly as she lay upon shore, "We are on the opposite side of the Great Lake, and, besides, my wards should suffice."
"Dumbledore would still be able to see through them if he wanted." argued Harry, "Probably the same with Snape, as much as I hate to admit it."
"From what you have told me I doubt your Potions Master would come out onto the grounds." said Fleur, a smile growing upon her face, "Sunlight is deadly to vampires, non?"
Harry snorted.
"So, how do you think you did on your exams?" asked Harry, "You seem pretty happy - I would assume you did well."
"They were far easier than I had expected." Fleur admitted, "I am certain I did well on everything, and I was able to achieve extra credit on a few as well."
"You can get extra credit on these exams?" asked Harry, surprised. He knew that such a thing was possible in the less important exams - Hermione, after all, had achieved a 112% on their first year charms examination.
He had not, however, known that was possible for the more official examinations, such as the one Fleur had taken, as well as the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s (the latter of which Fleur would be taking next year, as it was a common examination around the wizarding world).
"You can." stated Fleur, "Although it is rather difficult. You must perform to absolute perfection on your practical, and then demonstrate further. Most are not given the chance to do so, because most examiners do not care to spend extra time watching students."
"And what did you do for your extra credit?"
"For most of them I demonstrated more advanced versions of the spells we were tested on." revealed Fleur, "The only one I did something different for was charms; I used the Patronus Charm for that."
"I've never seen your Patronus." said Harry, having just remembered, "It tells you quite a bit about a person, doesn't it?"
Fleur nodded, before pulling out her wand and sitting up, giving her wand a silent wave.
A giant, four-legged creature shot from the tip of her wand, giving off a beautiful blue glow. It looked around fiercely, clearly looking for any potential dementors. The only two beings it saw, however, were Harry and Fleur.
Upon spotting the former, the beautiful creature slowly made its way over to him, looking him in the eye. It stooped it head down to Harry's level, nuzzling its nose against the side of his face in an affectionate manner. Harry didn't feel anything, of course, for the creature wasn't solid. But it was still beautiful to see all the same.
A lioness.
"She likes you." Fleur commented, a soft smile upon her face.
Slowly, the beautiful creature faded into nothingness, leaving Harry staring at the place it had once occupied.
"A lioness." Harry supplied quietly, causing Fleur to nod, "They're cold and aloof to anyone outside of their pride. Otherwise, they're loyal, powerful, fierce, and caring. A bit feisty too."
Fleur beamed at him, nodding her head slowly.
"When did you study so much about the Patronus Charm?" questioned Fleur, "There aren't any books on it in the chamber."
"Third year." Harry answered, "I told you about Lupin teaching me; when I started to develop a corporeal Patronus, he gave me a book on how to identify your Patronus and what it means. I could tell mine had four legs, so I researched all the four-legged Patronuses to see which one I thought was mine."
"A stag."
"Yeah." agreed Harry, "Prongs. He was my dad's Animagus form."
Lost in thought, Harry pulled out his own wand. It had been a while since he had last used his Patronus.
"Expecto Patronum!" whispered Harry softly.
He was not as good as Fleur was with charms (despite the fact that his Patronus was certainly more powerful than Fleur's; it was likely the only charm that he could perform better than she could), and could therefore not use the spell nonverbally just yet.
A powerful blue stream of glowing magic shot from the tip of his wand. It did not, however, take a corporeal form as it had several times before.
The bright blue magic twisted itself, seemingly attempting to take on a form. It was succeeding to a certain extent; Harry could see the body forming slightly, as well as its legs growing. But they seemed different, not like the Prongs Harry remembered.
The light vanished suddenly, leaving a confused Harry sitting upon the shore of the Great Lake.
His confusion dissipated after Fleur explained what had happened to him. Someone's Patronus changing often meant a change in values, or some other important change within their life.
That makes sense, I suppose. I've spent the last few months preparing to get attacked by a Death Eater in the third task, which is in a week.
The two of them lay upon the shores in a blissful quiet for quite some time. It was at this time that Harry realized something about Fleur's Patronus - particularly what it had in common with a certain Hogwarts House.
"Salazar's going to kill you."
A small smile made its way onto Fleur's face, regardless of how hard the Veela fought against it. She looked at him for a moment before her gaze turned to where his failed Patronus had been moments prior.
"You know," Fleur began, her eyes not meeting Harry's, "I failed my Patronus on the first attempt, during my test."
She turned to Harry, her eyes finally latching onto his own.
"The first memory I used was from when I was fifteen." said Fleur quietly, "I had finally received the full extent of my Veela powers, and had just returned to Beauxbatons after Christmas break. I did not know how to act; a few weeks ago I was the little girl who no one cared for - the girl who spent all her time in her room, practicing magic to make up for her lack of friends. Now I was suddenly the most beautiful being my peers would ever see in their lives. I did not know what to expect.
"Neither did anyone else, from the looks of it." Fleur continued, "They were all . . . drooling, looking right through me. I hated it even more than I hated their ignorance - I still hate it more. People who never cared for me in the slightest, people who I never cared for in the slightest were suddenly acting as if I owed them something, just because they existed.
"It only took a few minutes for something to go wrong." said Fleur as she wrapped her hand around Harry's, "A group of boys, all a year older than me, followed me as I left the hall. They were all much bigger than me, all from rich, powerful families within the French Ministry of Magic. They cornered me in one of the hallways, they locked the doors and made sure there was no one there to stop them."
Harry's fists tightened, his eyes never leaving Fleur's. The gentle breeze became harsher, the sparse twigs and leaves that were scattered upon the sandy shores flinching ever so slightly.
"And I destroyed them." said Fleur, still smiling, "I utterly annihilated them, each and every one of them. They were all unconscious in seconds, all taken to the hospital wing mere minutes later. It felt euphoric, finally seeing the time and effort I had spent be put into use.
"I did not like the memory because I got to hurt someone, or anything similar. I liked it because I felt . . . I felt free. I felt alive. All my work, everything I had worked so hard to get had actually paid off. I was not just a pretty face, nor a lonely little girl. I was more than that - so much more. And in that moment, I finally realised it.
"That was the memory I tried to use," finished Fleur, "that was the memory I thought was my favourite. But it did not work. Nothing happened."
Harry's head tilted to the side, his features conveying confusion.
It certainly seems like a powerful memory to me.
"My second memory," continued Fleur, smiling once more, "was the one that worked. It was just the two of us, lying here. Just talking."
Harry smiled, his hand wrapping tightly around Fleur's.
"I used to use a similar memory." admitted Harry, "It was of my mother and father, back when I was really young. I don't even know if it was real. But they were talking. Nothing else. Just talking."
Harry lay upon the shore, Fleur joining him as he rolled onto his side, his eyes latching onto Fleur's.
"But that hasn't worked recently." said Harry, "Not for a while. I think . . . I think I'm finally letting them go."
The two of them lay in silence for a while, the peaceful silence washing over them. Harry thought back to what Fleur had said mere moments ago.
" - just the two of us, lying here. Just talking."
Fleur watched as Harry slowly sat up, lifted his wand and whispered, "Expecto Patronum!"
And although his Patronus did not take a true form, it was far, far brighter than ever before.