"Here's the wand-weighing," said Daphne, looking at another page. "It's a bit iffy. It said the wands of each champion must be checked by a competent Master in wand lore prior to the first task. However, as you don't consider yourself a champion..."
"Definitions," stated Hermione, moving to another page. "Here. A champion is the student selected by the Goblet of Fire to represent each of the three schools... And... the three schools are Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang."
"That's Cedric, Delacour and Krum," said Harry. "As I'm not a champion of any of the three schools..."
"You're not required to attend," continued Daphne. Sitting up a little straighter, she indicated another clause. "Here's the section on the Yule Ball," she said. "To be held on the 25th of December... mongrels; they could have held it earlier. The three champions open the ball..."
"And we already know by three champions they mean the representatives for Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang..." cut in Hermione.
"... And that's it," continued Daphne. Turning to the other two, she said, "You were right. You're not required to participate in anything other than the three specific tasks. We don't even have to stay at school over Christmas, if we don't want to."
"We can embarrass the Hell out of Dumbledore and the Ministry," mused Harry. "Or, use it to blackmail."
"Blackmail?" asked Daphne, perking up while Hermione stared frowning at Harry.
"Well," said Harry sitting back and thinking. "You want me to attend the ball, Headmaster? Well, my bondmates would like to spend part of Christmas Day with their families, at home. A portkey there and back would go a long way to seeing me being willing to attend your Yule Ball."
"Harry!" Hermione softly exclaimed, scandalised. "You can't go blackmailing the Headmaster!"
"Of course he can," snickered Daphne. "It's brilliant! We get to visit with our families on Christmas Day and attend the Yule Ball."
The three went through more of the contract. Harry then pointed out another section. "Here's the part that states I'm to be excused attending any class... And, excused attending exams, if I like... Next is the part that states I, and my trainers, are to be allowed to leave the school for reason of matters relating to the Tournament."
"That means Dumbledore can't stop you going to Gringotts as soon as we've finished here," interrupted Daphne.
"Are you going to the Ball, Harry?" asked Luna from opposite.
Surprised, Harry realised he'd forgotten about those others sitting around them. "Sorry, Luna," he blushed. "It appears we've been rude and forgotten about you."
She nodded and said, "It's alright, Harry. You have far weightier matters to deal with."
Sitting back he looked at both his bondmates and asked, "Do we go to the Yule Ball?"
Both thought about it for a few moments before Hermione was first to speak up. "As long as I can visit with my parents on the day... and I can still take my break, at home, after the Ball... I'd like to go, yes."
"Same here," replied Daphne.
"In that case - Daphne, Hermione - would both you ladies do me the honour of being my dates to the Yule Ball?" he asked.
"Yes, Harry; I'd love to," replied Daphne.
"I'd love to, too," replied Hermione.
"Well, that's done," said Harry with a bit of a relieved sigh. "Now all I have to do is learn how to dance."
"That, you leave up to me," stated Daphne. "You just find us somewhere to practice." "That's easy," replied Harry. "But you two ladies are going to have to colour co-ordinate for the night so I can wear formal robes that match you both."
"You'll be wearing your robes with the iridescent green lining, Harry," said Daphne.
"Pale green shirt, black tie and cummerbund, black patent leather shoes, silver accessories," Hermione ticked off on her fingers.
"It sounds like you two ladies already discussed this," tittered Luna.
Both girls grinned back. "We have," admitted Hermione.
"We knew there was a strong likelihood of both of us being your dates at a formal function before long," explained Daphne. "And, we knew we'd have to figure out ways to colour co-ordinate. We've already worked out green is a colour that well suits all three of us."
"Yes," said Luna, looking between them with a critical eye. "Deep greens. For Harry, it's his eyes. For Hermione, it accentuates her natural autumnal colours. For Daphne, it's the Slytherin in her."
"How did...?" began Hermione before she remembered. "Oh, I forgot... Sorry... You paint. Of course you'd be able to pick out which colours would suit."
Luna beamed happily and replied, "It's also a good match for your natural aura. I see you used to favour blues. But, now you favour reds, golds, browns, and deep greens. Those are the colours of the forest."
She turned to Daphne and said, "You now favour silver, blues, greens, and the colours in between. They're the colours of the sea."
Turning her attentions to Harry, she went on, "And you favour many colours. However, you most favour deep or dark greens, golds, very deep reds, though not light, and most pastels. With the exception of green to match your eyes, yours are generally colours of air and cool fire. They're also quite bold, which matches your personality. All three of you also have bronze as a matching colour. That's why Ravenclaw colours suit you."
The three looked at one another and thought back to their own wardrobes. It was easy to pick out all the outfits they'd purchased from Madam Malkin's that matched almost perfectly what Luna described.
"Hunh!" Harry half coughed. "I think we should have taken Luna with us when we spent that half day at Madam Malkin's."
"Agreed," sighed Daphne. "But, at least we now know."
They were discussing the various outfits in their wardrobes when the owls flew in.
A rather regal looking owl landed in front of Harry. He recognised it as the office owl for Ackerman.
"It looks like Stewart's on the ball," muttered Harry, untying the parchment from the owl's leg.
While he was doing that, Daphne gathered up the pages of the contract and cast a replication charm on them. She then shrank the copy down and handed it off to Harry.
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