Chapter 178: The Frozen Side

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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15 January 1994, Hogwarts

Harry raised an eyebrow as Neville Longbottom passed out in front of him, before being rushed by Hogwarts' resident Mediwitch, Madam Pomphrey. It was concerning just how chaotic the boy's emotions became the moment he saw him and his friends. The pure rage that he was feeling just for losing a race was just too wild, too extreme of an emotion to be natural. It honestly sounded like drums of war to his Arcane Hearing. Harry thought that Neville was getting better, that he was moving on from what happened the previous year, but this made him doubt that even more.

What could have possibly made the boy so angry that he was one step from attacking them in broad daylight? Maybe it was just because of how hurt he was. It wasn't anything serious; Neville looked to have a few bruises, a couple of broken ribs, cracked bones, and a few cuts – although the one in his thigh was pretty serious, all things considered. All in all, it would take Madam Pomphrey less than ten minutes to heal him fully.

The last Potter shook his head. He would need to help the boy address his issues later. His friends seemingly thought that he was shaking his head in disappointment and Blaise gave him a frown, "He's done a lot better than I thought he would, to be perfectly honest."

And he was right. He had been pleasantly surprised by the boy who lived's performance. He came barely a couple of minutes after Daphne, who came fourth. She was never the athletic type, and neither was Harry who preferred to stay indoors with a good book than to start running like some kind of jock. There was a reason why he never really tried to join the Quidditch team, despite his skill on a broom. Even if he disliked the sport, it would have been a good backup plan after graduating. Alas, the mere thought of running every morning at dawn at Flint's behest made him shudder. Yeah, no athleticism for him. Even during duelling, Harry never really tried to physically tire himself, choosing to use counters to incoming spells and relying on his Arcane Hearing to barely dodge any spells. 

Tracy, on the other hand, came second, her endurance training for her ambition to become a famous duelist, helping her barely defeat Blaise, who didn't seem that broken up about it. He was probably glad to be part of the finals, which would be proof enough of his prowess to the Court of Slytherin.

But Neville Longbottom pleasantly surprised him with his prowess. If Harry hadn't trained his friends with a different biome obstacle course every week, the boy would have been second. Unfortunately for Neville, Harry's friends did their best to find spells to counter his obstacle course after every failure. They learned spells to keep warm, spells to move quickly in water, spells to alter their movements in the air, spells to glide on the ice, wind spells to remove fog in a certain area, and so much more. 

Harry may have gone a little overboard with his training, but his friends scored better than most sixth years, and even then, they lost because they were simply smaller and could not run as fast as they did. Their execution was very close to perfection and from the impressed looks on the professors' faces, they seemed to share that sentiment.

And yet, Neville Longbottom's performance was nothing to scoff at. He had completed the course quicker than most fifth-year students, which was an achievement in itself. The boy had been improving rapidly in the previous school year, which truly impressed Harry.

The young Slytherin gave his friend a shrug, "He did well. I am simply worried about his temperament."

Daphne scoffed, "He did more than well. If you hadn't trained us, he could have beaten us."

"He probably would have, yes. But the past is written and the ink is dry. I did train you, and he did not beat you. Revel in that victory."

Tracy snorted, "Our house must be happy. We dominated our year's race. Do you have any idea about what the final is going to be?"

"Not a single one. Just remember what I taught you and do your best. No one will be able to say anything against you. You already proved to everyone about what you could do…"

She gave him a warm smile and went back to speak with Blaise, leaving Harry to watch his remaining classmates trying to finish the obstacle course, on the illusionary screen in front of him. Padma Patil was at the helm, doing very well. She was coming towards the fog with what he recognized to be a physical resistance shield charm helping her stand up to the barrage of icicles. The girl was doing very well while relying on charms for most of the race. She used a bit of transfiguration on her wooden platform to make a small turbine and an animation charm to make it spin, allowing her to breeze past the lake portion, except when she was taken by surprise by the Giant Squid.

Funnily enough, Susan Bones was a close second using Runes of all things. Harry did teach her a lot during their project sessions, and she was doing a good job at it, at least according to the excited form of Professor Babbling, on the stands, she did. Harry barely taught her how to power rune matrices, choosing not to do anything advanced like partial activations or intent-driven modifications mid-activation. That limited her to a single speed slow speed on her wooden platform and carving the runes once more when she fell off the platform each time since she didn't have full control over her runes. She was doing quite well all things considered.

The rest, sadly, were not. Most of the students had given up and raised red sparks into the air after being attacked by Grindylows. The rest just fell prey to the storm near the second part of the task. Only Fay Dunbar and Dean Thomas from Gryffindor even got to this part of the task, and Fay was the only one who was still in the race. From Slytherin, Draco Malfoy and Theodore Nott were the only ones standing which they achieved by surprisingly working together. They just got past the storm with one using what seemed to be a weather-specific shield charm and another shielding against physical attacks.

Hufflepuffs seemed to have the same line of thinking of working together, but they all tried to do it at once, and the mistakes they made cost them. Hannah Abbott was working with Susan at first but chose to give up immediately after falling into the freezing cold lake. Ravenclaws were a sad lot since they were attacked the moment, they received a spell. So far, only Padma Patil and Terry Boot were still in the race, even if Boot was still in the first part of the task.

All things considered; they were doing about what was expected from students their age. It showed that choosing the same task for NEWT students and third-year students was just unfair for both. The scores were very clear on that. Seventh-year students finished the course in around fifteen minutes, while the fourth years averaged around forty-five minutes. Keeping all years separate was a good move on Dumbledore's part to give the illusion of competition, but at the end of the day, students with the most magical education did the best, while those who had been in Hogwarts the least did the worst.

Speaking of the Headmaster, he was walking at Harry with a visible frown on his face, which he hid in very quickly. He was quickly followed by McGonagall and Snape, as well as Ludo Bagman. Harry made sure not to react or look intimidated in any way, "How may I help you, Lady and gentlemen?"

Dumbledore gave him a small smile, "Well, it has to do with the manner finished your task, young Harry…"

"How so?"

McGonagall's face turned red at his dismissing tone, "You brought your broom into the task and made a mockery of this school for an easy win."

Harry simply shrugged, "There was nothing in the rules against summoning something from outside the arena, only that we enter with only our wand. I followed the rules to the letter…"

The transfiguration mistress looked towards Bagman with a glare that made him flinch, "The lad is right, I'm afraid. It's not technically against the rules…"

"Yet, they are against the competitive spirit of the task," Dumbledore protested.

"Spirit is all well and good, but it doesn't change that I did win a nice bit of gold. Unless, of course, you wish to go back on your word, to change the rules after the competition. Talk about making a mockery of the tournament," Harry responded while humming.

Oh, that must have stung the headmaster, "You could still be penalized for messing with the enchantments around the arena which stopped anything from getting in or out of it."

"I didn't know that there were any enchantments. Are you sure you cast them correctly?"

Harry knew fully well about the wards around the arena. They were pretty basic since the task wasn't all that dangerous, and Harry did modify his summoning charm on the fly to make sure that the broom would be considered part of the task. Of course, this meant that Dumbledore knew that Harry did circumvent the wards somehow but couldn't admit publicly that a thirteen-year-old student could get past his protections since it could be taken as evidence of his incompetence.

The headmaster must have realized it too since he took a deep breath to calm himself down, "Congratulations, young Harry for winning your race. Take heed that summoning something from outside the arena will be barred in the finals. I look forward to seeing you compete…"

The adults turned and left, although Harry could see an imperceptible gleam of pride on Snape's face and a fond exasperation on McGonagall's. Harry had no doubts that they were seeing his parents in him…

The moment they left, Harry heard a howling laughter, one that he had never heard before. He turned and saw the amused face of his guardian, Arcturus Black, doing his best to control himself, only to howl into laughter before. Harry calmly took the Black Patriarch to a quiet corner and put on a few privacy wards, "Are you alright?"

"Alright? Lad, this is the most fun I've had in years. I haven't seen Dumbledore this pissed since that time your grandfather voted against him in a bill in the Wizengamot. It was literally the swinging vote. Oh, Charlus and I had such a laugh that night…"

Harry wanted to say something, but his guardian continued, "Oh, your father would have loved this. Making a mockery of a school event like this and getting away with it. Sirius would have been so proud of you. Sometimes, I regret that the two of you never met. I'd like to think that you would have gone along."

No, they really wouldn't. And just like that Sirius' name made Harry remember why he was avoiding this man for months. The Black Patriarch might be reminiscing about old times and looked much more relaxed than he ever did, but he had to know the truth.

Harry felt cruel for telling him, for ruining the man's good mood, which he rarely saw, in contrast to the regret that suffocated him most of the time. Alas, it would have been crueller to not tell him. The man deserved to know, and Harry knew that if he pushed telling him now, he would keep pushing. He would keep finding excuses.

No, he was going to do this.

He turned towards Arcturus and spoke with a serious tone, "We need to talk."

The man must have noticed the seriousness of Harry's tone because he steeled himself, "What about?"

"Do you remember what happened last Samhain?"

The Black Patriarch snorted, "Of course, I do. The Hogsmeade attack happened," his eyes widened slightly, "That was you?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, but that's not what I wanted to talk about. During the attack, something happened. Something that I need to tell you about…"

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