Chapter 28: Eggs and Explorations

Harry's friends and fellow Champions were all assembled in the Room of Requirements the day after Christmas. Dobby and Winky were serving refreshments to everyone while the Champions stood off to the side with their eggs. Harry turned his over in his hands studying the thing. It was about a foot high and completely golden with little decorative whirls and etchings all over it. The hinge along the middle had an ornate little lock in the center with a keyhole. The key, that the Champions had received for successfully completing the Second Task was perfectly sized to fit inside the opening.

"So do you think that they all have the same clue inside?" Fred asked frowning at the egg. "If they do, it seems rather stupid of them to deny us a key if we had failed the last Task. All we'd have to do was go and ask one of the other three what the clue was."

Viktor shrugged. "It does not seem like they feel ve vill cooperate like this. I have avoided mentioning it to Karkaroff myself. I doubt he vould approve despite that being the actual purpose of this Tournament."

"Madame Maxime might not encourage it, but at zis point I don't zink she would discourage it eizer," Fleur commented.

Harry just raised his eyebrows at the others when they looked to him. "What? Do you really think Dumbledore would like me working with you guys? I'm just happy he didn't come up with a rule preventing it. Let's just open these things and get it over with. Anyone want to go first?"

"I'll take the plunge," Fred said slotting his key in and flicking it to the side. As the prankster opened the egg a loud, shrill screeching echoed throughout the room. Everyone immediately cringed and covered their ears crying out in pain at the horrible noise. Dobby and Winky had dropped their plates and smashed their ears over their heads while the Champions dropped their eggs in reaction. Thankfully as Fred dropped the egg it banged closed and the offending screech ended.

"What the bloody hell kind of clue is that?" Tracey complained sticking her fingers in her ears and glaring at the egg. "That's the most useless piece of information throughout this entire competition!"

"I almost don't want to open mine now…" Harry muttered. "Dobby, Winky, you guys okay?"

Dobby nodded wincing slightly. "Yes, Master Harry. Dobby bes fine. It bes hard to hear, but Dobby bes fine."

Harry sighed in relief and turned back to his fellow Champions. As he caught sight of Fleur he froze. She was standing stock still staring at the egg with a look of fear and revulsion stuck on her face. "Fleur, what's wrong?" Harry asked reaching out to gently touch her shoulder.

Fleur jerked back at his touch and took a shuddering breath. "Mermish. It was Mermish."

"Mermish?" Hermione commented frowning.

"Oui," Fleur replied softly.

"Fleur?" Harry moved towards her again. "Fleur?"

"Sorry," the French girl shook herself and visibly composed her features back to neutrality. "We must listen to it underwater. It will make sense zat way."

Neville frowned. "Wait, how could you recognize it right away like that? All I heard was screeching."

"Any Veela would recognize Mermish," Fleur said shaking her head, but not elaborating further. Most of the group nodded though Harry continued to eye his friend.

"Well let's get some water in here!" Fred commented with a forced grin. "Who set the configuration?"

Shiva raised her hand. "I did. Give me a second." She shut her eyes and a few moments later, four large tubs of water were standing in the back of the room. "That should be big enough guys."

"Thanks, Professor!" Fred bounded over to one of the tubs and thrust his egg and head in opening it up. None of the sound carrying above the water.

Viktor snorted. "Always so dramatic," he said shaking his head in exasperation. He walked to the next tub and after unlocking and placing his egg in, he just lowered his head so that just his ear was underwater.

"Fleur, let's go listen to the clue. Okay?" Harry said taking her hand and pulling her towards the tubs of water. She nodded weakly and moved to her own section.

Harry dropped his egg in the water and leaned in to hear it's message:

Come seek us where our voices sound,

We cannot sing above the ground,

And while you're searching ponder this;

We've taken what you'll sorely miss,

An hour long you'll have to look,

And to recover what we took,

But past an hour, the prospect's black,

Too late, it's gone, it won't come back.

He lifted his head from the tub and frowned. "Guys I need some – " He cut off as Hermione was already at his side with parchment and quill.

She blushed and muttered. "I saw Fred and Viktor start writing."

"Thanks, Mione," Harry said smiling and copying some of the clue. He stuck his head back into the tub a few more times to make sure he ended up getting the whole thing right. Finally satisfying he removed the egg and walked back to the table to join the others. "Okay this is what I got in my egg. Did you guys have anything different?" Harry asked the other Champions. All three took a quick glance at each clue and shook their heads.

Viktor shrugged. "Vell at least ve know this Task vill not be different for each of us."

"I wonder what they're having us grab from the Third one though that will help in this one…" Fred said thoughtfully. "Maybe a map of the Black Lake?"

"Or maybe vhat ve vill miss?"

"No that doesn't make sense," Harry said. "It's probably either a map or another key. 'What we will sorely miss' has got to be something we already have. Like my rune belt or your broom or something."

"Or a person…" Susan said softly. All noise in the room stopped and everyone turned to look at her. "What? It would fit the pattern wouldn't it? Make the Task as dangerous as possible and motivate as best they could? Especially if The Umbitch has any say in the matter, you're probably going to have to retrieve someone from the lake, not something."

Tonks' hair had gone white as she took Harry's clue and reread it. "And if you don't get there within in an hour they're dead…they can't seriously get away with that could they?"

"If it's another 'accident'? Sure," Shiva spat out. "As long as they can claim that it wasn't intentional and that the line was just to scare you all a little."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I'll talk to Myrtle. She gets flushed into the lake a lot so she might already know how to find the Merpeople's village. If she can't draw us a map to start getting used to it, she might at least be able to point us in the right direction."

Tracey's eyes widened as she stared at Hermione in shock. "You actually talk to Moaning Myrtle? Voluntarily?"

Hermione shrugged. "She's really not that bad as long as you don't set her off. She got a lot calmer after the basilisk corpse was trotted out. I actually think she has a bit of crush on Harry and Daphne…"

Daphne shivered. "Remind me to never go into that bathroom. I don't even want to think about the implications of a ghost having a crush on me."

"The map is useless unless you can breathe underwater," Tonks said, her hair shifting back to blue. "Harry, I can start teaching you the Bubble-Head charm. The others should know it by now. It's a sixth year spell I think. Takes a bit of a magic to maintain long term, but it's a solid option."

Harry shook his head. "I can learn it as a backup, but if it causes a constant magical strain then I might have a better method."

"Oh?" Hannah cocked her head in surprise. "You can already breath underwater?"

Neville snapped his fingers and laughed. "The Breath Keeper! You're going to repurpose it, Harry?"

"No reason it shouldn't work just as well underwater," Harry said nodding. At the querying looks from the others Harry shrugged. "It's something I came up with to help Neville a few weeks ago. He was having some trouble with one of the potions we were working on and it kept blowing up and letting off these horrible fumes. I made a rune stone that switched the contents of your lungs with the nearest clean source of air within 333 meters. It's designed to prevent you from breathing in toxins or bad smells, but since it works via breathing relax and switching spells there's nothing that stops it from working underwater too…I should start selling that one actually…I could market it to potions labs, and divers…" Harry trailed off rubbing his chin.

"You could also sell it hospitals! If it works using switching spells then it can get rid of any fluid or blood in someone's lungs," Hannah said grinning broadly.

"Good point, Hannah. Fred can you add it to the list? I'll give you the specs and instructions on the design later."

"Will do, partner," Fred said nodding. "I think I'll stick with the Bubble-Head though for the Task."

"You could also always just use gillyweed," Neville said. "It's a plant that turns you partly aquatic. Webbed hands, webbed feet, gills, slight immunity against cold water. It only works in freshwater though. Nobody's found a saltwater variant yet. I might try and crossbreed one when I graduate."

Shiva nodded. "Gillyweed is a good idea. It would help if you're a weak swimmer too."

Viktor held up his hand. "I think that I vill use this method then. I do not enjoy swimming so the boost vould be helpful."

"What about you, Fleur?" Harry asked turning to the French Champion. His friend had been unnaturally quiet throughout the entire discussion and she was still just staring down at the note clutched in her hands.

At Harry's question she shook herself and sighed. "I will go with a Bubble-Head charm. I can swim relatively well if I have too and while I would not turn down a rune stone I would prefer not to have somezing zat I could lose – or have taken from me." Harry frowned at her last comment but remained silent for the moment.

"Who do you think they will take?" Luna asked. "Perhaps we could put a tracking charm on them the night before to better assist in locating them quickly."

Fred smiled at the younger blonde. "Good call! My hostage will almost definitely be George. Maybe Alicia."

Viktor thought for a moment. "I am not close with most in Durmstrang. They will likely take Millicent as ve vill have been on several dates by the time of this Task."

"Hermione, Tonks, they'll…probably take one of you. Or you, Shiva," Harry said dejectedly.

"Ze same for me," Fleur contributed quietly. "Zough I would zink most likely Hermione for me."

The others all nodded. "Okay, so we have a decent plan for the Fourth Task. What about the Third? Do you guys have any info on it?" Daphne asked.

"All we know for sure is that we have to retrieve the thing to help in the Fourth and that its theme is: Face the Sky," Fred said shaking his head. "My best guess is we're going to be doing some flying."

"I don't think we're going to end up getting much more than that unfortunately. At least not without the Headmasters cheating again which I certainly wouldn't turn down. We're all really good flyers though which is nice," Harry shrugged.

Fleur nodded perking up a bit. "Zis is true. I may not play Quidditch like you zree, but I do enjoy being in ze air and I have my wings as a backup if required."

"Okay," Shiva said clapping her hands together. "Good planning session and good progress people. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and don't forget to do your holiday break homework if you haven't gotten it done yet." A round of grumbling greeted the last comment and people began to file out of the room. Shiva, Harry, his girlfriends and Fleur hung back.

As the last person left, Harry turned Fleur and frowned. "Okay, what's wrong, Fleur? Why did you freak out about the Merpeople?"

"Binns really needs to be fired," Shiva muttered with a sigh. "You're worried about the treaty right?"

Fleur nodded and Hermione gasped. The French girl smiled a little at that though she crossed her arms before replying. "Oui. Ze treaty forbids any Veela from entering a Merman's territory just as it forbids zem from entering ours."

"What treaty?" Tonks asked her hair shifting a few colors.

"Wait…I read something about this a few weeks ago…" Harry said. "Something about…the Treaty of Athens? A Veela and Merpeople war right? That was what…two hundred years ago?"

"Zree hundred," Fleur said shaking her head. "Ze hostilities stopped, but both sides still hate each ozer for ze most part. All Veela are taught to avoid ze Merpeople as many will use any justification to kill us while trying to uphold ze treaty terms."

"They can't do that!" Hermione yelled. "How can they possibly expect you to compete in this if they're marching you to your death?!"

"Zat was why I was frightened. I don't believe I will have much issue at first zough. Zis Tournament is known zroughout much of ze world so ze Merpeople will not do anyzing as long as I stay within ze time limit. If I am still in ze water zough after an hour is up…" Fleur grimaced.

Harry violently shook his head. "Not going to happen, Fleur. We'll stick together in the Task and if they try anything I'll be there to help fight them off."

Fleur looked up at him blinking. Harry caught a sheen across her eyes before she smiled and nodded looking down again. "Zank you, Harry," she whispered.

Tonks walked over to the younger girl and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't forget, Fleur, Harry has a 'saving people thing'. You'll be fine. He'll probably end up hurt somehow knowing this idiot's luck, but you'll both survive. I'm sure of it."

Fleur chuckled. "Yes. I'm sure you are right."

"Of course she's right," Shiva smirked. "Now all of you come on. Dobby and Winky promised us some hot cocoa."

Adult Content

New Year's Eve after dinner saw Harry being dragged back into the Room by Hermione and Tonks with his eyes closed. He was laughing at their insistence that he keep his eyes shut once they hit the seventh floor corridor, but didn't ask questions.

"Okay, Wonder Boy, you can open your eyes now," Tonks said her grin evident in her tone.

Harry shook his head good-naturedly and opened his eyes. A moment later his jaw dropped and he squeaked in surprise. The Room had been turned into a cozy bedroom again with a couch to the side and a large bed in the corner. Both the bed and the couch were covered in satin and against the opposite wall was a roaring fireplace. Above the fireplace was a picture of Big Ben and the London Eye with the countdown displayed on Shell Centre. "Wow…"

"We wanted to do something nice for New Year's and while the castle was planning on having some fireworks visible from the dorms it didn't really seem like enough," Hermione said smiling.

Tonks nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, so we decided to get a picture of the celebration in London last year and charmed it so that the countdown will end up being correct. The fireworks should go off at the right time too."

"Girls, this is amazing!" Harry said grinning and hugging both of them tightly. "How come the bed though?"

Hermione raised her eyebrows and Tonks broke out into chuckles. "Really, Harry?" Hermione asked. "Did you seriously think we'd want to be alone on New Year's Eve?"

Harry's face went bright red as he caught her meaning. "Um…I hadn't really thought about it, but when you put it like that…"

"Ah he can be taught!" Tonks crooned quieting her chuckles and shifting to grinning mischievously. "Now we are all wearing too much clothing."

"Err, all I have on is a shirt and trousers," Harry hedged raising his eyebrows.

"As I said, far too much clothing. Let's slip into something a bit more comfortable eh, Mione?"

Hermione blushed but nodded. As she followed Tonks over to grab a mostly transparent nightgown from the bed Hermione looked back over her shoulder at Harry. "Feel free to watch, Harry. You've seen both of us mostly naked anyway."

Harry could only nod dumbly in reply. Hermione's statement wasn't entirely accurate. He had actually only seen them both topless not naked. It was an important distinction. In his mind at least. A distinction that was quickly growing rather outdated. The girls pulled off their shirts and removed their bras without much fanfare though Harry still stared in awe at both of their chests. He couldn't help comparing the two. Tonks was slightly larger than Hermione, though Hermione's breasts seemed a bit perkier and her nipples were a bit bigger. That was hard to focus on though with Tonks' piercings still on display. He was so focused on their upper bodies that he barely even noticed as they unbuttoned their trousers. As the jeans started to slip down though, Harry eyes widened as he finally followed their hands downward.

His mind ground to halt as the trousers were removed entirely leaving Hermione and Tonks clad in just a set of panties each. Well Hermione had panties on – a red piece of material with some small lace around the sides. Tonks on the other hand seemed to be wearing a yellow thong that barely covered her at all. His blinked in awe of the two beautiful women in front of him and barely managed to restart his brain enough to say something. "Is that a badger on those?" He didn't get his brain working enough to say anything intelligent however.

Tonks giggled. "Yup, it is. Hufflepuff and proud! Granted they're not my sexiest pants, but I'm saving those for Valentine's Day." Harry swallowed on a suddenly very dry throat and nodded dumbly. Both girls reached for their nightgowns and slipped them on. How more clothes could make them even more alluring was a mystery lost to time but the addition of the transparent gown certainly managed it.

"Harry," Hermione said raising her eyebrows and slinking closer to him. "Are you going to get comfortable or are you going to leave Nym and me dressed up all alone?"

Harry's shirt, shoes and trousers were on the floor almost before he finished processing her statement eliciting another round of giggles. "Man, Wonder Boy, that was almost fast enough to make me think you used a switching charm."

Harry's face went red though he turned back to Tonks and quipped, "Well, I guess next time I'll have to undress you to prove it wasn't magic."

Tonks raised her eyebrows at the challenge and chuckled. "I'm going to hold you to that, Harry. Hermione, are you bringing his cute little arse to bed or what?"

"Coming, Nym," Hermione sang as she took Harry's arm. She led him to the bed and pushed him lightly so that he was laying down between herself and Tonks. "There, that's better." Hermione leaned over and kissed him. Harry melted into her embrace for nearly a minute before coming up for air. As Hermione pulled back, he grinned widely and pulled Tonks down for a kiss as well.

"You two are beautiful. I don't say that nearly enough," Harry mumbled panting for breath when Tonks pulled back.

"You do, Harry," Hermione sighed as she leaned her head down on his bare chest. "But thank you."

"Doesn't mean we don't mind hearing it more though," Nym agreed nuzzling his neck. "You're pretty handsome yourself, Wonder Boy."

Harry made a noncommittal sound of agreement though he was currently more focused on Hermione. She had grabbed his hand and laid it on her stomach shifting it slowly downwards. "Mione?"

She stopped and lifted her head to stare into his eyes. "Harry…I want this. We both do. I'm ready for it and Nym is ready for it with us as well. If you want me to stop though I will. Just say so and we can stick with what we've done previously."

Harry blinked and tried to think of a reason why they should be staying above the stomach. He really tried.

"Um," Harry let out a low moan as Tonks lightly bit his ear. "Never mind. I'm done arguing. I'd have to be a complete idiot to argue."

"Good man," Tonks whispered into his ear sending a shiver down his spine as she took his other arm and brought it under her nightgown and up to her chest. Her other hand drifted down to slip underneath his pants while Hermione resumed guiding Harry's right hand down her own body.

Both of them groaned when he felt his hand slide under her panties and cup her. Harry's last coherent thought for several hours was a simple, "I love you girls."

End Adult Content

"I think we missed the New Year," Harry said. The wide smile on his face as Hermione and Tonks both cuddled on his chest left no concern that his statement was a rebuke.

"Eh, we were probably kissing during it anyway," Tonks mumbled.

He felt Hermione nod. "Yes, we were. I was snogging you, Nym, when I saw the fireworks go off in the painting."

"Oh was that why you broke off and hurriedly pushed me towards Harry then claimed his lips for yourself almost immediately?"

"Yes. I wanted us all to get the New Year's Kiss in on time," Hermione stated contentedly causing all three of them to laugh softly. "So, Harry, I take it you liked this idea?"

"Very much so," Harry said nodding. "It was definitely the best New Year's celebration I've ever had." He paused and shrugged. "Well, technically it's my fourth New Year's celebration and really only the second that I've actually done something worth remembering, but it still counts."

"That it does, Wonder Boy," Tonks said patting his chest.

"And you're going to have many, many more of them, Harry, so don't even think about slacking off for the remaining Tasks," Hermione said holding him tighter.

"I'm not going anywhere, Mione."

Tonks lifted her head a bit and furrowed her brow. "Actually, speaking of that, Mione, with the Marauder's Map and the Librarian's Aide, how do they determine who's who?"

"They tie into the castle's inner ward scheme," Hermione said shrugging. "It was Sirius' idea, but they hadn't gotten it to work until Harry's mum managed to invent the charm that piggybacked off the wards. According to Remus' notes, your cousin was actually going to try and insert a modification to the Anchor to make the Map work before Lily agreed to help. Good thing she did too because they had no idea where the Anchor was and best guess had been under Black Lake or somewhere in the dungeons. Why?"

Harry shifted so that he could see Tonks' eyes. "Moody right?" She nodded.

"I know it's stupid, but I can't help thinking that I'm missing something. I managed to get a detection charm on his flask before the Ball was out and it did show whiskey so I'm probably just being paranoid. Still though…it's just odd," Tonks winced. "Sorry, this isn't the time to be talking about that. Just ignore my paranoid Auror mutterings."

"It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you," Hermione commented grinning. "Muggle saying. I don't think the wards that identify people can really be changed though, Nym. Even with access to the Anchor you'd need an incredible amount of finesse, power and time. Not to mention intimate knowledge of the entire ward scheme."

"Sounds like something Dumbledore could do," Harry said.

Hermione shook her head. "He may be Headmaster and he's a very good wizard, but even he would need at least a half hour to erase someone from the ward scheme and replace them with someone else. Swapping people might take a shorter time, but Crouch has barely left his house since Sirius got those reparations from him – so there is no way he was on the grounds to swap names with."

Tonks nodded. "She's right. I actually looked for Dumbledore while you were dancing with me right after that, Harry, and he was there. If he'd done anything it should have taken longer. We can settle this right now though to be sure. Accio Librarian's Aide." Hermione's map flew out of her pants lying on the couch and into Tonks' hands. "Okay, if Crouch is on the grounds we call Bonesy and take both of them in. If not, we just continue watching Mad-Eye and note any inconsistencies compiling until we see if we have enough to bring to Bonesy."

"Sounds like a plan," Harry said as Hermione nodded.

Tonks activated the map and Hermione showed them how to use the search function. "You just hold your wand to the eye over here and say 'Locate, Barty Crouch'. See when the eye flashes like that it means the target isn't detected by the wards. If it does see them, then it will highlight their name and flash the room their in."

"Cool. This is amazing work, Mione," Tonks said. She redid the search a few times to ensure that the lack of response wasn't due to a 'bug' before wiping the map and putting it on the table. "Okay, let's just cuddle for now guys. I'll keep poking around later and seeing what's what. Mione, would you mind checking for Crouch every once in a while just to be safe?"

"Of course, Nym." Hermione frowned and reached out a hand run along the older woman's back. "Just promise me if you do find something you come get one of us first. I don't want you getting hurt because you didn't call for backup."

"Promise, Mione," she said smiling. A second later she shivered as Hermione's hand drifted between her legs. "Playful little minx…"

Harry laughed while Hermione smirked. "Yes. I certainly can be."

Barty scowled as he sat down in his office during his first free New Years in a decade and drank a bit of firewhiskey in 'celebration'. That damn Yule Ball had set off so many alarms in his head it had been all he could do not to make the bloody metamorphmagus disappear afterward. She'd been fishing for something deeper then what Moody had given him and his stupid 'constant vigilance' hadn't been good enough judging by her quick retreat. How the damnable old paranoid had managed to hide layers upon layers of code and avoid telling him everything was simultaneously the most impressive and most frustrating bit of foresight Barty had ever seen.

At least he'd managed to swap out his polyjuice flask for the whiskey one while she ran. Seeing her with Potter and Granger afterwards had worried him immensely and ended up being the sole reason he had stayed his hand from slaughtering the woman. If she were to simply up and disappear after telling those two he was acting suspicious, he wouldn't have lasted the night. He was good and in any fair duel he'd decimate the teens or whatever backup they brought…but Potter wouldn't fight remotely fair if he suspected Barty had killed his sex toy. Barty'd probably wake up to a tree growing through his back or something. That was one of the way those Asians slowly tortured and killed criminals wasn't it? Even if Potter didn't try to kill him, the boy would still end up exposing him and then his Master would kill him for screwing up the plan. Either way he was looking at a painful death if he acted against the bitch.

So he'd let her live. A few precautions and things should still be fine. He'd moved Moody to a room in that rundown old shack just in case they tried snooping around his office. It made getting extra hairs more difficult, but it wasn't much more than an inconvenience really. He'd just have to avoid mentioning this little problem to the Dark Lord until he could permanently take care of it.

Now if only he could figure out how the girl had found him out and not Dumb-as-a-door. Either the old man really was getting senile or the Moody had never trusted him as much as the fool had liked to pretend. Barty briefly considered that perhaps Dumbledore did know and was simply letting him be. He couldn't help a laugh at that idiotic idea. The Great Lord of the Light helping a murderous Death Eater? That would certainly be the day!

A few days before the start of the new term Harry was sitting on the grounds in his Midnight form and letting Luna and Fleur pet him. Ostensibly he was 'letting his instincts guide him'. He personally felt he was more just relaxing and taking the chance to get used to the sensation of having a tail as well as better handle the increased smell ability in his panther form.

And getting teased to high heaven by Fleur. "Midnight is so dreadfully boring though, Hermione. And far too appropriate," the French girl was saying. "I much prefer Snowball. When you call for Snowball ze first zing someone will zink of is 'Oh no, I am about to be pelted with slush!' and not 'Oh no ze evil 'arry!panzer is attacking!' It is ze best cover, no?"

"You just want to call him Snowball because you like to tease him," Hermione pouted crossing her arms.

"And because I like to tease him, yes," Fleur agreed wholeheartedly. She smiled and hugged Midnight around the middle. "Ze name is adorable. You, Midnight, are always going to be Snowball to me, you fluffy, silky little monster."

Midnight huffed in grudging acceptance. He was too concerned with Luna's hand scratching behind his ears to bother caring about what nickname Fleur was going to call him. His tail was swishing back and forth on its own with a curious little shiver flowing up his spine every so often. He tried to ignore the feeling since it felt like ice running down part of his tail.

Luna's hand suddenly froze and she went very still. Midnight could taste her scent change into something exuding a mixture of curiosity, wonder and fear. Growling slightly Midnight raised his head to peer around the girl and take stock of his surroundings trying to find what had her on edge.

"Harry…your tail," Luna said softly. "The graboids seem to have stolen it."

Midnight's eyes narrowed and he turned to stare at where his tail had fallen still. The ice was running up its length again and it was staying present far longer than before. Coiling his muscles, Midnight, searched the ground by the tree.

His tail was not there.

Letting out a low growl, Midnight stayed very still and shifted his eyes to his haunches, tracing the beginning of his tail to where it ended as it disappeared into the shadow of tree. Sucking in a sharp breath Midnight again traced his tail. It wasn't a mistake, his tail wasn't just lost in the shadow of the tree it was literally in the shadow!

Letting out a yip of fright Midnight jumped up and away from the tree. The ice left his tail as he leapt over Luna's head and landed on the other side of her well away from the shadow. He curled around to inspect his newly whole tail and start licking it and then pawing at it lightly.

"Harry," Hermione said softly her eyes wide, "are you alright?"

Midnight shifted and Harry sat down on the ground heavily. "I have no idea. What the bloody hell was that?"

"The graboids stole your tail," Luna repeated with a bit of wonder seeping into her voice. "I watched it happen. Your tail was flicking back and forth on the ground and when it fell onto the shadow, it disappeared inside it then came back as it flicked back out. It was the oddest thing…"

"Do you feel alright, 'arry?" Fleur asked reaching out but seemingly unsure of where she should be touching to make sure he had all his parts intact.

"I…think so? Hang on, I'm going to try to do it intentionally. If I disappear get Shiva and Madame Pomfrey."

"You will not bloody disappear, Harry Potter!" Hermione started to yell as Harry shifted back to Midnight and carefully stepped forward.

Extending a tentative paw, Midnight touched the shadow hanging in the air. Nothing happened. He growled low and gently laid his paw on the ground inside the shadow. Still nothing happened. Giving himself a little shake, he tried to remember just what he had been feeling and thinking as he had felt the ice in his tail a few moments ago. With deliberate slowness, Midnight called up that feeling again and pushed gently into the ground against the shadow. His paw slipped into nothingness and ice spread up his limb. Shivering Midnight leaned more of his paw into the ground and the ice spread higher. When the feeling reached his shoulder Midnight pulled back shuddering and shifted back to human.

"Merlin, that's cold!" Harry shook out his arm and cast warming spells on it until he started to regain some feeling. "Did you guys see that? I was literally in that shadow!"

"Yes, Harry, we saw it. You're okay?" Hermione asked as she moved forward to lightly run her hand along his arm. Harry nodded in reply.

"Shadow panther," Luna whispered her mouth gaping. "Oh my! You're a shadow panther, Harry!"

"I'm a what?" Harry asked.

"A shadow panther!" Luna jumped up and hugged him hard enough to make him lose his breath for a moment. "Oh they are nearly extinct! The shadow panther is a cousin to the North American wampus. It can travel through shadows as easily as walking. Observers have only seen it use shadows it can see to maneuver through, but there didn't seem to be a range limit beyond requiring line of sight from what they could tell. It could also take passengers with it though that was what led to their overhunting. Many people wanted a shadow panther for the novelty of traveling through shadows." Luna's happy voice died down to a sad tone. "Unfortunately the shadow panthers didn't take too well to that and many died as their masters forced them to travel with them. At least the masters tended to die or disappear as well."

"That…doesn't sound very safe, Luna," Harry said slowly.

"Well the animals themselves never had a problem before they were domesticated," she said shrugging. Tapping her chin she continued in a bemused tone, "Perhaps they died of frostbite?"

"Haha, very funny. That really was freezing you know." Harry stared speculatively at the shadow.

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "Harry, I know that look. You are about to do something incredibly stupid."

"Maybe," Harry acknowledged nodding. "But if it works it'll be pretty cool. And probably pretty useful too."

"And if it doesn't work you'll be on a bed in the infirmary."

Harry shrugged and shifted into Midnight before taking a long look at the shadow of the castle wall about 200 meters away. Staying fully focused on the wall, he leaped into the shadow of the tree. Ice covered his entire body and it felt like he had jumped into an Arctic bath. His body was squeezed and bombarded by a wind that came from nowhere and all light had vanished. For what felt like an eternity Midnight flew through the space between places buffeted by the wind and the cold.

Just as suddenly as it started, it stopped and Midnight flew out of the shadow of the wall exactly where he had been focusing on. Yowling at the uncomfortable cold and shaking slightly trying to return some feeling to his extremities he paced back over to the small group and shifted back.

"Ow," Harry muttered. "As naturally as walking, huh? Yeah no. That's going to take some serious getting used to if I want to do that more often."

"What was it like?" Fleur asked cocking her head.

"Cold. And windy. And it wasn't just dark but…it was like the complete absence of even the idea of light. It…felt wrong. Like I was intruding on something primal or something. I don't know really how to describe it," Harry finished with a lame shrug.

"Only Harry Potter would break every known magical law by becoming a magical animagus and describe it as simply as 'it felt wrong'," Hermione snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, I used other descriptors too!" Harry complained.

"What if you tried enflaming your magic while walking through the shadow?" Luna asked quizzically. "Encase it around you like a cocoon."

Harry ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "Worth a shot. If I can do this more than once or twice it would really improve my battlefield mobility." He shifted to Midnight and tried to do what Luna had described. It took him a few minutes to figure out how to call up his magic and force it through his body to hover just at the surface of his skin and fur but once he got the hang of it he tried leaping through the shadows again.

This time, the cold was still present but it was less a bone-chilling numbness and more of a fall evening. The wind didn't do much more than push him along and before he could feel anything beyond a heavy tingle, Midnight was popping out of the shadow of the wall. Mouth widening in the feline approximation of a grin, Midnight called his magic back up again and stepped back through the shadow to jump out beside his friends. This time though, instead of popping up inside the shadow of the tree he decided to have a bit more fun with it.

He leapt out of Hermione's shadow and ended in a crouch in front of her.

Hermione cried out in a surprise and fell back on her butt before glaring at Midnight. In response he looked up at her with wide eyes and nuzzled her leg purring. "Insufferable, twit," Hermione grouched. She reached out to scratch behind his ears though all the same and laughed along with Luna and Fleur.

Daphne leaned back against Tracey in the other girl's bed with a soft moan of both exhaustion and contentment. "That, was tiring," she said shutting her eyes as Tracey moved to rub her shoulders.

"Complicated tattoo this time?" Tracey asked in sympathy.

Daphne nodded. "And awkward positioning. Trying to correctly place the thing along the pad of his paw was frustrating enough. It was made even worse when he kept fidgeting every time I brought my wand closer. Shiva ended up having to stick his paw to the floor before I could start."

"Yeah, that sounds annoying," Tracey grimaced. "Both feet?"

"Paws. Both paws," Daphne corrected with a sigh. "We did make sure Harry took his shoes and socks off first before shifting to Midnight in case the runic tattoo decided to incorporate those items while being inscribed which would've been a disaster – but that's beside the point, the distinction between paw and foot is an important one. Remember what happened in the Second Task when he used a tattoo in feline form that was made in human form? These were made in feline form instead so he can't use them in human form or the same thing would happen."

Tracey shrugged and snorted. "I know, Daph. You don't need to get defensive about it. What were these ones again? Windflyer something or other?"

"Windrunner. It seemed like a modified short-range directional concussive blast designed to amplify reactionary feedback instead of dissipate it from what I could tell. A complicated way of saying his leaps will have quite a bit more power behind them while the tattoos are used. Harry only asked for them on his back paws since he never expected to use any tattoos on his feet while human," Daphne said waving her hand in the air dismissively. "Like being a large cat that can leap through shadows isn't impressive enough."

Tracey laughed. "Yeah well when does Harry ever do anything halfway, huh?"

"True."

"Soooo…" Tracey said softly. "Daph, I want to ask you something. Please don't dodge the question this time okay?"

"Okay," Daphne shrugged. "Why would I dodge it?"

"Because it's about Harry," Tracey sighed. She felt Daphne stiffen slightly underneath her fingers. "You do like him, don't you?"

Daphne stayed silent for nearly a minute before sighing deeply and giving a small nod. "I honestly didn't want to. I tried not to. I don't even know why I do like him. Maybe it would make sense if he was a frustrated loner who leans on everyone else at every turn. At least in that case then I would be shoring up his weaknesses and he would be softening my edges. But…he's an alpha the same as me. I shouldn't like him."

Tracey quirked her mouth a small smirk. "We can't really choose who we like, Daph. I never chose to like girls."

"That's not quite the same thing, Trace," Daphne frowned.

"It kinda is after a fashion." Tracey kept up her massage for another minute in silence. "Are you going to tell him?"

Daphne shook her head. "Of course not! He has more than enough to worry about at the moment than yet another girl with a crush on him!"

Tracey sighed and lightly flicked Daphne's forehead. "Stop being an idiot; it's not attractive. You aren't just another girl with a crush. You are Daphne Greengrass."

"His group already has Fleur in a holding pattern. The girl obviously told them how she feels and what she's looking for and they're still trying to decide what to do about it," Daphne said matter-of-factly. "Even if I was willing to say something to Harry I'm certainly not going to until they give her an answer."

"Daph, we both know he'd accept you over Fleur in a heartbeat."

"Oh come off it, Trace, he's only known me a year-and-a-half longer then her and the girl not only has a beautiful accent but is a Merlin-be-damned Veela!"

"Harry has never cared about that side of her. And you're his right hand," Tracey said quietly. "You're the first one he calls if he needs muscle to back him up in something. Just like he's the first one you call."

Daphne scowled and sat up turning so that she was staring at Tracey. "Why are you even trying to convince me of this, Tracey? Do you want to end…us?"

Tracey gave her girlfriend an exasperated look and leaned back crossing her arms. "I want you to be happy, Daphne. If Harry makes you happy then I'm going to do what I can to get you together. I'm sorry I've been a jealous bint for so long this year. You didn't deserve that and I don't like being that type of girl. We swore we'd be friends first and lovers second. As both your friend and your lover, I want you to be happy."

"I am happy with you, Tracey," Daphne said shaking her head.

"You've never looked at me like you look at him. He's your equal. I'm not. I want to be, but I'm not," Tracey said simply. "Look, if we can keep up what we have I'd love that. But I don't want you to pass something wonderful up just because you think you'd hurt me, Daph. I'm a big girl and I can handle it." She paused and glanced to the side in embarrassment. "I'm…also not entirely without my own options, you know."

Daphne furrowed her brow thinking before letting out a small bark of pleased laughter. "Luna? That does actually have potential? I thought she was just playing?"

"So did I at first. I've recently been informed she's actually rather serious about it," Tracey said blushing.

Daphne smirked and shook her head. "Well you and Harry do seem to be the only two who can calm her particular brand of…"

"Oddness?" Tracey supplied.

"I was going to say quirkiness. Do you like her?"

"Actually…I kinda do. It's not the same as with you. I'd be in the flying seat which…would be weird to be honest. I'm not sure, Daph."

Daphne nodded and twisted so that she could lean back against Tracey. "Quite a pair we make," she said as she pulled the other girl's arms around her. "Neither sure of what we want and both somewhat unwilling to find out."

"Too bad, we're not more Slythindorish, huh?" Tracey commented eliciting a round of laughter from both girls. "Seriously though, Daph, I think you should go for it with Harry before the year is up. If you decide you want to keep up with us – either in the meantime or after he accepts you – I'm willing to do that. I rather doubt that boy would object to letting you stay with me on the side. Just know that I won't be joining you in bed with him."

"I'll…think about it," Daphne said quietly. After a short pause she continued louder, "If you want to give it a go with Luna you have the same permission from me. Just please let me know so I don't find out secondhand." Daphne paused and shrugged. "I also wouldn't be joining you two in bed. She is adorable in small doses, but the girl is not my type at all."

"Noted," Tracey laughed. Both Slytherins sighed and closed their eyes relaxing against one another and trying not to think about the future.

"Hey, Shiva, you have a few minutes to go over some stuff?" Harry asked his guardian after class ended for the day.

"Sure. What's up, kid?" Shiva stretched, leaning back in her chair and cracking her neck. Harry laid two drawings out on the table in front of her and pulled up a chair.

"I wanted to get your opinions on these two designs. This," he said pointing to the first one, "is the Tracekey first draft. It obviously has major grounding issues which I haven't quite managed to work around yet, but the thing I need a bit of help on is the targeting section of the cluster."

Shiva leaned in and squinted down at the exploded view of the runic array Harry had been working on since the World Cup incident. "This part's the problem right? Any reason why you need it to link to both the origin and destination of the last portkey?"

"Well, I want it to be an 'either/or' thing not a 'both' thing," Harry said shrugging. "If it targets either the origin or the destination then you can track the bad guys whether you nab them while the crime is in progress or after they've made their getaway."

"Makes sense," she agreed nodding. After staring at it a few moments she crossed out one of the runes he was using and switched it for a Transient rune. "This should probably get that result, kid. Make sure you test that though because it might make some other aspects unstable."

Harry studied her change and broke out into a huge smile. He hugged her and nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks, Shiva! That does make the grounding section unstable, but it should actually make it easier to start bleeding off the magical backlash from the ward tunneler which is the main sticking point I've had. Thanks!"

"Always glad to be of use," she said smirking. "What's the other one?"

"Uh," Harry grimaced. "It's…the Lava Bomb. I know how to make it but…well just take a look and tell me what you think."

Shiva's eyes narrowed at his evasion, but she turned to the diagram instead of pressing him. About a minute later after mumbling to herself and making a few notes she sucked in a sharp gasp.

"Yeah. That was my reaction as well," Harry muttered.

"This is a chimera rune! Harry, what the hell is a chimera rune in a channeling configuration doing in this cluster?"

He shrugged. "I remembered the basic design of the main cluster from when I saw Overlord Harry use it, but I couldn't remember the subarray formed in the middle where the two halves met. I drew it up and realized the only thing that fit was a channeled chimera rune. I…don't think anyone else but me could use this, Shiva. I think he designed it specifically for himself."

She scowled. "Using another side effect of the ritual?"

"That's my guess," Harry nodded grimacing. "I don't know whether it's related to a slight fire resistance or a breathing fire thing, but it's got to play into it somehow. I…just really hope I don't end up accidentally breathing fire on someone…I'm actually hoping that this rune would diminish any potential negative effect that we haven't seen yet."

"Goddess," Shiva leaned back and blew out a breath. She fixed Harry with a piercing stare. "You're sure that this is a good idea?"

He nodded. "The implications are worrying, but the cluster is sound. It'll work. On me at least."

"Still extremely unstable, kid."

"That's why it's in two halves," he pointed out. "I have to seriously kink my arms to get them to meet up correctly to complete the cluster."

Shiva frowned and stared at the runes a bit longer before eventually nodding. "I'd be happier asking you to wait until the summer for this one, but I know that's not exactly practical. Especially if it's going to be something that might prevent any accidents before they can happen. Harry, will you at least promise me to try not to use this one during the Tournament? If people start seeing you using a lava generating rune so soon after your evil twin did…All I'm saying, kid, is that we don't want to piss away all the good will we've managed to swing our way."

"I'll be careful, Shiva. I'd just feel safer knowing I have a nuclear option if I need it." Harry smiled reassuringly.

"Okay. Okay, kid, you have my permission for this one then. How did that Windrunner thing work out by the way?" Shiva said passing him back the diagrams.

"Pretty good. Without activating them, Midnight can jump about 6 meters forwards and with them I can get to almost 9 meters," Harry said giving her a thumbs up. "It feels a bit weird since I'm basically being pushed for part of it instead of actually jumping, but it works great."

"Well that's good," Shiva nodded. "How about that Ministry guy – the one with the daughter? He didn't want you to come in and show off for the extra paperwork right?"

Harry shook his head. "Nope. His name was Donovan by the way. Hedwig just got back this morning with the revised copies of the forms and certification that they're entered into the Hall of Records as well as Gringotts. He…also sent a thank you note from his daughter, Marie," Harry said blushing a running a hand through his hair. "It was actually really sweet. When I open a physical location I may end up hiring her."

Shiva chuckled. "Careful, Harry. Last thing you need is another girl crushing on you!"

"Ugh," Harry groaned theatrically, "don't I know it!"