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SIYE Time:11:26 on 28th March 2024
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Return of an Alpha
By Miz636

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Category: Alternate Universe
Characters:All
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama
Warnings: Death, Mild Language
Story is Complete
Rating: PG-13
Reviews: 409
Summary: For three years, Harry has been Becoming Alpha of Hogwarts. Now another Alpha is returning, bringing with him darkness, chaos, and battle. Watch as sides line up for war, and people and society change.
Hitcount: Story Total: 169559; Chapter Total: 4074





Author's Notes:
Huge thanks to my Beta Arnel, who edited this faster than I ever expected, despite it being almost twice the length of one of my normal chapters. Thanks for the help, Arnel! :)




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StoryPrinter


Chapter Twenty-Seven


Harry turned to the left, immediately dodging the spell sent down the narrow path he was on by ducking once he saw the red light headed towards him. A hiss of disappointment reached Harry’s sensitive ears as he raced forward as fast as he could before another spell could be cast.

Instead of a spell, though, a bear charged forward. Startled, but not letting it get to him, Harry used a muttered spell to wrap the bear up in ropes, smirking at the growls it made in annoyance.

Chuckling almost silently, Harry ran past the bear and further down the path, took a sudden step back at a fork in the path when a blue spell went flying down at him. Muttering “Protego” under his breath, Harry made a shield in front of himself as he stepped out and saw another blue light shoot at him from his left. It hit the shield hard, though not enough to crack it.

Cursing slightly as he recognized the spell, Harry backed away again to use the Point-Me spell Hermione had found for him to figure out which way he had to go. Unfortunately, the spell told him what he had already known but didn’t want to accept: The way to the center was past the person launching spells at him.

Creating another shield, Harry ran towards the person quickly, allowing his shield to take the brunt of the attack while also moving left and right in the path, even ducking down once when his shield fell and he had to bring up a new one, but a spell flew over his head in those precious moments.

Finally, Harry moved close enough to see Tracey firing at him still. Preparing himself, Harry ducked down and to the right, launching three Stunners in a row. Tracey dodged the first two, but the final one had been sent a few moments later at the spot Harry knew she would be at and hit her.

Kicking her wand away as he ran, Harry continued on the path he was taking, a sudden curse slipping out of his lips as a metal dart came out of nowhere from above and in front of him at an angle, giving him just enough time to dodge it.

“Bloody hell, which of my crazy friends was in charge of setting this up?” Harry muttered under his breath, unable to believe what they had thrown at him.

Jumping over a thin string lying across the ground in his path, Harry realized that the increase in traps must mean their idea of the finish was close now, much to his relief. This was the third time in one day his maniac friends had made him run through a maze with some of his friends in it as obstacles along with the other traps someone had set up while asking for the Room.

A knife being thrown at him warned Harry that he had another opponent. He dodged, quite used to it as training for almost two years had included lots of throwing knives aimed at him in annoyance.

A flash of red told Harry that it was Ginny’s turn again. Usually, the last obstacle before the end was either Ginny or Astoria, so Harry knew that while he couldn’t relax completely, he was almost to the point where he could get a break and collapse for a bit.

Unfortunately, Ginny had not only her wand but also a sheath of throwing knives. Was that her sword on her back that Harry saw? Oh great, he thought sarcastically, she’s going to even use her sword on me.

Preparing himself, Harry raised his wand arm and prepared to cast while still moving forward, his left hand going down to a special sheath in his dragonhide armor that he knew not to depend on at all as it was only there in case of an emergency. Very few of his obstacles warranted his dagger, but this was one of them.

As the knives began flying from Ginny’s end of the path, Harry pulled out his dagger and used it to deflect a couple knives he knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge, his wand sending Stunners right at her whenever he could launch them.

Slowly, Harry made his way towards his girlfriend, though not even that made him go easy on her as he tried to take her out again.

Finally, finally, he caught a lucky break as Ginny’s shield wavered at the exact moment a Stunner was aimed at her and her attention was a bit distracted by getting another knife. By the time she noticed it, the Stunner had gotten through and there was no time to move as the red light hit her and knocked her unconscious, allowing Harry to finally pass by her.

Racing by, Harry hurried into the clearing where the fake Triwizard Cup sat, touching it with a single finger before collapsing. The maze disappeared from around him, the Room turning into the normal training room they used.

“I think he’ll be ready for the Task in two weeks,” the voice of Daphne said from above Harry as he panted and couldn’t look up from the ground. “How about you guys?”

All around Harry, sounds of agreement were heard, and he grinned around trying to regain his breath. Hearing that meant they were done, which was good as he was knackered.

Of course, his friends wouldn’t be able to help him train during the week anymore as their exams started the next day, unfortunately, but he would be able to look up spells if he wanted to, or he could ask for permission to just not be in the room while they took the exam and come to the Room of Requirement and train.

“Come on, let’s get the Champion some water and a chance to relax for a bit,” Theo said with a laugh as Tracey and Ginny suddenly bent down next to Harry to help him stand up. They had sympathetic but proud looks on their faces, but Harry just wanted to sit down.

Finally, ten minutes later, Harry had a bit more energy and was watching as his friends practiced around the room.

“You okay?” Ginny asked from beside him, and Harry nodded as he turned to grin at her. “Good. By the way, I’m glad you didn’t go easy on me at all. It means you’re taking this seriously.”

“Of course I am!” Harry exclaimed quietly, a bit upset that she thought he wouldn’t take it seriously.

“Most were betting you’d go easy on me because it was me,” she said quietly, gesturing around with only her eyes at the others.

“Idiots,” he muttered fondly. “You’d hex me into next week if I had gone easy on you.”

“At least you know it,” she said with a grin, leaning up to kiss him lightly before resting her head on his shoulder. Harry wrapped his arm around his girlfriend.

They both just watched their friends, knowing that the third and final Task was looming in front of them, but they were preparing Harry as best as they could, so it was easier just to enjoy themselves as best they could.



“Someone curse me or something, please,” Theo begged as he threw himself onto a couch in The Den, taking up the entire thing. “Just get me into the Hospital Wing so that I don’t have to do this anymore!”

Harry looked up in surprise as his friends settled down around him. The time had flown quickly as he went through one of the textbooks from Remus that he had received when he asked for a few advanced Defense books. He hadn’t even noticed it when the Charms exam had ended for his friends.

“I’m amazed you’d be willing to spend time with Madam Pomfrey,” he commented, putting a small slip of parchment into the book and closing it as Theo paled a bit.

“You’re right,” he admitted. “I’m not sure which is worse, Madam Pomfrey or the exams,” he groaned, covering his eyes with his hands.

“Madam Pomfrey,” Harry immediately answered.

“You’re only saying that because you don’t have to take the exams!” Blaise exclaimed, and Harry knew that his other friend wanted out of the exams just as badly as Theo.

“Trust me, I’ve been in there more than you two have from Quidditch injuries,” Harry stated. “She’s ten times worse than even McGonagall’s class when she’s in a bad mood. Heck, she’s worse than Moody’s class when he decides to go after everyone in our class.”

Theo was truly pale by the end of Harry’s comparisons, and Blaise wasn’t far behind him. The pair had been lucky enough to escape any major injuries during practice or matches, so they hadn’t faced the full wrath of the medi-witch.

“Stop scaring them,” Tracey said, whacking Harry upside the head lightly as she stood up to go sit next to Theo, who sat up quickly when he saw her.

“I’m not trying to!” Harry complained. “All I’m doing is making sure they don’t end up in the hospital wing just so they can get away from their exams; they’ll regret it in more ways than one.”

“You don’t have to scare them to do it,” Tracey retorted, and Harry just rolled his eyes.

“Enough you four,” Daphne finally sighed. “The exams are a pain, but they aren’t terrible enough to warrant a trip to the Hospital Wing to get away from them. Just stop with the drama because we’ve got more studying to do for Herbology tomorrow.”

Theo groaned, but got his textbook out as Harry smirked at his friend. He opened the Defense book pointedly, trying to annoy Theo by showing off the fact that he didn’t have to take exams. Though, in a part of his mind, Harry knew that the maze wasn’t exactly the perfect trade-off for it.

A light whack upside the head before a kiss told Harry that Ginny had joined them, her Astronomy exam done as she sat down and pulled out her Defense book, obviously ready to ask Harry questions if she needed to.

Grinning, Harry relaxed and continued his reading to gather more possible spells to practice on his own.



“Why are we doing this again?” Daphne groaned as she, Astoria, Harry, Tracey, and Ginny continued their search of the Room of Hidden Things. They had been doing this periodically throughout the school year after the idea had hit them.

“Because it’s better than revising or practicing,” Harry suggested, “but if we aren’t doing those we might as well be doing something productive.”

“True,” she sighed, continuing to look through the piles for anything that might be a Horcrux.

Harry had just spotted a large cupboard that looked as if acid had been thrown on it, if the blistered surface meant anything and walked right up to it, a curious look on his face. Something just seemed to be drawing him to this area, though he wasn’t sure what it was.

Turning to his right a bit, Harry spotted an odd, ugly chipped bust of an old warlock on top of a crate. On the crate next to it were an old wig and a tarnished tiara. The tiara looked very ancient and was oddly discolored, but something seemed to be drawing Harry towards it despite his confusion about the feeling.

Reaching out, Harry picked up the tiara, feeling as if his soul was shivering, and he turned it around. He was able to read something on it: WIT BEYOND MEASURE IS MAN’S GREATEST TREASURE.

Blinking, Harry thought back to what he had seen the one time he and his friends had been alone in Ravenclaw Tower a few months ago. He had decided to use that as a chance to study the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw despite the odd looks the others had given him at the time. On the back of the tiara — a diadem, Luna had called it at the time — had been that exact same sentence.

“GUYS!” he called loudly, attracting the attention of the others. “I THINK I FOUND IT!”

At those words, the other four charged towards him. Within moments they were surrounding him, looking at the diadem in his hands.

“Are you sure?” Daphne demanded, but Harry wasn’t upset as he understood where she was coming from.

“This is Rowena Ravenclaw’s lost diadem,” Harry informed them with a grin, lifting it up a little. “Luna told me the story one time when I was in their Common Room earlier this year. I’m not sure how Riddle got it, but we’ve got it now.”

“Are you going to destroy it?” Astoria asked in a slightly awed voice, obviously amazed that they had found it. Harry himself was actually amazed they had found it.

“Soon,” Harry said, taking the diadem and slipping it into his bag. “I don’t have the special thing I use to destroy the Horcruxes with me.” Harry made sure to keep his face blank as he told the lie; the Dagger was in its normal place on his left arm.

“So we can’t watch you destroy it?” Astoria sighed. She and the others looked a bit upset by the fact, but Harry knew it was better this way. He couldn’t have Daphne or Astoria knowing about the Dagger.

“Sorry, Astoria,” he said, and she nodded sadly. “Well, come on; let’s go let some adults know that we’ve got it! Would you like the honors, Astoria?” Harry had grabbed his mirror from the holder on his belt and held it out to the younger girl, who was now grinning.

As Harry watched Astoria tell Sirius, who had rushed to Floo the others to his home when he found out what she was saying, he couldn’t help but smile a little at the happiness on her face. No matter how dark the topics she was talking about were, Astoria was proud of what she was doing and was enjoying it.

It was all that Harry could ask for.



Later that Saturday evening, Harry slipped away from his friends and went back up to the Room of Requirement, requesting the room he normally destroyed the Horcruxes in.

Pulling the diadem from his bag, he placed it on the rock in the middle of the room and removed his Dagger from its sheathe. With a quick stab, Harry pierced the diadem straight through the front, a scream emitting from it, ringing in his ears.

From his bag, Harry extracted the box that hid the magic within it. Placing the diadem inside the box, Harry wrote a quick note.

It’s done.

Harry


Locking up the box, Harry replaced it in his bag and sheathed the Dagger, leaving the Room behind him as he headed to the Owlery to give Hedwig some exercise.

Four down, two to go.



Harry saw Cedric and went over to him in The Den. The next day was the Third Task, and he knew they had to talk about this now, just in case.

“Hey Cedric,” Harry said, settling down on the couch next to the seventh year, who grinned at him.

“Hey Harry, what’s up?” he asked, putting down the Defense book he had been looking through.

“Tomorrow,” Harry said, and Cedric got more serious. “We both know it’s dangerous, and with what Hagrid could be putting in that maze, it’ll be deadly.” Cedric nodded in understanding. “Well… I was thinking, and I had an idea. It’s sad and hard to think about, but we should.”

“Tell me,” Cedric insisted, and Harry nodded, going into the idea he had and describing it the best he could. “Do it,” Cedric stated when Harry was done, reaching into his bag to give Harry what he needed. “It’s better to have it done just in case.”

“I hope to Merlin, God, and whoever that we don’t need this, but…” Harry didn’t have to finish. Cedric understood.



Tra cey entered the Great Hall next to Harry, who was hiding it well but was obviously quite nervous. She knew him better than anyone besides Ginny, and Tracey knew that nothing could have prepared him for this emotionally, even if Harry had the training for the maze.

Looking around, Tracey realized that Harry wasn’t the only person in the Hall who was quite nervous. Cedric had friends actually rubbing his back to try and sooth him as he worried about the upcoming Task. Viktor was tense and completely silent, which Tracey had learned in the months that the foreigners had been there was quite odd for him when among friends. Fleur was snapping at her friends, but they seemed to be taking it well; maybe it was just her way of dealing with the tension and pressure being put on the Champions.

It didn’t matter, though, because all four were worried and had nothing to distract them for the entire day as their friends were taking their exams.

Frowning, Tracey thought that this hadn’t been well planned at all. It had only been the fact that all four Champions had had their friends before the Tasks that had allowed them to be less tense before, and now their friends were being taken away from them. She didn’t know a way around it, however, so all she could do was hope that this had been planned for.

“Come on, Harry, you need to eat,” she told her almost-twin as they sat down and Harry pushed the empty plate away from him, obviously not planning to eat.

“I’m not hungry,” he muttered, and Tracey frowned until she silently sighed in relief as Ginny walked up behind Harry. She was frowning. If Tracey couldn’t get him to eat, she still knew that Ginny could.

“Eat, Harry,” Ginny muttered as she began massaging Harry’s shoulders, trying to get him to relax. “You’re going to need the energy this evening. Until then, think about something else.”

“Like what?” he asked with a sigh as Tracey watched his muscles relax. With a small grin, Tracey began putting breakfast onto her own plate, listening to Ginny as she calmed down their friend.

“Maybe how we’re going to celebrate your finishing the Tournament tomorrow out on the grounds,” Ginny whispered just loud enough for Tracey to hear. Ginny gave her a wicked grin that almost made Tracey choke on her pumpkin juice as she held in a laugh while putting the goblet down.

From the grin on Harry’s face, that was a very nice thought, so Tracey began piling food on his plate and slid it back in front of him. He rolled his eyes, but picked up his fork and began to eat. Ginny sat down next to him.

“Is he relaxed yet?” a voice whispered in Tracey’s ear, and she jumped slightly before turning with a slight scowl to tell Theo off for startling her again. “I know, I know, I’m not supposed to startle you like this, but I can’t help it,” he said with a grin while sitting down across from Ginny and next to Tracey.

“Next time you do it I will hex you,” Tracey muttered quietly to him, raising an eyebrow when he looked at her incredulously. “Remember the last time I hexed you because you did something too many times when I said not to?” Theo paled, and Tracey knew the message had been received.

“What’s your last exam again, Trace?” Ginny suddenly asked, and Tracey looked over at the third year before replying.

“Defense,” she sighed, putting a hand on Theo’s as he was reminded of their professor yet again. It had been a very tense class the entire year, and only she and Harry had managed to keep the entire class calm, sometimes helped by Blaise and Daphne when they could. “You?”

“Herbology,” Ginny replied with a slight grimace.

“Why didn’t you ask Neville to help you study for it?” Harry asked, and Ginny looked like she was going to hit herself for forgetting about the boy with the green thumb, as they usually called him jokingly to get his spirits up when he was down.

“Completely slipped my mind that I could,” she groaned. “Oh well, too late for it now. I guess I’ll just do my best.” She shrugged indifferently, and Tracey grinned slightly.

As breakfast began to wind down and students left the Hall to go get ready for another exam, Tracey glanced at Harry and saw his worry returning. She guessed that having his friends around him had helped, but now they were preparing to leave him alone for hours…

“Mr. Potter,” the soft voice of Professor Snape said from behind Tracey. She spun around to see that he had almost silently walked up behind her. “The Champions are congregating in the chamber off the Hall.” Snape gestured in the direction of the same room Harry had been forced to enter when his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire.

“Why, Professor?” Ginny asked, and Tracey turned around to see that she wasn’t the only one startled. “The Task is tonight, not this morning.”

“That is true, Weasley, but the families are in there as they’ve been invited to watch the Final Task,” Snape stated, and Ginny looked a bit embarrassed, though Tracey thought she shouldn’t as the Slytherin had just been about to ask the same thing. “I just thought Mr. Potter here would like to greet them and spend the day with them.”

When she heard that, Tracey relaxed. So they had thought of a way to distract the Champions while their friends were taking their exams. That was a good thing, in her opinion.

“Thank you, Professor,” Harry said quietly, and Snape nodded once before stalking out of the Hall, obviously down to his dungeon for an exam.

“Go, Harry,” Tracey said softly, grabbing her bag and standing up. “Let Padfoot and Moony distract you for a few hours until lunch when all of us can spend the afternoon with them.”

She and Harry shared a grin as he nodded, agreeing to what she asked.

Tracey held out a hand to Theo, who took it and began leading her from the Hall, Ginny behind them. The Slytherin took one last look at her almost-twin and knew that he would be fine if the look on his face said anything.



Harry entered the chamber and was surprised when Sirius pulled him into a hug. Grinning, Harry wrapped his arms tightly around his godfather.

“Hey Sirius,” he said with a laugh as Sirius finally pulled away.

“How are you doing?” Sirius asked, for once with a very serious look on his face, which Harry thought was so out of place that this couldn’t be his godfather.

“Nervous,” he admitted, “but I’m fine.”

“Padfoot, he’ll be fine,” Remus said, walking up and putting an arm briefly on Sirius’s shoulder before hugging Harry for a few moments. “At least let him come into the room properly.”

“Sorry about that,” Sirius said, grinning sheepishly as he put an arm around Harry’s shoulder and moved him into the room.

Harry blinked and then grinned when he saw Samuel and Daniella were also there. They might not be his guardians anymore, but they were definitely the pair who shared the part of his heart reserved for the different parental figures in his life along with Padfoot and Moony.

“You came?” he asked as Daniella hugged him and Samuel gave him a one-armed hug.

“Of course we did,” Samuel replied, sounding as if Harry was insane for thinking they wouldn’t be there. “Daniella actually came up here and told off Dumbledore when he tried to claim that we weren’t your family. Never seen anything as brilliant.” As he said it, Daniella blushed and all three men grinned.

“I’m glad you did it, then,” Harry said with a smile. “Wouldn’t be the same without all four of you here.”

“Well, come and introduce us to the other Champions!” Sirius exclaimed, and Harry grinned as he led the four over to where Cedric was talking with his parents.

“Cedric, meet Sirius, Samuel, Daniella, and you probably remember Remus; guys, this is Cedric Diggory, my fellow Hogwarts Champion,” Harry said, and Cedric shook hands with all four of them.

“Hey,” Cedric said with a smile. “These are my parents,” he said, gesturing behind him.

“Hello Amos,” Samuel said, nodding at the man.

“Samuel,” Amos Diggory replied with his own nod.

“Samuel and Daniella are Tracey’s parents,” Harry added for Cedric’s benefit. He nodded in thanks as the confusion that had been on his face, though barely noticeable, disappeared.

“She’s a wonderful girl,” Cedric mentioned, and the two smiled at him. “A very good friend.”

“Zat she ez,” the voice of Fleur said from behind Harry, and he turned to see that she had brought her family over.

“Fleur, I’d like you to meet my godfather Sirius, an ex-professor and family friend Remus, and Tracey’s parents Samuel and Daniella,” Harry said, gesturing to each as he said their names. “This is Fleur Delacour, the Beauxbatons Champion.

“And this is Viktor Krum, the Durmstrang Champion,” Harry added as he noted that Viktor and his parents had joined the group while he had been introducing the four to Fleur and her family.

The parents began talking as they introduced themselves, leaving the four Champions and Fleur’s younger sister, Gabrielle, to chat.

“Are you three ready?” Cedric asked, and Harry nodded along with Viktor and Fleur.

“I ‘ave been practicing ever seence we learned of ze Task,” Fleur admitted.

“My friends would barely let me stop practicing,” Harry muttered a bit darkly, remembering how until the exams his muscles had rarely stopped hurting.

“The Durmstrang students vere complaining that they never saw me anymore,” Viktor said. “That vas vhen I cut down on the training, realizing I needed to live as vell as be prepared.”

“Very important,” Cedric said with a nod.

“Harry, why don’t we go out onto the grounds for a bit?” Samuel suggested, and Harry looked away from his friends to realize the parents were done talking and wanted to spend time with their children.

“Sure,” Harry said, shrugging slightly.



Remus grinned slightly from the back of the group of five as Harry led him and the others towards the lake. Harry was smiling and looked quite happy, though Remus recognized the tension in the teen’s body as he moved. The maze was obviously never far from the front of his mind today, which made sense.

When Harry used Ankh to surprise Sirius into screaming, Remus couldn’t help but laugh, knowing that Harry definitely had the Marauder spirit in him. Plus, any chance to see Sirius squirm was always amusing to the werewolf.

Finally, though, things turned to more serious topics.

“How did you five find the diadem, Harry?” Samuel asked, and Remus stiffened alongside the others.

Oh, he knew that he was curious; all of them were. There hadn’t been one hint of the teens even being close to finding the Horcrux, then all of a sudden, Astoria had Harry’s mirror and was telling them all that they had another one. It had been a sudden and welcome surprise, but they were all interested by it.

“We’ve been looking for most of the year in the same place, but it took us until this weekend to find it,” Harry sighed, and Remus saw signs of resignation on his body.

“Where did you find it, then?” Daniella asked.

“The Room of Hidden Things,” Harry replied, and Remus knew he wasn’t the only confused one. “It’s one of the rooms that the Room of Requirement can become.”

When he heard that, Remus wanted to hit himself on the head. Of course the Horcrux would be somewhere like that if it was in Hogwarts. The Room of Requirement was hidden, a place that magical searches wouldn’t work in, and it would be hard to find in there.

“Ginny and I realized it could be there months ago, but we didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, so we asked the others not to tell as we searched,” Harry explained. “We spent hours at a time in that room, just going through the piles of junk to see if we could ever find the thing. I finally found it Saturday, much to our relief; I think all of us were afraid of having to search next year as well.”

“Well, we’re quite glad you all found it,” Remus said, smiling at the teen. “It’s a relief to know that another one of those things is gone.”

The others agreed with him, and Remus relaxed a bit as the topic of discussion turned to the Unofficial Quidditch Tournament Harry’s team had won.



“Mum, Dad, what are you doing here?” Tracey asked as she walked into the Great Hall for lunch and saw her parents sitting with Harry, Sirius, and Remus at their normal table.

“We’re here to watch Harry in the Third Task, of course,” her mother said as she got up and hugged Tracey. “How was your exam?” she asked as mother and daughter sat down, Tracey sitting in one of the spots left open beside Harry.

“Oh, it wasn’t that hard,” Tracey said, waving it off as she reached for some of the sandwiches on the table. “We learned most of the stuff over the summer anyway, and the rest Harry actually helped us with throughout the year.”

“Really?” Remus asked, looking surprised.

“Harry’s the best in our year at Defense,” Theo said with a smirk as Harry glared at her boyfriend, who had just entered and sat down next to Remus. “Hello, by the way,” he added with a grin.

“Tracey, I thought you said it was only going to be Sirius and Remus,” Daphne said as she sat down at the table with them, and Tracey could only shrug as Blaise joined the group.

“I thought it was only going to be them,” she replied once she had swallowed her mouthful of food.

As talking began at the table, Tracey watched as Ginny sat on Harry’s other side. One-by-one, the colored Journal group joined them at the table. Even Graham and Natalie joined the group, chatting away with Luna and Maya about the electives they would get to choose in their third year, asking which ones they thought were the best. The only person not there was Draco, who, Tracey noted, kept looking at the table with a hint of longing, but they all knew that he had to eat with his friends.

When lunch was done, the group all got up and went to The Den, amazing the four adults who had never seen it before. Tracey, Harry, and Ginny had to accept their comments and amazement about their work for a bit while the other snickered. Finally, though, everyone began playing games or just talking.

“Why don’t we go to the Room and show them some of what we’ve been working on?” Hermione asked Tracey, Harry, and Ginny a couple of hours after lunch.

“Guys, Room of Requirement,” Ginny called after a shared look between the three, and everyone was willing to go.

Once everyone was in the room, Graham and Natalie transformed, racing around the room and chasing one another in their own game of tag. It had become a kind of habit of theirs to play for a while before training, and it didn’t bother anyone, so they kept on doing it.

“Do you understand what they’re saying?” Tracey’s mother asked her a little while later, nodding at the cats racing around the room making noises as the others began training, though Harry had been ordered to only do a light workout to save energy for that evening.

“Not right now, but I can guess what they’re saying,” Tracey admitted. “I’ve transformed and raced around with them before, and they’re usually just taunting one another or laughing. Sometimes they’ll be using this as a chance to get an argument out of their systems.”

“That’s not really a bad idea,” her mum mused, and Tracey nodded in agreement. It had always seemed to be a good thing for the pair, letting out tension and anger by racing around and calling out to each other.

Before they could continue talking, a light brown fox rushed up to Tracey and began making the movements that Tracey recognized as Theo asking her to transform and wrestle with him. Shaking her head with an amused smile, Tracey didn’t hesitate to transform and jump on top of her boyfriend. Even they had to have a chance to have fun at times.



“They’re all having fun,” Remus said as he sat down next to Harry, and Harry nodded in agreement, watching his friends.

Graham and Natalie had finished their usual game and were now being taught some more martial arts by Astoria and Ginny, Maya listening to pick up on anything she could while also working on her knife throwing. Luna was using her sword against a training dummy, her face unusually serious, something that only happened while training, though her eyes still always held that dreamy look in them, just less pronounced.

Theo and Tracey were wrestling in their Animagus forms while Hermione, Terry, and Padma watched in amusement, transformed themselves, though just sitting around. Neville was with Hannah and Susan, the former two dueling while the latter kept an eye out to be sure no one got hurt. Justin was in a corner, using the Room’s special area where it played new moves on the wall like a movie theatre, teaching Justin to use his sword. The twins were over in another corner with a cauldron and a bunch of potions ingredients, obviously making pranking supplies.

“They are, but they also know that they’ll all need this sometime in the future,” Harry sighed, his emerald eyes a bit dark as they thought about the Horcruxes and how Voldemort might come back. “At least they aren’t in the Tournament; that would show them how hard what we might have to do in the future is.”

“But you’re in it, and they’re watching,” Remus said, but Harry didn’t even turn to face the man.

“Watching and doing are two very different things,” he stated. “I faced Tom Riddle while they only heard about what the diary did to Ginny. There’s a chance even the youngest two will learn in the future, but we can hope it never happens.”

“I wish you had never had to learn this lesson either, Harry,” Remus whispered, and Harry turned at that, spotting the sad look on the man’s face. Reaching out, Harry placed his hand on Remus’ arm.

“Remus, Moony, I’d be facing this either way,” he said softly. “Tom won’t stop until I’m dead because of the Prophecy, we both know that. At least with this training I’ll be prepared and will be able to survive. I want to grow up, leave school, have a family, get to have a good career, and none of that is even including my ambition to unite all of Hogwarts for generations to come before I even leave school,” Harry finished with a grin, and by then, Remus was smiling too.

“Well, I guess that explains the ambitious part of you the Sorting Hat saw,” Remus stated, “because you’re definitely ambitious if you think you’ll actually succeed in uniting the Houses completely by the time you leave school, despite what you’ve done so far.”

“Watch me, Moony, just watch me,” Harry replied with a mischievous grin. “I’m going to win tonight, and then next year I’ll go back to uniting the Houses and succeed at it by my seventh year.”

“We’ll see, Cub, we’ll see.”



Harry stood looking in the mirror in the empty dorm room.

He was wearing the black dragonhide armor from his vault. His hands were still gloved with the invisible gloves that even he rarely noticed most of the time, though they were always there. The only part of his body without the dragonhide was his head as it would be visible there. Unfortunately, the one disadvantage of this style of armor was that the shoulders, elbows, and knees weren’t covered as it wasn’t flexible enough for that, even if one could move normally in it otherwise.

Hidden in the armor were secret slits that didn’t look like anything unless you knew that there were invisible daggers and knives in them. A knife was hidden in each boot, his special dagger was on the right thigh sheathe, and he had another dagger on his left thigh. The only weapon that was visible was Slytherin’s Dagger, which only Harry, Ginny, and Tracey could see or feel.

His wand was in the holster, which was in the normal position on his left arm, ready to be used in the maze. Around his neck was the chain necklace that already had the charm set up, though Tracey would activate the parchment just before the Task began.

Sighing, Harry reached over and grabbed the pants that had been provided for him. Those, along with a long-sleeved shirt, were both in silver and emerald to represent Slytherin. The Hogwarts crest was emblazoned on each shoulder and where the badge would normally be on Harry’s robes. Along the back of the shirt was POTTER, the way it was done on his Quidditch robes. He had asked Tracey and Daphne to help him make slits in the cloth so that he could get to his knives without anyone realizing the slits were there; it had been very successful in the end.

Dressed and ready for the Third Task, Harry left his dorm and headed up to the Great Hall for dinner , which was where his friends and family had said they would be waiting for him. It seemed they all understood that he needed a chance to gather himself before the maze, so they had given it to him.

“Good, it’s not even noticeable,” Sirius said with a sharp nod as Harry sat down. “Even better, you don’t act like you’re wearing anything but the shirt and pants.”

Harry rolled his eyes and accepted the plate Tracey had filled for him. The whole point of his getting the armor almost a month ago was so that he could adjust to wearing it under his robes and while training so that it wouldn’t feel out-of-place on him, meaning it wouldn’t show.

“Padfoot?” Harry said, and Sirius looked at him questioningly. “Shut up before someone hears you, please.”

The others laughed as Sirius flushed red and mumbled something under his breath before turning to his plate and filling his mouth with food.

The twins were cracking jokes and easing the tension felt at the table as the time for the Task drew closer and closer. Even though he was laughing, Harry knew that Tracey and Ginny could feel his body growing more and more tense. Outwardly, Harry didn’t show anything on his face, and he was trying to keep his body as relaxed as possible, but inwardly, Harry was quite nervous and just didn’t want to show it.

You’ll do fine,” Ginny hissed from beside him, tapping him on the arm lightly to remind him that she was there. “Just think of it as another practice session.”

I’ll try,” Harry said, rolling his eyes, but also relaxing slightly as he realized she was trying to remind him that he was ready for this.

Finally, when everyone had eaten and the chatter had grown louder, Dumbledore stood, silencing the Hall as everyone knew what was coming.

"Ladies and gentlemen, in five minutes' time, I will be asking you to make your way down to the Quidditch stadium for the third and final Task of the Triwizard Tournament. Will the champions please follow Mr. Bagman down to the stadium now?" he said.

Harry barely heard the entire Hall applauding the Champions as they stood, receiving their final good lucks and hugs from family and friends before they followed Bagman from the Hall.

All five were silent as they walked, even though Bagman had tried to start conversation a couple of times before giving up. They walked onto the Quidditch pitch, which was now completely unrecognizable. A twenty-foot-high hedge ran all the way around the edge of it. There was a gap right in front of them: the entrance to the vast maze. The passage beyond it looked dark and creepy.

Five minutes later, the stands began to fill; the air was full of excited voices and the rumbling of feet as the hundreds of students filed into their seats. The sky was a deep, clear blue now, and the first stars were starting to appear. Hagrid, Professor Moody, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Flitwick came walking into the stadium and approached Bagman and the champions. They were wearing large, red, luminous stars on their hats, all except Hagrid, who had his on the back of his moleskin vest.

"We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze," Professor McGonagall said to the champions. "If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?"

All four nodded as they understood that this was a safety measure. It actually seemed to relieve them all slightly, knowing they could get out of the maze if they needed to.

"Off you go, then!" Bagman said brightly to the four patrollers.

The four of them walked away in different directions, to station themselves around the maze. Bagman now pointed his wand at his throat, muttered, "Sonorous," and his magically magnified voice echoed into the stands. Harry had only just noticed, looking around, that the six who were giving commentary were all in the teacher’s box with the teachers; Tracey nodded when he caught her eye, and he knew she had activated the connection.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final Task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! In first place with ninety-seven points is Mr. Harry Potter, of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!" The cheers and applause sent birds from the Forbidden Forest fluttering into the darkening sky. "In second place, with eighty-nine points - Mr. Cedric Diggory, also of Hogwarts!" More applause. "And in third place with eighty-five points — Mr. Viktor Krum, of Durmstrang Institute!” More applause. “And in fourth place — Miss Fleur Delacour, of Beauxbatons Academy!"

Harry spotted his closest friends sitting with the four people he viewed as his parents since his own couldn’t be there. All of them were cheering, though Harry could spot their worry.

“We have four students of Hogwarts School who will be giving the commentary of the entire Task through a scroll that is connected to the lovely necklaces worn by the Champions today along with one student from Durmstrang Institute and another from Beauxbatons Academy!” Bagman continued, and all six waved from their spots.

“Introduce yourselves you six!” he called up to them. “Let them know who you will be talking about during the Task.”

Susan went first, saying she would be in charge of Cedric. Bradley Martin and Annabelle introduced themselves and informed the audience that they were there for Fleur, Aimee adding that she was commenting in French instead of English. Demelza and Andon said the same thing but for Viktor. Finally, Graham said with complete pride in his young voice that he was the commenter for Harry.

“Now that you know their names and voices, I believe it’s time to begin!” Bagman said with a huge grin on his face. “On my whistle, Harry.”

Harry moved to the entrance of the maze, his wand in his hand, ready to run in. He knew he had to make the best of this early start that he could, so he was going to make the most of it. With one final half-grin, half-grimace towards his friends and family, Harry wiped his face clean of all of his emotions.

“Three — two — one —”

The whistle was blown, and Harry ran into the maze, unsure of what he would find in it.

So… One of those almost double-length chapters, mostly just to get us to this point. It was easier to just keep going when I wrote this, so I did. As you can obviously tell, we’re at the maze, and now it’s time to see how I’ve written it and all that follows. I offer no comments on what’s to come except that nothing will change no matter what reviews I get about it.

My only additional comment about this chapter is that taking a closer, slower look at what sort of armor/clothes Harry is wearing during the Task wouldn’t be amiss, knowing the comments I’ll most likely receive during a later chapter.
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