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Yuletide Blessing in Disguise	By : Gandalfs-Beard Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 123887 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 10
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related properties--all rights belong to Rowling. Nor do I make any money from the production of this work.

Chapter List
- 13
- 14
- 15
It's Complicated

The first week of the term was a horrible slog for Harry. It was bad enough that Hagrid was incommunicado and that Malfoy was quoting Skeeter’s horrid article at every opportunity just to rub it in; Harry also had to deal with the sniggers and the whispers from most of the fourth year Ravenclaws in Ancient Runes and Arithmancy (except for Parvati’s sister, Padma, who told Anthony Goldstein to bugger off and shut up when he whispered something rude about Harry in her ear).
Hermione was the only other Gryffindor in their year who was taking either of the classes. Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass were the only Slytherins in Arithmancy, and Ernie MacMillan and Susan Bones the only Hufflepuffs in Ancient Runes, but fortunately none of them were inclined to mock Harry behind his back for being a year and a half behind the rest of the class.
The piles of homework Babbling and Vector had given him on top of all of his homework for his regular classes didn’t help. After a few Arithmancy lessons, Harry felt utterly snowed under, his head spinning as he glowered at the pages of maths problems he was supposed to be solving while he sat by the fire in the common room with Hermione.
“Blimey Hermione - this stuff is bloody complicated,” Harry grumbled. “I kind of get the basic idea of the solve for x and y or a and b stuff - that’s not so bad. But what’s up with quadratic equations? There’s too much stuff to solve for, and how can an equation have more than one right answer anyway?”
“Well, don’t worry about the quadratic equations for now Harry,” Hermione gave him a sympathetic smile. “I doubt Professor Vector really expects you to be able to do those yet. She probably just sprinkled those in to give you an idea of what’s to come.
“Normally, you’d start off with the basic Algebra in the Autumn term of third year, then move on to more advanced Algebra in the Winter and Spring terms, all while getting an overview of its application to Predictive Algorithms and Numerology...”
“Predictive what?”
“Algorithms. Predictive Algorithms are all about predicting probable future events and patterns, and Numerology is about the numerical values associated with, well... everything really. Letters in words, names, dates of events, number of planets, physical attributes, etc. ... Put Predictive Algorithms and Numerology together and you have Arithmancy.”
Confused, Harry felt like slamming his head into the table, but he restrained himself, knowing that would be rather painful. But he did manage to get one idea out of what Hermione had just said.
“So it’s about telling the future, then? Isn’t that sort of like Divination?”
“No - not really!” Hermione’s tone was mildly haughty. “Divination is very woolly, and based more on intuition, yet it makes absolute claims about what is going to happen in the future. I suppose in the hands of seers with a strong natural talent it could be meaningful. But it’s fairly useless for most people.
“Arithmancy on the other hand, is very precise, much more scientific, and in some applications it only speaks in terms of probableoutcomes based on evaluating past and current patterns and projecting them into the future. ... But it’s so much more than that! Arithmancy also has applications in Alchemy, and in the creation of highly complex spells, and loads of other things.”
“Bollocks!” Harry groaned. “It figures! Voldemort probably knows all this sort of stuff backwards and forwards, and I’m going to be totally rubbish at it!”
“You’ll be fine, Harry,” Hermione reassured him. “You have a strong natural talent for magic, and your magic is very powerful, like Dumbledore said. In the end, that’s much more important when it comes to performing magic than knowing all there is to know about Arithmancy.
“All that matters is that you manage to do reasonably well enough to pass - and I expect that you’ll eventually be much better than you think you will be. Anyway, that’s probably why Professor Vector is trying to cram regular and advanced Algebra into the Winter/Spring term for you - so you’ll eventually be able to catch up... maybe by this time next year, if I help you study over the summer...”
Harry felt his heart give a little flutter. “Er... summer?”
“Yes, I’ll be able to visit you at your Aunt and Uncle’s won’t I? ... Now that you’re allowed to do magic whenever you need to, they probably won’t be inclined to say no.” Hermione peered at Harry earnestly. “I can come on the Knight Bus once a week - I was going to anyway so we could spend some time together, but I’ll be able to help you study too.
“And then after your birthday, you can go anywhere you want, right? You could stay with the Weasleys and I’ll visit you there. Or...” Hermione paused and bit her lip, looking hopeful, fluttering her eyelashes shyly. “Or you could hire a room at the Leaky Cauldron - I’d be able to see you nearly every day then. My parents... we live in London, near Hampstead Heath.”
Harry grinned. Summer! He was going to see Hermione over the summer.
“Yeah!” said Harry quietly, his green eyes shining. “Yeah, that sounds great!”

~o0o~
Ancient Runes actually turned out to be much more fun than Harry had thought it would be. He wasn’t any good at translating Runes - though Harry reckoned that probably wouldn’t be so hard once he actually learned it - but apparently he took to the calligraphy and carving like a fish to water, even though he’d never really done anything artistic before.
In fact, Harry did so well at copying out runes with his ink brushes that, much to his embarrassment, Professor Babbling held up his third assignment to the class as being an example of the sort of attention to detail she expected to see from her fourth year students. Red-faced though he was, Harry took some satisfaction in Anthony Goldstein’s jealous scowl.
The rest of Harry’s time was taken up with Beginning Occlumency and Legilimency lessons with Dumbledore (thankfully, Hermione had been eager to join in), the extra training sessions for the Triwizard Tournament with Professor Moody, and the Metamorphmagus lessons with Dora (which Hermione had also decided to sit in on, even though she couldn’t be a Metamorphmagus herself).
The lessons Harry most looked forward to were Dora’s, brief though they were; he might have looked forward to Professor Moody’s more, but at the moment, Moody seemed keen on drilling Harry and Hermione like an Army sergeant. Moody had magically vanished the desks and conjured up a mat in the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, and the first week had been all about calisthenics and teaching them how to fight. The only bright spot was that Dora was assisting Moody in the training.
Sweaty and sore after the first session, Harry and Hermione collapsed miserably on the mat, moaning in pain. Every muscle and joint in their bodies hurt.
“I thought this was going to be all about stunning spells and that sort of stuff,” Harry groaned, looking up at Moody from the floor.
“Get used to it, Potter,” the battle-hardened ex-Auror growled. “The wizard who dodges faster and lasts longer in a fight is the one who wins, and there’s nothin’ better than Muggle fightin’ techniques to throw a wizard off his game in close quarters. Anyway, that was nothin’... it’s only gonna get harder and we’ve gotta toughen you up a bit.
“Good thing you’re a quidditch player, or you’d be in a lot worse shape,” Moody added with a grunt. “And Granger’s not too shabby either, all things considered. But I want you two t’keep up with the calisthenics on your own for at least half an hour every day. Do that and we’ll have ye fitter than Hercules in no time.” Then Moody took one last look at them with his spinning eyeball, shook his head, and lurched out of the classroom chuckling.
“Sorry ‘bout that,” Dora muttered, helping Hermione up as Harry staggered to his feet. “Mad Eye seems to think he’s still runnin’ the Auror Training Boot Camp.” Then Dora retrieved two vials of potion from her bag and handed one each to Harry and Hermione. “I knew ‘e’d be a bear about it, so I cadged some of these from Pomfrey - pain potions. You shouldn’t need ‘em after a few weeks once you get used to it.”
“Thank you, Dora,” said Hermione, downing the contents of her vial.
“What she said,” said Harry gratefully, taking a swig from his own vial. It didn’t take long for the first tingles of relief to surge and the aches began to subside.
“How’s that then? Feelin’ better yet?” asked Dora.
“Loads!” said Harry, grinning and feeling slightly giddy.
The end of the first full week of the term finally arrived, and for the first time ever, Harry had never been happier for a day off which didn’t include quidditch. Saturday was a Hogsmeade day; Harry and Hermione decided to make a date of it. All bundled up warmly in coats and scarves, they traipsed down to the village through the snow with Dora; Ron and Neville trailing behind them.
Harry waved at Viktor who was perched on the end of a gangplank in his swimming trunks, preparing to dive into the lake.
“Blimey! He’s off his nut,” said Ron, gawking.
“He’s probably using warming charms,” Harry opined, thinking that he really ought to start practicing swimming again if he could find the time. And he and Hermione still hadn’t come up with a way to breathe underwater yet, despite pillaging the school library.
Once they had arrived in the village, Harry and Hermione made a beeline for the bookstore. Neville and Ron browsed for a moment, then left Harry and Hermione to it and headed off to Zonko’s which was much less boring as far as Ron was concerned.
Harry and Hermione looked in every book they could think of for something which might help Harry breathe while Dora browsed through the comic section of the newsstand. Spying a familiar looking book, Hermione lifted it from the shelf and flicked through the pages. Her eyes widened.
“Harry, look at this,” she said excitedly, “I think I’ve found something.”
“What’s that then?” asked Harry.
“It’s the book the fake Moody gave Neville: Magical Water Plants of the Mediterranean. Here, look...” Hermione held up the book open to the page for Harry to see.
“Gillyweed! Huh!” said Harry, his eyebrows popping up. “Excellent! That should work - gills...”
“...and flippers too,” Hermione interjected, her expression pensive, “But the time - you’d have to be sure to take just the right amount to last an hour. If it wears off too soon... Hmm, that gives me an idea though...”
“What? ... What’re you thinking Hermione.”
“Well, I was thinking, what if you could use your metamorph powers for gills and flippers? Then you wouldn’t have to worry about taking too little or too much gillyweed. Your training with Dora is going quite well - in a few weeks you might be able to pull it off.”
“Really?” Harry goggled at Hermione. “You think that could work?”
“I think so Harry. But we can ask Dora and see what she thinks.”
“Don’t see why not,” said Dora when Hermione asked her if it was possible. “You can do just about anything except change completely into an animal - you’d need to be an Animagus or use a wand and a transfiguration spell for that.”
“Brilliant!” said Harry, grinning. “Bung the book in the basket then, Hermione. I’ll need to study the effects of gillyweed properly if I want to mimic them.”
After purchasing the book, Harry and Hermione waited for Dora to pay for the stack of comics she had collected. She blushed slightly when she saw Harry and Hermione both peering at her rather large pile.
“What’re you two lookin’ at? You’re never too old for comics.”
“Never said you were,” said Harry, his face a picture of innocence.
The next stop was the village apothecary where Harry picked up a supply of Gillyweed to practice with. Following that, they looked through the whole village for Hagrid - even in Wizco, the Wizard Supermarket - but he was nowhere to be found. Along the way they passed Madam Puddifoot’s where they spied Lavender and Viktor through the window, and they paid a visit to Zonko’s and Honeyduke’s, finally ending up in the Three Broomsticks for lunch.
Dora faded into the background to give Harry and Hermione some space, and took a seat at the bar, scanning the Pub for any potential threats. She spotted Bagman with a load of surly looking goblins at a table in the corner and rolled her eyes.
Harry scoured the Pub looking for Ron and Neville, but only saw Luna and Ginny sitting together and waving him and Hermione over.
“If you’re looking for Ron and Neville, you just missed them,” said Ginny. “They were finishing up lunch when we got here, just before you did.”
“But you’re welcome to sit with us if you’d like,” Luna offered, beaming brightly..
Harry gave Hermione a questioning look. “Hermione?”
“Oh, yes, that would be lovely,” said Hermione, pulling out a chair. “Thank you.”
Harry was just about to plant himself in a chair too when he felt a hand on his shoulder; he turned around, surprised to see Ludo Bagman grinning at him.
“Ah Harry, d’you have a moment?”
“Er...”
“Splendid!” said Bagman, taking Harry’s “Er,” for a yes.
He steered Harry towards the furthest end of the bar, away from everyone else. Dora frowned, her eyes never once leaving Bagman.
“So, er, what’s this all about?” asked Harry, feeling bewildered and unnerved. It seemed strange that Bagman was here in Hogsmeade when there was no Triwizard event scheduled.
“Just thought further congratulations regarding the Dragon were in order, Harry,” said Bagman, cagily glancing back at the goblins. “A most ingenious performance, I must say.”
“Er... thank you?” said Harry, still feeling puzzled; surely Bagman hadn’t dragged him away from his date just to congratulate him again. Ludo Bagman’s shifty blue eyes darted around, then he leaned in uncomfortably close and lowered his voice.
“Actually Harry, I was just curious, how’re you getting on with that Egg, then? Need any help with the clue?”
“Er... isn’t that against the rules? I thought we were supposed to work them out for ourselves,” Harry answered, more perplexed than ever.
“Ah, well, er... I feel a bit bad about all this, Harry ... I know you didn’t ask to be in the tournament after all ... just reckoned you could use all the help you could get to give you a fair shot ... you know, considering how much older the other champions are and all that.”
“Oh,” said Harry, suddenly certain that there was something Bagman wasn’t telling him. “I’m alright. I’ve got it worked out already, thanks!”
“I see...” Bagman looked strangely disappointed. “Right then, good luck Harry.”
Bagman gave Harry a pat on the back and returned to the table with the Goblins. They all leaned in and spoke in hushed tones. Several Goblins cracked their knuckles and scowled menacingly at Harry as he made his way back to the table with Hermione, Luna, and Ginny.
“What was that all about?” asked Hermione, frowning.
“I’m not sure really,” Harry replied. “Bagman wanted to know if I’d worked out the Egg clue and offered to help me with it - which is kind of weird, considering, er... you know what...”
“That doesn’t seem very fair,” said Luna.
“It’s not,” Harry agreed. “But there’s something a bit more to it. Bagman kept looking at the Goblins and seemed a bit out of sorts when I said I’d figured it out already.”
“Hmm... I wonder, Harry...” Hermione bit her lip as the gears in her brain began spinning. “This seems to be another piece of evidence indicating that Bagman is involved, though he could be working with more than just someone at the Ministry or Malfoy as we surmised he might be. He could be working with some Goblins as well - especially if he owed them money. He might have been trying to see how much you know and set you up for the Second Task.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ginny, looking very puzzled as this was the first she had heard about any of this.
“Well, Ludo Bagman’s one of the Tournament organisers,” Hermione answered, looking very concerned. “And Professor Moody seems to think that someone at the Ministry had planned all along to get Harry into the Triwizard Tournament to do him in or discredit him. So we think that Bagman is probably involved, as he was one of the only ones with access to the Goblet of Fire.
“But if Bagman and the Goblins are gambling on the outcome of the Triwizard events, he could also be trying to rig the Tasks so they can all make a lot of money. There’s a good chance that Bagman was hoping to steer Harry in the wrong direction about the Egg clue and bet against him in the Second Task.
“It’s loads easier to fix someone to lose than it is to fix them to win... Shady sports promoters do it all the time in the muggle world - especially if they’re associated with gangsters. Sometimes they sabotage the athletes, or even bribe them to take a fall.”
“Hang on,” said Harry, his eyes widening, picturing Ludo with a gang of mobsters like those on television crime shows. “so you think he might actually be working with those Goblins as well as with someone else at the Ministry or Malfoy to do me in?”
“Yes! It seems very likely.”
“So that’s three lots of people probably working against me, and Bagman’s dealing with two of them. ... Blimey this is getting complicated! ... But if anyone looks like a load of gangsters, those Goblins sure do.”
“Probably,” Hermione nodded. “Anyway, I expect that’s also one of the reasons why you ended up with the Hungarian Horntail for the First Task, Harry. After all, it’s the worst of the lot - the largest, most vicious Dragon on the planet.”
Harry groaned. “Yeah, that all seems to fit - facing any sort of Dragon was bad enough considering I’m only in fourth year, but of course I had to get the Horntail! I was beginning to think the universe just had it out for me...”
“Maybe it does,” Ginny sighed. “Look...”
“Oh no!” Hermione moaned.
Harry turned around to see who had just entered the pub and stiffened; the muscles in his jaw started to twitch as his stomach began to churn with anger. He would recognise those brassy curls, scarlet fingernails and lips, and bejeweled spectacles anywhere.
“Skeeter,” he hissed.
As if on cue, Rita Skeeter made a beeline towards the table wearing a toothy crocodile grin. The blinding flash of a camera bulb went off and everyone at the table was seeing spots.
“My, my, what a scrumptious little gathering...” Rita Skeeter devoured the scene with hungry eyes. “So, Harry, care to tell the Daily Prophet’s readers how you and your paramour came to share the companionship of two more delightful young girls?”
“Sure! They’re called friends!” Harry retorted, “I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of those! Hagrid’s my friend too! ... Is that how you get your kicks? ...ruining people’s lives?”
Skeeter’s eyes narrowed, her smile stiffening. “Just looking after the public’s interest, deary. People have a right to know!”
“Right to know what?” shouted Harry. “So what if Hagrid’s half-giant? He wouldn’t hurt a fly - and Lupin wouldn’t either. But you wouldn’t know about that because you’d rather print lies!”
“And what public interest are you serving by following us around everywhere taking our pictures all the time?” Hermione snapped. “You horrid woman! Why won’t you just leave us all alone?”
The entire tavern went very quiet as they watched the altercation unfold. Bagman and the Goblins took advantage of the distraction to slip out of the back door unnoticed.
“Now, now, you silly little girl.” Skeeter’s voice turned icy. “You have no idea. ... If you think Harry’s story belongs to him, then you certainly don’t know how the fame thing works!”
“Harry never asked to be famous!” Hermione was livid now. “You have no right...”
“I have every right,” Skeeter snapped. “It’s called freedom of the press...”
“Freedom to lie, you mean,” Harry snorted.
“I think I’ve had enough of arguing with children.” Skeeter huffed, gesturing at her photographer. “Come Bozo, we’ve got plenty for now.” Skeeter shot Harry and Hermione a nasty looking smirk as she turned to stalk off, sending a little shiver up Harry’s spine.
As she turned to leave, Rita Skeeter stumbled and fell to the floor with a shriek. She peered angrily at her broken scarlet fingernail. Skeeter’s photographer helped her to her feet and she whirled around, glowering at Harry Potter and his little friends, looking for signs of a wand.
Harry looked back at Rita innocently and she stormed out of the pub. Tonks winked at Harry from the bar and surreptitiously slid her wand back into the sleeve of her parka.
“Sorry about all that,” Harry sighed, peering apologetically at Luna and Ginny. “I can’t seem to avoid attracting attention...”
“It’s not your fault Harry,” said Ginny. “You don’t have to apologise.”
“Rita Skeeter’s horrible!” said Luna matter-of-factly. “Daddy says she makes stuff up all the time because she works for a secret department of the Ministry to make the Ministry’s enemies look bad.”
Neither Harry nor Hermione knew what to make of that. It didn’t seem as unlikely as it sounded, considering that apparently Bagman and mysterious others associated with Ministry were plotting against Harry.
Lunch was a bit subdued, but despite feeling slightly better with tummies full of fish and chips and butterbeers, Hermione was still furious. She looked as angry as Harry had ever seen her as they trudged back up to the castle with Dora, perhaps as enraged as the time Hermione had broken Malfoy’s nose. Harry was still cross too, but his anger was tempered by his feelings of guilt for having drawn Skeeter’s attention.
Hermione had had enough. She marched through the piles of snow up to Hagrid’s cabin and began hammering on the door with both of her gloved little fists. Icicles fell from the eaves as the hut shook and Fang barked from the other side.
“HAGRID!” she bellowed. “COME OUT! ... WE KNOW YOU’RE IN THERE! ... WE DON’T CARE IF YOUR MUM WAS A GIANTESS! WE’RE YOUR FRIENDS! ... YOU CAN’T LET THAT LOATHESOME WOMAN DO THIS TO YOU! GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND STAND UP FOR YOURSELF...”
The door of Hagrid’s cabin swung open with a creak and Hermione tumbled backwards into Harry’s arms, shock and embarrassment all over her face at the sight of Dumbledore’s serene features gazing down at her...
- 13
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- 15
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Yuletide Blessing in Disguise