Categories > Books > Harry Potter > The Very Silly School Crossover Fic
The Very Silly School Crossover Fic
By Dr. T
She-Who-Must-Be-Mentioned and her subsidiaries and partners own the Canon Potter-verse. Ronald Searle and various UK companies and associations own the crossover rights. I indulged in crossing over by taking a hockey stick to the pair of them. The Hufflepuffs hid in their sett, while the St. Trinian girls merely stuck out their collective tongues and then plopped Zach Smith in a vat of Formaldehyde when he tried to run away – not that anyone other than Smith cared.
*
Chapter 04 – The Year of the Tri-Wizard, Part II
*
The Yule Ball
Minerva McGonagall nervously waited by the main entrance to Hogwarts. It was rare that the dour woman betrayed her nervousness when she was in public, but a close observer would have seen that she was even more tense than usual, and the scowl on her face was set even deeper than usual.
She was awaiting the arrival of the St. Trinian girls.
‘The arrival of the St. Trinian girls’ was a phrase which had struck terror into the mundane officials and shopkeepers in the vicinity of that school for over a century. Had McGonagall realized this, she would have offered them her deepest sympathy. St. Trinian’s had barely entered into her frames of reference over her lifetime; it was merely one of ‘those other schools’ of magic, where Hogwarts had always been, to her mind, the center of the magical education universe.
She had recently idly wondered if the people of the 1600s had felt something like she did when they were told that the earth was not the center of the universe. Yes, Hogwarts was still the reference point for magical education in Britain, and to a lesser extent most of the rest of the world. Her eyes had been opened by some discussions with Miss Granger and a few of her other ex-students the previous summer at the World Cup and before the first task. Yes, the very best of Hogwarts’ most bookish students would always have a better grasp of magical theory than nearly any graduate of those ‘lesser schools,’ but a few of those schools, including St. Trinian’s, would turn out students with a greater practical knowledge of magic than nearly any Hogwarts’ student. Worse, the average St. Trinian girl from the most magically-oriented back ground would surpass all but a few of Hogwarts’ Muggleborn in knowledge of the general world. McGonagall might be in favor of keeping the magical as fully separated as possible from the mundane, but she was aware that the easiest way to do so was to understand that greater world, at least to the degree of not standing out whenever she had to pass through it.
Hogwarts, she realized, had survived as it had in large part through isolation from those other establishments. Hogwarts had set the standards, and ignored how the other schools dealt with the results. Some had merely imitated Hogwarts badly, but others had gone their own way, meeting Hogwarts’ standards as just one of many benchmarks but defining themselves in other ways. St. Trinian’s, since it alone had not started as a purely magical school, had gone the furthest in integrating magical and mundane, but a few other schools had gone nearly as far, while building curriculums in areas of practical applications of magic which Hogwarts had always ignored. Not counting those in the mass exodus to St. Trinian’s over fifteen months before, Hogwarts had since lost nearly twenty other students to other schools. Not one of those students had transferred to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. The most pro-Pureblooded at Hogwarts welcomed these students leaving, but McGonagall sensed losing diversity was not a good thing.
McGonagall held back a sigh and straightened up as the St. Trinian contingent appeared. Headmistress Fritton, escorted by Sirius Black, and Harry with his date were in the forefront. The Matron and her escort Remus stood at the back. Between the chaperones were thirty single girls, including Hermione, and a dozen with their dates.
McGonagall did not believe very much in divination, but had no difficulty in predicting that when the Weird Sisters took over the musical portion of the evening, Hogwarts would liven up more than it in centuries.
*
The next morning, McGonagall came to breakfast very late. She was not surprised to see that none of the students who had attended the Ball the night before were present. She had expected a raucous evening once the dinner and first formal dance had ended, and she had been correct. She had underestimated the degree of raw magical energy the dancers had unleashed. It had thrummed against her own magic, in many ways abusing her very magical core, not to mention her somewhat rudimentary magical mental shields. It had also uplifted the students participating and drained them at the same time.
It had been a novel experience, which McGonagall valued, but never wished to experience again.
“Good morning, Headmaster,” McGonagall said to the only staff member present other than Madam Pomfrey. She turned to her friend, “Madam Pomfrey. . . .”
Pomfrey silently held out potion vial.
Shrugging, McGonagall turned her back on the children and chugged the potion down.
“Congratulations on your stamina,” Dumbledore said. “The rest of the staff are still in bed with headaches, trying to adjust their cores to ease their discomfort.”
“Even Severus?”
Pomfrey smirked but said nothing.
“Severus’ mental shielding is superb, but his mindset is in some ways rather . . . antithetical to the emotions generated last evening,” Dumbledore allowed. “While I, on the other hand, was as exhilarated as our students, I have to admit to still feeling a bit tired this morning.”
Pomfrey emitted a slight but derisive snort at that admission.
Dumbledore sighed. “Fine, I also managed to strain several muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and bruised a rib. Still, that area, called I believe a ‘mosh pit,’ was a great deal of novel fun.”
“At your age. . . .”
“At my age, my dear Professor McGonagall, novelty is not to be despised,” Dumbledore reproved. “While in general the staff, and some of the less-broadminded students, might have preferred doing what those students have been taught to perceive as traditional wizarding ballroom dancing, we know very well that is merely Muggle traditions from a century or so ago. Likewise, in my father’s time at Hogwarts, when Yule Balls were the norm, the waltz and polka were frowned upon and the dances were the minuets, gavottes, and similar dances which the Muggles had long abandoned.”
“Too true,” McGonagall had to admit. A slightly wistful look came over her.
“Thinking of the swing and jitterbugging of your youth?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I wonder if a large group of magical teens and other young people would have generated anything like the magical energy of last night if they had, in fact, been jitterbugging.”
“Very possibly, but alas, we shall never know. It was never done in this country, at least, and I doubt if it ever occurred across the Atlantic, either. Perhaps, on this island at least, it was last accomplished millennia ago, if the magical portions of the population came together at the great stone circles for their rituals and danced at them.”
There was silence for a moment, as they contemplated the loss to magic.
*
Two days after the Yule Ball
Dumbledore consulted his watch and sighed. It was bad enough that the Fritton woman had demanded yet another meeting, but she was also nearly two minutes late. True, he had nothing pressing he had to do – there was plenty of paperwork he should be doing, but he was not about to start any when a meeting of unknown length would disrupt him.
Finally, the floo in his office flared and Fritton stepped into his office. To Dumbledore’s surprise and displeasure, Sirius and Madam Bones followed her.
“May I ask what is going on?” Dumbledore demanded icily.
“That is what I am here to find out,” Amelia snapped back. “You apparently need reminding, yet again, that you are not independent of the laws and rules that the rest of the magical population has to follow!”
“Now we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Fritton stated. “Albus may have perfectly good reasons to subvert justice and commit treason.”
“What!” Dumbledore squawked.
“Where is Alastor Moody?” Bones snapped.
“He should be teaching the second year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs,” Dumbledore replied, puzzled.
“And has he been teaching all year?” Bones asked in a rather faux-polite voice.
“Of course!”
The three looked at each other.
“Dumbledore, you are either lying or incompetent. Which is it?” Bones demanded.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Come off it, Albus,” Sirius broke in. “I could smell the polyjuice in his flask from five feet away at the first task. He was still taking it at the Yule Ball.”
“I smelled it at the Ball as well,” Camilla pointed out, although she did not mention that she had been trying to detect it, having be alerted by Sirius. “If your senses are failing you, what excuse does Snape have? He’s been sitting within ten feet of the man for months! If he hasn’t sniffed the man out, he’s even more incompetent than I thought; if he has, and hasn’t told you, then he does not deserve your trust.”
“As many have told you, since you are the only person to trust him,” Bones reminded the Headmaster. “And if he did tell you, or you knew yourself, and didn’t tell someone in my department. . . .” She left the threat hanging.
“While we will come back to that point, the main reason we came was for an update on Voldemort’s location, or at least his remaining Horcrux,” Fritton reminded the other two.
“How would I know where he is?” Dumbledore demanded, bewildered.
“Well, I did give you a Voldemort detector over a year ago!” Fritton reminded the old man, none too gently.
“He has not been close to the school!” Dumbledore defended himself.
“Do you mean that it has just sat in your office for over fifteen months when you should have had one of your people scouting locations?” Bones nearly screamed at him.
Fritton had stood up and glanced around. She quickly located the detector and activated it. “It should also detect a Dark Mark within five hundred feet or so.” After a few moments, she said, “There are three within range. One would be Snape’s, the other Karkarov’s. I would hope the third is the fake Moody.” She glared at Dumbledore. “Unless you have some other Death Eater here that gave you a sob story?”
In the end, the ‘Voldemort detector’ was turned over to Madam Bones, who assembled a team to start covering Britain. Dark marks would be noted for further investigation. After a great deal of debate, the faux Moody was placed under heavy surveillance within the castle, while the house elves searched out the real Moody. When he was found, Moody agreed to be secretly given potions to strengthen himself and to help withstand his captivity. The goal was to foil whatever Voldemort’s plans might be, and capture or even destroy the Dark Lord before he fully returned to power.
When the trio emerged back at St. Trinian’s, Sirius turned to Madam Bones. “Are you sure we can’t get rid of that incompetent old fool?”
Sadly, Bones shook her head. “No,” she replied.
“Is it just that you worry Voldemort might try something more direct if he leaves?” Fritton inquired.
“That’s a minor consideration, but only a minor one,” Bones retorted. “It is also possible that he could be replaced in any of his positions by someone even worse. However, the main reasons are that we are still at least one vote from removing him at Hogwarts, and more likely two. We are also at least seven votes shy in the Wizengamot. Now, let me organize a proper hunt for the Dark Mark within the Ministry, and then we can expand the search for Voldemort himself.”
*
The Second Task
About five minutes after the four champions had entered the water, the crowd started to become restless. The St. Trinian bookies were the only active members, as they were still taking bets and would continue to do so until the magic projectors which were linked to the mer-village showed the first sign of a champion approaching or the first sign that a champion had failed.
The former happened just after ten minutes, and the St. Trinian girls sent up a shout when it was clear that it was Harry who was approaching first. He grabbed the St. Trinian trophy and started the swim back. It was also seen, however, that carrying the trophy would slow his return. When Viktor swam into view three minutes later and grabbed his school cup with his transfigured shark’s teeth, there was little doubt he would make a quicker return. The St. Trinian girls could only hope Harry had a good enough lead.
Viktor, however, managed to make up the lead Harry had. Viktor’s shark fin surfaced just as the screens showed Cedric entering the village. A splash showed that Harry was still a few feet ahead of Viktor, but Harry had to take the antidote for gillyweed and allow it to change him before he could wade ashore. By then, Viktor was six feet ahead of Harry, and was awarded the full forty points. After some discussion, Harry was awarded 35 points for a close second. Fleur was just coming into view at the village.
Both Cedric and Fleur made it back, although well behind Viktor and Harry. Cedric was awarded 29 points, and Fleur 24. At the end of what the crowd agreed was a fairly boring event, Harry had 68 points, Viktor 63, Fleur 53, and Cedric 51. This meant that in the final event, a maze, Harry would enter first, Viktor 50 seconds afterwards, Fleur two and a half minutes after Harry, and then Cedric 20 seconds after Fleur.
Meanwhile, the faux-Moody, who to their slight surprise was Barty Crouch Junior, had been captured two weeks before, interrogated, and then Obliviated of his capture and put back. He had revealed the entire plot, and would be taken periodically to check on the progress of the plot. Camilla called it ‘catch and release.’
One problem the group faced in dealing with Voldemort’s plan was that Crouch’s elf was taking care of the homunculus housing the Dark Lord, and he had placed that elf under Voldemort’s control. They could not use Crouch to command the elf, as he had turned control over to Voldemort. They could not take Crouch out, as he was not only still reporting to Voldemort, but moving him too far from Hogwarts would alert the elf, as there was still a connection between Winky and Crouch. Moody was therefore still in his trunk, rather bored but in much better shape than he had been. The other problem was that Crouch was unaware of where Voldemort was hiding out. He had a number of pre-set portkeys, but using them in any manner would alert Voldemort. As the portkeys were sequenced, it was even possible that Voldemort was changing locations.
However, this did give Harry’s allies and supporters time to plot.
One should never, under circumstances, allow St. Trinian students or staff time to plot.
Especially not together.
*
In the end, the various Ministry officials and the St. Trinian’s group came to some mutual understandings. The ‘plot’ to destroy Voldemort and what was likely his remaining Horcrux came out of St. Trinian’s. Most of the manpower needed to pull off the plan, however, would come from the Ministry.
*
Barty Crouch Jr. looked at the Tri-Wizard Cup he had placed at the center of the maze just a few minutes before. He had just finished transferring the portkey coordinates over the portkey which would take the winner to the judges’ stand.
Barty blew a long sigh of relief. Something had felt very wrong these last few months, but he could not pinpoint what. He did not realize that he had been captured, interrogated, and then Obliviated several times in that period. Still, he was relieved that his tasks were nearly over; he only had to make sure that it was Potter who made his way to the Cup first. After that, he would only have to observe the chaos at Hogwarts when Potter’s dead body was transported back to the judges. Barty would then kill Crouch and simply leave to return to his Master.
Barty used Moody’s eye to glance at his watch. He knew had to leave soon, as Hagrid would be planting his creatures to defend the maze.
Barty then collapsed, as a spell hit him.
Six figures faded into sight.
“I can’t believe that worked,” one of them said.
“Why?” the team leader asked. “The Department of Mysteries developed that eye for Moody. Did you think we wouldn’t have ways around what it can do? You two, set that rope through the Cup’s handles so it will act as a portkey extension, and be damn sure not to set it off early! You, set up the shed. You, signal the other teams to come in. You and I will take Crouch in.”
*
That evening, the four champions lined up. At the signal, a small canon, Harry entered the maze. He would be followed, over the next three minutes, by the other three champions. The canon was also the signal for the teams of Unspeakables, hit wizards, and select aurors to be portkeyed to wherever Crouch had set the Cup to go first. They should have overwhelming firepower and the element of surprise. A replica of the Cup would be left, which would signal the hedge maze to disappear and (in theory) freeze all the creatures so that Hagrid could collect them.
The aurors hoped their plan would be enough.
Meanwhile, the four champions were making their ways through the maze. With no faux-Moody interfering, the three older champions made steady progress. Harry, not being allowed to summon anything and to only carry his wand into the maze, had slightly more difficulty than the others.
Miss Fritton had thought to have tracking charms added to the champions (Crouch had not been told). Maps of the maze had appeared after the last champion had entered, and they displayed the champions’ locations to the crowd. Ten minutes after Harry had entered the maze, it was clear that Krum had taken the lead. As many of the ‘obstacles’ were mobile, however, they could not really be marked on the maps. Therefore, whenever a champion was stopped by a problem/creature/obstacle, there was no way for the crowd to determine what that champion was facing. All they could tell was how long the champion took to deal with it.
The crowd, especially the Beaxbatons, groaned when Fleur took a turn that led her into a dead-ended section of the maze. They were not to know it, but both Harry and Cedric were being delayed by Blast-ended Skrewts. Krum had managed to distract the one he had run into, which was how he had gained the lead.
Cedric had then paused for some time before deciding he did not want to answer the sphinx’s questions, which made him take a long detour. He met Fleur at the conjunction of four paths. Since they had each tried one and had come from a third, that meant they had to follow the fourth path together.
Meanwhile, Krum was engaged in fighting an acromantula. Harry passed behind it, and, seeing Krum was having difficulties, sent his strongest stunner at the back of the spider. It didn’t stun the spider, but both startled it and slowed it down enough for Krum to finish it off and to then take off after Harry.
Harry entered the clearing where the faux Trophy was first. Instinct made him dodge, as Viktor had tried to stun Harry from behind. Harry disillusioned himself and waited for Viktor to show himself, moving as quietly as he could so that the Bulgarian could not guess his position.
Viktor cursed himself for missing. He was very cautious in approaching the clearing. “Is stand-off, Potter!” he called out. He froze when he felt a wand against his neck.
“Now Viktor, was that showing good sportsmanship?” Cedric asked.
“Maybe not, but is within rules,” he replied.
He and Cedric collapsed as Fleur stunned them from behind. Then Fleur collapsed as Harry took her out.
Harry thought a moment, and then floated Cedric and then Fleur over nearer the Cup. He might have moved Viktor magically as well, but actually did so by dragging him across the ground. Only then did he wake the three up.
“Why didn’t you take the Cup?” Cedric asked.
“I don’t really care for fame or notoriety,” Harry answered. “If I won, being the youngest, I might gain the most fame, but the money means the least to me. Viktor, you would gain the next most, if it helped you market yourself. Fleur, I don’t know you, but I do know that Cedric, Viktor, and I are very competitive. So, while I don’t really care that I win, I have to admit I don’t want to lose.” He frowned. “And stop that! Your allure doesn’t affect me that much, and I can grab the Cup before you could induce either of these two to do anything.”
The feeling the three males had sensed went away.
“And so?” Cedric asked.
“Tell me, had any of the three of you ever heard of this stupid tournament before it was announced? Let alone were able to name any of the ‘immortal’ past champions?”
“Da,” Viktor replied, “But only because of trophies I had to polish.”
The other two admitted they had never heard of the tournament before they had heard of the plans for this one.
“Well, the only time there was ever a tie was one of the tournaments where there were no survivors, and they couldn’t decide who died first or last in a task,” Harry said drily. “Who wants to enter the record books with me as a champion in the first living tied tournament?”
“Good idea,” Cedric agreed.
“Is better than losing,” Viktor admitted.
“Very well,” Fleur huffed.
As Cedric’s suggestion (although Harry would have done so if Cedric hadn’t suggested it first), they all swore to the draw.
At Harry’s count, they grabbed the Cup and portkeyed out together. As it turned out, they gained the most fame from the event because it was the last Tri-Wizard Tournament to be held.
The St. Trinian bookies were pleased, as only the St. Trinian bursar had bet on a four-way tie. While the odds had been 500-1, he had only bet a pound, so the bookies still came out ahead.
*
Two days after the Tri-Wizard concluded, the Ministry announced the capture of the partially re-embodied Dark Lord. The Aurors also announced the arrests of numerous followers who had either taken the Dark Mark or who had colluded with the Dark Lord or his followers. Since the Dark Mark had almost instantly faded back when Voldemort had been disembodied, any of his followers who had denied being willing participants had been let go as being under the Imperius. Now, however, their Marks were back and all would be given trials under truth spells and drugs.
The Dark Lord was tried as well. He was well-guarded, but surprised many by willingly cooperating in the destruction of his followers. As far as he was concerned, he had failed because of them, and this was his revenge. While he had few hopes of being sent to Azkaban (which he was certain he could escape from), he did not mind the prospect of being Kissed – he had plans in hand for returning so long as a portion of his soul remained in this world. In the back of his mind, he was laying plans for a retreat of several generations before staging his return – he did not really understand his Horcruxes were all gone.
In the end, unlike his un-Marked followers (who were given terms of 1-25 years, depending on their actions) or Marked followers (most were given 25 years to life, while a few were sent to be Kissed), after his trial, Voldemort was sent through the Veil. While that fact was released, that Harry had been the one to send him through was not. Few of his Marked followers survived their terms in Azkaban, and those who did were broken men and women when finally released.
At Hogwarts, Snape was gone, as he was convicted, although not sent to Azkaban. Given some of the ambiguities of his defense, he was the only Marked Death Eater sentenced to less than 25 years in Azkaban. Instead, he served 10 years under house arrest, working for the Ministry producing potions.
On the whole, Snape preferred his sentence to teaching.
Dumbledore quietly accepted retirement, as he could easily have faced various charges. He served one final year at Hogwarts after the Tri-Wizard, and spent the last few years of his life in writing a book on ‘Magic and the Greater Good.’
It failed to sell many copies, and basically started the downward evaluation of his contributions to the magical world.
Hermione Granger went on to Oxford University after St. Trinian’s, where she took degrees in Mathematics and Astronomy, before moving to Massachusetts, where she earned her PhD in Mathematics at MIT and her Mastery in Arithmancy at Salem. She never married, but had several long-term relationships with various witches and a successful career teaching at Cal Tech while furthering Arithmancy as a field. She did have one child, a son born when she was 30. She never openly declared who Hugo’s father was, but considering the boy’s green eyes and the fact that his hair was even wilder and stiffer than his mother’s, few who knew her background had many doubts.
Harry and Jane married while first year students at the University of Westminster. After graduating, both technically joined the Department of Mysteries. In reality, they had a joint appointment with the DoM and the British Secret Services, part of a group which made certain that the Magical and Muggle criminal worlds did not bleed over into each other. The couple had three children, two daughters and a son. While their two daughters of course went to St. Trinian’s, their son James went to the California School of Magics, where his ‘Aunt’ Hermione could keep an eye on him, and where he was joined two years later by Hugo.
Compared to some parts of the world, Britain remained a class-ridden, barely democratic, socially (and technically) backward part of the magical world. Compared to the Britain of pre-1995, however, by the 2020s magical Britain was a fairly equitable country.
By Dr. T
She-Who-Must-Be-Mentioned and her subsidiaries and partners own the Canon Potter-verse. Ronald Searle and various UK companies and associations own the crossover rights. I indulged in crossing over by taking a hockey stick to the pair of them. The Hufflepuffs hid in their sett, while the St. Trinian girls merely stuck out their collective tongues and then plopped Zach Smith in a vat of Formaldehyde when he tried to run away – not that anyone other than Smith cared.
*
Chapter 04 – The Year of the Tri-Wizard, Part II
*
The Yule Ball
Minerva McGonagall nervously waited by the main entrance to Hogwarts. It was rare that the dour woman betrayed her nervousness when she was in public, but a close observer would have seen that she was even more tense than usual, and the scowl on her face was set even deeper than usual.
She was awaiting the arrival of the St. Trinian girls.
‘The arrival of the St. Trinian girls’ was a phrase which had struck terror into the mundane officials and shopkeepers in the vicinity of that school for over a century. Had McGonagall realized this, she would have offered them her deepest sympathy. St. Trinian’s had barely entered into her frames of reference over her lifetime; it was merely one of ‘those other schools’ of magic, where Hogwarts had always been, to her mind, the center of the magical education universe.
She had recently idly wondered if the people of the 1600s had felt something like she did when they were told that the earth was not the center of the universe. Yes, Hogwarts was still the reference point for magical education in Britain, and to a lesser extent most of the rest of the world. Her eyes had been opened by some discussions with Miss Granger and a few of her other ex-students the previous summer at the World Cup and before the first task. Yes, the very best of Hogwarts’ most bookish students would always have a better grasp of magical theory than nearly any graduate of those ‘lesser schools,’ but a few of those schools, including St. Trinian’s, would turn out students with a greater practical knowledge of magic than nearly any Hogwarts’ student. Worse, the average St. Trinian girl from the most magically-oriented back ground would surpass all but a few of Hogwarts’ Muggleborn in knowledge of the general world. McGonagall might be in favor of keeping the magical as fully separated as possible from the mundane, but she was aware that the easiest way to do so was to understand that greater world, at least to the degree of not standing out whenever she had to pass through it.
Hogwarts, she realized, had survived as it had in large part through isolation from those other establishments. Hogwarts had set the standards, and ignored how the other schools dealt with the results. Some had merely imitated Hogwarts badly, but others had gone their own way, meeting Hogwarts’ standards as just one of many benchmarks but defining themselves in other ways. St. Trinian’s, since it alone had not started as a purely magical school, had gone the furthest in integrating magical and mundane, but a few other schools had gone nearly as far, while building curriculums in areas of practical applications of magic which Hogwarts had always ignored. Not counting those in the mass exodus to St. Trinian’s over fifteen months before, Hogwarts had since lost nearly twenty other students to other schools. Not one of those students had transferred to Beauxbatons or Durmstrang. The most pro-Pureblooded at Hogwarts welcomed these students leaving, but McGonagall sensed losing diversity was not a good thing.
McGonagall held back a sigh and straightened up as the St. Trinian contingent appeared. Headmistress Fritton, escorted by Sirius Black, and Harry with his date were in the forefront. The Matron and her escort Remus stood at the back. Between the chaperones were thirty single girls, including Hermione, and a dozen with their dates.
McGonagall did not believe very much in divination, but had no difficulty in predicting that when the Weird Sisters took over the musical portion of the evening, Hogwarts would liven up more than it in centuries.
*
The next morning, McGonagall came to breakfast very late. She was not surprised to see that none of the students who had attended the Ball the night before were present. She had expected a raucous evening once the dinner and first formal dance had ended, and she had been correct. She had underestimated the degree of raw magical energy the dancers had unleashed. It had thrummed against her own magic, in many ways abusing her very magical core, not to mention her somewhat rudimentary magical mental shields. It had also uplifted the students participating and drained them at the same time.
It had been a novel experience, which McGonagall valued, but never wished to experience again.
“Good morning, Headmaster,” McGonagall said to the only staff member present other than Madam Pomfrey. She turned to her friend, “Madam Pomfrey. . . .”
Pomfrey silently held out potion vial.
Shrugging, McGonagall turned her back on the children and chugged the potion down.
“Congratulations on your stamina,” Dumbledore said. “The rest of the staff are still in bed with headaches, trying to adjust their cores to ease their discomfort.”
“Even Severus?”
Pomfrey smirked but said nothing.
“Severus’ mental shielding is superb, but his mindset is in some ways rather . . . antithetical to the emotions generated last evening,” Dumbledore allowed. “While I, on the other hand, was as exhilarated as our students, I have to admit to still feeling a bit tired this morning.”
Pomfrey emitted a slight but derisive snort at that admission.
Dumbledore sighed. “Fine, I also managed to strain several muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and bruised a rib. Still, that area, called I believe a ‘mosh pit,’ was a great deal of novel fun.”
“At your age. . . .”
“At my age, my dear Professor McGonagall, novelty is not to be despised,” Dumbledore reproved. “While in general the staff, and some of the less-broadminded students, might have preferred doing what those students have been taught to perceive as traditional wizarding ballroom dancing, we know very well that is merely Muggle traditions from a century or so ago. Likewise, in my father’s time at Hogwarts, when Yule Balls were the norm, the waltz and polka were frowned upon and the dances were the minuets, gavottes, and similar dances which the Muggles had long abandoned.”
“Too true,” McGonagall had to admit. A slightly wistful look came over her.
“Thinking of the swing and jitterbugging of your youth?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” she admitted. “I wonder if a large group of magical teens and other young people would have generated anything like the magical energy of last night if they had, in fact, been jitterbugging.”
“Very possibly, but alas, we shall never know. It was never done in this country, at least, and I doubt if it ever occurred across the Atlantic, either. Perhaps, on this island at least, it was last accomplished millennia ago, if the magical portions of the population came together at the great stone circles for their rituals and danced at them.”
There was silence for a moment, as they contemplated the loss to magic.
*
Two days after the Yule Ball
Dumbledore consulted his watch and sighed. It was bad enough that the Fritton woman had demanded yet another meeting, but she was also nearly two minutes late. True, he had nothing pressing he had to do – there was plenty of paperwork he should be doing, but he was not about to start any when a meeting of unknown length would disrupt him.
Finally, the floo in his office flared and Fritton stepped into his office. To Dumbledore’s surprise and displeasure, Sirius and Madam Bones followed her.
“May I ask what is going on?” Dumbledore demanded icily.
“That is what I am here to find out,” Amelia snapped back. “You apparently need reminding, yet again, that you are not independent of the laws and rules that the rest of the magical population has to follow!”
“Now we shouldn’t get too far ahead of ourselves,” Fritton stated. “Albus may have perfectly good reasons to subvert justice and commit treason.”
“What!” Dumbledore squawked.
“Where is Alastor Moody?” Bones snapped.
“He should be teaching the second year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs,” Dumbledore replied, puzzled.
“And has he been teaching all year?” Bones asked in a rather faux-polite voice.
“Of course!”
The three looked at each other.
“Dumbledore, you are either lying or incompetent. Which is it?” Bones demanded.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Come off it, Albus,” Sirius broke in. “I could smell the polyjuice in his flask from five feet away at the first task. He was still taking it at the Yule Ball.”
“I smelled it at the Ball as well,” Camilla pointed out, although she did not mention that she had been trying to detect it, having be alerted by Sirius. “If your senses are failing you, what excuse does Snape have? He’s been sitting within ten feet of the man for months! If he hasn’t sniffed the man out, he’s even more incompetent than I thought; if he has, and hasn’t told you, then he does not deserve your trust.”
“As many have told you, since you are the only person to trust him,” Bones reminded the Headmaster. “And if he did tell you, or you knew yourself, and didn’t tell someone in my department. . . .” She left the threat hanging.
“While we will come back to that point, the main reason we came was for an update on Voldemort’s location, or at least his remaining Horcrux,” Fritton reminded the other two.
“How would I know where he is?” Dumbledore demanded, bewildered.
“Well, I did give you a Voldemort detector over a year ago!” Fritton reminded the old man, none too gently.
“He has not been close to the school!” Dumbledore defended himself.
“Do you mean that it has just sat in your office for over fifteen months when you should have had one of your people scouting locations?” Bones nearly screamed at him.
Fritton had stood up and glanced around. She quickly located the detector and activated it. “It should also detect a Dark Mark within five hundred feet or so.” After a few moments, she said, “There are three within range. One would be Snape’s, the other Karkarov’s. I would hope the third is the fake Moody.” She glared at Dumbledore. “Unless you have some other Death Eater here that gave you a sob story?”
In the end, the ‘Voldemort detector’ was turned over to Madam Bones, who assembled a team to start covering Britain. Dark marks would be noted for further investigation. After a great deal of debate, the faux Moody was placed under heavy surveillance within the castle, while the house elves searched out the real Moody. When he was found, Moody agreed to be secretly given potions to strengthen himself and to help withstand his captivity. The goal was to foil whatever Voldemort’s plans might be, and capture or even destroy the Dark Lord before he fully returned to power.
When the trio emerged back at St. Trinian’s, Sirius turned to Madam Bones. “Are you sure we can’t get rid of that incompetent old fool?”
Sadly, Bones shook her head. “No,” she replied.
“Is it just that you worry Voldemort might try something more direct if he leaves?” Fritton inquired.
“That’s a minor consideration, but only a minor one,” Bones retorted. “It is also possible that he could be replaced in any of his positions by someone even worse. However, the main reasons are that we are still at least one vote from removing him at Hogwarts, and more likely two. We are also at least seven votes shy in the Wizengamot. Now, let me organize a proper hunt for the Dark Mark within the Ministry, and then we can expand the search for Voldemort himself.”
*
The Second Task
About five minutes after the four champions had entered the water, the crowd started to become restless. The St. Trinian bookies were the only active members, as they were still taking bets and would continue to do so until the magic projectors which were linked to the mer-village showed the first sign of a champion approaching or the first sign that a champion had failed.
The former happened just after ten minutes, and the St. Trinian girls sent up a shout when it was clear that it was Harry who was approaching first. He grabbed the St. Trinian trophy and started the swim back. It was also seen, however, that carrying the trophy would slow his return. When Viktor swam into view three minutes later and grabbed his school cup with his transfigured shark’s teeth, there was little doubt he would make a quicker return. The St. Trinian girls could only hope Harry had a good enough lead.
Viktor, however, managed to make up the lead Harry had. Viktor’s shark fin surfaced just as the screens showed Cedric entering the village. A splash showed that Harry was still a few feet ahead of Viktor, but Harry had to take the antidote for gillyweed and allow it to change him before he could wade ashore. By then, Viktor was six feet ahead of Harry, and was awarded the full forty points. After some discussion, Harry was awarded 35 points for a close second. Fleur was just coming into view at the village.
Both Cedric and Fleur made it back, although well behind Viktor and Harry. Cedric was awarded 29 points, and Fleur 24. At the end of what the crowd agreed was a fairly boring event, Harry had 68 points, Viktor 63, Fleur 53, and Cedric 51. This meant that in the final event, a maze, Harry would enter first, Viktor 50 seconds afterwards, Fleur two and a half minutes after Harry, and then Cedric 20 seconds after Fleur.
Meanwhile, the faux-Moody, who to their slight surprise was Barty Crouch Junior, had been captured two weeks before, interrogated, and then Obliviated of his capture and put back. He had revealed the entire plot, and would be taken periodically to check on the progress of the plot. Camilla called it ‘catch and release.’
One problem the group faced in dealing with Voldemort’s plan was that Crouch’s elf was taking care of the homunculus housing the Dark Lord, and he had placed that elf under Voldemort’s control. They could not use Crouch to command the elf, as he had turned control over to Voldemort. They could not take Crouch out, as he was not only still reporting to Voldemort, but moving him too far from Hogwarts would alert the elf, as there was still a connection between Winky and Crouch. Moody was therefore still in his trunk, rather bored but in much better shape than he had been. The other problem was that Crouch was unaware of where Voldemort was hiding out. He had a number of pre-set portkeys, but using them in any manner would alert Voldemort. As the portkeys were sequenced, it was even possible that Voldemort was changing locations.
However, this did give Harry’s allies and supporters time to plot.
One should never, under circumstances, allow St. Trinian students or staff time to plot.
Especially not together.
*
In the end, the various Ministry officials and the St. Trinian’s group came to some mutual understandings. The ‘plot’ to destroy Voldemort and what was likely his remaining Horcrux came out of St. Trinian’s. Most of the manpower needed to pull off the plan, however, would come from the Ministry.
*
Barty Crouch Jr. looked at the Tri-Wizard Cup he had placed at the center of the maze just a few minutes before. He had just finished transferring the portkey coordinates over the portkey which would take the winner to the judges’ stand.
Barty blew a long sigh of relief. Something had felt very wrong these last few months, but he could not pinpoint what. He did not realize that he had been captured, interrogated, and then Obliviated several times in that period. Still, he was relieved that his tasks were nearly over; he only had to make sure that it was Potter who made his way to the Cup first. After that, he would only have to observe the chaos at Hogwarts when Potter’s dead body was transported back to the judges. Barty would then kill Crouch and simply leave to return to his Master.
Barty used Moody’s eye to glance at his watch. He knew had to leave soon, as Hagrid would be planting his creatures to defend the maze.
Barty then collapsed, as a spell hit him.
Six figures faded into sight.
“I can’t believe that worked,” one of them said.
“Why?” the team leader asked. “The Department of Mysteries developed that eye for Moody. Did you think we wouldn’t have ways around what it can do? You two, set that rope through the Cup’s handles so it will act as a portkey extension, and be damn sure not to set it off early! You, set up the shed. You, signal the other teams to come in. You and I will take Crouch in.”
*
That evening, the four champions lined up. At the signal, a small canon, Harry entered the maze. He would be followed, over the next three minutes, by the other three champions. The canon was also the signal for the teams of Unspeakables, hit wizards, and select aurors to be portkeyed to wherever Crouch had set the Cup to go first. They should have overwhelming firepower and the element of surprise. A replica of the Cup would be left, which would signal the hedge maze to disappear and (in theory) freeze all the creatures so that Hagrid could collect them.
The aurors hoped their plan would be enough.
Meanwhile, the four champions were making their ways through the maze. With no faux-Moody interfering, the three older champions made steady progress. Harry, not being allowed to summon anything and to only carry his wand into the maze, had slightly more difficulty than the others.
Miss Fritton had thought to have tracking charms added to the champions (Crouch had not been told). Maps of the maze had appeared after the last champion had entered, and they displayed the champions’ locations to the crowd. Ten minutes after Harry had entered the maze, it was clear that Krum had taken the lead. As many of the ‘obstacles’ were mobile, however, they could not really be marked on the maps. Therefore, whenever a champion was stopped by a problem/creature/obstacle, there was no way for the crowd to determine what that champion was facing. All they could tell was how long the champion took to deal with it.
The crowd, especially the Beaxbatons, groaned when Fleur took a turn that led her into a dead-ended section of the maze. They were not to know it, but both Harry and Cedric were being delayed by Blast-ended Skrewts. Krum had managed to distract the one he had run into, which was how he had gained the lead.
Cedric had then paused for some time before deciding he did not want to answer the sphinx’s questions, which made him take a long detour. He met Fleur at the conjunction of four paths. Since they had each tried one and had come from a third, that meant they had to follow the fourth path together.
Meanwhile, Krum was engaged in fighting an acromantula. Harry passed behind it, and, seeing Krum was having difficulties, sent his strongest stunner at the back of the spider. It didn’t stun the spider, but both startled it and slowed it down enough for Krum to finish it off and to then take off after Harry.
Harry entered the clearing where the faux Trophy was first. Instinct made him dodge, as Viktor had tried to stun Harry from behind. Harry disillusioned himself and waited for Viktor to show himself, moving as quietly as he could so that the Bulgarian could not guess his position.
Viktor cursed himself for missing. He was very cautious in approaching the clearing. “Is stand-off, Potter!” he called out. He froze when he felt a wand against his neck.
“Now Viktor, was that showing good sportsmanship?” Cedric asked.
“Maybe not, but is within rules,” he replied.
He and Cedric collapsed as Fleur stunned them from behind. Then Fleur collapsed as Harry took her out.
Harry thought a moment, and then floated Cedric and then Fleur over nearer the Cup. He might have moved Viktor magically as well, but actually did so by dragging him across the ground. Only then did he wake the three up.
“Why didn’t you take the Cup?” Cedric asked.
“I don’t really care for fame or notoriety,” Harry answered. “If I won, being the youngest, I might gain the most fame, but the money means the least to me. Viktor, you would gain the next most, if it helped you market yourself. Fleur, I don’t know you, but I do know that Cedric, Viktor, and I are very competitive. So, while I don’t really care that I win, I have to admit I don’t want to lose.” He frowned. “And stop that! Your allure doesn’t affect me that much, and I can grab the Cup before you could induce either of these two to do anything.”
The feeling the three males had sensed went away.
“And so?” Cedric asked.
“Tell me, had any of the three of you ever heard of this stupid tournament before it was announced? Let alone were able to name any of the ‘immortal’ past champions?”
“Da,” Viktor replied, “But only because of trophies I had to polish.”
The other two admitted they had never heard of the tournament before they had heard of the plans for this one.
“Well, the only time there was ever a tie was one of the tournaments where there were no survivors, and they couldn’t decide who died first or last in a task,” Harry said drily. “Who wants to enter the record books with me as a champion in the first living tied tournament?”
“Good idea,” Cedric agreed.
“Is better than losing,” Viktor admitted.
“Very well,” Fleur huffed.
As Cedric’s suggestion (although Harry would have done so if Cedric hadn’t suggested it first), they all swore to the draw.
At Harry’s count, they grabbed the Cup and portkeyed out together. As it turned out, they gained the most fame from the event because it was the last Tri-Wizard Tournament to be held.
The St. Trinian bookies were pleased, as only the St. Trinian bursar had bet on a four-way tie. While the odds had been 500-1, he had only bet a pound, so the bookies still came out ahead.
*
Two days after the Tri-Wizard concluded, the Ministry announced the capture of the partially re-embodied Dark Lord. The Aurors also announced the arrests of numerous followers who had either taken the Dark Mark or who had colluded with the Dark Lord or his followers. Since the Dark Mark had almost instantly faded back when Voldemort had been disembodied, any of his followers who had denied being willing participants had been let go as being under the Imperius. Now, however, their Marks were back and all would be given trials under truth spells and drugs.
The Dark Lord was tried as well. He was well-guarded, but surprised many by willingly cooperating in the destruction of his followers. As far as he was concerned, he had failed because of them, and this was his revenge. While he had few hopes of being sent to Azkaban (which he was certain he could escape from), he did not mind the prospect of being Kissed – he had plans in hand for returning so long as a portion of his soul remained in this world. In the back of his mind, he was laying plans for a retreat of several generations before staging his return – he did not really understand his Horcruxes were all gone.
In the end, unlike his un-Marked followers (who were given terms of 1-25 years, depending on their actions) or Marked followers (most were given 25 years to life, while a few were sent to be Kissed), after his trial, Voldemort was sent through the Veil. While that fact was released, that Harry had been the one to send him through was not. Few of his Marked followers survived their terms in Azkaban, and those who did were broken men and women when finally released.
At Hogwarts, Snape was gone, as he was convicted, although not sent to Azkaban. Given some of the ambiguities of his defense, he was the only Marked Death Eater sentenced to less than 25 years in Azkaban. Instead, he served 10 years under house arrest, working for the Ministry producing potions.
On the whole, Snape preferred his sentence to teaching.
Dumbledore quietly accepted retirement, as he could easily have faced various charges. He served one final year at Hogwarts after the Tri-Wizard, and spent the last few years of his life in writing a book on ‘Magic and the Greater Good.’
It failed to sell many copies, and basically started the downward evaluation of his contributions to the magical world.
Hermione Granger went on to Oxford University after St. Trinian’s, where she took degrees in Mathematics and Astronomy, before moving to Massachusetts, where she earned her PhD in Mathematics at MIT and her Mastery in Arithmancy at Salem. She never married, but had several long-term relationships with various witches and a successful career teaching at Cal Tech while furthering Arithmancy as a field. She did have one child, a son born when she was 30. She never openly declared who Hugo’s father was, but considering the boy’s green eyes and the fact that his hair was even wilder and stiffer than his mother’s, few who knew her background had many doubts.
Harry and Jane married while first year students at the University of Westminster. After graduating, both technically joined the Department of Mysteries. In reality, they had a joint appointment with the DoM and the British Secret Services, part of a group which made certain that the Magical and Muggle criminal worlds did not bleed over into each other. The couple had three children, two daughters and a son. While their two daughters of course went to St. Trinian’s, their son James went to the California School of Magics, where his ‘Aunt’ Hermione could keep an eye on him, and where he was joined two years later by Hugo.
Compared to some parts of the world, Britain remained a class-ridden, barely democratic, socially (and technically) backward part of the magical world. Compared to the Britain of pre-1995, however, by the 2020s magical Britain was a fairly equitable country.
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