Chapter 16

-AN: You'll have to excuse my representations of accents in this chapter and going forward. I realise Victor will likely read more Russian, and I may offend French-speaking people. This is not done intentionally, but when I read accents I always enjoy the experience, so I'm trying to do the same here for anyone that may enjoy the same thing.-

The rest of the summer was a lot of both fun and invention. He even had his meeting with the Prime Minister. They had come to an agreement, but his ship was still only to be piloted by himself and he'd make time over some weekend in the next year, to go drop off something, while taking along a crew of muggles who knew about magic. They weren't all trained astronauts, but they were highly trained in their fields and would be receiving further training before the actual mission, learning about the technology they'd be dropping off and proper procedures to deploy said technology, while Harry helped them with his magic where he could.

As for Harry's inventions, he had taken the time to attach the name of the caller to incoming calls, so that people could see who was contacting them, before deciding to answer. Next he spent time making a few items, including one giant diamond, the size of a human head, which was connected to the index. It was meant to store video and still images for him, so that he could whip out his Comm and record things that needed to be referenced later.

The recording function was one he had long since mastered, but he struggled with how to access multiple recordings and had needed to speak to Mister Granger about how such things were handled in the muggle world. This brought about the idea of both files and how data access worked, based on an allocation table, which could display a list of files and where on the storage media said information could be accessed. Harry was not surprised that it worked on links and had quickly adapted the idea into the Diamond. The data was stored sequentially, with a time and date associated with it. That would make finding things simpler.

As an added feature, he updated the call history list to show both incoming and outgoing calls to and from everyone on the index. It didn't record the calls, but did record the lengths, so that he could start using that feature in the future, when they finally found a way of incorporating the muggle networks. He had no doubt that charging for calls would be something people wouldn't be happy with, but the ability would be useful.

Next, he worked on a project he had been thinking about for a while. He wanted to make a television, which could connect to the muggle television networks. The problem with that, though, was that he had no idea how to translate analogue or digital information to magical. The solution was an easy one, though. He simply spelled a piece of glass, the way he did with the cinemas.

He did have to buy a whole lot of televisions and rent space to have them all on and active permanently, not to mention all the different devices and connections he'd need to get all the channels, but he intended to ask a small monthly premium for access, controlled like they controlled access to the newspapers.

That project worked out rather quickly, with all the things Harry had already made over the years, and magical television, which they decided to continue calling television, or TV, would soon become available for purchase. Bill would decide on the price for the television itself, which worked like all of their projector devices, with a couple of magical speakers built into the box, which was the size of a milk-carton.

Before release, however, Harry and Bill would add slots where anything with a recording on it, could be placed to playback said recording, or where something could be recorded, should someone purchase the magically protected and prepared clear crystal quartz discs. They couldn't be selling diamonds to just anyone, after all, so Harry had worked out a way to store lower quality recordings on quartz crystals, which was an abundant resource and was a form of silicon dioxide, something easily obtained and produced.

Harry's success with the Indexes and especially the Library Index linking wand, which applied both a link and Harry's own protections for said link had led to a revolution in the production process over the holiday. Bill now had workstations where he could apply the protection without Harry's presence. He'd still need to produce the magical items and effects, but he could now make any new items or upgrades without Harry needing to be there, to secure the features.

By the time the new school year was set to start, Harry decided to make a change and went to pick up all his friends in The Saucer and flew them to Hogwarts. Once there, he shrunk the craft and placed it in a new item he had brought along this year. It was a simple box, with a couple of protections, which worked like a vanishing cabinet. He could now store and retrieve things from home. Bill had suggested they make it for him, since it would give him the ability to send things to Harry, should he struggle with something, or if he wanted to test something. Had they thought of that before, Harry could have been working from school, when he found the time, without Bill needing to wait for him over weekends.

At the starting feast, they 'found out' about the Triwizard Tournament. Harry had even gone with his friends to look for gowns for the upcoming ball. They had asked that he remain outside, so that they could surprise him, when the time came and Professor McGonagall had loved the time spent with the girls. They had even helped her pick out something.

Harry was surprised to note that Mad-eye Moody was there, and listened as Dumbledore joked about not wanting to risk Professor Snape's life, who would be going back to Potions, since Professor Slughorn had decided to leave the school. Harry suspected it was due to his not participating in the man's events. Snape did not look happy about the arrangement. Harry just hadn't had either the time or the desire to be pulled into Slughorn's events. He wouldn't be talking about his achievements anyway, so it was a wasted effort. Snape, however, decided to start looking into possible replacements for his class the next year. He wanted to go back to defence.

Before dinner, a week later, while the other schools waited to walk in, Dumbledore gave his speech. Harry didn't really pay it any heed. He was busy with a new invention, planning out an addition to his Comm, as he inspected his, while Dumbledore spoke. There was a difference in his speech this time and Harry looked up when an age-line wasn't mentioned.

"I don't like this." Harry mumbled to himself.

"Don't like what, Harry?" Hermione whispered, having heard him.

"There's no age restriction. There should be an age restriction. If the contestants can die, it should only be for people who have come of age." Harry said. Not to mention that there was only one reason why Dumbledore would change his plans this time around.

Hermione thought about the statement, before replying, "If the cup only chooses the best contestant, surely it will be an upper-year student with more skills anyway, right?" She didn't believe her own words, but hoped. Harry was obviously the best and only choice when talking about the most skilled magic users in the school.

"We can hope." Harry said.

"And so, please welcome…" Dumbledore started announcing, but Harry was already deep in thought, as he looked at his Comm. Harry had no doubt the headmaster had planned on adding an age line, like last time, but the change meant something else was going on. Harry didn't like it. If someone wanted to, they could add his name. The headmaster no doubt counted on this, if the twinkle in his eyes meant anything.

"Harry?" Hermione's voice penetrated his thoughts and he looked up.

"Sorry, I was thinking." Harry said, looking up.

"I was asking what you were thinking about." Hermione said again.

"The old goat is playing again." Harry said, looking up to the staff table where Dumbledore was already greeting Igor Karkaroff. "I'm thinking it's time for the Headmaster to be taught a lesson." he said.

He extended his power till it was right behind the headmaster, before sending a stinging jinx at the headmaster from where he sat. Dumbledore felt the magic coming and quickly blocked it, even as he felt another spell impact his back. He spun around, ignoring the startled Karkaroff and Maxime, and looked in the direction he had felt the spell coming from. Mad-eye was looking at him with a raised eyebrow from there, but he hadn't cast any spells. Dumbledore turned back and in the direction the other spell had come from. Harry Black was smirking at him, with an evil-looking grin.

"Headmaster!" Olympe Maxime exclaimed. "What is the meaning of this? You get attacked by your students?"

"Merely a prank, I assure you." Dumbledore said. "Come, let's be seated and enjoy the feast that's been prepared. I've recently come by a fine bottle…" he rattled on, distracting the guests in his usual manner, by confusing them and then offering them something that put them on more familiar ground.

Harry was still smiling. He couldn't wait to see the Headmaster's reaction, when everything he ate and drank for the next week tasted like his favourite lemon-flavoured candies. No doubt that would get tiring.

"What did you do?!" Fred asked incredulously, having spotted the smile.

"Did he really block that spell?" George asked.

"One of them." Harry said.

"You sent more?" Hermione asked. She hadn't seen that. Then she remembered his trick of sending spells through his telekinetic reach. She was still miffed that she hadn't attained that ability. Sirius had said that even he and Remus were unable to do that, after years of practicing to emulate the telekinetic effect.

"Just one." Harry confirmed.

"What's it do?" Fred asked.

Harry smiled at him. "Do you want to find out?" he asked. Neither of the twins liked the look of that smile, so wisely shut their traps. "Brave as Gryffindors, you are." Harry mocked as he looked back at the teacher's table, just in time to see Dumbledore take a bite of a lamb-chop. His eyes widened and he looked up to see Harry's victorious grin.

"It seems the prank was successful." Fred murmured.

"You spelled his food?" George asked.

"Nope." Harry said, as he watched Dumbledore try something else, only for the exact same flavour to come through. To Harry's disappointment, the old man seemed proficient enough to be able to counter the taste-binding curse. He was old and experienced, though, so Harry should have expected it. "Damn." he swore, as the headmaster started enjoying his meal. "Next time I'll have to bind the spell with my protections."

"Serves as an opening salvo." Fred said.

"Any chance we can get in on your pranks with Dumbledore?" George asked, with Fred nodding along.

"Sure." Harry said. "If you can keep my name out of the goblet." he offered.

"No deal." Fred said. "That will be impossible. I know for a fact that most of Hufflepuff will likely already be entering you."

"What did you do that made them all so loyal to you?" George asked.

"I know some things and support their house." Harry replied evasively. He had basically told them that he knows and has no problem with them basically brainwashing people into being more Hufflepuff. Hufflepuffs were a great group, but he was suddenly regretting having them think he supported them. They'd probably thought they'd be doing him a favour by supporting him for Champion.

"Backfiring on you know, innit?" Fred smirked at him.

Hermione, on the other hand, had taken out her Comm and was writing a quick message to Susan, asking her to spread the word that Harry really would like to avoid entering the tournament. Susan quickly went to work doing just that and Hermione smiled smugly at Harry, who had noticed what she was doing. He hugged her to him with one arm and kissed her on the head. "You really are the smartest witch of our generation, you know that?" Harry asked.

Hermione cleared her throat to hide her blush for the public display of affection and said, "And don't you forget it."

"How can I? You keep on proving it to me!" Harry cheered squeezing her one more time, with a fond smile.

Harry received a message then and looked at the Comm, seeing it was from Dumbledore. He looked up and saw the old man smirking at him. It read: 'If your name comes out of the Goblet, but as the Hogwarts champion, you really will have no reason to complain.'

Harry wrote back. 'You forget, headmaster, that I could have protected the magic by binding it with my protection magics. If my name comes out, you'll soon get tired of having everything you eat taste like old unwashed socks.'

Dumbledore frowned at the message and saw Harry's eyebrow lifted. He was soon distracted by a question from Madam Maxime. She was asking about the Comm, which had, as of yet, to go international. Except for the wolves, that is.

Harry was soon back on his conversation and the rest of the meal was spent in contemplation about the new feature. Harry really wanted to get it done, before moving on to the long-outstanding project of detection magic for The Saucer. He was seriously starting to contemplate simply sitting his OWLs and NEWTs so that he could focus on his other studies and projects during class time and not have to walk between classes. No doubt Dumbledore would try to keep him around somehow anyway, though, so he'd likely decide to sit his exams with the rest, but just stop going to class.

It didn't take long for word to spread to the guest students about the Comm, and Harry was approached the next day by a gaggle of Beauxbatons girls, with Fleur Delacour in the lead, while Harry sat in the library with his study group and a few other groups arranged around. Every year group of female students below them had decided to follow in the example of Harry's group and had formed their own group, and just like they did for Luna and Ginny's group, each year was responsible for the lower years. As a result, the female section of the school was starting to outshine the male. Not everyone was interested in achieving high grades, though. Some people only showed up long enough to get help with homework, but the few that stayed after, to learn more, were quickly at the head of their years.

Some boys were allowed to accompany them, but when the boys caused distractions, they were summarily dismissed and not allowed back. This still left them with the more studious students, though.

"No, the reason the spell failed when you tried it, was because you didn't focus on the spell enough." Harry was saying to one of Luna's group. "You won't always need to cast the spell with the same focus. You only need to learn it until it becomes second nature. The professors don't teach this, probably because they don't know, but the human mind has the ability to adapt and change, performing actions faster and faster due to something called neural elasticity. Basically it means that things become easier with practice."

"Harry, I don't think she needed the long version." Hermione reprimanded. She turned to the girl. "Practice the spell with focus for a couple of minutes a day and it will become easier." she said. She had always been the better teacher, knowing what to say and what to leave out.

"Thanks." the girl said to Hermione.

"Hey, I helped too." Harry objected.

"But Hermione did it better." the girl said primly, but with a smile. Jokes were common, since everyone appreciated a bit of humour so that things didn't get too dull.

"Excuse moi, Monsieur Black?" Fleur asked, having politely waited for a moment to not interrupt.

"Call me Harry." Harry said, getting up to greet the girl in his usual fashion. "You must be Fleur?" he asked.

"You know me?" Fleur asked.

"How could I not?" Harry smirked. "A girl with an allure, walking around making all the boys drool as she goes, gets around."

"Allure?" Fleur asked. "Nobody 'as identified me so. 'ow do you know?"

"It's obvious when you have a well-trained mind." Harry said. "I could feel the effect as you walked into the Great Hall on the first day, too."

"She's a Veela?" Hermione asked.

"Maybe quarter?" Harry asked looking at Fleur. He never understood that. If there are no male Veela, the only way they could reproduce would be with normal humans or magicals, so by definition, all Veela are full Veela. The fact was that he remembered her identifying her grandmother as a Veela, so he took a chance.

"You could tell?" Fleur asked, probably hopefully.

"Not really, I'm afraid." Harry denied. "All the Veela I've met had the full heritage. You have the look of someone who prefers to distance themselves from a creature heritage though, so I guessed." he lied.

Harry's words struck her as insightful, and she smiled. Finally, someone that understood. "You are quite insightful." Fleur complimented. "'ow is it zat you 'ave met ozer Veela?"

"Marauders Inc. hires them all the time." Harry said.

"You know of ze Marauders?" Fleur asked.

"I work with them." Harry said. It was how he explained it away, rather than telling people he basically owned the company, even though most already knew, after the revelations of the last year.

"He's their inventor." Hermione added as she joined Harry. "How can we help you, Miss Delacour?"

Fleur looked around and spotted every eye from all the study groups on her. "Could we talk, somewhere more private?" she asked, uncomfortably.

Harry looked around and said, "Hey, back to your studies, people. I've got all the backup I need."

The study groups all smirked, but went back to their studies, with excited giggles and whispering. Harry led them further into the library and took a seat at another table a bit away. When he sat down, he realised he had been followed by all the friends from his inner circle. If Fleur could have a group, then they would obviously join.

"Who are zey?" Fleur asked, indicating Harry's friends.

"My friends." Harry said. "They know some of my secrets, so anything you want to tell me, they can hear."

"Very well." Fleur said with a bit of a sigh, as she and her friends sat down on the other side of the long table. Then she smiled at Harry. "We were 'oping to talk to you about ze Comm devices?" she asked.

"What about them?" Harry asked, taking his out and placing it on the table. "Do I need to explain how to use them?"

"Non." Fleur denied. "We were 'oping to discuss, um, supplying for us?"

"You want to buy some?" Harry asked. "Sure, there's an owl order system for it."

"We were told you make zem?" Fleur asked.

"Harry doesn't make them himself anymore." Pansy said. "He only works on revisions and upgrades."

"And new inventions." Daphne added.

Fleur seemed frustrated with her linguistic skills and spoke quickly with her friends in French.

"I think I understand." Hermione said, after listening for a bit. "She wants a French Comm. What she's seen so far, makes her think the current one is in English and she'd like to find out about a translated unit."

"Pouvez vous parler?" Fleur asked in French.

"Juste un peu." Hermione said uncertainly, indicating something small with her fingers. "I can understand a bit, but I'm not fluent." she said apologetically.

Fleur suddenly started speaking very quickly and Harry could see Hermione was struggling to keep up. "Hold on." Harry said. He picked up his Comm and said, "Video call Bella Couture."

It rang a couple of times, before a face appeared. "Harry, is that you?" a beautiful Veela lady, the one Bill had started dating the previous year, asked. "Aren't you cute in your school uniform?!" she exclaimed happily.

"I'd prefer it if you don't refer to me as 'cute'." Harry smiled at her. "At worst, I'm going for strapping."

"Doesn't change the fact that it's cute." Bella said back with a smirk. "How can I help?"

"We've made a new friend and she wants to ask questions about the Comm, but she's struggling with communication, since she's French." Harry explained. "Would you mind?"

"Sure thing Harry. Pass the Comm and I'll see what the problem is." Bella said easily.

"Thanks, Bella. Much appreciated." Harry said.

"Anything for the cub of the pack." Bella smirked at him.

"Now, don't go spreading things, okay?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. "I'm a normal Hogwarts student that helps Marauders out, got it?"

"Fine." Bella sighed.

Harry held the Comm out to Fleur and said, "Bella speaks French. She's from a conclave out that way. She'll be able to help."

Fleur took the device and greeted the person on the other side familiarly, to Harry's ears it sounded like they knew each other. There was a storm of excited conversation then, as the French witches all chimed in and asked questions and Hermione was struggling to keep up, but it seemed she was getting the gist.

A short while later, Fleur handed the Comm back and Bella explained to Harry that apparently someone had tried to us the dictation function and it hadn't worked. The language on some of the features were also in English, like the text and voice commands. The French girls were hoping for a translated unit that they could send to their families.

"Okay, so you want me to try and get the dictation working in French and to get the commands and instruction screens into French as well? Is that about it?" Harry asked.

"Oui." Fleur said, with a smile on her face.

"I'll have to see about the dictation, but the rest should be a simple thing to add." Harry said with a shrug. "I'll get Bill to have Bella translate what is necessary for the text-based information and the command words for the call functions. He should be able to handle that on his own."

Fleur and the other girls then got up, thanked Harry again and left. An hour later, the French girls returned with their books and joined the study session, having realised it was a place dedicated to study and the atmosphere was very conducive, surrounded by books.

When they arrived, Harry called Fleur over. When she approached, he handed her a Comm. "There you go." he said.

Fleur looked at the Comm and realised there were instructions in French. "Eet eez done?" she asked incredulously.

"Turns out Bill has been working on translated units for a while, since our people hail from all around the world. Bella didn't know, since she's fluent in both, as are the Veela I've met." Harry said with a smile. "Good thing too, don't you think?"

"Eez zees one mine?" she asked.

"I don't intend to just hand out freebies, but if your having one will make more business, why not?" Harry asked. "You're so attractive, people will want to buy them, just because you have one. Call it free advertising."

"I sought you were immune?" Fleur asked, smiling at the compliment. He didn't seem to be affected.

"I am, but the people who see you using that won't all be." Harry said. The other girls didn't take offense to him complimenting her. They were immune to the effect, because they were female, but they could tell she was very attractive. Harry tended to call it as he sees it.

"She could be a model, I suppose." Padma said. "It's not a bad idea. You'll just have to show her how to block people, since when they order their own Comms, it will likely be to contact her."

"That's a good point." Harry said.

"Are you certain?" Fleur asked, with a faint blush. She knew she wasn't bad looking, but when you received compliments too often, you tend to grow used to it, except when the person saying it is seemingly immune to your power.

"Sure." Harry said.

"Just be sure to tell people who ask, where to get them." Parvati said.

"You'll be selling Harry's Comms that way, in payment." Susan said.

"Sank you!" Fleur gushed and curtsied, before rushing off to her friends to show them the Comm and the French instructions on registering it.

"Was Bill able to overcome the French dictation issue?" Hermione asked.

"He had to." Harry said. "For the registration to show the correct name when they register and make calls."

"What was the problem?" Susan asked. "With the dictation, I mean?"

"We needed a different caster for it." Harry said. "Specifically, someone that knew the language."

"So the magic just knows a different language because the caster does?" Hermione asked.

"Magic doesn't know any languages Hermione." Harry said. "It's always the caster that shapes the magic. The more you understand, the more you can do."

"Is that why you're so powerful?" Neville asked.

"It's probably one of the reasons, yes." Harry allowed. "I can do things others thought impossible, because I have more information than them. For example, did you know quarts is just silicone and oxygen?"

"What's silicone?" Neville asked.

"Exactly." Harry said. "You don't know, so if I told you to take oxygen and silicone and make quarts for me, you'd not know where to begin. The same with corundum. If you knew enough, you'd know you can make rubies and sapphires with oxygen and aluminium… with one or two elements added for the colours."

"You can make rubies?" Daphne asked. "Why aren't you making them all day and selling them?"

"Or giving them to your friends?" Susan asked.

"Some things are only valuable because there is a finite amount of them on the planet." Harry said. "Besides being pretty, the stones are mostly useless for anything other than decoration."

"Rubies are the second hardest stone on the planet." Hermione said.

"Diamonds being the hardest." Harry said with a nod. "Rubies are used in lasers, though, so I suppose they aren't really useless."

"What about Emeralds?" Pansy asked. "Can you make them?"

"I'd have to find a supply of beryllium." Harry said, after thinking back for a moment. "The other components are actually the same as both quarts and corundum, but the beryllium is an issue. Not easy to come by, unless you have access to volcanic rock, where similar elements can be found."

"How do you know these things?" Neville asked. "Is this just something all muggles know when they finish high school?"

"I did a little research into precious rocks while I was working on the Cinema and needed info on how to do one of the things I needed for it." Harry said. "Not all muggles are as interested in the sciences as I am."

"'arry?" Fleur's voice asked as she stood nearby again.

"Something wrong?" Harry asked, wondering if registering was giving her issues.

"Non. I was wondering, what are zese devices wis ze books in zem?" Fleur asked. Her and her friends had noted them before, but hadn't seen anyone turn any pages, thinking they had used something like replication magic to study a certain page of a book. Having seen someone page through a book by touching the edge, however, had definitely caught their attention.

"Another invention." Harry said. "It protects the books in the library and gives you access to the whole library from one location."

"Eet 'as more zan one?!" Fleur exclaimed. "Where do you get zese ideas?" she asked incredulously.

"Trade secret." Harry said with a smirk, while most of the group mimed the words along or simply nodded and turned back to their own studies.

"But-" Fleur started to ask.

"Don't even try." Pansy said with a sigh. "Harry never gives away trade secrets."

"If you like the idea, become Harry's friend." Daphne suggested. "Maybe he'll be nice and donate a Library Index to your school, with a few Library Interfaces."

"But zees eez incroyable!" Fleur exclaimed. "A whole library een zuch a zimple object!"

"You should see the cinemas." Susan said with a smirk. "Then you'll really experience something great."

"Cinema?" Fleur asked. "For films?"

"You have those?" Harry asked.

"Oui." Fleur said. "Een ze muggle world?"

"We have two here at school." Susan said with a victorious grin.

"You can use mundane sings 'ere?" Fleur asked. Her incredulity seemed to only rise with every discovery.

"Harry worked it out with magic." Hermione said proudly. "If you want to join, there's usually a film playing on Friday evenings after classes and dinner. But remember to bring some money for popcorn and something to drink."

"I cannot believe zees." Fleur said. "When did 'ogwarts advance zo much?"

"Oh, about the time Harry showed up." Pansy said. "He likes making new things."

"By this time next month, the professors will have a record of their full syllabus of lessons stored and ready for if they ever get sick or have other things to attend to as well." Hermione said. "Harry also added security systems and invented the Black Bolt flying brooms and a couple of other nifty things."

Fleur was finally flabbergasted. Comms, cinemas, libraries in a single device, recorded lessons, security and now it was revealed that the fastest brooms on the market were also part of his accomplishments, and he was only in fourth year! "Are you a prodigy or do you just look younger zan you really are?" she asked finally.

"That's a trade secret too." Harry smirked at her, glad nobody had brought up the Saucer. That was supposed to be kept secret, for now. He intended to have that come out this year, though.

Fleur was not used to being denied, but was finding the boy was definitely interesting. Interesting enough to stick close to. She really hoped he didn't enter the tournament. If he really was the one to invent these things, she worried for her school's chances.

Harry had the forethought to prepare for the Durmstrang contingent this time. He had somehow expected Krum to lead this group, too, but he was approached by another boy. Their leader didn't even speak with an accent, but he was brash and overconfident, so Harry didn't give him the Comm he had in his pocket. He remembered that Krum was a decent bloke, probably because he was famous and had been trained to deal with people in such a way as to not ruin his image.

He simply handed the boy a pamphlet and told him to Floo the person indicated for an order.

He didn't want to hold onto the Comm, though, so when he spotted Krum going for a morning jog on the Marauders Map one morning, Harry joined him. He had known the boy was an athlete and while he personally preferred the Room of Requirement for his exercise needs, he couldn't deny that the older boy was fit.

"Mind if I join you?" Harry asked, jogging alongside him.

"Is no problem." Krum said. "You vork out?" he asked, as he noticed Harry wasn't breathing heavily to keep up, like most wizards did.

"I find it keeps me healthier than most other wizards." Harry said, conversationally.

"Strong body, strong mind, strong magic." Krum said.

"I know the other saying." Harry said. "A healthy mind and a healthy body, contains a healthy spirit."

"It vorks." Krum allowed. They jogged around half of the lake before the quiet boy spoke again. "I hear you are inventor."

"I borrow heavily from smarter people." Harry admitted. "Knowledge is power."

"True." Victor said. "But your devices. Dey are from muggles, yes?"

"I had to invent new ways to take from their principles, but yes." Harry said. "Some muggles are very smart."

"Most people tink Durmstrang for dark vizards only." Krum said. "Not true. Many are dere because ve do not tink like most vizardink vorld."

"So, you're more open-minded?" Harry asked.

"I am." Krum said. "If people find out, dey vill tink you are crazy, but I see de advantage. You are simply tappink new market. Good tinkingk. Smart."

"Thank you." Harry said, for the compliment. "So, you are not going to tell people about my inspiration?"

"I vould not make angry de one who invented fastest broom on de planet." Krum said with a small smirk. "I have Black Bolt too. Good broom."

"If you think that's fast, then you should see my personal broom." Harry smiled back. "It's just a prototype, but it has some extra features and a lot more speed." That stopped Krum dead in his tracks. Harry slowed down and jogged in place. "Is there a problem?" he asked with a knowing smirk.

"You really have faster?" Krum asked. Harry stopped jogging and smirked. Then he levitated Krum, without even a gesture and extended his hand, activating his flight and flying them to Gryffindor tower. "How are you doing dis?!" Krum exclaimed.

"Trade secret." Harry said as they approached the tower. When they were close enough, he extended his power and retrieved his broom from his belongings. The sleek black metal broom now had a rubberised grip, and the zigzag in its shaft, which was standard on the Black Bolt brooms, was prominently displayed, even though Harry's looked a little more modern with rounded edges and a little extra aluminium to protect the hand gripping the handle from any moving objects.

"Is dat your prototype?" Krum asked in excitement, as Harry flew them to the quiddich pitch.

"First of its kind." Harry agreed, as he set them down. Then he extended the broom to Krum, after adding a recording disc in the front and starting the recording. "Now be careful on lift-off, it's got quite a bit more power, and could rip your shoulder from its socket. Happened to me once, actually."

"You're lettink me fly your broom?" Krum asked in shock. He had assumed the boy was going to show off. It happened sometimes with people trying to impress him with their skills, since he was currently being hailed as the world's top seeker.

"Sure." Harry shrugged. "Just don't show off and try not to get hurt. Karkaroff will not be pleased if I get one of his possible competitors hurt before the names could even be entered."

Krum was no idiot. He would take the boy's advice as it was given, since he didn't want to risk his career. "I vill be careful." he promised. He looked the broom over and noted the differences, some subtle and some not-so. Then he mounted it and slowly increased acceleration as he started a lap around the pitch, moving from side to side and testing the manoeuvrability.

Harry was looking up at the boy and saw the seeker he once remembered seeing when he was originally fourteen. He hadn't gone to the match this time around, though Sirius and Madam Hooch had. She wanted to see the difference the new brooms made and Sirius wanted to just see the game for himself. Madam Hooch had been gifted tickets even, since she was the face of the new broom line and everyone wanted to be in her good books. Both teams had seekers with Black Bolts, but Krum was simply better and the Bulgarian team had won the world cup, due to the change.

As Krum flew and increased in speed, Harry noticed a look on his face when he flew past, one of pure excitement, and suddenly his acceleration increased as he shot off of the pitch at massive speeds. Harry took out his Comm and activated the linked view, the new feature. Krum's face showed shocked amazement as he flew without the wind even touching him. He muttered something in Bulgarian as he went. It sounded like he was questioning something. Then Harry saw the sky behind him turning as he turned and flew back.

A couple of minutes later, Krum landed and dismounted. He was looking at the broom in his hands and then up at Harry. "You are gifted crafter." he finally said. "Vhen did you make dis?"

"A bit more than two years ago." Harry said.

Krum looked incredulous at that. If he was capable of that, so long ago, what could the boy do now? "You are not plannink on taking over vizardink vorld, are you?" he asked then.

"It would be easier to just leave the magical world and start something else." Harry said. "Unfortunately my lady friends would be disappointed to leave their lives behind, so I'll just make do and keep myself clear of all the stupidity, which is the magical world."

Krum seemed to think about that for a bit. "It vill be difficult. You are de great Harry Potter. Even if you don't like using de name, people still know."

"There's a reason I distanced myself from that image." Harry said. "I'm not the great Harry Potter. I'm simply the strange Harry Black. People will be more accepting of my ideas if they think I'm just eccentric. This way the original image, while associated with me, doesn't harm my attempts to be left alone. I want it known that I don't want fame."

"Dey vill not leave you alone." Krum predicted. "Celebrity can be used for good too, you know."

"And that's the only thing I intend to use it for." Harry said. He stuck a hand in his pocket and took out the Comm. "Do you have one of these, yet?" he asked.

"I haf not decided to get von yet." Krum said. "I don't read English too vell." Harry smirked and handed him the device. It clearly had instructions in Bulgarian. "You haf translation?" he asked.

"Thanks to my partner in R&D." Harry said. "Bill Weasley is in charge of that side of things. Our international operations required the functionality. I'm told he's working on using the opportunity to work on translation magic, so that people can more easily communicate across different languages."

"Dat sounds like big plans." Krum said. "Useful too. De company vill make much profit, if he does it."

"We're always working on something." Harry said, as he lifted them up and flew them back to the lake, after shrinking and pocketing the broom. "I'd appreciate it if you kept the Black Bolt MK2 to yourself."

"MK2?" Krum asked, even as he ignored the feeling of being handled like baggage.

"It was the second make, or iteration, after I switched to a new technique that was able to handle the magic better." Harry said. "There's only ever going to be two MK2 brooms. The rest will be given different names."

"Two?" Krum asked.

"Madam Hooch has the other." Harry said. "She is in charge of that part of business after all."

"You've taught somevan your secrets? Dat is not vise. If she ever gets taken…" Krum trailed off.

"They get to meet the wolves." Harry said. "We may or may not have ensured that any public appearance is escorted, with tracking magic and emergency portkeys for added security. The secrets are well protected, I assure you."

"I heard about de wolves." Krum said, as Harry placed them down on the path, from which they had left. "Many feared an uprisink."

"One of the heads of Marauders Inc. is a werewolf." Harry said. "Having had to live as one for most of his life, shunned by the magical world, he decided to help them. We're not raising an army. We're helping people in need."

Krum looked at the boy before him with a look of respect. Everything he had learned so far had shown him that he was a decent person. Driven and intelligent, but not dark. He held the Comm back to Harry. "Thank you for lettink me know. I vill order for my family."

"Oh, you can keep that." Harry said, smiling. "Free advertising." he explained.

"Tank you." Krum said. "I vill tell many of it."

"I have to start getting ready for class, so I'll be leaving now." Harry said. "It was nice meeting you, Mister Krum."

"Call me Victor." Krum said with a smile. "I tink ve vill be friends."

"Harry, then." Harry said as he lifted up. "Black, not Potter." he added as he started flying off.

"Where have you been?" Karkaroff asked in Bulgarian as he approached. "You said you were jogging."

"I made a new friend." Krum said with a shrug.

"Be careful." Karkaroff insisted. "When you are the champion, many will try to be your friend."

"If I am chosen." Krum said, as he started jogging back to the ship. Many people already wanted to be his friend, for his fame. He doubted he'd be increasing the fan-base much, with the tournament, if he was chosen.

The day of the drawing arrived a couple of days later. Harry was anxious. He had taken steps of his own to ensure his name wasn't entered. Every parchment with his name on it was detected by a ward and replaced with Cedric Diggory's name. That wasn't the only ward though. He had added a ward that would turn people away if they approached the cup with malicious intent.

That second one would be simpler to counter, but it was more of a ruse to hide the first ward. The best part was that it would only replace the writing on the parchment once the person entering him let go of it. If it worked, Harry would have to do something nice for Bill, since he had come up with the magic. Being a curse-breaker had given him all kinds of access to interesting knowledge.

Having learned that he was working for Marauders Inc. had even made the Goblins give him access to the information he had been looking for, for so long, since the company was raking in money with their international endeavours and the Goblins loved taking care of all that wealth. Never mind the diamonds and everything Harry brought to the game. They didn't know that Harry had made it to the moon, otherwise they'd likely fall over themselves negotiating for the rights to mine there.

Even with the wards, Harry was worried. The old man looked far too smug.

The students were gathered and the moment had arrived. Dumbledore was making a speech, but Harry had heard it all before, so he simply waited, with his girls and Neville ranged around him for support. They had all picked up on his nerves and showed a united front of support.

Dumbledore announced first the Durmstrang Champion, Victor Krum. Then the Beauxbatons Champion, Fleur Delacour.

The last, hopefully, scrap of paper shot out and Dumbledore caught it and read it. Instead of pronouncing it instantly, he turned to the crowd and said, "Before I announce the Hogwarts Champion, please know that the school will support them as all the schools will support their champions-"

"No, no, no." Harry said.

"- and there will be no doubting that they are all worthy, as they were chosen from this precious, wondrous, priceless artefact." Dumbledore said, before lifting the scrap in his hand.

"No." Harry repeated more loudly, his magic already stretching out to the cup.

"The Hogwarts Champion is: Harry Black." Dumbledore said, finally looking at Harry.

"No!" Harry finally yelled as he stood up and the precious, wondrous, priceless artefact lifted into the air, as his power surrounded it and pressed down on it. The crowd, seemingly unaware, cheered and celebrated, until they spotted the Champion in question and suddenly there was silence, at seeing the boy march to Dumbledore, hands raised as magic formed in balls in his hands.

"Now, Harry-" Dumbledore started, taking a step back.

"I TOLD YOU!" Harry interrupted him. "I TOLD YOU THERE WOULD BE CONSEQUENCES IF I WAS ENTERED AGAINST MY WILL!"

Suddenly the cup flared again and Harry stopped, looking up at it in curiosity, his momentum stalled for the moment. Suddenly another piece of parchment shot out, which Dumbledore caught again. "It says, Harry Black." he announced.

But the cup didn't stop there. It flared again, but this time it was in a huge gout of flame, and twenty pieces of parchment rained down. Dumbledore snagged one of them, too. "Harry Black." He snagged another one, "Harry Black." Over and over his name was repeated. Until Harry summoned all the parchment and looked at them himself.

On all of them was clearly written, in different handwriting, 'Harry Black'.

"What the hell, Dumbledore!" Harry exclaimed. "Entering me the once wasn't enough? You had to do it multiple times?!"

"I swear to you Harry, I didn't do all this." Dumbledore said as the Goblet of Fire hoisted into the air, once again, in preparation to be smashed to pieces on the floor.

"How much of it did you do?" Harry asked dangerously.

"I entered your name once." Dumbledore admitted. "But I didn't force it to choose you, let alone this many times!" he added quickly.

"If I stated, right now, that I had plans to be busy on Marauders business on those days, do you know what would happen?" Harry asked Dumbledore, in a deadly whisper.

Dumbledore paled at that, realising that he may have made a miscalculation. If Harry was serious, he could kill him, simply by making plans to do just that, and he'd have broken his vow to not interfere in Marauders business, though he doubted the boy would seriously threaten his life like that, let alone the consequences of a binding magical contract. Perhaps it would be best to let the boy smash the cup. He looked around at it and found the cup was slowly lowering back to its pedestal.

"I'll be looking into this." Harry said darkly. Then he stormed past the headmaster and walked to the trophy room.

"Fuck!" Harry exclaimed when he got there.

"'arry?" Fleur asked. "What are you doing 'ere?" She had been spending a lot of time in the library of late, and had even learned a thing or two from the knowledgeable young man.

"I tought you vere tryink to avoid fame?" Krum asked. He and Harry had jogged another time. It was good to have company, even if they didn't speak much. He had hoped to borrow Harry's broom again sometime, but hadn't asked yet.

"Do I look pleased to be here?" Harry asked, sarcastically. He pulled out all the parchments and looked at them, before casting diagnostics at them. He did not like what he found. His own magic was on the parchment. He cast a couple of more spells and found a trace, a small trace, of someone else's magic. Someone he knew. "Oh, you're going down Padfoot." he threatened.

He pulled out his Comm and said. "Video call Sirius Black."

After a couple of moments, Remus's head appeared on the display. "Is there a specific reason why Sirius just threw his Comm at me and ran out of the house laughing like a maniac?"

Harry's eye twitched. "Triwizard. Champion." he said slowly.

"Sirius!" Remus yelled angrily as the Comm fell to the floor, when he started running after the man.

Harry sighed and reigned in his emotions. They'd do him no good. He turned back to the other champions. "Sorry about my outburst earlier." he apologised, after a breath. "It is good to see you two here, and congratulations on being chosen. I have no doubt that you will do your schools proud."

"What is 'appening?" Fleur asked. "Are you ze sird?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Harry said.

The Professors soon arrived and Harry was thankfully left alone this time, rather than being accused of cheating. There were some questions, but Harry already knew the events so he didn't care and left halfway through the meeting. He needed to get away for a bit.

He was soon on his ship and headed out of the atmosphere. Then his Comm rang.

"Harry, where are you?" Hermione demanded.

"I'm taking some 'me' time." Harry said. "This thing with the tournament isn't good for my mental state."

"You didn't answer my question." Hermione said. Harry heard some of the other girls whispering in the background.

"I'm on the Saucer. I'm currently leaving the atmosphere." Harry admitted.

"Come back and pick us up." Pansy demanded over the Comm.

"We'll be waiting on the Quiddich pitch." Hermione decided and ended the call.

Harry sighed, but turned around and went back, landing on the pitch. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see not only his best friends, but the two other champions.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

"They need to talk to you." Hermione said as she walked in, beckoning for them to follow. She knew of his plans to have the saucer become public knowledge this year, and had decided that, since they were becoming friends, it was worth the risk.

"Vat is dis?!" Krum asked, as he looked at the steps and door that seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

"Are you coming or staying behind?" Hermione asked hotly. She didn't like that Harry was forced into this. The other girls didn't look enthused either. Fleur and Krum finally followed them up the steps and Harry shut the door so that they could take off. He was silent as he slowly raised them until his girls and friends had everyone secure. Then he accelerated and let a bit of the G-Forces be felt. It just felt right to him.

He angled them upward and they shot into the sky.

"Que se passe-t-il!?" Fleur exclaimed at the speed and darkening sky as they broke through a cloudbank. It was already night-time, but there were only stars and no colour between them.

"We're leaving atmosphere." Harry said numbly after a bit, not knowing what she had asked, as he monitored their distance from when they had taken off.

"Harry, do we have any specific destination in mind here?" Hermione asked.

"How do you feel about Mars?" Harry asked angrily.

"You and I both know that journey would take almost two years at your highest attained speed." Hermione said.

"We can go faster." Harry countered.

"Not without some sort of magical radar." Hermione said. "You also told me yourself, you were pushing the capabilities of the wards when you did that last time."

Harry grumbled something at that.

"How far along is your magical radar?" Daphne asked, trying to change the subject.

"Won't work." Harry said. "Magic needs an atmosphere to work properly. That's why it's so difficult in space. Any long range sensor would take too much power at the speeds we are talking about."

"When did you figure-" Pansy started, before she sighed and said, rather, "Fix the gravity Harry."

"But-" Harry started.

"Just do it!" She insisted. Harry complied and soon all the gravitational forces were cancelled. Pansy unbuckled and walked to Harry. Then she sat in his lap and said, "Now relax." Then she kissed him. Hard.

"Pansy!" Daphne exclaimed incredulously. The group hadn't agreed on any more vigorous displays of affection and they usually discussed these things to protect the unity of the group.

Pansy broke the kiss and looked up. "He needs to let go of the emotions and feel them. He's not helping himself by bottling everything up." she insisted. If she was going to marry him one-day, she'd not allow him to end up like other stuck-up purebloods, all pent up and angry.

"Then it's my turn!" Daphne insisted then and got up, to do as Pansy had, when she gave up her space on Harry's lap.

Soon all the girls had taken a turn, including Susan. Luna wasn't ready for something like that, but sat on his lap and hugged Harry tightly. Neville had the decency to look away, while that was going on. He just wished Hannah could have joined.

"Pardone moi?" Fleur asked from her seat, after Luna broke the hug. "Could someone tell us, what eez going on? What eez zees sheep?" she asked.

"Harry is our future husband." Pansy said, ignoring the question. "He needs some attention."

"You two insisted on coming along, so we brought you under a promise to keep things secret, but we need to sort Harry out first." Hermione said primly. Then she turned on Harry. "And? Are you feeling better?"

Harry had a bit of a dazed expression. The girls had certainly grown up some. He quickly stowed the rising emotion induced by being kissed by pretty girls, but finally allowed his anger to fade and his gratitude to show on his face.

"You're suppressing again." Hermione warned.

"Only the, um, urges, I'm currently experiencing." Harry admitted, with a blush.

Most of the girls blushed at that, but smiled prettily at him.

"Ve should haf spoken later." Victor said. "But I am grateful. Never haf I seen a view like dis."

"Sorry about basically abducting you." Harry said, as he slowed the craft down and turned them around to look at the planet. "I decided to come for the view, before the girls insisted on coming along."

"You haf loyal vimen." Victor said. "Made us promise, or else."

"I wouldn't test them on it either." Harry advised.

"You may be champions, but Harry's been teaching us for years." Parvati said. She still had a smile on her face from the kiss. She'd kissed him before, but never like that.

"'ow is it zat you 'ave a spacecraft?" Fleur asked. She hadn't broken her eyes from the view, though.

"He made it." Susan said proudly. "Before second year started, even."

"Is dat vhy your brooms are so fast?" Krum asked.

"I had to do the research and that was my first test." Harry said as he got up and transfigured a couple of couches facing the other champions in the centre of the ship before making the walls all transparent. The ladies joined him on the couches and the Patil twins took the seats on either side of him and pulled his arms over their shoulders. Hermione looked jealous, but only for a moment. Pansy made a mental note to beat them to it next time. How did they always beat her to sit next to him?

"Are ve really in space, or is dis some kind of illusion?" Victor asked.

"I'm good at illusions, but this is the real deal." Harry said.

"Why are you still in school, if you can make zees?" Fleur asked.

"Now we're getting to the problem." Harry said with a frown. "I really tried to make this a fair tournament, and the headmaster knew it, but he wants to make an impression, or something. Technically, I finished school years ago. I'm just here to spend time with my friends and have some fun before I became some sort of businessman, or astronaut or something."

"You're going to be a scientist, Harry." Daphne reminded him. "It's been your dream since we met you."

"I know, but I like the applied sciences." Harry said. "I don't just want to know how, I want to make things, too."

"And you'll do that, as you have been. You'll focus on your passion for invention and understanding and change the world." Hermione agreed.

"Or simply terraform Mars and move there." Harry grumbled.

"Could ve discuss tournament, now?" Victor brought them back on subject. "You are smart, and haf tools, but you von't be allowed to use dem in tournament." he reminded Harry. He and Fleur had decided to talk to him, considering he was always nice to them. He was still three years younger and they had feared he would not be able to keep up. Until now.

"Sure I will." Harry said.

"His best tool is knowledge." Hermione said. "They can't force him to leave that behind."

"He also cheats." Neville said. "But you'll never be able to tell."

"Cheat?" Fleur asked. Harry tapped on her shoulder with a telekinetic tendril of power. She jumped, but her seatbelt held her in place. Her seat spun around and she saw there was nobody there, however. "What was zat?!" she exclaimed.

"Probably a space ghost." Harry smirked. "Ton of them out here."

The two looked around for a moment. Fleur with fear and Krum with suspicion.

"Stop it, Harry!" Parvati insisted, slapping him on the chest.

"He's just joking." Padma assured them. "We've been in space before. There are no ghosts. He probably just used one of his tricks to scare you."

"But, 'ow? Zere eez no wand in 'is 'and!" Fleur said.

"Trade secret." everyone said.

"Harry has many tricks and they are apparently all trade secret." Hermione said.

"So you vill use tricks?" Victor asked.

"Probably just for the sake of entertainment." Harry said. "Mine."

"Would you be willing to teach us some of your tricks?" Fleur asked.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Harry mused. Perhaps he could show them a thing or two and have all the tasks culminate in a draw, or something.

"Not without a vow to keep the secrets to yourself and never to use them against Harry or anyone else." Hermione said. She could see Harry had caught onto the idea and could guess at what he was thinking. Shoving it in Dumbledore's face would definitely appeal to him. She would have to get to work on something she'd learned about recently. Magically binding contracts, like the one Harry had apparently been bound by that day, simply by having a magical cup decide it, might be a solution to Harry teaching people at his company things, without having to fear the knowledge being leaked.

"Is his magic dat dangerous?" Victor asked.

"Family magic." Harry said.

"Mon Dieu!" Fleur exclaimed. "Pardone moi! I did not know!"

"It's fine Fleur." Harry said. "I don't take offence to your asking, like many magical people would. I will need to protect the knowledge somehow, though."

"I'll work on securing it for you Harry." Hermione said. "I've had an idea about that, which should help."

"Good enough for me." Harry said instantly. Then he turned back to the champions. "There you have it. Once Hermione has sorted out a way to secure the knowledge, I can start teaching you."

"Vill you teach how you make Black Bolt?" Victor asked hopefully.

"I don't think so." Harry denied. "Madam Hooch would not be pleased, and I don't think you'd like the results of trying to use the MK2 during quiddich matches. Its protections would interfere with catching the snitch. Even if it didn't, would you still have fun when nobody is any competition for you?"

"Nobody is already." Victor said with a smirk. He looked up at the stars again, then. "Dis is still great view. Maybe, one day, you can teach me how to fly vith ship?"

"Maybe." Harry allowed.

"Why do you 'ave a spaceship?" Fleur asked.

"That would be classified information." Harry said. "It is classified, to protect the knowledge and you. Only my friends and business partners know."

"And some of the professors." Daphne reminded him.

"But they insisted on going with Harry." Padma said, not mentioning the moon, since it seemed Harry wanted to keep that secret.

The discussion carried on for a while, and Harry found that he liked the support the group was showing him. He soon felt better and had accepted his fate. It didn't change the fact that he could bring more to the tournament. Security and entertainment for both. The entertainment would likely be at Dumbledore and Sirius's expense, he decided. Both of them had pissed him off. He could understand Sirius doing what he did, but Dumbledore knew better.

They chatted until Padma checked the time and realised it was past curfew already, so Harry took the captain's seat and everyone buckled in again. Harry flew them back and stopped first by the Durmstrang ship and then by the Beauxbatons Coach, to drop the other champions off, before flying the girls to windows located close-by their own houses. Lastly, he stopped by the Gryffindor common room window and levitated the Gryffindors down, before landing the ship, shrinking it and putting it back in the box. Then he flew back up to the common room under his own power. Hermione had had the foresight to inform the Heads of House that they had been distracted and the Champions had had a meeting, but that they were on their way back.

Harry had been ignoring the pings of his own Comm, but once he got to his dorm room, he saw a couple of messages from Remus, stating that the fleabag would not be getting away scot-free and had apparently already received a couple of jinxes from him and a couple of growls from Daniels. Harry was planning on using the Egyptian sobering charm on him. Long term punishment for a long-term prank.

Harry had started to spend time looking through his Marauders Map, since the Heads of House could only see their own domains. Aunty Poppy couldn't be expected to follow everything, after all. Fortunately, with the security cameras, Harry only had to worry about things that happened during the day, for the Hogwarts students anyway. Unfortunately, he didn't have a way of seeing what was happening in the Coach or Ship, but he could at least keep a headcount. He'd taken the time to mark the other schools students in different colours, though, which made things easier.

Two weeks before the first task, Harry was summoned to the weighing of the wands ceremony. He entered the room and saw someone he hadn't seen in a while. Rita Skeeter. The wands were weighed and Harry produced one he'd borrowed from one of the foreign wolves, so that Ollivander couldn't ask why he had another wizards' wand, since he remembered all the ones he ever sold. He'd be putting it in the box directly after the ceremony to return it to the corresponding box to be returned to them. He'd already made a duplicate stick, to use as his own.

Then there were the photos and Harry darkened the lens of the camera, to ruin every single photo of himself, alone. He didn't like being photographed, anyway. Then there was the inevitable interview and Harry waited patiently until the woman dragged him off to go answer some questions. No sooner had the door to the broom cupboard closed, than the woman was in a full body bind and petrified.

"Here's what's going to happen." Harry started with a wicked smile. "When you mention me, it's going to mention that I don't want to be part of the tournament and that the other two champions were much more impressive. I personally hoped that Cedric Diggory would represent us and that he has a much better personality and looks for the limelight.

"The reason you're going to do this is because I know you are an illegal beetle Animagus. That's a punishable offense. Now here's your real motivation. If you treat me fairly and with respect and never twist my words or actions, I'll willingly give you information that I will find useful to have out in the world. What I give you will bring you acclaim and will never be falsified, unless I want you to do that, which I doubt I ever will.

"Lastly, you will ask me before you ever write anything that could be even slightly considered negative, when it comes to my friends or family. I will not hesitate to give your scent to the wolves and have them chase you down. You know how many people get away with their crimes and you know how the trials take place. Do you understand?" Harry asked before breaking the body bind and petrification.

"You can't do thi- Ahh!" she exclaimed, as Harry used his power to grab onto her tongue and pulled it to stick out of her mouth.

"That wasn't a 'yes, sir', as I was hoping." Harry said, as he took out a handkerchief and approached her. Her arm extended with his power and he rubbed the kerchief vigorously on her arm. "Don't doubt for a moment that I could take you down, right now, turn you into a button and carry you to a safe location to be taken into custody. I wouldn't want to spoil the wolves' fun though." he said. "So, let's try this again. Do you understand?" he asked again, letting go of her arm and tongue.

She seemed to fume for a moment and watched as he placed the kerchief in an inner pocket. Finally she ground out, "Yes, sir."

"There's a good girl." Harry said, making his magic pat her on the head, like she was a dog. As she freaked out, Harry left the broom cupboard. The woman stayed behind to straighten herself out and think. She wasn't happy at being played like this, but at least she'd be getting good stories, by following his rules. He wasn't even promising unjust treatment. She had exposed many people's secrets using her little trick over the years. She was even blackmailing people that she knew could afford it.

She'd follow his rules until she saw a way out. Until then, she could likely learn more as someone on the inside. She soon returned with her smile in place and continued with the interviews. She avoided eye-contact with Harry, though.

Time went on, and Harry continued to monitor the Marauders Map, asking Dobby, who was always nearby and frustrated that Harry never asked him to do anything, to take over when he needed to go to bed. He made the elf promise to tell him if something happened or he got tired, but the elf never did wake him, apparently taking this duty as a serious one and not wanting to disappoint his master and friend.

It was three days before the first task, when Harry saw something strange. It seemed a student from Hogwarts was moving toward the stands of the quiddich pitch. There was also a student from Beauxbatons seemingly flying on a broom around the pitch, if her speed and movements was anything to go by. He looked closer at the light-blue orb, which denoted the flying student as being from Beauxbatons and realised it was Fleur, so he quickly opened his window, after disillusioning himself and flew to the pitch to observe.

He noted along the way that he couldn't see the student, where he knew they were. They must have been disillusioned. Keeping an eye on the form of Fleur, who was on a broom as expected, he took up position above the pitch to confirm what was going on.

It didn't take long for Fleur to land on one of the raised stands, where she dismounted and seemed to wait. Harry moved in closer and listened, taking his Comm out and recording what it saw, with a recently added feature.

Fleur just stood there, before nodding and starting to unbutton her shirt. Harry knew something was wrong, but needed to know where the perpetrator was, so he cast a revealing spell, as subtlety as he could. He got a feeling back of someone seated, right before the stripping girl and extended his magic, knocking the person out with a stunning spell, after revealing them. It was a girl, and she had a Comm in her hand. It seemed like she was on a video call with someone, but the call ended too quickly for Harry to see the person on the other side from his angle.

Fleur did not stop however, and soon her blouse fell to the floor. Harry cast another revealing charm and found nothing else. So he landed and became visible, stashing his Comm, even as he continued recording. "Fleur! Wake up!" he said grabbing her by the shoulders. She didn't hear him and her knee-length dress fell to the floor as well. He had no choice but to knock her out too, before magically dressing the girl. He placed her gently on the seats and took out his Comm. "Video call Minerva McGonagall." he said.

A couple of seconds later, Professor McGonagall answered, "Harry?" she asked. "Where are you? What's happening?" It seemed she had been asleep.

"I'm sorry to wake you, but something is going on. I need you to get the other Heads of House and come to the Quiddich pitch. North stands. Someone seems to have been up to no good again." Harry said.

"I'll get them and come right over." McGonagall said, as she hurriedly pulled on a gown.

While Harry waited, he walked over to inspect the girl. She had a prefect's badge, which likely explained why nobody expected anything was going on. Harry knew her too. She was a nice girl. Last time around she was friends with Cho, as he recalled.

Harry picked up her Comm and looked at the list of called names. Harry didn't get a name, as the culprit had seemingly used a new feature, one to hide their identity, and it seemed that the person had called her. He'd have to check the call logs from the Index itself.

The professors didn't take long to arrive and Harry relayed what he had found. He then went home and checked the Index Crystal to find a sixth-year Slytherin boy was on the video call with the girl. He popped back to the outskirts of Hogwarts, flying back to relay that information as well.

"So, the girl started stripping her clothing? She wasn't taken away? Nobody tried to force themselves on her?" Snape asked.

Harry pulled out his Comm and stopped the recording, before he played back what he had seen. Everything he had seen up until he left to go check the Index was played and Harry told them what spells he had cast, since he'd done it all silently.

"Why does the recording have those blank spots?" McGonagall asked, having noted that the recoding seemed to switch off for a split second every couple of seconds.

"I have to blink." Harry admitted.

"You've turned your eye into a recording device?" McGonagall asked in shock.

"The eye already has a lens, so it was simple to duplicate what it saw." Harry said. "I realised it would be useful, so I set up my Comm with the ability to record and it is connected to my eye." The audio would still need to be recorder through the Comm, since the eye's lens wasn't capable of picking up the vibrations of sound in any appreciable way.

"You'll have to erase this recording." McGonagall said sternly. "No doubt the girl would be embarrassed to know someone had seen her in her under things."

"That's not important right now." Harry said. "Did you all see her face?"

"No doubt she was under the influence of the Imperius." Snape said. "Unfortunately, it seems the boy who cast it realised he'd be caught if he tried to go himself and used a Comm to have a show."

"We should have expected a Slytherin to think of something like that." McGonagall spat.

"Hey!" Harry objected. "Don't judge an entire house on the actions of the few."

Snape looked at the boy for a moment before nodding. "Mister Black is right. Anyone could have done this, if they had thought of it. We also don't know if the other girl was under someone else's control."

"Sorry Severus." McGonagall said. "It's just a disappointment to know these things are still happening. Never mind that the offense seems to be less damaging, to the girls involved."

"I'll be taking steps to put a stop to it." Harry said. Professor Sprout was currently seeing to the girls and Madam Pomfrey had already been called in. "But it doesn't matter the degree to which the Unforgivable was used. The fact is that it was."

Harry lifted up to fly back, but McGonagall called after him, "You need to erase that recording, still!"

"Not until I showed her what was done to her." Harry called back, as he flew away. He didn't want the girl to wonder what else may have happened until the professors showed up. She probably thought Harry wouldn't take advantage, but knowing was always better. He'd also need the recording for his planned response to the current issue.