Chapter 38

"Dragons?" Draco sputtered as they headed down to Double Potions. "Are they mad?"

"You didn't see what dragons they're using?" Tom asked worriedly.

Harry shook his head, feeling irritated. "No. My informant told me they hadn't arrived yet." The Slytherins and the rest of his Knights already knew that his "informant" was Hagrid, so he didn't say his name aloud. "But given my luck, I will have the most dangerous of the four dragons."

Tom paled further, and Harry cast him a concerned look.

"Oy, Potter!" a familiar voice yelled.

"Hello, Weasley, Granger," Harry said with a snort. He frowned slightly when he saw the badges the Gryffindor fourth-years wore ⎯ except Seamus and Dean, who were behind Harry.

Support CEDRIC DIGGORY ⎯ the REAL Hogwarts champion!

"Ah, you've discovered the art of idiocy," Harry sneered, causing the Slytherins, Seamus, and Dean to laugh. "Did you not hear? I am the champion of the Junior Marauders, not Hogwarts. So yes, you are correct. And yet, you aren't, because there is only one champion for Hogwarts."

The Gryffindors scowled at him. "That's not all they do," Weasley sneered. He pressed the badge and the message changed to:

Potter Stinks

"How original," Harry said in mock interest. "How long did it take you to make those ⎯ five minutes?" His friends laughed again.

Weasley scowled. "Like you could do better!" he snarled.

"Is that a challenge?" Harry sneered.

"Yeah, it is," Weasley sniffed.

"You couldn't possibly make anything better than this, I made these," Granger said haughtily.

Harry scoffed. "Clearly, Granger. They're so original and clever ⎯ are you sure you didn't get the idea from a first year?" The Slytherins laughed again.

"How dare you!" Granger snarled. Weasley had whipped out his wand.

"You greasy fa ⎯ snake!" Weasley bellowed. "You'll pay for that! Furnunculus!"

"Densaugeo!" Draco barked from beside Harry.

Harry saw Tom's wand flick, but heard nothing from from his mouth. The next second, Theodore collapsed, covered in boils; Granger wailed and clutched her mouth; and Brown, Weasley, and Vane suddenly had overgrown hair, warts on their noses, and arched backs ⎯ they'd been turned into hags. Harry smirked when he realized that Draco's spell was causing Granger's teeth, already large, to grow longer and longer....

"And what is all this noise about?"

Severus and Regulus were striding down the hall towards them. Regulus looked mildly concerned, while Severus looked cold as always.

"Potter's friends attacked us!" Weasley growled in a much deeper tone.

"They attacked each other at the same time," Harry informed Severus with an eye-roll.

"Malfoy and Sullivan hit Hermione, Lavender, Romilda and I! Look!" Weasley gestured to Granger's mouth.

The girl whimpered as Severus frowned down at her teeth, which were now past her collar. He sneered and opened his mouth to speak, but Regulus beat he to it.

"Ten points from each House," he said softly. "And another ten from Gryffindor for bullying. Mr. Zabini, please escort Mr. Nott to the hospital wing. Miss Patil, please take Miss Granger, Miss Vane, Miss Brown, and Mr. Weasley to the hospital wing. I expect Miss Patil and Mr. Zabini back quickly. Mr. Sullivan, you should be in Defense."

"Yes, Professor Snape-Black," Blaise said, taking Theo's shoulder and leading him down the hall. Granger, Weasley, Vane, Patil, and Brown followed, the three hags stumping along. Tom pecked Harry's cheek and walked briskly in the other direction.

"Inside, and take those ridiculous badges off," Severus said irritably, casting his husband a furious look. Clearly, he'd wanted to punish Gryffindor further and not punish Slytherin at all. Regulus whispered something to the Potions Master, and the man relaxed slightly.

Harry stifled a chuckle and led the other Slytherins into the classroom. The Gryffindors followed.

"Antidotes!" Regulus said warmly. "You have had plenty of time to prepare your recipes by now."

"Brew them carefully, and then we will be selecting someone on whom to test them on," Severus said with a sneer.

"Severus, we are not poisoning children!" Regulus snapped, earning fond laughs from the Slytherins. "I purchased special parchment specifically for this purpose!" He gestured to several papers on the table, each one bearing three drops of different venoms and poisons.

Severus sighed and said, "When you have finished brewing your antidotes, you will-"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Regulus called. The door opened and Colin Creevey stepped in.

"Yes?" Severus asked coldly.

"Please, sirs," Creevey said nervously, "I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Draco, Pansy, Tracey, Vincent, Greg, and Millicent exchanged confused glances.

"For the weighing of wands?" Severus guessed.

"Yes, sir," Creevey replied.

"Very well. Mr. Potter, you may brew your antidote after dinner at seven o'clock, my office," Severus ordered. Harry nodded. "Take your things."

"Yes, Professor," Harry agreed, putting his book back in his bag and swinging it over his shoulder.

------------

"Ah, here he is!" said Bagman brightly, and Harry masked his disgusted look with difficulty. "Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come... nothing to to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment-"

"Wand weighing?" Harry asked politely.

"Checking to see if your wands work," Sirius explained.

"Minerva is with Winston upstairs," Remus added.

"Winston Lestrange?" Krum frowned. "Isn't he-"

"He's neutral," Bagman said disapprovingly. "The headmistress thought it'd be best to get a neutral wandmaker, since Mr. Krum here is a supposedly Dark wizard."

Harry rolled his eyes and cast Krum an apologetic look. Krum blinked in surprise.

The door to the abandoned classroom suddenly opened and Rita Skeeter entered, followed by her camera man. She froze when she saw Harry.

"Ah, Miss Skeeter," Harry smirked. "I didn't realize you were going to interview the champions."

"Ah... yes, Mr. Potter," she said nervously.

"Rita, I didn't know you knew our youngest champion," Bagman said with interest. At Skeeter's startled look he added, "Surely you knew."

"The Ministry's been keeping it quiet," Remus said sourly.

"The Ministry keeps a lot of things quiet, don't they, Dad?" Harry mused, ignoring the startled looks from Krum and Delacour. Remus nodded.

"Miss Skeeter is here to do a small piece on the tournament for the Daily Prophet," Bagman said, frowning at Remus and Harry.

"Maybe not that small, Mr. Bagman," Harry said dryly. "I assume you want to start with me." His voice hinted that he wanted the small interview, as well.

"Yes," Skeeter said weakly. She led Harry over to the corner and they both sat down.

Harry cast a few privacy charms and said lazily, "Well done on your last article, Miss Skeeter." He paused. "Name," he said in a quieter, colder voice.

"Khepri," Skeeter rasped.

"You didn't know my name came out of the Goblet of Fire?" Harry asked. Skeeter shook her head. "Surprising. Given your secret, I would assume you'd have known already."

Skeeter swallowed. She, of course, wasn't allowed to spy unless ordered by her king.

"Ask your questions," Harry ordered. He removed the charms.

Ten minutes later, McGonagall, Maxime, and Karkaroff entered, followed by a tall, handsome young man with glittering yellow eyes. He glanced at Harry and nodded slightly. Harry returned the nod.

"This is Mr. Winston Lestrange," McGonagall said sharply. "I expect you to treat him with respect, regardless of his status in the war."

"Thanks, Minnie McGee," Winston grinned, winking at her. He ignored McGonagall's fond glare and glanced around the room. "Well if it isn't the Dog Star and his Wolf!"

Remus rolled his eyes and Sirius laughed. "Hey, Strange."

Winston smirked. "Well, let's get down to business."

"To defeat the huns," Sirius whispered, and yelped when Remus swatted him.

"We'll talk puns later," Winston snickered. "If we could start with the young quarter-Veela, Lady Delacour?" He said in an overly-dramatic respectful voice, bowing.

Delacour sniffed, but Harry could see a twinkle of humor in her eyes. She stepped forward and handed the man her wand. Winston took it regally and studied it.

"This is one of Cherry's," he mused. "Charlotte Berger's," he added at Harry's confused look. "Such a lovely lady, she is," he said dramatically, earning snickers from Sirius and Harry. "Unfortunately, she's married."

"Pay attention, Mr. Lestrange," McGonagall said sharply.

"Cool your jets, Minnie!" Winston exclaimed. He lifted the wand. "Orchideous!" A bunch of flowers burst from the tip, and he handed them dramatically to the girl along with her wand. He winked. "A wand as powerful as her mistress."

Delacour laughed and curtsied, returning to her spot between Krum and Cedric.

Maybe I should recruit Miss Delacour, Harry mused.

"Digs, you next," said Winston.

Cedric rolled his eyes, stepped forward, and handed him the wand.

"Oh, one of Ollie's," Winston said enthusiastically, studying. "Far too loyal to Dumble if you ask me, but he's a cool dude." He cleared his throat and stated in a old, wavering voice, "Twelve and a quarter inches... ash... pleasantly springy-"

Cedric, Harry, and Sirius laughed, and McGonagall rolled her eyes. That made Remus chuckle.

Winston made several smoke rings come out of the wand and handed it back. "It's in great working condition," he remarked. "Now Mr. Krum, if you will."

Krum marched over to the wandmaker, back straight and head high. He handed him his wand and stood back, face blank.

"Ooh, one of Mikey's," Winston beamed, more excitedly than he'd said Charlotte Berger's name. "Haven't seen him ages. How's he doing?"

"Mr. Lestrange," McGonagall said exasperatedly.

"Blame the ADHD, Minnie McGee!" Winston said indignantly, causing more laughter from Sirius and Harry. "Eh, let's see ⎯ Avis!"

There was a bang and a flock of birds shot from Krum's wand, flying out the open window.

"Excellent, always loved that one, scares the crap out of people," Winston grinned, and Sirius roared with laughter, only breaking off when Remus swatted him. Winston returned the wand to Krum, and the Durmstrang student sat back down.

"And finally, my cousin-in-law's godson," Winston declared. "Nice hair," he snickered.

Harry gave him an unimpressed look as he stepped forward. "I blame Papa. His motto is 'if you can't fix it, don't.'"

"Explains why his hair looks like he was attacked by a leaf blower," Winston sniggered. "Muggle version of the Gust Charm," he explained when several of the room's occupants looked confused. "Wand, if you will."

Harry handed Winston the wand he'd gotten after he'd discovered Dumbledore's lies ⎯ the one this particular wandmaker had given him, in fact.

"Hey, sweetie," Winston cooed at the wand. The other champions, Maxime, and Karkaroff stared at him. "I missed you. Liking your owner?" Sirius snickered, and Winston sent a hex at him, causing the messy-haired Animagus to yelp and turn completely black ⎯ hair, eyes, skin, clothes and all. Remus burst out laughing. "Whelp, she still works," Winston cackled, handing a sniggering Harry back his wand. "Black as ever, Siri. Now I gotta get back to my shop, if that's okay, Minnie?" He winked at her again.

Harry had never seen Remus laughing so hard.

The Black Knights:

King: Anguis (Harry)

Queen: Amber (Tom)

Rooks: Alpha (Remus) & Shere Khan (Regulus)

Knights: General Shen (Draco) & Prince (Severus)

Bishops: Samwise (Neville) & Redbeard (Seamus)

Higher Pawns: Morgan (Luna; seer); Grim (Sirius; Guard); Oberon (Fred; Creator); Puck (George; Creator); Shadow (Kingsley, Recruiter); Blackbeard (Dean, Creator); Venom (Blaise, Stealth); Khepri (Skeeter, Spy); Hathi (Winston, Wandmaker)

Junior Marauders:

Leader: Harry (Scales)

Members: Tom (Red); Remus (Moony); Sirius (Padfoot); Regulus (Stripes); Severus (Snarl); Draco (Albino); Neville (Fuzzy); Seamus (Bandit); Luna (Radish); Fred (Flame); George (Sparky); Kingsley (Don); Dean (Tarzan); Blaise (Strike); Winston (Gray)

(Hathi is the elephant from the original Jungle book; Khepri is the Egyptian beetle god. As you can tell, Winston's Animagus form is an elephant.)