Exhibition is a Right: Chapter 7 Early Release (Patreon)

Harry was prepared for the Death Eater attack, and went to ambush Crouch Junior. He was not ready for what he found instead...

"The Difference Willpower Makes"

Harry slipped into the top box just as Ireland scored their 12th goal. As he passed Lucius, now sat back in his seat and appearing invested in the game, he was careful not to draw attention to himself.

Making his way along the front row, he passed by Crouch once more, the man seeming just as stern as he had in his previous time. Winky was still sitting next to him, eyes closed and refusing to look at the drop in front of her. Harry had to force down his desire to say exactly what he thought of the treatment of his house elf to Crouch's face.

Reaching the girls, they looked at him curiously, and with slight exasperation. “What, did you get lost?” Susan joked with a smile.

“Something like that” Harry replied, before looking between them and the lack of a seat still present. “So…is it my turn to sit in one of your laps?” he joked.

The girls laughed, though Luna looked like she was seriously contemplating it. Before she could say anything, Ginny hopped up and presented her seat with wide arms. “My turn, I believe.”

Harry sat down, and as soon as he did found Ginny’s well sculpted rear upon his lap. The tight leather did nothing to hide her curves, with her cheeks molding to his thighs as she wriggled to get comfortable.

Harry, still being at half mast from previous, did not take long to get fully aroused one more time, something Ginny neither missed nor minded it would seem.

She lent back to rest her head on his shoulder. “You missed an amazing move by Krum. Damn near put Lynch in the gro…” she paused, before she noticeably sniffed. Turning to look Harry in the eye, she leaned forwards and then sniffed again. She then gained a devilish grin. 

“Why Harry…did you by any chance have some company while you went to the loo?” Harry, a slight sweat drop forming in the back of his neck, tried to play ignorant. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh I don't know…perhaps the fact that you reek o f sex…and is that…two sets of shampoo? My, you have been busy. Who was it?” Harry swallowed, clearly having been caught. Still, the fact that Ginny seemed more amused than hurt held him off from panicking.

He didn't wish to tell them he had been spying on Lucius. He'd just get an earful about being careful. “I…er…may have run into a couple of the Bulgarian Mascots while I searched for a loo?”

Ginny's mouth dropped open, and a soft gasp to his right told him that Hermione had heard him as well. “You mean the blonde bombshells? Set themselves and their clothes on fire, strut out of the pitch, basically naked mascots?” Ginny asked. Harry nodded.

“Lucky bugger” said Hermione, causing him and Ginny to both look her way. “What? You have to admit they are gorgeous…but they are Veela Harry. Their allure is hard to resist, I know, but letting them fuck you is reckless, even for you.”

Harry frowned before rolling his eyes. “I didn't “let them fuck me” thank you. I gave as good as I got, damn it…and besides, I'm able to resist the allure, it seems.”

“Really?” Ginny asked in surprise. “Did you see me trying to throw myself off the stadium when they danced earlier?” At the shake of their heads, he held his arms out “exactly.”

Hermione shook her head with an exasperated sigh. “Only you Harry…you better watch out. I've heard that resisting the allure is a highly sought out trait in a partner…they may well seek you out again.” Ginny bounced on his lap, making his arousal all the more difficult to ignore. “And if they do…you better invite us next time! It's my turn to have fun with you dammit…and I'm sure Hermione wouldn't say no to joining in.”

The fact that Hermione didn't respond to that spoke volumes. However, before he could comment further, an uproar from the stadium followed by excited commentary from Ludo grabbed all their attention.

“And he's caught the Snitch! But it's too little too late, as Ireland snuck another goal in at the last minute! It's Krum’s Snitch but Ireland is the victor!” Celebrations, fireworks, music. All erupted from the stands. Ireland flew a victory lap, with Bulgaria following suit in a show of sportsmanship.

Susan was clearly happy, jumping and clapping exuberantly. In her excitement, her brassiere gave up its fight, and her breasts bounced free of their confines. Thankfully, her Ireland themed pasties saved her modesty, and she was able to tuck them back in with a sheepish blush. Most around her just laughed, or were celebrating just as enthusiastically.

After the Ireland team had trooped into the top box to receive the cup from Amelia, the group began to make movements to return to their tent. As they moved towards the aisle, Ginny was nearly knocked over by a passing Ludo Bagman. “Oh, terribly sorry dear! I'm just in a hurry to see some…friends! Yes, friends” he blustered.

Ginny just tutted but said nothing. Before Ludo could move on, or apologise further, he was tapped on the shoulder by the twins. Turning, he paled. “Oh yes.. I suppose I do owe you two a bet, do I not. Honestly, who could have predicted that outcome…well, I mean, clearly you did but…”

As Harry passed them by, he leaned into George’s…or Fred’s, he wasn't sure…ear and whispered to him. “Make sure he doesn't pay you in Leprechaun gold…just in case.” Seeing The twin nod with a grateful smile, he left Ludo to his squirming and followed the rest of the group out.

An hour later saw the whole group, minus Susan who had to stay with Amelia, sit around a campfire put together “the Muggle way.” While the fire was indeed normal, the enchanted hot chocolates with towering cream, marshmallows and sparklers were anything but. 

The twins were celebrating their earnings from their bet. While Ludo had tried to pay with Leprechaun gold, he was forced to cough up due to them checking it first.

As Harry laughed at the twins teasing Ron for his gushing over Krum's Wronski Feint, his eyes travelled over to the far side of the campfire before doing a double take.

There, sat on a single log between them, were the girls. When they saw him look their way, all three, in a clearly choreographed move, sensually crossed their legs. On Hermione and Luna, this meant that their skirts rode dangerously high upon their legs.

When Harry looked up to their eyes, he saw mischief in them. Ginny took a swig of her chocolate, leaving a dollop of cream upon her nose. She then proceeded to attempt to lick it off while maintaining eye contact. Looking to her right, he saw Luna uncross her legs once more, revealing her bare, shaved snatch underneath. “Huh…so she wasn't wearing underwear after all…”

Ginny winked at him, before gesturing her head in the direction of the tent in askance. Harry smirked, before downing the rest of his chocolate in one go. The girls smiled, taking it for the acceptance that it was, before hopping up and starting to make their way towards the tent. 

Before they could get even halfway there, however, a muted scream from somewhere in camp made the whole group pause. “And so it begins…” Harry thought.

“Huh…the Irish must be celebrating too hard,” Charlie joked. However, a nearby explosion and more screams put paid to that theory. “I don't think that's the Irish” Mr. Weasley said, standing up to get a better look. Seeing people start to rush by the tent, clearly fleeing from something, he turned to the group with a frown.

“Right, head to the treeline. There's cover there, and you can reach the edge of the portkey wards faster. Percy, you're in charge of keeping them safe. We” he said, gesturing to Bill and Charlie, “will see if we cannot help calm things down.”

Everyone nodded, before moving towards the woods as instructed. As they began to follow the crush, however, Harry allowed himself to become separated intentionally.

Winding his way to the edge of the throng, he heard Hermione call out his name, shortly followed by Ginny doing the same. “Sorry girls…but this could get dangerous” he thought with a wince. He then began to wind his way towards a different part of the woods, one that he still remembered to this day.

Stalking carefully forward, he drew his wand, remembering that it was the Elder wand still. It felt different yet…familiar. He could tell it would respond to his magic, it just felt…colder, than he was used to with his phoenix feather wand.

Looking around cautiously, he tried to find the exact clearing…the one that he saw Crouch Jr. cast the Morsmorde from before. As he grew closer to what he was confident was the correct location…he considered his options.

Should he attack as soon as he saw him? Would he even be able to beat him in a duel? Last time, he was ambushed by the teachers, stunned before he could react to them arriving. But if he was given the chance to fight back? He was supposedly one of Voldemort’s favored death eaters…he would be skilled. Perhaps more so than Harry was.

As he thought this, he gripped his wand tighter. He was not the most knowledgeable wizard, he would be the first to admit. Years of coasting at Hogwarts, combined with missing his entire last year, had ensured he had a spotty repertoire of spells at best.

What Harry excelled at however, was using the basics well. After all, he tied Voldemort with nothing but the disarming charm…granted there were extenuating circumstances, but it saved his life. “I can't rely on those forever though…I will need to get stronger while at Hogwarts this time.” 

He thought of the few times that he had managed to get some duelling practice in with Sirius while they had been holed up in Grimmauld place in his fifth year. If you could call exchanging spells and playful insults at each other until they could not walk anymore a duel…

“Remember, Harry. Any spell can be dangerous, in the right hands. I've seen Alaster win fights with nothing but summoning charms to batter the enemy with debris…this is a style I think would suit you. So, let's begin! Accio!”

What had followed was half an hour of Harry dodging and destroying half the furniture in that damn room, all while Sirius laughed like a madman. Harry had let him, he had needed the distraction, and destroying anything of the Blacks was likely therapeutic for him.

Although the fallout from Molly when she came to investigate the noise was almost more frightening…

Harry was knocked out of his memories by the sound of distant voices, too far away to determine who they belonged to. Ducking behind a log, he waited with baited breath.

He then had to blink as a bright flash of light followed by the crackling of fire erupted from further into the woods. Due to how dark it had been prior, he had to blink away the almost painful spots in his vision.

“Fighting? Have the Death Eaters gotten this deep into the woods?” Harry was sure that last time they had fled the moment the ministry started to fight back…

Then, the voices rang out once more, nearer this time. And a chill ran down his spine as he realized he recognised it! “Non, you vill not take ‘er! You vill ‘ave to go through my dead body!” This was accompanied by another bright flash of fire.

“Shit…Fleur!” Harry was moving before he had even consciously considered it. Sure, this would ruin his plan to stop Crouch…but Fleur was a friend. And he would not let her be hurt if he could help it.

Running to the edge of the clearing lit by burning embers, his eyes widened as he took in the scene.

In the middle of the clearing were three individuals, two of which he recognised. One was Fleur, and the other was Isabelle. Both were trying to guard a third, slightly younger individual between them, who was also a Veela…”Gabrielle!” Harry realised with a start. She was older than he remembered…but so was everyone here.

They were currently surrounded by around eight Individuals. All were slowly circling the three, trying to form a complete rung in order to prevent them leaving the clearing, their wands drawn and directed at the girls. In response, Fleur had her own wand out, whilst Isabelle's hands were alright with fire, clearly showing where the fire he had seen previously had come from.

All of the wizards surrounding them were wearing masks…but not those of a death eater! Instead, each one represented an animal skull of some sort, ranging from wolf and bear to species he did not recognise, possibly magical in origin. 

“Come now, we're making this easy for you…we just want the mascot girl. And the young one…they're easier to train…to break. You can simply leave, spare” one of the wizards, this one with a lizard-like skull mask, said.

This was the wrong thing to say, as both Fleur and Isabelle launched attacks at him, which he was forced to dive to the ground to avoid. Before they could follow up their attack, they were forced to defend themselves with shields as numerous spells peppered them from the other attackers.

Harry was done watching. Using the advantage of surprise, he began casting several stunners at the nearest Wizards that had their back to him. Three went down in the first volley before even realising they had a new adversary. Once they did, however, the remaining members were quick to throw up shields to block the remaining spells.

“The fuck?! We have someone trying to be a hero?” one of the Wizards yelled, before throwing a nasty looking purple curse his way. Harry neatly rolled under it before popping up to his feet and casting a shield of his own to block the follow up curse.

“Just being a good Samaritan!” Harry called back. His dealing with some of the enemies had opened up a gap in the circle towards him, something Fleur and Isabelle were quick to take advantage of, backing up towards him and throwing spells and fire to cover their retreat, pushing Gabrielle ahead of them. “Go, go. We trust ‘im” Isabelle told her as they ran.

Harry was forced to focus more on shielding as the spell fire increased, both towards himself and the girls. Things were made all the harder when one of the wizards began ennervating the previously stunned individuals, though thankfully the girls were the other side of them by this point, so were no longer surrounded.

As one spell Harry recognised as a cutter came dangerously close to hitting him in the side had he not dodged, he grit his teeth. “Fine…kids gloves off.”

Looking beyond the group, he grinned viciously as he spotted an outcrop of boulders nestled between the trees. “Accio” he yelled, intending to summon a rock into the back of the Wizard directly in front of him. 

He was surprised, however, by the drain he felt from casting the simple spell…but not as much as he was when the entire outcrop of rock was wrenched from the ground! It hurtled towards him, rolling and crashing rather than flying due to its weight.

The man in front of him had no time to react, being crushed beneath it as it rolled in a sickening crunch. The momentum of the boulder was not stopped in the slightest by the impact. “Shit!” Harry hastily raised his wand once more. “Bombarda Maxima!” 

The boulder shattered not far from the group. This did not stop the danger, simply turning it into a hail of rocks instead. Quick thinking and a series of banishing charms had several of the larger pieces flying back into the crowd. 

One managed to replicate his bombarda trick to a smaller scale, but another was less lucky as his leg was crushed resulting in him screaming in agony.

In the time it had taken him to do this, those not in the firing line had managed to get a bead on him and tried to capitalise. A flash of light to the side caught his attention as he turned to see a spell flying his way. “I can't block it in time!”

Before it could impact however, one of the rocks now strewn about was levitated in the way, the spell splashing harmlessly across it. It was then promptly set on fire somehow before being thrown towards the one responsible at speed. He did not manage to stop it as it struck him full force and threw him backwards.

“We are not damsels for you to protect, monsieur!” came Fleur's voice strongly from his left. “Indeed…shall we show zese ‘unters vhat ‘appens vhen you target Veela?” Isabelle said with an almost hawk-like cry afterwards. Harry glanced briefly at the two, before nodding firmly with a savage grin. “Yes…let's.”

The wizards were not idle, taking the brief moment to regroup. There were five of them left, three now being either incapacitated or dead. Harry doubted the smear on the ground from the large boulder would be getting up any time soon.

“You foul creatures. We will hunt you, just as we do any other beast! You and your man whore! We are the Ashwinders, and we will not be beaten by trollops like you!” The man in the middle, sporting a mask made of metal rather than bone, screamed.

This spurned the other Ashwinders into action, starting to rain spells their way once more. This time however, they were ready. Spells were blocked by shields cast by Gabrielle at their back, while nastier spells were caught and deflected by Fleur. “Neat trick, that…” thought Harry as one of the remaining five went down to a bone breaker to the ribs cast by his own ally.

Isabelle was a whirling dirge of fire, forgoing her wand entirely as great gouts of flame poured from her arms. Harry noted that the flames did not appear to harm him, despite his proximity to her. Though they were clearly immensely hot, based on the melted flesh and screams from the man unable to block in time.

Harry, for his part, was casting his limited repertoire solely at the central individual, deeming him the greatest threat. While stunners, bludgeoners and cutting curses were hardly the strongest spells available, his casts seemed to pack far more punch than normal. 

This was forcing the lead Ashwinder to defend lest he receive a nasty injury. The deflected cutter that cut nearly the whole way through one of the nearby trees attested to that. “Must be the Elder wand…”

Soon, the remaining three Ashwinders were having to retreat, backing up while defending from the onslaught. Realising they were now outclassed, the lead snarled before making a sharp slash with his wand. A blast of air blocked a wave of spells before pushing the group back, nearly causing them to lose their footing. 

“Enough! You may have outclassed us this time, but there will be more Veela to capture, mark my words. You, though, you're clearly damaged goods!” He snarled, looking at Harry as he said this. Harry raised his wand, ready to continue to fight. He could not have expected the man's next move! 

“You like fire, do you?! Then try this on for size! Pestis Incedium!” Harry's stomach dropped as he heard that incantation. “No…he wouldn't…” he muttered in disbelief.

His hope was for naught, as the temperature in the clearing sky rocketed. From the Ashwinders wand a great spool of fire erupted out. The fire hissed…both from the water vapor present evaporating almost instantly and from the great serpentine shape that the fire began to take.

“Have fun dealing with that! Time to go lads!” The man cackled before grasping the amulet around his neck, the same one Lucius had given out prior! With a crack, they portkeyed out, completely bypassing the anti-portkey wards of the area.

Several more cracks ran out as other Ashwinders followed suit. One previously injured individual, already burnt by Isabelle, was unable to do so in time and was consumed by the serpent's flames as it swung its tail in a great arc.

Harry, if it was possible, grew even more terrified. Fiend fyre was a dangerous, terrible spell at the best of times…but one not currently under the control of its caster? “We need to run…we need to run NOW!” Harry yelled, turning and running past Fleur and Isabelle.

He saw Gabrielle looking in horror at the enormous snake writhing and rearing behind them. She was clearly frozen in fear. Rather than waste any time attempting to knock her out of it, he chose instead to simply lean down and push into her middle.

This allowed him to sweep her over his shoulder, holding onto the back of her knees and carry her in a makeshift fireman's carry, all while losing very little momentum. The sound of footsteps just behind him told him that the others had reacted to his yell, and were indeed fleeing too.

“Vhat is zat!?” Fleur yelled. “Fiend fyre! It's a sentient fire! It'll burn until there's nothing left to fuel it…and we're in the middle of a fucking forest!” Harry yelled in response.

“It's getting bigger….” Gabrielle whispered over his shoulder, able to see as she was carried away.

Indeed, with no one to stop it and ample wood to burn, the serpent has already more than doubled in size, dwarfing them by a large margin. It hissed…and Harry realised with concern that he understood it. “ConSUme…bUrN…I muSt FeeD!” 

The serpent swung its head around before tasting the air with a lash of fire. It turned towards their direction. “FoOd…Prey!” It slithered rapidly towards them, far out pacing their speed.

They were forced to stop as the snake overtook them, before coiling around to block their escape! Looking around, Harry realised that the body of the snake was preventing any venue of escape.

“Merde…Vhat now!” Fleur said, looking around. The temperature was beginning to reach a point where just breathing was hurting Harry's lungs. The Veela seemed less affected, likely due to their affinity for fire.

Harry did not think he had anything in his repertoire that could deal with this…an Aquamenti would hardly cut it. The oppressive feeling of malice weighed down on them as the snake glared down from above. “Wait…feeling? What if…” “I have an idea! Cover me for a minute!” Harry said, before evening out his breathing and focusing.

“A minute? ‘ow are ve meant to do zat!?” Fleur screamed, before Isabelle just nodded. “We vill buy you zat minute, do vhat you need to!” she exclaimed, before bursting entirely into flame, her entire form covered by flickering fire a shade lighter than that of the serpent's.

Despite it being even more fire, the flames from Isabelle seemed to grant him relief from the heat. This allowed Harry to concentrate on what he was doing.

If you were to ask Harry what his most powerful spell is, then his answer might vary depending on the situation. There was always one spell, however, that he could say he was proud to be able to cast. It was strong, no doubt, and took a long time to learn. The only problem was…it was very situational, useful in only specific circumstances.

“Time to see if there is now one more reason to cast it…” he thought. Thinking deeply on some of his happiest memories, flying for the first time and his first hug from Hermione, his magic began to swell around him.

The serpent, seeming to sense the shift in the air, reared back to strike. As it lunged, it was intercepted by Isabelle, barely holding it back with her bare hands blasting fire outwards. “Nnngh, running out ov time! I cannot ‘old it off!” she yelled, her feet starting to form trenches as she was physically pushed back towards him. 

Fleur stepped forward, her hands alight with fire too. “Non, Fleur! You ‘ave yet to master your flame!” Isabelle yelled, glancing briefly her way before being forced to focus on the serpent still trying to bite them in front of her.

“There is no better time zan ze present, yes?” Fleur yelled back before thrusting her arms forward and helping to hold the snake back. Her fire spread…slowly burning away her clothes and covering her in a veil of flame similar to Isabelle's. The wince as she did so showed it was not as easy for her as it had been for her cousin.

Harry saw none of this, focusing with his eyes closed as he was. “This won't cut it…I need a happier memory” he thought. His thoughts went to his time since arriving in this new time…to Ginny and his friends…to the time he spent in the locker room just hours before…

With a pulse, his eyes flew open, glowing slightly with barely contained magic. He then raised his wand and pointed it straight at the serpent. “Expecto Patronum!” he yelled, and Prongs burst from his wand in a shower of blue wisps.

With a bellow and the sound of clattering hooves despite the fact that it was flying, the huge stag cantered forwards before impacting with the fiery snake. The two pushed against each other in a stalemate, neither managing to shove the other away.

For a moment, Harry thought it was a failure. That his idea of fighting malice with hope would not work…then, he felt something change. He began to feel the weight of the fiend fyre’s magic from within, as well as out! “Have I connected to the fiend fyre? Does this mean I can control it?!”

He began to pour his concentration towards the spell in front of him. Single mindedly wishing for it to stop…to end its rampage. The serpent faltered, which was all the sign that Harry needed to keep going.

“Enough!” Harry yelled, not even realising he had shouted it in Parseltongue. The serpent glared at him. “BuRn. I wilL CoNsuMe yoU!” it hissed. It tried to push further, but the combined efforts of Fleur, Isabelle and Prongs held it at bay.

Harry snarled, keeping his wand held firm as it struggled against the fiend fyre's will. “I said EXTINGUISH!” Harry then forced all the magic he could towards the construct.

The serpent flickered, before it stopped struggling against the patronus in front of it. It leaned back, before slowly reducing in size with a hiss of steam. When it reached the size it had been when it had first been cast, it looked back at him before nodding, and disappearing in a flash of fire.

There was a brief pause, where the only sound was that of crackling fire coming from the still burning wood around them. The group all looked at each other, still on edge as if expecting the fire serpent to return. Then Prongs bellowed in victory and dissipated into notes of light, Harry simply too exhausted to hold its form any longer.

That broke the spell, and Isabelle giggled, then laughed loudly at the situation. Then the two of them turned and walked towards them. Fleur went straight to Gabrielle, the two hugging and speaking in rapid French.

Isabelle strode up and hugged Harry, still laughing “We vin! We did not die!” Harry almost flinched away, given that she was still fully on fire, but the fact that he did not feel any heat meant he managed to resist doing so. In fact, the fire felt…nice. Warm. Comforting, almost.

He chuckled and returned the hug, leaning a little more than he should, given the fact he was completely drained after using the Patronus charm in such a way.

Just as they all began to celebrate however, a flash of light followed by a spell lancing into the sky from a nearby section of forest had them all turning towards the source in alarm.

Forming in the sky was a great skull, with a snake beginning to form out of its mouth…the dark mark!

“Ah…bugger” was all Harry was able to say as he pitched forwards, his exhaustion finally catching up to him.