Exhibition is a Right: Chapter 12 Early Release (Patreon)

Harry arrives for the welcoming feast, and discovers that more than just his classes may be changed this coming year...

"New Teachers, New Tournament"

All individuals depicted are over the age of 18, and are engaged in consensual acts.

Harry shook the water from his hair as he walked into the entrance hall after a very wet walk in from the carriages. The storm he remembered from last time had settled over the castle with just as much force as he remembered. Lightning lanced across the sky and thunder rumbled ominously. 

“Well, that was pleasant…” he muttered. Ginny chuckled from beside him. “Oh lighten up. You've flown in worse last year!” He shrugged in agreement. “Maybe. Doesn't mean I like…”

He paused as he turned towards her, taken in her current state. She was now wearing her Hogwarts uniform, which to his surprise had turned out to be what she had worn their first time together in her room. Where he had thought she had got a modified version to make it more daring, it turned out that this was simply what the uniform looked like, with all the girls now having changed into this outfit for the feast.

This, he had found out on the express, of course. What was bringing him up short now was that the sudden downpour that had struck had soaked most students through…and the thin white shirts that made up the upper half had gone almost entirely see through. Ginny's black bra was on full display. As was Hermione's purple one.

Looking down at herself, Ginny smirked back at Harry when she saw the effect the rain had. “Maybe there are some perks to it, huh?” she giggled, shaking her chest to draw as much attention to her predicament as possible.

Harry just shook his head with a smile. Hermione huffed, drawing her wand and directing a warm blast of air at Ginny's chest, making her yelp and laugh at the sensation. “As fun as seeing you like that is, you'll catch a cold. The enchantments only help with the cold, not wet” she said, as she proceeded to do the same to her own outfit.

Ron stood next to her and held his arms out. When Hermione glanced his way, he gave a grin. “If you wouldn't mind?” Hermione rolled her eyes, before blasting him with a gout of warm air. It did the job, but left his hair a tangled mess. “Oi!” The group chuckled as he tried to flatten his now dry hair back into place.

The group wandered into the great hall, the place filling up with more and more students. Taking a seat towards the middle of the Gryffindor table, Harry looked up and down the table. Many faces he recognised were taking seats up and down the table, along with several he did not. “I really didn't take much notice of anyone outside of my own year, huh…” 

“Ron! Not going to say hello?” came a teasing voice from behind. Turning, he saw a brunnette of average height with a few freckles on her cheeks. She had her hair in twin ponytails, with a hair clip with the icon for the Holyhead Harpies upon it. Ron smiled brightly before standing from the table once more. “Fay!” The two met in a hug, followed by an enthusiastic lip lock.

Harry just turned back to the table with a shake of his head. He was still getting his head around Ron already having a girlfriend. Subtly glancing at Hermione, he tried to see if she was at all bothered by the public display of affection. She wasn't even looking at the pair, instead scanning the head table with a frown.

“I don't see any new teachers…do we not have a DADA teacher?” Harry lazily scanned the table himself. He knew why there wasn't a DADA teacher, as “Moody” liked to make an entrance. If he was going to do the same as last year, he'd throw the doors open midway through Dumbledore’s speech.

His casual glance turned into a double take, when he saw two new faces he was not expecting to see there. The first was a younger woman, wearing a low cut blouse that had a corset built into the bottom, pushing her assets up noticeably. Her hair was black with a pink streak, with several noticeable piercings in her ear and lip. 

He might have wondered who the girl was…if she didn't have a face he was familiar with. “What is Tonks doing up at the teacher's table? What does she teach? And, more importantly, why is she not an Auror?” It was clear she was not the DADA teacher, based on Hermione's comment. And she was not the only “new” teacher to him.

Sat at almost the exact opposite end of the table, currently conversing with Professor Sinistra, was a regal blonde woman. She had high cheekbones and a reserved manner that seemed at complete odds with the tight dress she had chosen to wear that hugged her figure perfectly. Despite the outfit, her features were unmistakable…it was Narcissa Malfoy.

“That…was not something I expected. I don't even see which teacher she may be replacing…maybe Trelawny? She never used to eat at the table…but I can't see Narcissa teaching divination, somehow.”

Glancing back at Hermione, he caught Ginny's raised eyebrow. Clearly, his confusion was showing more openly on his face than he had meant to. “What?” he tried to ask nonchalantly.

Ginny continued to look his way for a while, before shrugging and looking back to the front herself. “Nothing. Just wondered why you're looking at Professor Black in such a way. I know you dislike Draco, but I didn't think you would be so surprised to see her back this year.”

Harry fought to keep a straight face, not wanting to further give away his confusion at the situation. “Professor…Black? Huh…I suppose I did read that article that she had divorced Lucius. That would make her a Black by default. How would that affect Sirius?” He was reminded once again that he really needed to bite the bullet and use the mirror to contact this world's Sirius, differences be damned.

Harry was distracted by the arrival of Professor McGonagall, thankful for the familiar sight of her bringing out the sorting hat and stool, both of which appeared completely unchanged to what he knew. Perhaps due to her more advanced age, McGonagall still wore rather conservative robes despite the changes the Empowerment Act had brought. “Thank Merlin…not sure what to think about Minerva in a miniskirt…”

As the doors to the hall opened and the line of first years trudged in, Harry cast little more than a casual glance. They all looked older than normal first years, given the age difference here, but otherwise, they looked just as sodden from their boat trip in the rain as before. It even looked as if Dennis, Colin's brother had taken an unintended dip in the lake again.

As the sorting hat began its song, starting to explain its role in sorting through lyrics and rhymes as it usually did, Harry barely listened. It wasn't until a lyric caught his ear, that he turned sharply to look at the beaten up old headgear.

“At a crossroads, a line was chosen,

By one amongst this hall.

And should the changes prove too much,

It may end in their fall.”

“But rise above, with friends in stride,

And beat the odds they might.

For the easiest way for good men to lose,

Is to not take up the fight!”

“So make friends, and please forget,

The tables that enemies became.

Near or far, the results the same,

As bonds are worth far more than fame.”

“While I'll be dividing you,

I hope it's just by house my dear,

For a strong united front,

Will be what is needed this year.”

An almost stunned silence met the end of the song. Most students were used to a basic rundown of the different houses.

Harry was less surprised. The hat had given warnings the previous time, after all. But it hadn't started to do so until after Voldemort managed to return. The fact that it was already doing so was…concerning.

“And those lyrics. There's no doubt it's referring to me. Just how does it know…” Looking around at the great hall, he saw the majority of the students whispering and staring at the hat. One obvious exception, however, was Luna. She was staring at him from the Racenvclaw table, and upon catching his eye, just nodded. “It seems everyone is trying to convince me that keeping my circumstances strictly to myself may not be my best course of action, huh.”

In the quiet, Dumbledore stood and gestured outwards with his hands, gaining the attention of the hall. 

“Yes, wise words indeed. And ones that should be taken heed. You should never forget your friends, wherever they are made. Perhaps the hat is referring to an announcement I will make later, once the first years are sorted and all are sated from the meal.” 

As he sat once more, McGonagall stepped forwards, to begin announcing the first years to come forward. The muttering from the seated students was still very apparent, however.

“What was that about? Never heard the Hat sing a song like that…” Ron asked, a confused look passing around the group. Fay, currently almost sat in his lap with his arm around her, just shrugged, as did several others.

Hermione, however, was still frowning in thought. “Hogwarts: A History mentions that the hat has given warnings before…though the last known instance was during the second world war.” She turned towards the group, and seeing some of their blank looks, she just rolled her eyes. “Grindelwald”

This got her more looks of understanding. “Oh! Oh…that's not good, right? If that's what it was referring to that time…then what would it mean this time?” Fay asked, looking concerned. None seemed to have an answer for her, though Ginny looked to Harry. “Not got any ideas, Harry?”

Harry snapped out of his thoughts, before looking back to Ginny. “Er…plenty. But I reckon all we can do is “take heed”, as Dumbledore says. Maybe we should be making more friends outside of Gryffindor…”

Ron huffed. “I'm not quite convinced. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, maybe. But Slytherin? If you think I'm going to so much as shake hands with Crabbe, you have another thing coming.”

Fay looked up from her spot, a sly look on her face. “I don't know…pretty sure I saw you checking out that Greengrass girl's ass last year…though, I can't honestly blame you.”

As Ron tried to stutter denials, the group were shocked by the doors banging open loudly, revealing a soaking wet Alastor Moody. His sudden arrival even caused some of the nearer students to jump slightly.

As he stomped into the hall with his leg clunking against the floor, his magical eye swung towards the nearest student that had flinched. “Think I'm scary do ya? If that's enough to shock you, I've got more work than I thought I would. Constant Vigilance!” He snarled, making the student look even more concerned.

The man just huffed, before taking a swig from his hip flask and making his way up towards the teachers table. Harry scowled, he would like nothing more than to summon the man's flask and reveal to the whole hall it's contents.

“Still too dangerous with this many people. Who knows what Crouch might do…I have to hand it to him though, the man knows how to make an entrance.”

“Well, that explains who the DADA teacher is this year. Should be good, Dad says Mad Eye is a legend of an Auror” Ron mentioned, following the man's progress across the hall.

Harry gave a non-commital grunt, though was thankfully saved from having to say more by the appearance of food, the first years thankfully all sorted by now.

The group fell into more casual conversation, ranging from the upcoming tournament to the storm still going strong outside.

As the mains were replaced with deserts and Harry was polishing off his treacle tart, Dumbledore stood up once more.

“Now that you are all fed and watered, I will take a moment of your time for an important announcement, one I am most looking forward to sharing with you” Waiting until he was sure all we're listening, he stood with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eye.

“I may not know quite where I stand with him…but I can't deny Dumbledore knows how to hold a room's attention” Harry thought with a wry grin on his face.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce the return of a competition that has not taken place in these halls for many years. One that, from the hat's own words, is meant to strengthen the bonds between ourselves and other great sites of magical tuition.” Murmuring began once more, but mostly curious questions. Most here wouldn't know what he was referring to, after all.

“I am referring, of course, to the Triwizard Tournament, which is due to be held here at Hogwarts over the course of the coming year!” Excited exclamations rang out, the tournament being famous enough that many of the older students had at least heard of it.

Dumbledore shushed the hall with his hands once more. “Yes, yes. Exciting stuff. The delegations from both Beuxbaton’s and Durmstrang will arrive with us in just over a month's time. But, I am sure many are wondering just what this will mean.”

“First, a champion from each school will be chosen, by a method we will reveal once the delegations arrive. These champions will represent their school in the competition, with the winner earning their school the Triwizard cup, as well as themselves a small matter of 1000 galleons too!”

This time, the excited chatter was hard to contain, with several students expressing their desire to win such a prize. “Wow…a thousand Galleons. It's got to be worth putting your name in, right?” Ron mused, popping another bite of eclair into his mouth. 

Hermione, however, shook her head. “Not for me. There's a reason they haven't run this tournament for so long. The last one caused it to be cancelled, after two champions and several judges died as a result of one of the challenges.. “

That sobered the group's mood. “...please don't, Ron. 1000G isn't worth your life” Fay pleaded. Ron looked set to argue, but sighed after a moment. “Yeah…yeah, suppose. Still, a ban can dream, huh?” Fay smiled widely, before giving Ron a kiss to the cheek.

Dumbledore waved his wand, producing a bell sound to quiet the hall once more. “Yes, as several of you have said, this can be dangerous. Though measures have been taken to ensure the champions safety, injuries may still occur. It is for this reason, we have limited applicants to years four and above.”

Some groans ran out through the hall, with Ginny sighing dramatically. “Well, that's my choice taken from me. Oh well.” Harry just chuckled, rubbing a consoling hand up her back. “Still, fourth years up…I could actually officially add my name this time. Not that I plan to, of course.”

“Now, what does this mean for the rest of the school and delegations, I hear you all ask? After all, one individual does not showcase a school's many strengths” Dumbledore continued. Harry blinked, and gave him his full attention. “This is new…”

“Indeed, those that aren't chosen to represent the school as champions will still get the chance to compete. Over the course of the year, there will be an interschool Quidditch tournament, dueling tournament and academic challenges. So, there will be something for everyone!” More cheers ran out, this was going to be quite a year it seemed.

“Well, that's certainly different. Even more changes, huh” Harry lamented.

“Wait…what does that mean for Quidditch? All four teams can't play against the other schools, right?” Harry heard Alicia ask, from further down the table.

“Yeah…also, there's four captains. That won't work.” Angelina replied. The pair caught Harry's eye, but he simply shrugged. He didn't know either. Last time, Quidditch was flat out cancelled, so he had no idea how this would even work.

Dumbledore, however, wasn't finished quite yet. “Now, I know there's some organizing to sort. Who will compete? How will they be chosen? Well, all will become clear over the coming weeks. We hope to have the teams sorted before delegations arrive. Until then…I bid you, a good night.” Dumbledore sat once more, and the tables cleared of the remaining food at the same time.

Ron groaned as his fourth eclair disappeared, but Hermione giving him a gentle nudge under the table stalled any further complaints. “Come on, we've got to guide the first years up to the tower.”

Ron sighed, but nodded. Kissing Fay goodbye, he stood up and followed Hermione to the bemused firsties. This meant Harry ended up wandering up to the tower with Ginny, Neville and Fay. As the girls chatted ahead of them, Harry couldn't hold in his curiosity.

“So, Neville…how long have Ron and Fat been a thing, exactly. I feel like I missed the getting together part.” Neville glanced at him, a slightly confused look on his face.

“Er…since Halloween last year. You encouraged him to buck up and ask her out on a Hogsmeade weekend. Don't you remember?” Harry cursed inwardly, his lack of memory from his past self rearing its ugly head. “Oh, of course. I meant whether he actually asked her to be his girlfriend or whether he just assumed. You know how he can be.”

Neville nodded, thankfully seeming to accept his excuse. “Dunno, to be honest. From what I heard, he struggled to say much after seeing her outfit…and then the two ended up snogging at that horrible pink cafe place. The rest, as they say, was history.” The two chuckled as they followed the girls through the portrait hole and into the common room.

Harry smiled in relief at seeing the room unchanged, and exactly how he remembered it. 

Ginny walked over, leaving Fay to walk up the dormitory stairs. “Hey, gonna hit the hay. Was a long day.” She then stepped up to him, giving him a hug and kissing his jawline. She also whispered into his ear, as she did so. “While I would love you to figure out how to get past the enchanted stairs…perhaps wait until another night to try. I'll be chatting with my roommates tonight.”

Ginny seperated from, before throwing him a wink and turning and strutting away towards the stairs. Harry appreciated the amount of leg visible as she climbed up the stairs and out of sight.

As he turned towards his own dorm's stairs, he was forced to stop as he came face to face with Lavender. “Hello Harry. You never said a proper goodbye when we met in the summer” she said, a pout on her face but her eyes giving away the fact she was joking.

“Er…yeah. Sorry about that. But, you were clearly tired, so I didn't want to outstay my welcome.” He chuckled, scratching the back of his head as he looked down at her. Being taller, he had a great view down her uniform.  Lavender clearly preferred to tie her shirt, and her large bust strained against the fabric.

“I'll have you know, I don't tire that easily. I'll have to prove it to you sometime. After all, I have to thank you for that swimsuit you bought me” Lavender returned, crossing her arms beneath her breasts and improving his view even further. She clearly knew the effect it had, too. 

“Wait, swimsuit? Wait, Harry bought you that new sling bikini?” Looking over Lavender's head, Harry saw Parvati standing a few steps behind her. Though she was not wearing her top in a knot, the shirt she wore was short enough to show a fair amount of caramel underboob.

“That's not fair. What do I have to do to earn a swimsuit from Harry, huh?” she asked, a smirk on her face. Lavender chuckled, before grabbing Parvati by her elbow. “That's for me to know, and for you to find out tonight when I tell you every…little…detail. Night Harry, I'll see you soon, I'm sure!”

The two girls left, whispering to each other and giggling. Based on the gasp and look that Parvati threw his way as they disappeared, he could guess their topic of conversation.

“One thing for sure” Harry thought, as he joined his roommate's in their dorm “this year is going to be far from boring.”

The next morning he came down to breakfast a little early. Ron had barely woken up by the time he'd finished having a shower, so he had left him to catch up. Hermione, however, had been in the common room waiting, and joined him in walking to the great hall.

“Well, I don't think it will be long before I get to tick another name off my list, based on the conversation Lavender and Parvati were having last night.” Hermione casually remarked as she buttered a slice of toast. Harry had to be careful not to spit out his orange juice.

“Really? Well…I already knew Lavender was going to seek me out again at some point.” Hermione took a bite before looking at him over the book she was reading. “You don't seem overly happy about having another girl interested in having some fun.” Harry was sure he almost heard a pout in that statement.

“No, no, I am. Parvati is very attractive. I'm just still getting used to all the attention this year. Feels very…sudden.” Hermione gave a soft smile. “Oh Harry, lots of girls have been interested. Though I'm glad you're finally noticing more.”

Before he could respond, he was passed his timetable by a passing McGonagall. Taking a look, he took in the changes that he was at least partly expecting, based on his homework.

“So, I have Muggle Studies instead of Divination. Can't be as bad as getting my death predicted every few days. Huh, Muggle Studies is taught by Tonks? I suppose that makes sense…her father is a Muggleborn, so she'll have more knowledge than the average pure blood does."

He then looked over the rest of the timetable. He had a particularly rough first day of classes, it seemed. He had double potions in the morning, followed by History of Magic after lunch. History of Magic…which was being taught by Professor Black!

“So that's what Narcissa teaches here. What happened to Binns?” As he glanced over the teacher's table, it was just in time to see the professor in question turn away from him to concentrate on the newspaper in front of her. Had she been looking at him?

“Well…that may be one of the few subjects that she may actually be a better teacher for, regardless of how she behaves” he mused, before tucking into his own breakfast. He was going to need his energy for this day, he felt.