"That's not what the clue states, Professor," Harry angrily retorted. "It states: 'Come seek us where our voices sound; we cannot sing above the ground. And while you're searching, ponder this: we've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look; and to recover what we took. But past an hour - the prospect's black; too late, it's gone, it wont come back'.
"That means it's something... not someone."
With a sigh the little Professor said, "Be that as it may, it is hostages that have been chosen for you for the four of you to rescue. I suppose that's what they mean by 'it'."
Shaking his head, Harry asked, "So they want a hostage. Any idea who they've chosen for me? Or, don't I get to know until I find them?" "That's what this meeting is about, Mister Potter," replied Flitwick. "For the three champions a hostage was selected without their awareness. The champions won't even know that until they arrive on the dock of the Black Lake.
"However, you're a little different. Because you're sharing an apartment with these two ladies, if one of them was to be taken the evening before, you'd immediately know of it. And then you'd spend the evening and night searching the castle for them before calling in the aurors.
"And that's why the three of you are here. If anyone other than one of these two ladies was taken, it would not be someone you'd sorely miss. So, I convinced the Headmaster... especially given the nature of your bond and your heightened level of protection over them both... you should be told one would be taken and put in the lake."
Harry snorted and said, "You can tell the Headmaster you've just saved his life, at the worst, or saved him a long stay in hospital, at the least. That aside, I take it you're asking permission for one of these ladies to be placed at the bottom of the Lake?"
"That's it exactly," the Professor replied.
Harry turned to his wives and asked, "Are either one of you willing to do this? Remembering, of course, I really don't give a toss about the whole thing."
Daphne and Hermione looked at each other before both turned back. Hermione said, "We've decided, and it'll be me that get's taken." "You're sure?" asked Harry. "I know I'll get to you well before the hour's up, but it means you're going to get wet and look pretty bedraggled coming out of the lake."
"We're sure," smiled Hermione.
"I have no idea, other than voyeur thrills, why a hostage needs to be taken," said Harry turning back to the Professor. "But, it seems Hermione's volunteered and willing to be taken.
"However, if Daphne's taken because Dumbledore's decided other than my choice. I call the aurors rather than jump into the lake. I'm telling you, in advance, it will be considered a kidnapping, and I will press charges against him."
"Understood, Mister Professor replied.
Potter,"
the
little Daphne and Harry left Hermione behind in the Professor's office and, quite tense, quickly headed back to their apartment.
"Did you cast the tracking charm?" asked Daphne, as soon as they were in the door.
"Of course," said a somewhat distracted Harry.
"She'll be fine, Harry," she said.
"Hmmm?" he asked before he said, "Oh! Your wand." And pulled her wand from his pocket, handing it to her.
"That's not what I said; but, thank you," she said, taking it from him.
"Do you know, this is going to be the first night we've been more than a couple of rooms away from one another since we got back?" he asked.
She softly sighed and replied, "I know. And the first night we've not all slept in the same bed since returning from the Christmas break."
"You also realise this means I don't get to yell at Dumbledore for kidnapping one of you two, right?" he asked.
"I know," she replied. "But that was only a bonus. It has no effect on the task at hand.
Harry, worried and muttering to himself while he tried to work on homework, soon gave that up as a wasted idea. He sat back and said, "That's not going to work."
Setting her own homework aside, she moved to sit next to him. "Do you want to go through the plan again?" "No," he sighed. "It'd just worry me more." "Ancient Runes memorisation charts?" He thought about that for a few moments before he sighed and replied, "Why not. Let's give them a go."
"Which set?" she asked. "Elder Futhark, Younger Futhark or Anglo-Saxon Futhorc?" "Elder, I think," he replied. "I think it's easier to work with."
"Elder, it is," she replied.
After about an hour of memorisation testing, together with examples of how the rune could be used in modern wizardry, Harry called it quits. "Sorry," he said. "I think that's more than enough."
"Actually, you did very well," she said. "When you stop trying to let your head get in the way, and just rattle off what you now instinctively know, you do brilliantly." "Something to work on, I suppose," he said, still distracted.
With an annoyed sigh, she called Dobby. And the little elf popped in.
"Yes, Mistress?" asked the little elf.
"Could you bring me a Calming Draught, please?" she asked.
"Yes, Mistress," replied Dobby, before he popped away. He was back a moment later with a small phial of potion, and handed it direct to Daphne.
"Thank you," she said.
And he popped away again.
"Pack everything up," she said to Harry. "We're going to bed."
Once everything was packed away, Daphne dragged him into the bedroom, where they both readied for bed.
For her part, she simply stripped off and climbed in.
Once they were both in, nude, she handed him the phial and said, "Drink." He downed it and laid back, hoping he'd drift off soon; but Daphne had other ideas. She reached across and grasped him, beginning to massage him.
"Errr, Daph?" he asked, a little surprised by her ministrations. "You do realise you just gave me a Calming Draught, right?"
"Of course," she said. "But, I don't think a Calming Draught, alone, is going to get you to sleep."
"And what do you intend to do to help, when what you're doing is keeping me awake?" he asked
"This," she said, before suddenly ducking her head under the blankets.
A moment "Oh, my!"
later
and
Harry
moaned, He wasn't even able to return the gift before fading off to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Do you enjoy reading? Visit my site on Tiendup! There you will find the advanced chapter in PDF format, ready for your convenience.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
https://fictiontopia.tiendup.com/