Disclaimer: This Fan Fiction is based in the Harry Potter book written by J.K. Rowling. I do not claim ownership of the characters or the world of Harry Potter. I've tried not to mess with the "official" story, so names and dates will be correct for the time period this story takes place.
This story contains sexual relations between minors and/or adults, and if this offends you in any way, please do not read any further.
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As promised, another two chapters :) I really appreciate all the comments from you guys! Keep them coming please, especially the suggestions! :) Even though the first year is done, more or less, I still have another three years PLANNED and I can use those ideas for the next years :)
Chapter Seven: Stormy Nights
"So how was it?" Nigel asked as they sat down at breakfast.
"Huh? W-what?" Espen replied nervously.
"Spending Christmas at Dennis' house. How was it?"
"Ohh... It was fine. We-uh, did a lot of fun stuff together." Espen said with a shrug of his shoulders. It was the first day after Christmas break. Espen and Dennis had arrived with the Hogwarts Express late the night before so the other boys in the dormitory were already asleep when they came up. Espen had just sat down in the Great Hall for breakfast.
"Sounds neat. Thanks for the present by the way!" Nigel said and gave Espen a big smile and showed him his new planner. It was a book with a red cover that when opened, gave advice on the events on the day and even reminded you on homework. Nigel had never been known to be punctual with his homework. Then the rest of the first-year boys came as well. Each telling the others about their Christmas and New Year's. Espen and Dennis had spent their own New Year's in muggle London, watching the fireworks show. Nathan had spent the holidays with his dad in Blackpool.
"And I got to see their whole team train once!" Nathan said enthusiastically, "And my dad presented me to Gewnog Jones as well. Look!" He said and showed Jimmy a paper with some doodles on them, but Espen could make out the name Gwenog there. Nathan's dad was a beater, like Gwenog and the their two teams had practiced together over the new year. Nathan's dad played on Lancashire quidditch team. He'd been it for three years and had been quite famous after beating a Bludger so hard that it went from one side of the field to the other, knocking the Quaffle out of the enemy teams keeper's hands and into the middle ring!
"What about you Benjamin?" Dennis asked the smallest of the boys, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
"I went home to... umm... my family. I had a great time. We ate lots of food and opened a lot of presents. It was fantastic." He said to no one in particular and continued picking his food. The rest of the boys got quiet. Benjamin had always been the most quiet of their little group and the one that kept the most to himself. He would come to the common-room late after class with his arms full of books and spend most of his time reading.
"Oh damn it! Look at the time!" Jimmy said and looked at his arm watch. "We're going to be late for our first class with professor Moody this sememster if we don't leave now!" Dennis almost tore down all the food on the table in the haste of getting up as the rest of the boys had already began moving towards the exit. They all ran to the classroom, but the door was already open when they reached it.
"And as you all can see- Ahhh... Welcome boys. Take a seat." Professor Moody said as the six boys came into his classroom. "As I was saying, the illumination charm, Lumos is as essential to a wizard as his wand. If you can't see what you're fighting, you're an easy target. Get out your wands!" Moody said with his deep voice. Espen took his wand out of his jacket and held it at the ready.
"Now, as clearly as you can and as concentrated as you can," Moody said and walked in between the desks, looking at each student with both magical and normal eyes,"You're going to say LOO-MOS and use the loop hand movement that we learned before the holidays. At my count you're all going to say the charm. Ready? Three, two, one..." "LUMOS!" The entire class said and moved their wands as instructed. The whole room lit up from the light from over half of the wands in the room. Espen looked at his wand. A dim light at the tip of his wand flickered, and then went out. "Excellent!" Moody said as he walked around. Only a few unlit wands. Let's try it again. Three, two, one..."
The class ended and the Gryffindor boys made their way down to potions with Snape. Espen and Dennis had gotten homework to practice the Lumos charm, as they were the only ones that hadn't produced a shining light by the end of the class. In front of him was Benjamin, looking more down than usual. Espen took hold of Dennis' arm, signaling him to slow down. Soon they walked far behind the rest of the group, far out of earshot from the others. "What do you know about Benjamin's family?" Espen whispered to Dennis as they continued to slowly walk down the stone stairs.
"Not much. Up until now he's not talked about them at all. Why?"
"Because I think he's lying." Espen said seriously to his friend. "And I don't know why! Like this morning, the way he talked... Like he wanted to change the subje-"
"Hey! What's the hold-up?" Nathan shouted to the two of them, now several meters behind the four others.
"Nothing!" Dennis said and gave Espen a meaningful look as he whispered, "Should we try to find out?" Espen nodded in agreement and they ran to the rest of the boys, catching up as they continued down to the dark and cold corridors in the dungeons.
Espen and Dennis tried to speak to Benjamin privately, without the rest of the Gryffindor boys nearby. This was easier said than done. The Gryffindor first-years had gotten so much homework after the holidays that neither Espen nor Dennis had the time to look for Benjamin after classes for a private talk. It wasn't until late into January that Espen had some luck. He was on his way to the library to look up some herbs for his herbology homework, when he turned a corner and crashed right into Benjamin who had his hands full of books, dropping them all on the floor.
"S-sorry!" Espen apologized and helped to pick up the books.
"Don't worry, I couldn't see much of where I was going. It was my fault." Benjamin said and looked up at Espen as he picked up his thick glasses. He'd never really noticed before... but Benjamin had the most piercing blue eyes that he'd ever seen! Must have been the thick glasses that he wore all the time. It was like they were glowing in the dim light of the corridor.
"Where are you going?" Espen asked as he picked up the last few books and held them up for Benjamin, who took them all in his arms again.
"I were going to go to my spot to read." Benjamin said as he started to walk again. "It's quiet and not as crowded as the library, plus Madame Pince creeps me out!" The last part he whispered to Espen. Madame Pince was the librarian and were know to hover over students as they read to see if they damaged or mistreated books.
"Ohh, may I join you?"
"Umm, sure." The two of them walked to the end of the hallway, behind a curtain and up a set of stairs that Espen never had seen before, leading up to a small, empty room, with a dozen wooden desks, a sofa and a few large floor candlesticks in the corner. Everything was covered in dust and cobwebs.
"When did you find this?" Espen asked and looked around. The room looked like it might have been a classroom once upon a time, but not used for years. The desks looked like they would break if anyone sat on them.
"I found it the first week." Benjamin said and put down all of the books on one of the desks. It creaked alarmingly, but didn't break. With the heavy load taken off, Benjamin jupmed into the sofa. As he hit the thick pillows, a cloud of dust shot out and filled the air for a second before setteling down again. "I use this place to read and to get away from everyone. It's quiet up here." He said and looked around the rundown room. Espen sat down beside him and another cloud of dust showed up from the pillows.
"This is pretty nice!" Espen said as he sank down into the depts of the pillows. They sat like that for a good while, in the dim light room witout any of them saying a word. The silence was broken by the sound of water against glass. There was a roof window close to the stairs, now blurred by rain. It sounded like it was going to be a wet night.
"I'll get us some light." Espen said and got up from the sofa and dragged one of the bigger candlesticks over to the sofa. "What was the charm to make fire again?"
"Incendio." Benjamin answered with a smile. "You really need to learn that one soon! We have a paper to write about it, you know!"
"Right, right... You know I'm not that good in charms!" Espen replied with a laugh. "I'm pretty much only good in transfiguration. Now..." he said and put his wand up to the candle. "Incendio." Nothing happened.
"Try again, but try to move your wand from the candle as you say it, like you're pulling it out." Benjamin said and moved closer to Espen.
"Incendio!" he said clearly and moved his wand like he was pulling something out from the tip of his wand. A bright yellow flame sprung out from the wick, melting the white wax.
"Good job! Professor Flitwick should be pleased with that one. Do the rest as well." Benjamin said and sat down in the sofa again, creating a new cloud of dust. When all of the candles were lit up, the room had a cozy yellow glow. Close to the sofa, they had enough light to read, but the two boys talked about different charms they would learn over their seven years of school.
"And there's one that can create a thunderstorm!" Benjamin said with huge eyes, wild with enthusiasm. "I can't wait till we get to the more advanced classes. This school is so much better than what I thought at first when the man came to the orp-" He stopped mid sentence. His eyes that moments before had been glowing with enthusiasm were now almost as dark as the clouds outside the window.
"Benjamin...?" Espen looked over at his friend. Benjamin smiled apologetically at Espen and gave him a little smile.
"I guess I can't keep it a secret forever anyway. I lied to you guys the first day of the sememster." he said and got up from the sofa and walked over to the window where the rain were still pouring outside. "I don't have any parents, I went to an orphanage during Christmas."
"Benjamin... Are they-"
"Dead? I don't know." Benjamin said and shrugges his shoulders. "I was left at the doorstep when I was about a year old. I don't know who or where my parents are." Espen got up and put his hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry Benjamin."
"It's OK, Espen. I can't miss something I never had, right? I never had any friends over there. I'm so much smaller than the other kids, so they were quite mean to me. That's why I like to read so much. I spent every free moment reading, when not being bumped, tossed things on or pushed to the ground. When the man from the Ministry came and told me I was a wizard, I didn't believe him at first. I thought... That it was a mean lie by some of the older kids. Then he turned my nightlight into a raven!" he said with a smile and looked over at Espen. His eyes were wetter than usual, but the smile was as bright as the flames from the wax candles behind them. "He told me I was a wizard and that I would travel away from there and come here, to Hogwarts!"
Espen didn't know what else to do, so he gave his friend a hug. Benjamin seemed surprised by it, but didn't protest. Espen hugged Benjamin tightly.
"You'll never be alone anymore. You have us, your friends."
"Thank you, Espen. That means a lot." he said and hugged Espen even tighter. They stood like that for a little while. At the same time the rain outside the window stopped and a silence filled the air, but it was a good silence. The two boys understood each other a lot better now. They spent the whole day up in the empty classroom, talking.
Chapter Eight: The Second Task
"Do you know anything? I mean, it's the lake. It can't be much to do there!" Nigel asked as they walked down to the lake late February. The day before they'd been told to meet up by the lake to spectate the second task in the tournament.
"I haven't heard anything. Wonder if they are going to swim... You know, like a race!" Benjamin replied. "Not that I envy them... It's ice cold outside! If they have to go into the lake, they'd freeze to death, don't you think?"
"It can't be that!" Espen said, sure that it couldn't be anything so stupid. "I mean, where is the magic in racing? Unless, they use some sort of charm that shoots them through the water or something! That would be kind of cool."
"Yea! Racing doesn't sound so stupid now, does it?" Nigel said with a grin. "What do you think it is, Dennis?"
"It has to be something magical, right? So what if... They have to fight the squid thing that saved me? They fought dragons, right? So why not the squid? Maybe save someone from it. Dennis wou-" but then he stopped and looked around the crowd that was walking down to the lake. "Where is Dennis?"
"I haven't seen him since this morning in the common-room. Maybe he's still in the great hall eating?" Benjamin said, turning around to look up the hill. Not spotting him, he shrugged his shoulders before he continued, "Would be pretty stupid of him to miss the second task!
"Man, if Dennis doesn't make it back before the trial starts- OMPH!" The last part he said as he fell back onto his butt. He'd just crashed into Madame Maxime's back as she stood in the middle of the road, talking to Professor Dumbledore. How he had missed her was a mystery as she filled half the road by herself.
"Ohh! I am very sorry little boy. Are you 'urt?" Madame Maxime said as she helped Espen back on his feet.
"I'm alright." Espen said as he brushed the dirt off his pants. "Nothing to worry about."
Madame Maxime stared long and hard at him before saying in a slow and curious voice,
"You... You zeem familiar. 'ave I met you before?" She finally said as she squinted her eyes.
"N-No Madame Maxime. I've never seen you befo-"
"Who are your parents?" She asked before Espen could finish his sentence.
"Mr. Norum is the son of Esbjørn Norum and Madeleine Ambroise, isn't that correct Mr Norum?" Dumbledore asked Espen with a warm smile.
"Y-Yes sir." surprised that Dumbledore even knew his name, let alone his dad!
"Madeleine?!" She blurted out and looked shocked down at Espen.
"Do you know my mother Madame Maxime?"
"Of course I do! I studied wiz her at Beauxbatons Academy of Magic almost twelve years ago. 'ow old are you?"
"I'm eleven, Madame Maxime."
"Zen you are ze boy she 'ad after..." She stopped and gave Espen a little smile, but it didn't look warm at all, but guilty. "I was wiz your mother when she met your father. I-I should 'ave stayed wiz her, supported her, but I couldn't. When you talk to your mother next, give her my best, will you?"
Espen could hardly believe it. He was speechless and all he could do was give Madame Maxime a quick nod.
"Take care now Mr Norum." Dumbledore said and gave Espen a smile and a nod. "Shall we take out seats Madame Maxime? The task is about to start soon."
"Of course. Lead ze way Dumblee-dorr." Madame Maxime said and with one last look at Espen, she and Professor Dumbledore walked further down and away from Espen and his mind which was in uproar.
"Woah..." Nigel said and looked over at Espen. "Are you OK Espen? You don't look so good."
"I said I'm fine. Let's just find out seats." Espen said and continued to walk in the direction where Dumbledore and Madame Maxime were walking several meters ahead. The two of them walked very fast, Madame Maxime with her long steps and Dumbledore almost taking two steps for every one of hers. Espen walked blindly and didn't even notice that they had reached the end of the road and were down by the lake. The huge lake looked even colder than usual, with some ice-flakes here and there, but the lake itself wasn't frozen.
"Espen, over here!" It was Jimmy and Nathan that called them over. The two friends sat in deep conversation as Espen, Nigel and Benjamin sat down.
"Where's Dennis? He can't miss the trial!" Nathan said and looked around to see if he could see Dennis.
"We think he's up at the castle for some reason." Espen replied without looking. His mind was wandering over to Madame Maxime that sat behind the podium ten meters away, talking to Professor Dumbledore. That woman had know his mother during her school years, traveled the world with her and because she had fallen in live with a muggle man, she had with the rest of her friends, abandoned her. And almost twelve years later she expected her friend's son to give her best wishes? His thoughts were abrupted by the sound of running and looked up and expected to see Dennis and Colin coming back, but it was Harry Potter. He didn't look very good. His hair looked messier than usual, like he'd just woken up and he was panting like crazy. Had he run from the Castle, just now? The three other Champions stood ready by the shore, Krum in a bathing suit, but with a cloak to keep him warm, Delacour and Diggory in their normal school clothes. Nigel had apparently also noticed the bathing suit and nudged Espen in the side as he smiled, very happy that his guess seemed right. By the look of it, it had to be some sort of race they were going to have in the ice cold lake. Moments later, the new sound of running people reached them. This time it was Dennis and Colin. The two brother joined them at the front row as both panted just as heavy as Potter.
"Where were you?" Jimmy asked Dennis curiously, but it was Colin that answered.
"We just got run down by Harry in the entrance hall! We were on our way when-" Colin started but his brother punched him in his side.
"ouch! What did you do that for?" Colin said with a smile and looked over at his brother, who looked a little red. Maybe it was from the running, Espen thought, but Dennis just shook his head at his brother, who in return just shrugged his shoulders. "We're here now. That's what matters." He finished and winked at his little brother. No doubt about it. Dennis was blushing!
Just as Espen were to ask Dennis why he wouldn't tell, Ludo Bagman put his wand to his throat and his voice filled the whole area.
"Well, all our Champions are ready for the second task that will start on my whistle. They have precisely one hour to recover something that was taken from them. On the count of three then. One. Two. THREE!" Ludu Bagman blew his whistle and to Espens horror, the four champions ran out into the cold water. Krum was busy waving his want around his head as it started to change color and shape into... A shark! But it was just his head though. His hands, body and legs were still the same, but his head had transformed, making it possible for him to breathe under water. Delacour and Diggory were also waving their wands around their heads but not to transform themselves, but conjure a bubble around their heads as they dived down into the water. Finally it was Potter, that looked like he was chewing something.
"What's he doing?" Dennis asked and stood up to see if he could spot something. Suddenly Potter started gasping for air and held his hands around his neck like he couldn't breathe before he also dived into the cold, dark water.
"What..." Colin said in shock. "Did Harry Potter just die?!" he shouted out.
"No. Harry used Gillyweed." a voice said behind them. They all turned around to see a chubby boy almost jumping up and down in excitement. The boy looked down at them with a huge grin. "I can't believe he used it, I just read about that a month ago! Wow!"
"What is gillyweed?" Colin asked.
"Gillyweed is a weed that gives the user gills and changes the form of the user, giving them the ability to breathe and swim underwater with ease! This is even better than I imagined."
Espen, Dennis, Nathan, Jimmy, Nigel and Benjamin looked over at each other and had to admit, they were disappointed.
"So..." Dennis started, "They are going to stay under water for an hour, and we won't see any of it?!"
"Yes, but Harry used gillyweed! That's far more exciting than the last trial! I have to talk to professor Sprout about this." the boy said and almost ran over to the row where most of the teachers sat and immediately started to talk her.
"Who the heck was that? And how is Potter eating some grass more exciting than a dragon?!" Jimmy said with a look of disgust over at the boy.
"That was Neville. He's in the same year as Harry." Colin said and rolled his eyes. "He's a real dork if you ask me, and apparently he is very into herbology, kind of like how you're into transfiguration, Espen." Colin added and looked over at Espen.
"What do you mean?" Espen said as he looked over at the boy again, now in deep conversation with Professor Sprout that looked just as happy with how the trial was turning out.
"He's really good in herbology. A natural, not that it helps him much. From what I hear he's not good in anything else so he kind of need to be good at something, right?" Colin said and shrugged his shoulders. Then the read headed girl behind them beat Colin on the head with her bag.
"Be nice to Neville, Colin! He's very nice you know. He took me to the Yule Ball and all."
"Hey! I can't help it that he's a dork!" Colin said and rubbed his head where the bag had his him. "Just because he took you to the Yule Ball, he's not very cool, now is he Ginny?" He said and pointed over at Neville, who now were almost jumping up and down with excitement from talking to Professor Sprout. The read headed girl, Ginny, sighed.
"I guess... I could have gone with Harry though, but Neville asked me first. I didn't think I would go to it, you know, but he is really nice. So be nice to him, Colin or I'll smack you!" the girl said strictly and gave him an angry look before she continued to talk to her friends.
"Who was that?" Dennis whispered to his brother and looked scared back up at the girl.
"That was Ginny Weasley. She's the same year as me." Colin said, still rubbing his head. "What did she have in her bag? Rocks?" he snared angrily and looked hurt back up at Ginny before turning his attention to the now quiet lake.
Minutes went by and just as Espen were to say out loud if anything were going to ever happen, there was splashing out in the lake. It was Fleur Delacour. Her bubble helmet burst a second after reaching the surface. She was screaming a second before something pulled her under again. The whole crowd gasped as she vanished from sight. The judged all jumped to their feet and Madame Maxime ran towards the shore when Delacour resurfaced. She swam as quickly as she could back to shore. When she crawled up the last few meters, Espen noticed her arms. Long claw marks along one of her arms. Not too deep, but something had tried to pull her below again. Madame Maxime helped her back on dry land and waved for Madame Pomfrey, who came running with blankets for her.
"Is she alright?" Benjamin asked as he looked over at Fleur being tucked into several blankets.
"She'll be alright. She's jus-" Nathan said but Delacour threw off the blankets that Madame Maxime and Madame Pomfrey tried to pack her in and wanted to throw herself in the water again.
"She iz still in ze water! Gabrielle!" she shouted as Madame Maxime called for some of Delacour's classmates to keep her calm.
"Gabrielle..." Espen said, "Are... Are the things that the champions have to reclaim people?!" he asked the rest in shock, but no-one answered.
It took several minutes to calm Delacour enough down for her to sit down and wait. Fleur had only been in the water for about 20 minutes and it would take another 40 before anything interesting started to happen again. Nathan had just asked "if something were going to bloody happen soon" when Diggory came to the surface. His bubble helmet also burst a second after he came up from the deep. In his arms he had a girl, black haired and asian looking in appearance. Espen saw her talking to Diggory, looking confused. As the two came on land again, Madame Pomfrey came running with blakets for them both and a cup of something that were making a lot of smoke. As Diggory took a zip, his face got red for half a second and he suddenly looked all warm again. Almost the second that Diggory came back on land, another one of the champions surfaced out on the lake. This time is was the shark headed Krumm, he too holding a girl in his arms. He waved his wand and his head returned to normal as he talked to the girl he was helping back on land. She too looked a bit confused for a second, but soon got back into.
"Where is Harry?" Colin said concerned and got up from his seat, but nothing out in the lake moved now that three out of the four Champions were back on land. Diggory and Krum both talked to their precious ones, while Delacour still looked out at the lake. Now she was almost sobbing and every now and then mentioned the name "Gabrielle" again. Then...
"It's him!" Dennis said and jumped up and down something started to move out in the lake again. This time it was not only two, but three people out in the lake. Harry, a red headed boy and a blond girl, not much younger than Espen! The two boys helped the girl back on shore and Delacour waited for them before throwing herself into her sisters arms. And then she kissed both the boys on the cheeks.
"Damn..." Nathan said and smiled to Nigel and Espen. They both smiled back. Who wouldn't want to be kissed by her? She was beautiful by all standards and it was something about her that made your eyes just wander over to her, much like how... Espen looked over at Dennis who was talking to his brother now that Harry finally had appeared. Espen's eyes began to wander over various parts of Dennis. His mouse brown hair and how it curled just a little bit around his ears. How his trousers fit him so perfectly and hugged his legs so well and how in between those legs-
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our decision." Ludo Bagman said again with his wand to his throat. He then told the crowd how many points the different Champions had achived during the trial. Delacour had gotten 25 points, Diggory, 47, Krum 40 and then Harry...
"...Mr Potter were the first to reach the hostages and that the delay in his return was due to his determination to return all the hostages to safety, not just his own. Most of the judges feel that this shows moral fiber and merits full marks. However, Mr Potter score is 45." Bagman finished to the thundering applause from every single Gryffindor on the stands and a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs as well! As Espen were jumping up and down with the rest of the first years and hugged them all for Harry getting a shared first place so far with Diggory, he finally got around to Dennis and hugged him tight. Dennis hugged him back, but briefly. Not anything like the hug they had shared during Christmas. As they let go of each other, Espen looked into Dennis' face and saw something he hadn't seen before in it. Shame. But for what? As they all walked back up to the castle, Dennis didn't look once at Espen, and he had no idea why!