Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 53 - The Prophecy

Have I got a big, fat, juicy chapter for you? Why yes. Yes I do. Thanks for reading :)

 The bell clanged again as Cedric and Cho breached the surface one minute out the time limit and Al clapped and cheered with everyone else, despite her worry about Harry. "Dursley," a voice called, and Al swivelled round to see McGonagall and Vector, the Arithmancy professor, hurrying towards her, a familiar stack of papers in their hands. "Are you done?" McGonagall asked her, seeming quite flustered. No, no. Not flustered - excited.

 "I-I'm waiting for Harry," she said nervously while picking some dirt from under her nail.

 "Well, we can speak, here," McGonagall said, conjuring two chairs for herself and Vector, "This is some very impressive work, Dursley," McGonagall told her, "My seventh years couldn't do this much. How in Merlin's name did you manage it?"

 "Well, I did have a bit of help," she confessed.

 "Miss Dursley," Vector said, leaning in and lowering her voice, "That is not allowed."

 "Not if it's help from students," she reminded them. McGonagall was clearly trying to think of a way to argue with that, but after a few moments realised she was right.

 "So," McGonagall said, "Talk us through it please." So Al rambled on to the two of them about the relevance of the various graphs and how the laws of Transfiguration applied and altered them. And she spoke about the various equations and Grammatica she'd used and how she'd read similar papers on trans-species switching.

 By the time she'd finished, Krum and Hermione had returned, and McGonagall and Vector looked astonished, "That is...incredible work, Dursley," McGonagall told her, placing her hand on Al's shoulder, "You should consider publishing it. I know an excellent magazine that-"

 "Well, Hermione, Theo and Daphne helped too," Al said as the soaked girl passed.

 "It worked?" Hermione exclaimed with glee and Al nodded, "It actually worked!" And Al found herself enveloped in a very excited embrace from none other than Granger herself. But God, she was annoying.

*****

 "And Harry Potter breaks the surface, twenty one minutes out the time limit!" Bagman announced, and Al's head snapped toward the water's edge, where Harry was grabbing at his neck. He'd forgotten his gills!

 "Novis animalis!" she said, getting rid of the slits in Harry's neck. She embraced him tightly before giving him a once over and allowing Madame Pomfrey to do her fussing. She was so filled with happiness and relief, that she almost didn't see the small girl stood next to Harry shivering.

 "Gabrielle!" Fleur cried, embracing the girl, who was clearly her sister, "I was so worried! I thought you were gone!"

 Once Fleur was safely out of earshot, Al turned to Harry, "You went back down there for her?"

 "Actually," Harry said grumpily, "I went back down to try and help you. It just so happened that she was down there and Fleur wasn't. So-"

 "So you decided to play the hero." But it didn't matter. Because they got a score of forty seven due to Al being the only one back within the time limit and Harry's so-called 'moral fibre', pushing them into the lead. Al was overjoyed for now. Gone was the stress of the tournament for two months, now onto the stress of the person that had it in for Al and Harry.

*****

 Al was making her way back to the common room from an evening rendez-vous with George, feeling very flustered and light. She turned a corner into an almost empty corridor and saw a Professor she had never met before with her arms stacked full of books and trying to open the door to the staffroom. "Here," Al said hurrying over, "I'll help."