Harry was flying with his broom - it was so much fun flying! Close behind him was Ginny, then Fred and George, closely followed by Bill, Charlie and finally Ron - Percy did not want to participate in what he called ‘childish’ games, while Hermione was content with just spectating the race - she was not a great flyer. 

 

And no it was not some regular race, only based on speed alone - Harry’s thunderbolt would be an unfair advantage if such was the case. All participants shuffled their brooms after every race and there were plenty of various ‘surprises’ in each race. For example twins somehow got a bludger from somewhere and charmed it with a variation of arrestum momento  charm - whoever it hits would slowly stop and would not be able to speed up for a few seconds until the spell wore off.

 

The black haired boy smiled as he quickly ducked - the said bludger narrowly passing over his head. It was already his fifth race around the neighbourhood and Harry loved it! He snickered as he heard Ron shouting in annoyance from the back - in this particular race he found out Ron was quite bad at dodging bludgers - or perhaps twins just aimed at him more, seeing he was lucky enough to get to use Harry’s thunderbolt for this lap?

Harry smiled - even with his previous loop memories he still lost races here and there - the longer he maintained first place the higher the chance of twins pulling more weird trinkets from their pockets - which the boy suspected had similar functionality as his pocket trunk - how else could all those weird gadgets fit in there? Yes even with his somewhat developed magic sense he could not dodge everything - even if he felt the spell incoming - sometimes there was simply no way to dodge or even stop the broom on time.

 

The race continued for hours as the group of teenagers and a pair of young adults laughed and chatted in between the races - Harry won roughly half of them - only two more than the previous loop where he managed to bypass Dumbledore.

 

The group chatted among various topics - Hermione was usually just worried for everyone - which she expressed by blaming the twins for using all those trinkets and even distributing some to participants - just to sow more chaos. The identical duo just had matching sheepish looks in response. 

 

After Ms. Granger calmed down, Harry retold some of the marauders' pranks his godfather shared over the summer, while twins shared theirs. Bill and Charlie joined in the fun sharing various stories from their school years and everyday lives after graduation..

 

Discussions jumped the topics as the day passed - eventually rolling back to apparition. Harry was asked to show off his skills - which he happily agreed. Fred and George once again loudly complained on unfairness - apparition classes for underage wizards was in fact quite pricey, especially for a family like Weasleys, which is the main reason why their parents only allowed them to even attempt the exam after coming of age - of course before learning the ropes from Mr. Weasley and his friendly co-worker from the ministry who provided help in case any accidents happened.

 

Harry was having a lot of fun during his stay at the Burrow - arriving at a different time and having something different to tell seemed to be like a flap of butterfly wings - changing most interactions and conversations, leading to the boy having a fresh experience - not a repeat of the year before the first loop.

 

In fact he was pulled aside by Bill in private shortly after their final race of the day - the young curse breaker noticed the boy's magic sense as he dodged various prank trinkets with easy as if having eyes on his back - he admitted that he too had one, it was one of the major requirements of being a curse breaker. He also offered Harry an opportunity to study curse breaking in Gringotts bootcamp after graduation - goblins were always on lookout for talented folks.

 

And finally the day arrived where most of them grabbed a portkey to travel to the Quidditch World Cup location. Harry considered apparating instead, yet realised that he actually have never been to that part of Britain - perhaps it was in one of scenic tours he did not take yet, besides going together with his closer friends did not seem such a bad way to travel either - so he just followed the younger Weasleys and Hermione to hold on to the old boot. 

 

The portkey worked as usual and Harry was happy to find out he did not experience any strong nausea this time, just a mild irritation - perhaps learning apparition did the trick? Or maybe he just got used to the experience?

---

Harry was walking with the twins across the forest - he warned them about Ludo Bagman being a scammer, surprisingly twins believed him - surely all those rumours of Bagman owning goblins mountains of gold worked in his favour of convincing his friends. 

 

Now all three of them were walking around the tents, looking for an official betting tent, the only reason twins went to Bagman initially was that he had better returns on their predicted outcome.

 

“So Harry, what outcome are you going to bet on?* - Fred or perhaps George asked the boy - he still had a hard time differentiating between them. 

 

The trio walked deeper into the forest - courtesy to a kind stranger who pointed them the correct way.

 

“I will bet on Ireland winning 170 to 160”

 

The twins suddenly stopped, their eyes blown out, their own bet was risky, sure but not as risky as guessing the final outcome  - “Surely it's possible if Krum gets the snitch… Yet it’s way more risky than our prediction - which is Ireland wins and Krum gets the snitch”

 

Harry rolled his eyes - “It’s my money I do what I want with it, besides the payout for exact score should be even higher”

 

A hint of greed flashed in the twins eyes - “How about we make a bet then?” - Fred, as if on cue, continued the speech as soon as George finished his sentence - “ I remember you telling you were going to try pranking this year, didnt you?”

 

The twins continued alternating every sentence, while looking at Harry.

 

“We could teach you”

 

“The way of pranking”

 

“Not only the spells”

 

“But making the items too!”

 

“Only for little 10 gallons per lesson”

 

“And a promise to not spread this knowledge around”

 

“And use it wisely”

 

“But if your bet wins”

 

“You will get a half price discount”

 

They continued at the same time - “So what do you say Harry?”

 

Harry’s eyes sparkled - after listening to his fathers pranking stories he did have an itch to try it out - which he did mention once.. Twice… perhaps too many times during his stay at the Burrow.

 

The boy let out a smile - “Your lessons would be invaluable, I accept!”

 

Twins similarly grinned and they all shook hands. Fred and Goerge had discussed this beforehand - and Harry took the bait, they knew of the mountain of gold in his vault - which the boy was happy to spend - plus it was so fun to train the next generation prankster! They were finishing school in just a few years after all.

 

Soon they finally saw the betting tent - various signs with magically updating betting rates were clearly visible.

 

As everyone arrived at spaced times in the location of the finals, there was no queue in place, soon the bets were placed. 

 

Harry smiled - his 100 galleons would become 3000 - yes the rough rate of “170-160” had such a high return rate, meanwhile twins were likewise happy - the rate for Ireland winning and Krum getting the snitch was only “3.5” - while Bagman offered 5 times return, yet getting Harry buying their lessons will increase their shop funds dramatically, they even considered revealing that to Harry and giving him some shares on their final lessons. 

Perhaps Harry had no need for money, but he at least wanted to experience what betting is like - and knowing the outcome made the decision on what to bet on that much easier.

---

Harry yawned - the match was the same as the previous time he watched it - sure there were four balls in play so he could switch up where he was looking for a few unseen moments… Yet action was not happening simultaneously all the time - only 2 balls scored any points, with one of them being out of sight for most of the game…. hence the boy did not enjoy the match as much, especially now that he had it all saved in his mind library.

 

Suddenly his sleepy eyes brightened - he could feel magic close by, like very close by. There was something nearby. Harry remembered his wand seemingly… disappearing shortly after the finale - initially he thought he dropped it at the woods, yet during his first repeat he found out he already had no wand just after the tournament - it did not take long for the boy to put the things together. 

 

The boy then relaxed - this time his wand was safe in its wand holster, not poking out of his pocket like the previous times. And yes soon he felt the entity get farther away from him - he glanced to his side - Ron’s wand was simply… poking out of his pocket, then seemingly flew out in a silent way - as if someone picked it up, then disappeared.

 

Harry waited until he no longer felt the entity's magic, then facepalmed while adding a note to his mental library - gift a wand holster for Ron, or at least make sure all his acquaintances' wards were secure, in next loops. Now his friend might get in trouble as now Ron’s wand would be the one to cast the dark mark.

 

Harry initially considered jumping on the invisible entity - surely someone who needed to steal a wand was not a good opponent against an armed wizard, yet thinking more deeply about it he recalled a crucial detail - the riot only stopped when the dark lords mark appeared in the sky - yes former death eaters causing havoc only stopped in fear of retribution from their thought dead master - stopping the appearance of the mark would potentially cause more pain and suffering for muggles and muggleborns alike - letting the mark reappear was a lesser evil, at least until Harry thought of any better strategies how to resolve this.

 

As the crowd cheered and in the last moments final score was announced - 170 to 160, Ireland won!

 

Amidst all cheering from this group, twins were the loudest - they saving just multiplied a few times, then as if recalling the bet Harry made, their eyes bulged in surprise - they simultaneously turned to the black haired boy who just smiled at them, silently wording out ‘you lost the bet’ to them. The identical pair grinned back - sure they lost that personal bet, but 5 galleons per lesson was also great - they could just… spread them out for longer.

---

As the celebrations were in full bloom, the Weasleys group were back in their tent. After a short trip to cash out their bets, both twins were in a great mood, Harry was also a few thousand galleons richer. 

 

The black haired boy timed the moment when the riot was about to be known to the group, and excused himself to the loo.

 

Just ten minutes later Weasleys split apart - younger ones, along with Charlie went to look for Harry, while the rest of adults went to try to help the tormented folks. Little did they know that Harry went out with the same intention.

---

Steve trashed on the ground while screaming in pain - he was a father of a wizard and was what their kind considered a muggle. He was initially happy to learn that the famous Quidditch world cup was being held in this place - just a few minutes walk away from his house, thought he could finally watch it together with the rest of his family, alas muggles were not allowed to watch, at least his son brought home a recording of sorts.

 

He was about to watch it together with his son, yet the door burst open and black hooded figures rushed inside - he saw his son’s wand flying quickly to his arm, then a transparent dome shield wrapping over them both.

 

Yet the firepower of multi-colored blasts from the hooded figures blasted his son away - the cool looking shield shattered, the boy rushed to shield his parent with his body, and now he lay on the wall, deep blood wound on his chest, struggling to breathe while those black masks just laughed at his misery.

 

Steve let out a cry of pain as he rushed to his son in horror, and then it hit him - a spell that did not push him aside, seemingly not harming his body in slightest, but the pain - he could hardly focus as he never felt pain of such intensity - his sorrowful scream morphed into pure agony of suffering, while the masked assailant just laughed in entertainment, others joining him. He closed his eyes as he wished for his suffering to end, for someone to end this misery, to save his son, to save him… 

 

And when he thought all hope was lost, the pain suddenly stopped - opening his teary eyes he saw a young boy, clearly not yet of age sitting on top of an armchair, four wands in his hand.

 

Looking around he saw bodies of the dark cloaked figures piled up in the corner - tied strongly with a rope while the rest of his room looked thrashed - pieces of furniture scattered around, but he did not care his gaze quickly finding his son who looked somewhat better in fact - a strange small creature with pointy ears was wrapping bandages over his chest, a couple of empty vials with unknown liquid lay empty near them.

 

After the relief of his son’s well being, the accumulated tiredness overcame him as his consciousness slipped away. As a final glimpse he saw the boy's concerned look as he said something to the creature who now finished treating his son and rushed closer to him, pouring unknown liquid down his throat. Surprisingly his mind cleared up and his body relaxed, then he comfortably fell asleep.

---

Harry was back on the run - he took care of three muggle homes so far - surely no one died during last loops, yet being a cruciatus vegetable was hardly different - just because Daily prophet emphasised that no one died was just wordplay to ease the masses.

 

He himself had a large bleeding cut on his side - Dobby thankfully stitched the wound and bandaged him, even gave him some potions to ease the pain and slowly restore the broken tissues. Still running in this condition was not very great for the wound as the formerly pure white bandage was getting slightly red near the wound stitches.

 

He wanted to get all the combat practice he could - he mused that the dark lord was coming back and he was a target, time loop or not - it made sense to improve as much as he could until he was able to hold his own against him.

 

Surely he spent quite some time duelling the headmaster - the only man alive who was said to be on the same level, if not higher than the dark lord. But it was the old Harry, the inexperienced Harry - he now was way better duelist than ever before. He now had access to countless books in both Hogwarts and Sirius place, not counting the various rare yet seemingly useful tomes of foreign spells and similar obscure magic books he bought wandering around the Alleys in Diagon and close by.

 

With his quick progress in duelling classes and getting a somewhat decent magic sense he was confident he would be able to reach the level of Albus and Voldemort eventually  - after all time was something he did not lack.

 

Even if he escaped the time loop, the dark lord would not leave him alone - he needed to be strong enough to contend him before that occurred, and surely learning all those obscure magics would help in him in resolving the time loop somewhat - perhaps not in a direct way, but perhaps it will make it easier for him to learn other spells, understand magic better? He clearly needed all the knowledge he could get to even begin understanding the mess that is time magic.

 

The boy grimaced in pain as he turned around the corner - what he lacked the most now was practice as he learned from duelling classes - even simple spells can be deadly if used well enough. He then continued honing in to another house where he could hear mad laughter and screams of pain - surely his primary goal was saving people, but fighting not single duels but groups of wizards was a great way to improve his own fighting skills.

 

Yes the boy knew of the danger - he could potentially die, but until the time loop was resolved he could not really ‘die’ - based on his previous experience dementors kissed him quite a few times - which triggered.the restart. Same could be said about the headmaster - just a few times he miscalculated his own powerlessness and just how frail Harry's body was.

 

The boy sighed if only he could apparate - that would improve his combat abilities tremendously, alas anti-apparition wards were in place - perhaps that's why ministry is taking so long? And of course, one of his opponents he wanted to beat - Dumbledore was under anti-apparition wards as well, he was also suspecting the gloomy graveyard where Voldemort came back might be covered with those as well.

 

It was not like anti-apparition wards blocked all apparition - some popular variants were something akin to password-protectection - the ones who knew the password could apparate - it just took a tad bit longer than usual, rendering it not so useful in combat situations.

 

Suddenly the boy slowed down, near the house he surprisingly saw another black haired wizard, sneaking in - seemingly with the same purpose in mind.

 

Suddenly the wizard turned around, as if feeling his presence approaching - then both of them stopped in place. Harry felt him glance briefly at his scar then his eyes lit up in shock and recognition. The boy himself mirrored his expression as he was shocked as well - the other wizard turned out to be the best seeker in the world - Victor Krum!

 

No words were said, but the duo somehow communicated with nods and hand waving - then one entered the room from the window while another moved towards the door - awaiting opportunity when death eaters got distracted.

 

It was a similar scene inside - people laying on the ground, screaming and twitching in pain, while death eaters just laughed - at least their laughter made sneaking around them that much easier.

 

Victor took out a duo with a well timed surprise attack, then transfigured the floor into some sort of dome around the wounded as the remaining five hooded figures were focused on tearing it down.

 

During this time no one noticed Harry silently walking inside by the door, then levitating pieces of furniture high above, precisely on where the people stood, before he cancelled his spell and launched a couple of stunners to the figures closer to the back.

 

His sneak attack worked and another pair of death eaters was down, the remaining trio turned around alarmed, seemingly preparing to escape the scene, unfortunately for them, during mid turn their visions darkened as a piano, a refrigerator and a washing machine fell down on each of them - now all seven of them lay on the floor, unmoving. 

 

Soon Victor dismissed the battered dome and extinguished the fire, then turned to Harry.

 

“There is strength in numbers as they say, good job. I don’t believe I introduced myself properly, I am Victor, Victor Krum”

 

His hand was raised for a handshake - which Harry happily accepted - “Likewise, I am Harry, Harry Potter”

 

They both laughed - clearly aware they recognized each other before exchanging names.

 

“It was nice meeting you here, Harry, I already treated the muggles here, do you want to team up and move on to help others?”

 

“Sure, I think we make a great team!”

 

They managed to apprehend two more groups of death eaters, before a dark mark appeared in the sky - followed by loud pops all over the place as aurors finally made an appearance. 

 

Both boys exchanged a glance with mutual understanding - neither wanted to deal with the ministry, then both boys went to rest near the wall, gradually starting a conversation - they had a couple of common hobbies - quidditch and duelling. Besides, it was entertaining to learn about magical schooling from another school. They even agreed to exchange some textbooks and lesson notes later.

 

As they both looked like many other survivors and helpers - wounded and resting - ministry officials just passed them by - their eyes flashing with surprise, inwardly wondering  since when did Krum and Potter knew each other?

---

Before too long Harry saw a fuzzball tackle him for a hug.

 

“Harry! I was so worried about you!”

“Ouch! It hurts, Hermione!”

 

The girl backed away in realisation - she did not notice the bloody bandage around the boy's waist, Charlie's concerned voice inquired him - “What happened?”

 

“A cutting charm was too fast for me to dodge… Not to worry, it should heal in a day or two.“

 

“I see your friends found you Harry” - a slightly accented voice resounded near the boy - only now the group turned to glance at him as their eyes popped out in shock from recognition - “I will be on my way then, I am sure my team is looking for me too”

 

There was a minute of silence as the famous seeker walked away. Then Harry was bombarded with dozens of questions, as they all spoke at the same time he only managed to catch a few of them.

 

“Was that Victor Krum?”

 

“Did you get an autograph?”

 

“Was Krum the one who saved you?”

 

Thankfully Charlie roared to calm down the crowd. It was quite a surprise - working so long with dragons his roar had some kind of special ring to it - as if it was an actual dragon roaring.

 

“Harry is wounded! Just speak one at a time! Let me find Arthur and Bill, then Harry can tell us all about his ‘adventure’ back at home, what do you say?”

 

Hearing various sounds of agreement, Charlie walked away, while Harry sighed - now he was sure he had a long conversation ahead.

---

Daphne was busy writing a letter, when suddenly someone playfully pinched her side.

 

“Hello Daphne! A surprise visit!” - it was Tracey Davis, her friend who was supposed to be with parents in Egypt at this time!

 

“Ouch! Hello Tracey” - Daphne put back her quill and turned around to hug her best friend - she hadn't seen her for so long! - “Weren’t you supposed to come back to Britain like three days later? How’s your vacation?”

 

Tracey broke out of the hug and shrugged her shoulders - “There was a sandstorm coming for the next week so I had to pick an earlier plane or I would have missed school” - then her face looked a tad bit bored - “As for vacation - it’s same old same old, I wonder myself why my parents drag me to Egypt nearly every summer, sure first few times were fun but now it’s kind of bland”

 

Daphne rolled her eyes - “muggles and their weird limitations on travelling! Floos, portkeys and apparition are never hindered by such natural events”

 

Tracey arched her brow - “Less humans die in planes than wizards who mess up apparition, misspell floo addresses, misspell portkey passwords or fly on their brooms in storms! Knowing just how much more muggles there are compared to wizard folk it seems planes are way more secure, just not as fast as magical ways”

 

Daphne just nodded - “Yes, yes, I suppose you are right” - she could not find a way to refute straight facts.

 

“So I assume you already got your apparition licence? “

 

Daphne just nodded - “Yes, and I finished another year of potions in Green Alley!”

 

Tracey crossed her arms, then looked back to her friend with a peculiar gaze - “Why do I feel you are hiding something? Say what were you up to before I arrived?” - A brief panic flashed on Daphne's face as she secretly tried to hide the draft under the pile of papers scattered around.

 

Tracey was faster - a moment later she grabbed the parchment from the table and gave it a quick glance over with her eyes - “Wanting to meet up in a couple of days? Were you that close with anyone besides me?” - it might sound harsh but it was the truth - while Daphne had a lot of acquaintances, she could only call Tracey her true friend - she trusted she had no political agenda in her friendliness, not unlike some other girls.

 

Daphne knew there was no point in resisting - once her friend got curious over something, there was hardly anything to stop her - “Yes, I made a new friend over the summer!”

 

Traceys flipped the parchment to see who exactly it was addressed to - her eyes widened in surprise, shortly followed by her face morphing into a teasing look - “A new friend? Or perhaps a boyfriend?”

 

“No!” - Daphne’s cheeks blushed briefly until she focused her occlumency and brought the rushing heat out of her face - glancing at her friend from the corner of her eyes, she knew she saw her flushed face, albeit briefly, Daphne lamented, there was no escape now was there?

 

Tracey smiled as if she just smelled an interesting story - “You do like him don’t you, Daph? Don’t go hiding your blush from me! I want to hear all about it” - she sat on a nearby coach - “and I am not leaving until you tell me all the details!”

Daphne sighed, glancing at a nearby clock - it was still quite some time until dinner - and she knew Harry was a late sleeper, perhaps he was still partying or even watching the game - some Quidditch matches could take days. She could finish drafting her letter later, now she had one very curious Tracey Davis to entertain.

---

Rita Skeeter was interviewing a muggle of all people - well one of the victims of the attack, Steve something. It was just a formality - she was already bought off to write off assailants as just drunkards playing around - fortunately no one died and hardly anyone got hurt for much.

 

She was almost not listening intently, until a pair of words caught her attention - ‘Harry Potter’ - just why would a muggle mention the boy who lived when recounting the attack? Perhaps there was an interesting scoop to find there? One that would sell more than what Lucius paid her?

 

Her eyes gleamed as she put on her best smile - “Sorry Steve, my thoughts trailed off for a bit, what did you say about Potter?”

 

Steve did not notice anything amiss - perhaps just that the Ms wizard was paying even more attention to him now - “It’s as I said, I was getting hit by that cruco spell something, but just before losing consciousness I saw him! He was the one who saved me and my son! My hero!” - Steve had a look of fascination about the boy - a similar look wizard folk had on the day Dark lord was killed - “I saw him holding four of those magic sticks, and those dark robbed bastards were tied and beaten in a corner, while he commanded a pointy eared creature of sorts to heal my son!”

 

Rita listened with keen intensity, even pulling out her quick notes quill - not the one that made up stories, but the one which actually recorded, word by word! Her smile deepend she knew this was a scoop to sell! A hidden story just for her to find!

 

Shortly after being escorted out of the house by the ministry official she bade him farewell and went to the apparition zone. 

 

In there it was chaos of people popping left and right - there was a lot to do to ensure the statue of secrecy was not breached, a lot of wards to unravel as the tournament was over and other various tasks to do. 

 

Amid all that chaos no one noticed that Rita did not pop out of the place - instead a small bug - a beetle flying took her place and flew quietly to hide itself in a passing auror’s pocket. 

Perhaps by chance, perhaps Skeeter was just that lucky - it was one of the investigators of the riot, walking towards the first family saved by Krum and Potter duo.