Charms class went well. Harry had managed to surprise most of his professors with his steady improvement this year. Even Professor Snape had fewer legitimate reasons to complain about him. Though he didn't know it, the topic had also been discussed at staff meetings. Despite the distraction provided by the tournament Harry's grades had risen significantly and there did not seem to be any spell covered in class that he did not already know. In today's charm class they were discussing the theory behind the vanishing charm. Harry had not bothered to learn theory in his private training, so he sat and listened intently. He was surprised to learn that the charm had many uses other than simply getting rid of unneeded objects. As he sat silently thinking about that a realization hit him that was stunning because it should have been so obvious. 'Of course! I've been so worried about how many spells I know that I haven't been learning how to effectively use the ones I do know!' Harry was mentally kicking himself for his oversight when class ended and everyone began to file out of the classroom.
The feeling of someone quickly reaching into a pocket on his robes and then removing itself snapped Harry out of his internal monologue. He turned his head trying to see who had done it and was found Daphne standing slightly behind him trying her best not to look in his direction. Reaching into his pocket he felt a small piece of parchment which he knew was not previously there. Once he finally made it out of the classroom Harry took out the note and read it. " Meet me in the third floor classroom after dinner. Bring your egg. - DG " He smiled, happy that he finally had the chance to thank Daphne for her brilliant idea for the first task. Daphne had been on his mind a lot recently, Harry realized. While Harry spent almost every night in the forgotten classroom, Daphne had in the past two weeks began to show up every other night or so. Sometimes for just a few minutes, other times for more than an hour. Normally she simply sat and watched him attempt new spells, giving him advice when he struggled if she was able to. But if she noticed him trying to learn a spell she thought was particularly useful she would join in and try it as well. Harry didn't mind the distraction at all. He even got a strange sense of satisfaction when he was able to help her cast a new spell correctly. He wondered if maybe that meant he would enjoy being a teacher, but also suspected that who he was teaching had a lot to do with his happiness while tutoring Daphne.
Harry realized that he needed to find a way to thank Daphne, but what? That thought stayed on his mind the rest of the day.
...
Daphne had made it to the empty classroom first and when Harry walked in was practicing the shield charm that he had showed her a few days ago. Harry watched her cast it and every time the shield started strong but quickly faded away. After the third attempt Harry noticed what she was doing wrong.
"Don't twist your wrist so much when you cast." Harry advised, startling Daphne who had been concentrating so hard she had not noticed him come in. She nodded and tried again. This time the shield came up and stayed that way. For a few moments Daphne inspected the shield, looking for flaws. Finding none she let it fade out and turned towards Harry and put her wand away, smiling at her accomplishment. Then, completely shocking Harry, she walked over to him and gave him a brief hug. He did not even think to return it before Daphne pulled away, ending the brief contact.
"Thanks, Potter. You did great in the tournament, too! I knew the parseltongue would work. So were you able to understand the dragon?" she asked excitedly.
"No, I wasn't even sure that the dragon understood me until she started sniffing her eggs. I was almost ready to try the other plan until that happened." Harry answered. "So, do you want to see the egg?"
"Of course I do." Harry set down a bag he had slung over his shoulder and opened it. Daphne looked a little awed when she finally was able to see the golden egg up close. Harry chose not to tell her anything about the egg, hoping that maybe she would be able to find out something about it that he was not able to. Finding that the top part was a latch, she slowly turned it as Harry recast the silencing charm on the room. As expected, the loud shrieking noise filled the room, causing them both to wince. Daphne, however, did not slam the egg shut like Harry had done. Instead she began to look at the inside of the egg which was filled with swirling lights and colors. After several minutes she closed the egg and looked at it with a thoughtful expression on her face. Harry was about to say something when she opened the egg again and then immediately closed it.
"So, what do you think?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure. I thought that maybe there was some kind of lock on it and you had to open it a certain way in order for it to work, but it looks like there is only one way to open it."
"So if it isn't about how you open it then there must be something you do once you open it."
"Probably. When is the next task?" Daphne asked.
"Not until the end of January. So I have a while to figure it out."
"I doubt the egg is going to tell you how to beat the next part of the tournament, just to tell you what it is. So you better hope you can figure this out in the next couple of weeks."
"True." Harry gazed at the egg, deep in thought. "Open the egg again, I want to try something" Daphne nodded. opened the egg, and sat it down on a nearby desk. Harry smiled in thanks then raised his and said "Silencio!", casting the silencing charm on the egg. Immediately the shrieking noise stopped, but otherwise the egg remained the same.
"What did you think that would do?" Daphne asked.
"I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe I should try some other spells on it. How about Incendio?"
"You want to set the egg on fire?"