Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 3: Speaking of Harry Black

9 July 1994
4 Privet Drive
8:00 a.m.

Lily frowned menacingly at the misshapen eggs in the skillet in front of her. Her breakfast of choice was Eggs Benedict with a side of bacon, but she no longer had the benefit of a house elf, and even before her marriage, cooking had never been her strong suit. Her own mother, the late Rose Evans, had been a rather good cook, but neither Lily nor Petunia had ever been interested in learning the skill. Hence the skillet full of rubbery scrambled eggs and burnt bacon. With a sigh, she transferred the food to three plates which she levitated over to the table with a flick of her wand.

James was already at the table, where he was reading that morning's Daily Prophet. He'd offered to help with the cooking, but Lily wanted to get the hang of it herself before teaching the Pureblood (who would be cooking for himself once school resumed) how to use the stove. He had mastered the electric toaster already (which he'd pronounced the most wonderful thing in the world), but Lily figured he'd need to be able to prepare more than toast by the end of August.

In response to her call, Jim came down the stairs in Gryffindor-themed pajama bottoms and a black t-shirt. She'd taken him clothes shopping a few weeks earlier, and Lily had been surprised that her normally outgoing son had taken to wearing lots of black. He also looked like he was still half-asleep, but none of the Potters had slept well in recent nights. With a loud yawn, the boy sat down at the small table and poured himself a glass of orange juice. He preferred pumpkin juice, but that simply wasn't available in the Muggle world. When he'd first asked a Muggle shop girl, she'd laughed at the idea that it was even possible to juice a pumpkin. And to be honest, Jim didn't know how pumpkin juice was made either. As he took a sip of orange juice, he opened the sports section of the Daily Prophet ... and immediately almost choked on the liquid.

"What's the matter?" James asked in concern. Jim coughed for a few seconds to clear his throat.

"Have either of you read this?!" he exclaimed.

"I picked it up just before you came down," James replied,

"I read the news before I started breakfast," Lily added. "It seems Elias Hucksteen has just been elected Governor-General of the American Wizarding Confederation. He seems rather disagreeable, but he can't be any worse than the people running our government."

"I don't mean that!" Jim snapped. "I'm talking about the sports section!"

He slapped the paper down on the table and turned it so his parents could see the headline.

NOVICE DUELIST HARRY BLACK DOMINATES PARIS TOURNAMENT!

Below the headline, there was a moving picture of Harry's incredible come-from-behind victory over Albert Yaxley.

"Harry beat Yaxley's kid?" James said with an odd sort of pride. "Good for him!"

Jim was less pleased.

"Yeah, he beat Yaxley and won the tournament, along with a 100 Galleon prize! And he used a Wu Xi Do move to do it!"

"Really?" Lily asked. "How can you tell?"

"Pfft! Look at the picture! He's been practicing the Tide Flows and Recedes technique! I've been doing that for a year already!"

"Jim, calm down," James said. "Why are you so upset?"

"Aside from the fact that Wu Xi Do is my thing and Harry's using it to win tournaments, there's also the 100 Galleon purse! I'm sure I could have beaten him if I'd been there, and we need 100 Galleons a lot more than he does!"

"Now Jim," Lily said. "You have enough to work on this summer without gallivanting off to France for something as silly as a dueling tournament. And you shouldn't be the one to worry about money. We'll be fine. We just need to ... tighten our belts a bit."