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Author notes: these character are property of JK Rowling

 

This is a slow shrink story - Harry will be much much smaller by the end. Starting heights as follows:

 

Harry - 5'11, Ginny 5'2, Ron 6'5, Hermione 5'6

 

All feedback appreciated! Hope you enjoy it

 

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"Honestly, Ronald," huffed Hermione.

 

"I'm just saying - there's no way Krum misses the World Cup semi-finals. It's dead suspicious," said Ron, appealing to Hagrid and Harry. "What do you think?"

 

Harry grinned - he knew Hermione wouldn't get the importance of Quidditch. "I reckon he's been kidnapped by a Crumple-Horned Snorkack!" Hermione gave a snort, somewhere between derision and amusement. Hagrid appreciated the joke more, letting out a merry guffaw. He was in high spirits, celebrating with the trio their exciting news.

 

"You and Ron, Aurors and adults! I'm proud of yer both. Only seems like yesterday you kids were causing all sorts of mischief at Hogwarts, and now Ron here's nearly a half-giant himself!"

 

Hagrid raised a toast to Harry and Ron, and drained his tankard in a gulp. Hermione beamed, forgetting the debate for the moment. Harry thought on the two years of training now completed; the gruelling study and exercise, the sleep lost - and come to think of it, the weight lost too. All worth it, to fight the dark magic of new enemies - and possibly old…

 

"Give me a hand with the next round, Harry," said Hagrid. They set off for the bar, Hagrid parting the crowd with ease, Harry hurrying to match Hagrid's pace. As they reached the bar, Harry stumbled and balanced himself - he had stepped on his own robe. How had that happened? This kind of thing was a regular occurrence in the past when he had worn Dudley's larger clothes. Maybe the robes had stretched?

 

"Good thing you weren't holding any drinks yet," chortled Hagrid, steadying Harry. "We'll get four Butterbeers."

 

"Five - Ginny will be here any moment."

 

"Surprised she's not here already - it's a big night for you!"

 

Harry privately agreed. Ginny often joked that she had two lovers - Harry and Quidditch. Thinking of the joke, an involuntary smile crossed Harry's face.

 

"Truth be told Harry, I wanted a word with you before she got here." Now Hagrid's face was serious. "She worries about you, y'know. About your job. About your enemies."

 

Harry was very aware. If Ginny's vice was Quidditch, then Harry's was peril. It was worrying enough that he fought Dark Wizards weekly - but when Harry started searching out rumours of old Death Eaters, thought dead but still alive, Ginny put her foot down. "I need to know you're not going looking for them. I need your word.

 

Hagrid seemed to have read Harry's mind. "Those enemies are best left in the past, believe me. Don't go looking for trouble now Harry, ain't nothing worth upsetting Ginny over."

 

"I won't. I gave her my word." But Harry didn't quite meet Hagrid's eye, instead setting off back toward the table. It was true enough. Harry had done more than give his word; he had made an Unbreakable Vow. He had promised Ginny that he would not go looking for Voldemort's old followers, and they had sealed it with a spell. But recklessness was always in Harry's temperament. A search through the newspapers here, an inquiry of a colleague there. "Surely that doesn't count as actually looking," he uneasily told himself. Seemingly the Vow agreed. This being deep and mysterious magic, Harry had never found out the consequence for breaking the Vow, beyond Ron winding him up. Yet he had not been struck by lightning, covered in boils, or otherwise afflicted, and so he satisfied himself that he had brushed close to the line but never crossed it.

 

"An Unbreakable Vow?!" exclaimed Hermione, shocking Harry out of his reverie. How did she know?

 

"Yes! Krum broke the Vow, and now he can't play!" False alarm. Ron and Hermione were back to their argument about Quidditch, and Harry settled himself onto the stool, curious. Ron explained how top-tier professional Quidditch players made Unbreakable Vows to forsake all illicit substances and game-rigging. The more he explained, the more incredulous Hermione's face grew.

 

"But breaking the Vow is so unpredictable - they can't! That's unethical! That's unbelievable! That's-"

 

"That's Hermione not getting Quidditch again!" laughed a comforting voice behind Harry. He turned to face Ginny, her red hair wet and wavy from the rain. She leaned down to peck Harry on the lips, before jumping onto the wide stool with him. "Sounds like you're all gossipping about Vicky? If only you knew a Quidditch reporter who had interviewed him this evening…" She left the sentence hanging, savouring Harry and Ron's reactions.

 

"You're joking!"

 

"That's incredible!"

 

"What's the story? Where's he been?"

 

"Did he actually break the Vow?"

 

Ginny paused, then gave an excited nod. Ron gaped. Harry kept his face blank, trying to not betray his thoughts. I'm about to find out the consequence of breaking the Vow. Aiming for a nonchalant air, he asked what happened to Krum.

 

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Ginny reached into her purse. The boys were mystified. She pulled out a little toy Krum figurine-

 

Except it wasn't a figurine. It was Krum himself. 3-inches tall, in the palm of Ginny's hand.

 

"He's been taking Felix Felicis in the games this season."

 

"And so he's-"

 

"Shrunk, yeah. That's why he's not been at the games - he's been too small to catch a Snitch!"

 

"Catch a snitch? He's small enough to be a Snitch himself," Ron crowed, pleased to have won - but Hermione didn't react. She gazed down at her former boyfriend, a strange look on her face.

 

"Herm-own-nee." Krum climbed down from Ginny's hand, and approached Hermione cautiously - almost reverently, as if she were the international Quidditch star, and he the star-struck fan. Ron eyed him now with animosity. Ginny launched into an explanation of how Krum's agent asked her to break the story gently, but for Harry her voice faded into the distance...

 

Because now it all made sense. The tripping on his robes; the weight he had lost at Auror training. He hadn't gotten away with breaking the Unbreakable Vow at all; just like Krum, he was slowly shrinking away.

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