"Harry, you still have your Gringotts key, right?" I asked with a type of deadly calm in my voice not unlike Snape. But he was also the same person who gave me detention until Christmas. I guess even he had a little bit of a heart. If he didn't, I most likely would've been serving it until the year was over.
"Yeah... why?" Harry asked.
"Because you're going to need some serious Galleons to bail me out of Azkaban once I murder a reporter bitch with an ostrich neck," I said, immediately getting to my feet. Both Harry and and Hermione grabbed my arms, and reluctantly, I sat back down.
"Are you kidding me? You gave her no fucking interview and she turns it into this!" I exclaimed, poinitng at the paper. "This bullshit account of you still crying over your parents and that this tournament isn't a big deal cause they're 'watching over you.' This may be just me, but I find that insulting. To not only you, but the mother and father who died to save their child. Lemme just..." I had to take several deep breaths.
"I honestly don't give a damn about what Skeeter printed. I expected you to be more upset over the other article," Harry said, making me stop in my paced breathing to look at him sharply.
"I'm almost afraid to ask. What other article?" I asked.
"You know Bagman spilled about you being my ward to Rita, right?" Harry asked, making my eyes widen.
"What?" I said, my tone formed into a type of hard disbelief. I didn't exactly make it known that I wanted to make it a secret, it was something I wouldn't have liked to announce to the world.
"Turn about five pages over," Harry said. I immediately did that.
"'Robert Morgan - Guardian or Bad Example?'" I read aloud. "Holy fuck, I'm already disgusted."
"'As many people know the presence of Robert Morgan at Hogwarts happened three years ago when, from some twist of fate, was not affected by the centuries old charms made for repelling Muggles like him. As to why this happened, we can only speculate, but there are more pressing matters.'"
"Due to some information from a Ministry member working with the tournament, he mentioned to me that Robert Morgan let slip that he was Harry Potter's ward due to his outrage of finding out that he was forced to compete in this tournament.' Well thank fuck she at least got that part right. Maybe it'll shut some people up."
"However, there is the possibility that this is an act. Earlier reports accounting for Harry's Potter's place of residence were unaccounted for, and they still remain unknown today. This is possibly due to Mr. Morgan's desire for no one to know what goes on behind the scenes of his home.' Oh, God. I can already tell I'm not going to like this."
"From the interview of multiple students, several reported Mr. Potter dressed in rather baggy clothes upon his introduction into Hogwarts.' She better not go there. I dare her to go there..."
"Over the course of Christmas vacation, he did not stay within the castle grounds for the holidays, and this was immediately fixed. However, could this have an attempt to avoid raising suspicion? Given Mr. Potter's earlier, and rather concerning thin state in his first year, it is entirely possible that-"
I immediately stopped. I had no choice because, with an unconscious jerk of the hands, I tore the paper right in half. The look on my face was murderous. I was staring forward, but for everything I could see, I might as well should've been staring at blood.
"Robert..."
"I'm trying everything I have to stay calm. It's not helping me very much because I do not want to be calm. That vile piece of trash..." I growled, my tone making me sound like more monster than man. "...is suggesting that I was to blame for how Harry looked. She assumed that I wasn't taking care of him and was neglecting him. I enjoy putting fuckers like those in the ground. In pieces. And she... argh!"
I slammed my fists on the table hard, startling every student that was at our table while knocking off food, plates, and cutlery in the process. I didn't even spare them a glance. I was way too pissed off to even care.
"She better not come back. I want her to come back here. If she does, and I catch her..." The vicious look on my face was replaced with something more sinister. Laughter. I just began to laugh like I was the Joker's cousin. The look on my face looked very much mad. Not angry mad, but insane mad.
"Calm down. You're beginning to scare the crap out of me," Hermione said, making my laugh subside to chuckles. "Stop. I think I'd prefer Angry Robert at this point. We'll get this sorted out."
"Oh, we're definitely going to get this sorted out. Right. Now," I growled, getting up from my seat angry. I then snatched the paper from the hands of a Ravenclaw. I ignored their exclamation for me to return. I ended up passing Fleur and Aurore out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't pay attention to them. I let the angry look on my face explain everything.
"I need to discuss something with you," I immediately told Dumbledore, my tone not shifting from anger. I got several stares from multiple teachers, but again, I ignored them.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Read this," I said, handing him the article. His eyes skimmed over it before looking back at me, his look unnaturally serious. The twinkle that was normally in his eyes was not there. It seemed he read in between the thinly veiled lines like I had.
"Albus?" McGonagall asked, looking over at Dumbledore when she saw the expression on his face.
"Minvera, do me a favor and owl Rita Skeeter back here. There's something rather... pressing we need to discuss," Dumbledore said in his regular calm and polite tone. But there was one little detail. He spoke lower than normal. It might be seen as this insignificant detail to most, but I was smarter than that. Low tones were often deadly tones. Dumbledore was far from happy from what he saw. Not as visually angry as I was, but rather... passive aggressive. Coming from this man, it was enough.
"If you want that foul piece of trash to avoid getting hurt, you better not put me in the same room with her. You better bind me, keep me out of the room, whatever. Cause I'm not going to be civil about this," I growled, tapping a furious finger on the paper.
"Severus, please make Mr. Morgan some of your strongest Calming Draughts. With this bit of news, he is going to need it. I shall rebuy the ingreidents myself," Dumbledore said. Snape nodded and gestured for me to follow him. He didn't say a word as we walked to his office while I was still fuming from the article. He didn't speak at all until he started inserting ingredients into a cauldron.
"Do you plan on making this a reoccuring thing?" he questioned.
"Hopefully not. I want to be able to stay calm without needing potions. Because the main problem is that I really don't want to stay calm," I told him.
"Judging from Dumbledore's actions, something rather... displeasurable happened?" Snape asked.
"You could say that," I said, my snarl still on my face. "Do you have a copy of the Prophet?"
He pointed a long finger at his desk, and the copy was still there in its unrolled form.
"Around the waiting period for the Draught, read page nine. You'll see why I'm pissed off," I said, gripping my hands tightly.
"Skeeter writes slandering articles about she doesn't remotely like all the time," Snape said calmly as he began to heat the cauldron.
"This goes beyond slander. We need a new word, because this is astronomically infuriating. I was serious about what I said about Skeeter. I see that woman, I'm going to punch first and then once I feel she's bleeding enough, I'll force her to retract that article. How dare that woman..." I said, my nails beginning to dig into my palms.
"Grip this," Snape said, handing me a disregarded quill he transfigured into a brick. I then held the brick as tightly as I could with my left hand. Seconds later, the brick broke in my hands. Snape looked back up after hearing the crack before sighing.
"Should've charmed it," he said idly.
"First the tournament, and now this pathetic excuse for a human being. How much more crap do I have to deal with this year? I swear, I wanna find whoever put my name in that goblet SO bad. I could use him to deal with my more violent urges," I said, making Snape look at me with a raised eyebrow.
"You rely on torture to remove your violent feelings?" he asked.
"Not normally. Usually I invent, talk to Harry, get some combat or shooting practice, Quidditch, things of that nature. Since that asshole is trying to kill us by putting us in this tournament in the first place, I'd say he deserves to die a slow, painful death. And I'm more than happy to provide it," I said darkly.
"You need more than a Calming Draught. You need therapy," Snape told me.
"You're about four years too late for that," I said, tapping the desk impatiently.
"Stop that," he told me.
"I need something to distract myself. I can't hit anything cause I don't want to break your stuff. I have nothing to grip. And I am filled to the brim pissed the fuck off with no way to healthily disperse it," I told him.
"And you reckon beating the reporter who wrote the article is healthy?" Snape retorted evenly.
"Read the article. I'd say it's a logical reaction. You'd be upset too if you were me," I told him.
"You should really employ Occlumency more," Snape told me.
"I should, but I don't think about it. I just think about how pissed off I am," I told him.
"And that's the perfect time to think about it," Snape told me before pausing. "Alright, let me see about this article you're fuming over."
I was silent the entire time Snape ran his eyes over the article. His eyes never left the paper other than to stir the potion a few times. After he finished, he set the article down calmly. But I could see that his face formed into a displeased sneer before burning the paper wordlessly with a wave of his wand.
"That is worth causing pain over," he said.
"Told you," I said.
"If you do end up get arrested for beating her near to death, I'm willing to ignore the fact that you did not show up to my detentions," Snape said dryly, making me snort. That sentence cheered me up a little.
"Thanks. But hopefully this Draught calms me down. I'm trying to use Occlumency now, but I think I let the idea stew too long. I can't get control of my emotions," I told him.
"This Draught should help. It's much more powerful that your average one. For you, it's necessary," Snape said, adding more ingredients to the potion.
"You think it can calm me down to the point where I'm in a coma?" I questioned.
"That would require a lot more armadillo bile," Snape said. I only threw my head back.
After about a few more minutes, he gave me a cup full of the liquid. I downed the whole thing in seconds before slamming it on the table. I immediately felt my body relax more as well as my attitude, but I could still feel a little prickling of anger buzzing in my skull. I could live with that.
"Better?" Snape questioned.
"Better," I confirmed with a nod.
"Skeeter better be glad it did," Snape said.
"No, I'm still going to hurt her. Bones will break. I'm just going to hurt her a little bit less. Plus my body feels calmer, so I can relax a little," I told him.
"Then drink again," Snape told me.
"I thought you said it's worth causing pain over?" I questioned.
"Does not mean you should do it. As entertaining as it would be to see, you shouldn't," Snape told me, making me sigh. He was right. So I ladled more of the Calming Draught into my cup and drunk from it again. The buzzing anger began to dull to the point where I could barely feel my anger.
"Ok, it's a lot better. Hopefully if I do see her, I won't get set off all over again. That would make this rather redundant," I said.
"Quite. Besides the violence, what do you reckon you'll do once you see here?" Snape asked.
"Probably cuss that heifer out so bad, the ball in the back of my throat is gonna get sore. If she's lucky, I won't do much at all. The students are in for a show if this happens outside," I said in a slightly moody tone. "But if Dumbledore takes care of this situation, I won't even have to face her. However, I give no promises for what happens if she comes back on these grounds again. By then, this Draught will have worn off. And then I will go ape shit."
"You're not helping your situation by beating reporters," Snape told me.
"It'll make me feel a hell of a lot better though. Christ, I just wish people would leave me in peace. Then again, I've been on the ass end of Fate's fortune ever since I was thirteen. Parents die. I lose all of my family. I lived a pathetic shitty life of being nothing but a law breaking 'hero.' I use the term loosely. Some part of me wishes I was in that car with my parents. Maybe life wouldn't suck so bad," I said in a moody tone while looking down at the desk under me.
"And where would Mr. Potter be now if you didn't?" Snape asked subtly, making me sigh.
"Point is well taken. Still. Just wish life could be better for me. Peaceful. For once," I said.
"I learned a long time ago that some people in the world may never find peace," Snape said, making my face form into a grim line.
"Isn't that the truth? Still, doesn't make it right for someone who's done good things. No matter people may think of my rather violent side, I am a good person. People just bring out my unpleasant side over and over and over again. They can judge all they want, but if they know the things I've seen, what I've been through... trust me, they wouldn't judge," I explained before shaking my head. "Sorry, I'm ranting. I tend to get like this sometimes."
"It's better to get it out like this than angrily and violently," Snape told me.
"Debatable. At least when you do it that way, people pay attention," I told him.
"That is unfortunately true," Snape said before covering the Draught with a lid. "Take a walk around the castle. Come back if you're starting to get angry again."
"My senses are a bit dulled right now cause of that Draught, so it's kind of hard for me to feel much of anything right now other than depression," I told him.
"Maybe that dosage was a little too much. If necessary, have Flitwick cast a Cheering Charm on you. It should dull the more depressing side effects," Snape said.
"Will do. Thanks Severus," I told him.
"Professor," Snape corrected. I actually smiled a little.
"Ok, Pro-fes-sor," I said, breaking the word up purposefully. I then walked out, my spirits somewhat higher. Snape wasn't half bad at cheering people up. At least in my case.
I decided to go ahead and take Snape's suggestion to walk. I walked for what felt like hours rather than minutes. I felt just... here at the moment. Like I was a ghost; more observing than actually living. Then I felt the buzz of my phone in my pocket. My phone automatically teleported to my pocket when it was ringing, so it helped for avoiding missing calls.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Where are you?" Harry asked over the other line.
"Walking. Trying to calm down," I said.
"Is it working?" Harry asked.
"I don't feel as angry as I did before, so yeah. Though that could be the doses of Calming Draught I just had," I said.
"That's good, at the very least. What are you doing to do about what Skeeter wrote?" Harry asked.
"Hopefully I won't have to do anything. Dumbledore didn't look too happy about it when I showed him, so hopefully this'll all work out," I told him.
"Dumbledore knows how to work magic in these kinds of situations," Harry said, his tone light. "No pun intended."
"Yeah, but hopefully he knows how to deal with a snake like Skeeter. If not, I will. And she will regret what she wrote if it comes to that. Every time I see her, she'll be spending all of her time visiting Madam Pomfrey," I said darkly.
"Actually, I have a better idea. That is, if Dumbledore doesn't contain this. Depending on how well I do on the first task, there may be something I can exploit. Under normal circumstances I hate using my fame, but I hate Skeeter even more now," Harry said, making me raise an eyebrow.
"Go on," I asked, my tone curious.
"Given that I have 'The Boy Who Lived' bullshit as well as being a Triwizard Champion, who's to say I can't use that to drag Skeeter's name through the mud?" Harry questioned, making me grin.
"I like the sound of this. We get another reporter, give him an interview, and make Skeeter look like a plum fool. Given to how people are willing to believe anything if it's simply printed, honesty does not have to be taken into account. Much, at least. We'll need more than just our statements, however," I told him.
"Already thought of that. I've already made a request in for the police reports involving the Dursleys. I asked Hermione's parents, and they're fine with receiving the reports through their post and sending them our way through owl," Harry said, making me smile pridefully.
"Congrats Harry. You have officially become a snake in a lion's mane," I told him.
"Why thank you. I'm certainly more Slytherin than Malfoy. And I'm a bloody Gryffindor. Trust me. We'll make the bitch pay for that article," Harry said in an angry tone. "You're not the only one who was pissed off after seeing that article."
"You did a damn good job of hiding it," I told him.
"Thank Hermione for that. That's the only reason I didn't blow my top," Harry said, making me smile.
"Oh, I didn't realize it was like that," I said with a teasing tone.
"Shut up," Harry said after a brief pause. I could tell his face was red. "Anyway, do you think you can survive that long?"
"With the promise of vengeance that's in store for Skeeter, I'll be more than fine. If this goes as well as I'm hoping, she won't ever have a job as far as reporting goes ever again. I'm loads happier now," I said with a bright smile.
"I thought that would cheer you up. I'm glad I was right. Everything's all set up except for the reporter to call. Hopefully, if the first task goes well, it'll go over even smoother. I know Skeeter'll be there for the first task, but so will our man. Or woman. I wasn't privy as to which. We'll give them the interview that they're looking for right in front of some people. We'll have the reports with us, a copy of the the article she wrote, and give our statements. If he or she knows how to make it sound as twisted as possible, it'll be glorious," Harry explained with an evil laugh.
"I've taught you well. I'm going to start crying tears of joy," I said with a wide grin.
"Don't. Doesn't help your image," Harry said, his grin showing through his voice. "Survive until the first task. If Dumbledore doesn't get her, we will."
"I welcome the day. This is so much better than hurting her. You see, bullet wounds and broken bones will eventually heal. But incriminating statements along with the right reporter? If not retracted, that kind of damage will never be repaired. It's something so... me. Something truly beautiful is happening to you..." I said in a mock tearful voice.
"Yeah, I'm becoming more like you. Hopefully, this doesn't lead to anything serious happens while this article is up," Harry said.
"Yeah. Like me getting arrested. I really don't want to have to embarrass the Department of Law Enforcement by beating their asses and escaping," I told him. "Hopefully, people have brain cells that do not consist of a single digit and won't believe the article. The Slytherins'll probably give me flak for it because they're a bunch of jackasses. Hopefully, the other Houses'll have more sense."
"Also, you've seemingly made some French friends. They saw you when you stormed up to Dumbledore, and after looking at the article, they can see why you're upset," Harry said.
"Where are they now?" I asked.
"Think they said something about going back to their carriage," Harry said as I stopped and looked up where I knew Dumbledore's office was. I then summoned my grapple gun.
"If you see em, tell em I'll talk to them later. Right now, I have something to take care of. See ya Harry," I said as I fired the gun.
"See ya," he said, ending the call. The gun propelled me up to where I was hanging in front of Dumbledore's window. Using one hand, I opened the window and swung myself inside before making the gun disappear. A rather savage smile crossed my face as I looked at Rita Skeeter standing in front of Dumbledore's desk. Oh, this was perfect.
"Well, well. What do we have here?" I said with a humored tone that had a dark level to it.
"Um..." A more worried look crossed her face when she saw the expression on my face. "On second thought Dumbledore, I think I ought to..."
"Oh, no," I said, forcing her to sit in a chair. "You're going to sit right here and let Dumbledore tell you what you are going to do. Because your second option is me, and if it weren't for Snape giving me those doses of Calming Draught, I'd be sending you to Madam Pomfrey for the next few weeks. Sit. Listen. Do. Because unlike the other names you've dragged through the mud, I have no problem making you hurt. Physically, mentally, and emotionally," I finished before nodding at Dumbledore. "She's yours."
"I see you're noticing he's not happy about the article you wrote," Dumbledore said rather evenly.
"I was just-" I held up a hand to stop her as I walked around to face her.
"Your duty is report the truth, NOT salacious stories made to make yourself look good. I'll tell you right now. I refuse to let you get away with that," I said before shaking my head. "Continue Dumbledore."
"Rather than punish you for this, I'd much rather give you the truth of the situation. You will have your story and you will not point the finger at the wrong person," Dumbledore said, making me look at Dumbledore with a stunned look. I expected him to force him to make her retract the story and right an apology. Not... placate her.
"Then... what is the truth?" Rita said, her expression becoming interested while pulling out a notepad and her Quick-Quotes Quill.
"Not. That. Quill," I said with a deadly undertone. Rita immediately put it back in her bag while Dumbledore handed her a regular one. I only groaned before heading towards the window. This was a shorter visit than I expected to have. But before I left, I pointed at Skeeter.
"I'm going to warn you. You print anything less than the truth about anyone that I know, and I will carry out my first threat. Calming Draughts or no," I said before leaping out of the window. I landed on the ground hard, but I didn't feel any of the force due to the fluid layer in my boots absorbing all of the harm the fall would've done to me.
I rose to look straight ahead, and several Durmstrang students happened to be walking together. Judging by the slightly shocked look and their posture, they backed up when I landed near them.
"Sorry. I was too lazy to take the stairs," I said before beginning to walk off.
"Ve need to 'ave a vord vith you," one of the Durmstrang students said. I turned around to face them before stuffing my hands in my pockets.
"Alright, shoot," I said before tensing as they had drawn their wands. "Hey, hey. I didn't mean literally."
"Ve are doing you a favor. If you are literally unable to compete, the contract should not affect you," one of them said. I frowned. Fucking liar. I didn't even need to watch his physical reaction to know that. That, or he was just incredibly stupid.
"That's not how it works," I told them. My words seemed to have no effect as I had to dodge three dark blue curses. "Fine then."
I drew my grapple gun and pulled as hard as I could to launch one of them in the air. I then jumped to meet his body, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed him down on the ground with my knees on his ribs. I heard several vicious cracks, but I didn't slow down. I then went over to the last two students before grabbing their wand hands and forcing them to bump heads.
I grabbed one of the students by the throat before socking him in the ribs twice, breaking both of the ones I aimed at before kicking him out of my grip, knocking him unconscious. Then, drawing a combat knife, I turned around to the last student, cut his wand in half with a swift cut before stabbing him in the knee.
He grunted in pain from the pain of it while being forced on one knee. I made the knife disappear before punching him in the face hard enough to break all the teeth on the right side of his face. He then tried to rise to his feet while spitting out several broken teeth. My response was to sock him in the back of the head to knock him unconscious.
"Bastards. It's not like I want to be in this stupid tournament," I said as I rubbed my wrists. I then grabbed two of them and put them on each of my shoulders before laying one across my neck.
"Not as beefy as your furs make you look," I said as I began to walk around to head into the castle. My first destination was Madam Pomfrey. The idea of leaving them unconscious here did cross my mind, but I wanted to make sure they got the story right. That they attacked me first and I defended myself. Viciously, but effectively.
I had to kick open the door to get it open once I reached her office, and she came out of a separate room, looking irritated.
"What is-" She immediately halted in her words before looking at me and the unconscious Durmstrang students I was holding. "Oh, great Merlin. Do you always have to send someone here every year?"
"Hey, at least it's not Malfoy this time," I said, putting them on beds.
"Yes. You've already done that one. He had to take Skel-Gro to get his teeth back, and the ribs took no time at all," Pomfrey said.
"He won't be the only one who's going to need Skel-Gro," I said as I laid the last Durmstrang student down.
"Did this one call one of your friends that word as well?" Madam Pomfrey said. It seemed she was just as disgusted by the use of the word as I was.
"No. They attacked me. They were under the impression that if I was literally unable to compete, that the contract wouldn't effect me," I said, shaking my head. "They're either lying or complete idiots. I would put money on the first. Guess Slytherin isn't the only one who has some bias in them."
"Apparently. I don't know how many people are going to have to learn the hard way that they're not going to beat you just because they can do magic and you can't," Madam Pomfrey said.
"A lot more, knowing my luck. It's ok. I'll make sure you keep busy," I said with a grin, making her roll her eyes.
"Charming. Very charming," Madam Pomfrey said dryly.
"Don't I know it?" I said with a grin.
"Yes, well anyway... have you seen the Prophet?" she asked, making my grin disappear.
"Uh huh. It's being dealt with. I have to say, if it weren't for Severus making me a Calming Draught, you'd be nursing Skeeter as well," I told her.
"What makes you think I would want to nurse her?" Madam Pomfrey said, making me grin. "Considering the way Mr. Potter looks at you with admiration, there's no possible way that what she said is true."
"Yes, but the outside world doesn't know that. I'd rather not have this lead to a more official clusterfuck," I said, making Madam Pomfrey shake her head.
"When you're upset, you sure have quite the language," she told me.
"I always talk like this. I just don't around you most of the time. Inform me once Karkaroff finds his students. I would like to talk to him," I told her.
"About what?" Madam Pomfrey asked me.
"That if he doesn't keep his students in line, they're going to keep getting hurt. I have to deal with this tournament unwillingly. I don't need these fools making matters worse," I told her.
"I'll do that for you," Pomfrey said, making me nod in a thankful fashion. Then I walked out.
And came face to face with Parkingson. I eyed her just as distastefully just as much as she eyed me.
"Great. Just what I needed," she said.
"I have no patience to be called a filthy Muggle. Move bitch," I said, purposefully bumping her shoulder hard as I passed her. For her saying what she said, that was a dick move, but I didn't care. The day I would stop being rude to a Slytherin was the day one was actually civil to me. I wasn't holding my breath on that happening.
Apparently, Skeeter knows how to move fast if you threaten her the right way. Within hours we got a copy of the new Prophet. I looked at it apprehensively, almost afraid of what I would be reading.
"You reckon she actually reported the truth?" Harry asked.
"I wouldn't hold my breath. One way to find out though," I said before glancing at the title. "'Dark Truths Brought To The Light.' Promising title. Let's see."
"'An apology goes out to Robert Morgan for the first article. It was a mistake printing a gut instinct in the paper-' More like defacement, but good enough. 'But I have the real answer to Mr. Potter's guardianship.'"
"'After Mr. Potter lost his parents, his only living relatives, his aunt and uncle took him in. Initially, this sounded like a sweet gesture. But I was proven gravely wrong when Headmaster Dumbledore approached me on the matter.'"
"'You see, they were in fact responsible for the numerous signs of neglect that were shown on Mr. Potter's body, given the evidence I viewed on a Muggle Auror report. Mr. Morgan had no knowledge of Mr. Potter's existence until his mission to sneak into Hogwarts. With excellent persuasion skills to coerce the truth from Mr. Potter, Mr. Morgan immediately acted; an act that was entirely not on his agenda when he arrived.' I'll give her one thing. She can either make you look really good or really bad."
"'His intention, upon learning this news, was to immediately act. Mr. Morgan is, to no witch or wizard's immediate knowledge, is actually quite rich and famous in the Muggle world. He is, essentially, the Harry Potter of the Muggle world.' Oh, sweet mother of God..."
"It's better than her dragging your name through the mud," Harry said.
"That's true, but I'm still cringing a little," I said before going back to the article. "'So, through his power, he got the this evil Muggle family arrested and took Mr. Potter into his own care. Regardless of his young age.'"
"'Given how Mr. Morgan is essentially, a very eligible bachelor, it is unknown why he took Mr. Potter into his care. It could not be because of his fame; we the people, only learned of his responsibility as Mr. Potter's guardian only recently due to his desire to remove him from the Tournament. I only see that Mr. Morgan cares for Mr. Potter as a father would his son, which isn't a common trait among the rich and famous. And it is more than likely Mr. Morgan will do whatever he can to protect Mr. Potter as much as he can during this Tournament.'"
"'Once again, you have my apologies Mr. Morgan. You protected one of the wizarding world's most iconic figures with selfless intentions. I would label you as a hero.' Ok, there isn't much left. I can put it down," I said, dropping the paper.
"Wasn't half bad though," Harry said, idly taking a bite of steak and kidney pie.
"Yes, but I cringed so hard on some of those lines. 'The Harry Potter of the Muggle world.' You serious?" I questioned, causing Hermione and Harry to snicker.
"Now that you mention it, it does sound kind of ridiculous," Hermione said, making me shake my head.
"You are both assholes," I said, rubbing my temples with my eyes closed. "At least the world doesn't think I abuse my child."
"Eet sounds weird when you say zat," I heard Fleur say. I snapped my eyes open to look straight at Fleur and Aurore.
"It's true though. He's essentially my dad," Harry said, jerking a thumb at me. I simply raised my goblet of pumpkin juice.
"Cheers," I said, taking a drink.
"Given that this happened three years ago, you were sixteen when you took responsibility over him," Aurore said.
"That's right," I told her.
"You're a lot older than your actual age," Aurore said.
"That makes a ton of sense," I said sarcastically before gesturing to some of the empty seats around her. "Take a seat. Does no good for you to stand."
"Ok," Aurore said before promptly sitting in my lap. Hermione and Harry tilted their heads at Aurore, looks of disbelief on their faces. I blinked at Aurore in a perplexed fashion. Fleur put a hand over her face and shook her head.
"You said take a seat," Aurore said in an unaffected tone.
"I didn't say on me," I said dryly.
"You didn't say I couldn't," Aurore said as she snatched a chunk of my chicken. I glared at her before she gave me puppy dog eyes. I then looked at Fleur.
"I should be the one teaching Divination, because this was absurdly accurate," I said, gesturing towards Aurore. Fleur only chuckled before taking a seat next to Hermione, who didn't exactly look thrilled.
"What?" Aurore said after swallowing the chunk of food she stole. "It's not like you don't enjoy having a lovely woman on your lap."
"No, cause you aren't doing anything but putting extra weight on my leg and snatching my food," I said, her only response being to shrug before looking at Fleur.
"Fleur, come join me. His leg is surprisingly comfy," Aurore said.
"Don't you dare," I said, glaring at Fleur. She raised her hands in surrender.
"I was not zinking of eet," she said, making me nod in satisfaction. Aurore groaned.
"You're no fun sometimes," she said, before looking over at some students who were staring at us. "What are you looking at? You act like you've never seen a public lap dance before?"
Hermione nearly choked on the pumpkin juice she put in her mouth while Harry clamped his mouth shut to avoid laughing. For the first time in what felt like ever, my cheeks burned. I haven't met anyone like this since... well, Tonks. I mentally slapped myself as I tried not to think about that.
"It's not a real lap dance unless you're half clothed or not clothed at all," I responded in a dry tone to relieve some of my embarrassment. Harry couldn't back his laughter anymore and immediately let loose. Aurore slapped me on the back of the head.
"Naughty boy," she said. But she was smirking. "I like it."
"Should we escort you two to somewhere more private? Just don't mind if we take a few photos," Fred and George suddenly said, coming up and holding their hands in a mock camera position.
"Oh, son of a taint," I said, shaking my head. "Aurore, go take a seat. An actual seat."
"You're telling me this isn't a seat?" Aurore said, wiggling her butt on my leg. Fred and George wolf whistled while Harry was in tears from laughing.
"No, it isn't. Please take a seat," I told her through gritted teeth.
"Please is the magic word," Aurore said, getting up to go sit next to Fleur.
"I told you she was too much sometimes," she told me.
"I regret not taking it seriously. This was something astronomical," I said before pointing at Aurore. "I underestimated you. I won't do so again."
"I'm counting on it," Aurore said with a wink before laughing. "Alright, I'm done with that. That was just fun. If I had done that to just about any guy in this Hall, I would've more than likely felt the front of their pants bulge."
"You're more than likely right. But we've discussed this already," I told her before looking at Fleur. "Can we get to a conversation more sane?"
"My pleasure. I see you got your article situated. I confess myself impressed yet again," Fleur said, making me shrug.
"Felt like something that had to be done at the time. Besides, it's worth it to take care of this knucklehead. Even if he does infuriate me," I said, smacking the back of his skull. "That's for laughing like a hyena."
"You tell me you wouldn't if she did the same to me?" Harry questioned rhetorically.
"That's not the point. You laughed. Therefore, I punish you," I told him, taking a bite of my chicken.
"Judging from what just happened a few minutes ago, shouldn't you be punishing her?" Harry said with a dirty smirk. This time, Aurore went red as Fred, George, and Harry howled with laughter. Hermione and Fleur looked embarrassed just sitting here. I punched him in the arm hard enough to hurt him.
"Ouch! Alright, I'm done," Harry said, still trying to get his chuckles to subside.
"Please and thank you. Holy fuck," I said, putting my food down. "I need some air. Fleur, Hermione. Walk with me. I need some people with sanity right now."
"My pleasure," Fleur said, rising to her feet. Hermione also gladly got to her feet.
"I said we'll stop," Harry said, finally getting his chuckles to subside. I then looked at Fred and George.
"I don't believe those two will," I said, pointing at them.
"And you would be right," Fred said with a grin. I only shook my head before walking out of the Hall. As soon as I stepped into the sunlight, I rubbed my face.
"That... was something else," Hermione said.
"No kidding," I said, beginning to pace.
"You ok?" Fleur asked.
"It's been a while since I've felt that mortified. Aurore deserves a medal," I said, shaking my head.
"To 'er, eet is a talent," Fleur said.
"Apparently. Anyway, let's focus on something that's more sane. Fleur, this Hermione. Hermione, Fleur," I said, gesturing between the two.
"You were the one that laughed during Dumbledore's speech," she said. Fleur had the decency to look somewhat abashed.
"Apologies for zat. Ze attitude I eemploy is a mask, if you will," she said.
"A mask?" Hermione questioned.
"Eet is far easier to keep away more... undesirable people zat way," Fleur said.
"Yes, but it's also a good way to keep away the more desirable ones as well," Hermione reminded her.
"I was not 'ere to make friends initially," Fleur told him.
"Things don't often go the way we want them to. Whether it's good or bad is up to fate," I said, holding my arms out to the world as if I were receiving it.
"Eeccentric and philosopical," Fleur said, making me smile.
"I try," I said.
"A little too much, to be honest. He's either extremely violent or extremely political. I don't know which one is worse at times," Hermione said.
"They're both very powerful tools. So I use them," I said simply. Before Fleur could speak, there was an exclamation behind them.
"Oi! You three doing anything I would do?!" Fred roared at us with George right next to him, who was sniggering.
"If I go to Azkaban, bail me out," I told Fleur and Hermione before politely moving past them. Then I started running like an angry bull. "Fred!" Even as he was running and he had no hope of outrunning me, he was still laughing. I couldn't help it. I was laughing too as I caught him. Things felt a lot lighter than they were when I first found out when I had to participate in this tournament. I was glad for that.