Refer Chapter 1 for disclaimers.
When they arrived for breakfast in the Great Hall the next morning, quite a few people were nudging and pointing when they saw that the Slytherin School delegation had grown by another four, and the two new male students were quite distinctive.
Minerva McGonagall had been let in on what was going to happen this time, and she was delighted that she was being allowed to play a part in this morning's little pantomime.
"Mister Weasley, what is going on here?"
Fred looked down at where their erstwhile brother was shovelling food in his mouth as if he feared that it was going to disappear at any second. As usual, he was concentrating so hard on his plate that he hadn't noticed what half of the Hall were talking about, or even that they were talking for that matter.
"Oi! Weasley! Your Housemistress is talking to you!"
Ron finally tore his attention away from his plate to shout back at Fred, spraying food out of his gob as he did so. "I ain't done nothin'! It's you two that…."
Fred was torn between hoping Ron was broken enough to stay silent and wanting him to make a bigger fool of himself. The second wish won out.
"You bloody traitors! You've deserted us to join Potter's slimy snake school… Just wait until Mum hears about this…"
He trailed off as Hermione had suddenly shot to her feet and hopped up onto the bench, craning her head as she frantically scanned the Slytherin table, then gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and stepped down. She pitched her voice so that the entire Hall heard what she said to Harry as she sat next to him again.
"No he's still there, I thought he must have stunned Ronald and left him somewhere as he used polyjuice to impersonate him… You know?… Oh honestly Harry! Like Ronald used polyjuice in Second Year to impersonate Crabbe to get into the Slytherin Common Room to try and find out whether Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin or not!"
Harry was shaking his head as he smiled fondly at her. "No I got the bit about using polyjuice Sweetie… Though in case you didn't notice, you just outed Ron for incapacitating Crabbe to get him out of the way so he could illegally enter the Slytherin Common Room polyjuiced as him and spy on the Idiot Formerly Known as Malfoy… But what I couldn't work out is who this mysterious 'he' is… Is there someone else? Should I be worried about losing you to this mystery man?"
She laughed. "Idiot! In reverse order… No, you don't have to worry about losing me because there is no one for me but you. And you've already named the one I was looking for, because I was looking for the Idiot Formerly Known as Malfoy… That's a great name for him, by the way… Can I use it?"
"Of course! What's mine is yours, you know that!"
Hermione gave him a quick peck on the lips.
"Thank you, but stop trying to distract me Mister Smooth… Where was I? Oh yes! I was making sure that the Idiot Formerly Known as Malfoy was still sitting at the Slytherin table because honestly, didn't you heard 'When my father hears of this' when Ronald came out with 'wait until Mum hears about this'? Because that's certainly what I heard…"
Harry grinned at her. "Where's that overactive imagination when we're doing fun things?"
Hermione gasped and gave him a real wallop this time, scandalised that he'd say something like that in public. "Watch your mouth Mister! You know full well that we're waiting until after our Mundane wedding for that!"
He caught George's eye and indicated that it was time for him to get on with the show while Harry made up for taking that dig a little too far... He had to admit that he liked what Hermione's mind automatically went to when he said fun things, as that showed that she thought about that too... But at the same time it was funny, because he'd actually been referring to joking around.
George accepted the task. "While I missed what the brilliant Lady Potter took from what Mister Weasley said at the time, I must concede that in hindsight, it was disturbingly similar to something the Idiot Formerly Known as Malfoy would have said, so I'm thankful that she confirmed said Idiot's presence over at the Lesser Slytherins' table."
"But what I believe my less intelligent twin was trying to point out Professor McGonagall, was that Mister Ronald Weasley is in fact the only Mister Weasley currently present at Hogwarts…"
He paused to let that sink in for about a minute before he continued.
"You see Professor McGonagall, my lesser twin and I desperately wanted to join the best and brightest of Hogwarts in Lord Potter's Slytherin School of Sorcery, but we didn't think we'd ever be offered the opportunity to do so after our earlier mistakes and couldn't see any way to accept if we were. But last night, Harry mentioned that he may have a solution to that problem after we proved to him that, unlike some present, we could actually learn from our mistakes and make a real effort to change when we had our noses rubbed in them, and then invited us and our better halves to come and discuss that solution… So just after dinner, the four of us went down to his ship to discuss the options."
"We took our better halves with us because in the first place we didn't want to leave Hogwarts without them, and in the second… While we may not be as brilliant as Lord Potter has proven himself to be, we are bright enough to know that after somehow managing to follow his example and get the brightest Witches of their years to deign to be with us, we would be fools to try and make any serious decisions without having them there to advise us…"
"The solution Harry had come up with… With, I expect, considerable assistance from the bevy of brilliant ladies that he's surrounded himself with lately… Was unquestionably brilliant… And more than a little bizarre… In fact it was something most of us born and raised in Magical Britain would never have thought of."
"Harry said that his delightful Moonchild was the one who originally gave him the kernel of the idea when she proposed that he and Hermione use it to legally marry each other before they could be locked into miserable existences and stolen from by the disgusting slave, I mean betrothal, contracts they were forced into by the Wicked Witch of the West and the Evil Wizard of Oz. Harry and Hermione were ecstatic with how well the Moonchild's plan had worked, and with his mind finally freed of all the blocks, bindings and manipulations cast on him to limit his mental acuity and ability to remember anything, Harry's proved that he can think pretty damned well himself… So when our quandary arose, Harry came up with a simple but utterly brilliant solution, to get our Dad to cast us out of the House of Weasley and the Weasley family, so that our brother Bill could formally accept us into the Noble and Ancient House of Prewett, making us Prewetts, and become our Guardian as our Head of House…."
"So we're Prewetts now? That's great! Mum always said her family had loads more money than the Weasleys, and I'll be the Scion of a Noble and Ancient family like I sh…."
They'd waited to give the moRon a chance to dig himself a hole, but they quickly tired of listening to him so Fred cut him off.
"Shut up you idiot… How did you even get through First Year, as thick as you are?… As George clearly stated, Bill made us Prewetts, but you and the rest of the money grubbing gits of the Weasley family have been permanently banished from the House of Prewett… Oh, and that pain in your chest that's getting worse? That's not wind from your disgusting eating habits, it's you going against the vow Dad freely and rightfully made as Head of the Weasley House and Family… That no member of the Weasley family would try to interact with any of us or try to harm us in any way. Every time you try something that goes against the vow, that pain in your chest is going to get worse. It will eventually kill you if you're too stupid to stop, so I doubt that you'll be long for this world Ronnikins."
Dumbledore stood, effecting a serious mien to try and make himself look more impressive. "That is very Dark Magic Mister Weasley, I must insist that you revoke it immediately before it causes serious harm and stains your soul…"
He wasn't expecting to be cut off by the other twin. "Shut it, you old fool! You're so bloody full of yourself that you never listen to more than random snippets of what anyone else says! For a start, as we just stated, Fred and I are Prewetts, not Weasleys! Secondly, as anyone who was actually listening would have heard, the vow was made to apply to all members of the Weasley Family by the Head of the Weasley House and Family, so there's nothing Fred can do about it… And most importantly, you have no right to insist anything from us, because we're no longer students of Hogwarts and you never had any authority over us outside of school matters…"
"And there is no Dark Magic involved you stupid old prick, it was a perfectly legitimate and benign vow that Dad freely made on the Weasley Family Magic as Head of the Weasley House and Family to satisfy the terms of the Acknowledged Life Debt Ginny and the family owed Harry… No harm will come to any member of the Weasley family who does not wilfully fight the terms of the vow… Actually, Professor McGonagall, isn't trying to interfere with another House's family business grounds for a blood feud?"
"Indeed it is Mister Prewett, but do I need to remind you that you are no longer part of the Weasley House and family either?"
George at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "Oops, apparently so... Thank you for pointing out that I was on the verge of being as stupid as Dumbledork Professor McGonagall…"
He stopped and looked around. "While I desperately want to question Mister Dumbledore about something that came up last night, I can see that I have disturbed everyone's breakfast quite enough…"
He gave her a half bow. "I apologise for interrupting everyone's breakfast Professor McGonagall." Then sat down.
The old man just couldn't leave well enough alone. "I'm sure no one would mind waiting a moment while you ask your question Mister Weas…. Mister Prewett."
Dumbledore was furious when George Prewett quite obviously looked to his brother Fred, Minerva, Flitwick, Sprout, and even Potter for permission before turning back to him.
"Very well Mister Dumbledore, I know that you've been whoring out Molly Weasley since she was here at Hogwarts, and interfering with my Dad's mind to prevent him making any issue of the fact that he's been being cuckolded by his adulterous whore of a wife for his entire married life… We also know for a fact that Bill was sired by Lord Macmillan and Fred and I were sired by then Minister Minchum… But while I believe it's obvious who Percival and Ronald were sired by, our Dad is too kind and honourable a man to demand proof, even though it's information he really needs to know for his own protection… So my question to you is this… Who were Charles, Percival, Ronald and Ginevra Weasley sired by?"
"And by the way Whore Master Dumbledore, the reason I was the one who asked you this is that I am neither Head nor Heir Primary of any House or Family, so you have no grounds to challenge anyone but me, personally, for the slight on what you laughably call 'your honour'. The laws of Magical Britain ensure that you have no recourse against any of the houses I am part of or otherwise affiliated with for my actions."
There was a shocked silence at him so publicly airing something so scandalous, then pandemonium erupted in the Hall because Ron and Ginny Weasley had tried to curse Fred and George… Prewett? But they both ended up on the floor, writhing in pain, when their curses backfired. It had certainly been an interesting breakfast, all the more so because for once Harry Potter had only played a minor role in the drama.
In the midst of that chaos, most missed the fact that Dumbledore had sent off a patronus message to someone… Most, but not all, Harry used his own runic communicator to confirm that Auntie Ami had heard everything that had happened in the Great Hall, and that she wasn't who Dumbledore had sent the patronus to and get her there to control the situation… And to contact Ragnok to tell him what happened and get a squad of Goblin guards sent there ASAP to protect the citizens of the Goblin Nation from whatever was headed their way.
Rita was ecstatic, tucked away in her little corner of the ceiling, because the Prewett twins had given her almost as good a story as she'd come to expect from Harry… She'd have to handle some details very delicately to protect the innocent, but innocents were few and far between in this and she'd have carte blanche with much of what they'd thrown out for all to see… and George Prewett had handed her the perfect headline on a silver platter… Whore Master Dumbledore indeed!
They didn't have to wait long to find out who Dumbledore sent the patronus to, because the doors of the Great Hall crashed open and Magical Britain's Head Auror, Rufus Scrimgeour, charged in with what must have been every Auror in the office when he received the message on his heels. "Fred and George Prewett, you are under arrest for the attempted murder of Ronald and Ginevra Weasley, Scions of the House of Weasley!"
Alastor would have kicked the arse of every Auror in the Great Hall for being oblivious to threats around them, because the ones that Scrimgeour brought with him were just staring at him bemusedly, trying to work out what in the Hells was going on, and he just ignored everything going on behind him as he shouted at Fred and George…. But Amelia had followed them into the Great Hall with Senior Auror Gawain Robards and a squad of MLE Patrol Officers, and so had a squad of elite Goblin 'Guards' who were armed to the teeth and spoiling for a fight.
Harry stood and turned to face Scrimgeour, his tone scathingly mocking as he addressed him. "Are you in a habit of going off half cocked and attacking people without making any attempt to verify the facts, Head Auror Scrimgeour? The only things you stated which were in any way accurate were the names you mentioned, in fact it was Ronald and Ginevra Weasley who attacked Messers Prewett of the superior Noble and Ancient House of Prewett without warning or justification while their backs were turned… And as Messers Prewett are citizens of the Goblin Nation and under my protection as the patron of their school… Squad Leader, please arrest Ronald and Ginevra Weasley for their cowardly and unprovoked attacks on citizens of the Goblin Nation!"
Scrimgeour jumped at the loud sound of metal striking metal as the Goblin Guards struck their chests in a Goblin salute to Harry and their Squad Leader barked "By your command Friend Potter!" and spun around to see heavily armed and armoured Goblins heading for the pair on the floor.
When he shouted. "Get away from my daughter you filthy beasts! I'll have you all exterminated for attacking Pure Blood Witches and Wizards in Magical Britain!"
Harry snorted. "Well I guess we have confirmation who at least one of the fathers you asked about were George… But have you forgotten that you aren't in Magical Britain Mister Scrimgeour? Surely as Head Auror, you've done a proper study of the Laws of Magical Britain and therefore must know that you are in fact on the sovereign soil of Strathmyrddin?"
"What are you talking about Boy? Of course we're in Magical Britain!"
Amelia cut in at that point. "Perhaps it would be better if I explained this to soon to be Ex Head Auror Scrimgeour Lord Potter?"
Harry bowed to her. "Of course Director Bones, I defer to your authority in this…"
Amelia snorted. "Are you deferring to me as the Director of the DMLE, or a member of the Council of Strathmyrddin Lord Potter?"
"Both, Lady Amelia, but in this instance I believe that the Director of the DMLE should take precedence."
She looked thoughtful as she nodded. "Yes, I believe that you are correct in that Lord Potter... What Lord Potter was referring to, Scrimgeour, was the fact that all Senior DMLE personnel should be conversant with the laws of Magical Britain, and as such should be well aware of the fact that the area around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade is not, in fact, part of Magical Britain, but rather the sovereign state of Strathmyrddin, and as such Magical Britain has no rights beyond what the Council of Strathmyrddin grants them. For some time now, Magical Britain has been taking liberties in Strathmyrddin, but since last Samhain the rights of Magical Britain, Magical France, Magical Norway and the Goblin Nation have been clearly defined... Their Magical Law enforcement personnel are all allowed to carry out their official duties in Strathmyrddin, as far as they apply to protecting the citizens of their countries who are at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament. Other selected Ministry personnel are also allowed to carry out their official duties as required for the Triwizard Tournament."
"What are you talking about? There's no such country as Strathmyrddin!"
"Perhaps if you spent less time dallying with… What was the term Mister Prewett used? Oh yes! Adulterous Whores… And more time paying attention to your duties as a senior officer of the DMLE, you would know this Scrimgeour… But apparently a history lesson is in order…"
"I hope that you at least know that Hogwarts was built here at the end of the Tenth Century?" She got a terse nod from him and continued.
"What you probably don't know was that this site was selected to build Hogwarts on because it was one of the most magically active locations in Britain, sitting right on top of the intersection of multiple strong ley lines, and it was by far the most pleasant of the top few locations… To cut the story short, the Kings of England, Wales and Ireland were afraid that Scotland would be put in too great a position of power if the Witches and Wizards of the British Isles all identified with being trained in Scotland, so they insisted that the site of Hogwarts be made into a sovereign state, not beholden to any of kingdoms that made up the British Isles. This location was actually part of a Barony called Strathmyrddin that had been officially bestowed on Merlin and his descendants, the Druid Clan Emrys, and Merlin's descendants formally bequeathed it to Hogwarts to serve that purpose. The kings of the British Isles all formally recognised Strathmyrddin as a sovereign state, to ruled ad infinitum by a council of Druid Lords, and this was formally ratified by Magical Britain and the International Confederation of Wizards when they became official entities…"
"So yes, Mister Scrimgeour, you are standing on the sovereign soil of Strathmyrddin and have illegally threatened the recognised agents of the Goblin Nation of Britain when they were attempting to carry out their sanctioned official duties. In case you need the reality of the situation further explained to you, you are in serious trouble! Being permanently dismissed from Magical Britain's Ministry of Magic is the least of your troubles, because your illegal actions were on the verge of creating an international incident!"
"Quite aside from almost starting a war with your actions, you have openly admitted to having illicit adulterous relations with the wife of Sir Arthur Septimus Weasley, Head of the Minor House of Weasley, Patriarch of the Weasley Family and Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of Magical Britain's Ministry of Magic, siring a daughter on her and defrauding the House of Weasley of the cost of her upbringing, so you are formally charged with that as well."
She looked at the Aurors who had come with Scrimgeour. "And for you lot, you will all be fined and penalised for failing to confirm that you were following a legitimate order before coming here, and any that did so knowing that he was acting illegally will also be permanently dismissed from the Ministry of Magic! I will not have members of DMLE wilfully breaking our laws!"
She looked over at Fred and George. "Oh, and Messers Prewett, while it is yet to be formally confirmed via inheritance tests, we now know the parentage of two more of your siblings, Bartemius Crouch Senior was questioned under Veritaserum last night and he confirmed that he was, as you suspected, Percival Ignatius Weasley's father. However he informed us that he was supposed to have been Charles Septimus Weasley's father, but Molly Weasley failed to separate him from his wife and seduce him at the Spring Equinox celebrations in Nineteen Seventy Two as she had been ordered to by Albus Dumbledore…. And in her frustration over that and the effect of the potions she'd taken, she completely forgot that she was not under contraceptive potions as she normally was to ensure that she didn't get pregnant to Arthur Weasley… So when she had sex with him under the effect of the lust and fertility potions that had been meant to ensure that she got pregnant to Bartemius Crouch, they instead ensured that she became pregnant to her husband, and the potions effect prevented her realising who the father was until after Charles Weasley was born… Apparently she and her master were quite angry about the fact that they'd had to wait until after she'd finished nursing Charles to prepare another attempt to ensnare Crouch, and that didn't happen until the Winter Solstice celebrations in Nineteen Seventy Five, at which point she did become pregnant and bear a child to Crouch… So on the basis of evidence given, Arthur Weasley is Charles Weasley's father, Bartemius Crouch Senior is Percival Weasley's, and by his own admission here in the Hall, Rufus Scrimgeour is Ginevra Weasley's. I don't see much likelihood of Ronald Weasley's father willingly confirming that fact, so we will have to rely on a formal inheritance test for him."
Amelia knew full well that Rita was somewhere in the Hall, recording everything, so she was laying it all out in public in front of everyone. She'd kiss Scrimgeour for giving her the opportunity to do this, if she didn't want to kill the slimy bastard… Perhaps she could have a little more fun yet though…
"Lord Potter, I am concerned that this incident came so close to starting a war, especially with all these students present… Do I have your support in calling for the Council of Strathmyrddin to meet and determine how to implement stronger controls to prevent this happening again?"
Harry caught Hermione's eye and had to force down a grin as he pretended to nod thoughtfully. "Indeed, Lady Amelia, but I believe that Hogwarts can erect some of her own safeguards in the interim to help protect the students within her walls… My lady Ravenclaw, Lady Hufflepuff, will you join me in this?"
Hermione and Susan nodded, stepping up to take his hands, and then Harry put on a show that would have put Trelawney to shame, throwing back his head and speaking in a markedly different voice (being able to use Metamorphmagus abilities to alter your voicebox was handy).
"Lady Hogwarts, the Heirs of the Founders call on you to protect the students within your walls! We beg you to protect students within your walls from any who have the intent to harm them. Please eject any who have evil intent from your castle and bar them entry until such a time as the Council of Strathmyrddin has agreed upon and implemented more permanent measures."
Most of those in the Great Hall felt a pulse of magic go through them, and Dumbledore, Scrimgeour, some of the Aurors who came with him, Ron and Ginny Weasley and at least thirty other students disappeared, reappearing outside the front doors of the castle. They were surrounded and disarmed by the Goblin Guards and MLE Patrol Officers that Amelia had brought with her before they had a chance to get their heads around what had happened.
Harry, Amelia and the rest of the Slytherin School contingent (plus the rest of the staff and over a hundred students) came out of the front doors.
Amelia couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice. "Well that was certainly effective, just what did you and the Ladies Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff do Lord Gryffindor Slytherin?"
Harry smiled. "You heard what we did Lady Amelia, we called on Lady Hogwarts to protect students within her walls by ejecting those intending to harm them from the castle… But I must say that the fact that Headmaster Emeritus Dumbledore and the Head Auror of Magical Britain were both included in those who Hogwarts identified as intending to harm students is most worrying!"
"Indeed Lord Potter! However I'll make sure that Scrimgeour won't be Head Auror by the end of the day if I have to tie down anyone arguing against it and question them under Veritaserum to uncover their plans…"
Harry gave a grim smile. "Oh you won't need to do that Director Bones, because given that the evidence we saw here indicated that Scrimgeour's intent to harm was directed at citizens of the Goblin Nation, he, the Weasley children and these ones who came with him will be tried in a Goblin court. While they may be ignorant of the laws, you are not, so you know full well that it is the country of the injured parties which has the first right to try those arrested on Strathmyrddin soil. I give you my word as a Friend of the Goblin Nation that you, as both Director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement of Magical Britain and a member of the Council of Strathmyrddin, along with those others that you nominate, will be present to observe, query and even suggest a course of action, but this comes under the jurisdiction of the Goblin court."
Scrimgeour was frothing at the mouth. "You aren't turning any of us over to those filthy beasts to be killed! We are officers of Magical Britain's Department of Magical Law Enforcement here to carry out the lawful arrest for the attempted murder of two Pure Blood citizens of Magical Britain in Magical Britain!"
Harry laughed at him. "Oh dear, do you think he landed too hard on his head Director Bones? Or is he just deaf? You explained quite clearly inside that we are standing on what was formally recognised by the Kings of the British Isles as the sovereign soil of Strathmyrddin, and that the fact that Strathmyrddin was a sovereign state, ruled ad infinitum by its Council of Druid Lords, was in turn formally recognised by Magical Britain when it became a legal entity Centuries later. How else could Mister Scrimgeour ignore everything he had been told by his superior?"
Amelia made a show of shaking her head with a sigh. "It is neither concussion nor deafness Lord Potter, it is just wilful ignorance and stubborn pride that makes him reject any facts which do not agree with what he has already decided to be true… Much like Albus Dumbledore in fact, whom he obviously follows in defiance of his sworn duties to the DMLE and Magical Britain…. No Scrimgeour, Lord Potter is quite correct, under the rules defined by the Council of Strathmyrddin to treat all nations whose students are at Hogwarts for the Triwizard Tournament fairly, the Goblin Nation has the incontestable right to try you and the others he indicated for your actions against and intent to harm its citizens, so you will be going with them… The only things that stop Albus Dumbledore being tried with you are the wards that prevent him leaving Hogwarts before the end of the Tournament."
"I'll see you kissed for this Bones! You are just making up all this shite about sovereign soil and Druid Councils to give these filthy beasts a chance to drag us away!"
Harry laughed again. "Perhaps that's the problem Lady Amelia! I don't know about you, but I had forgotten that most in Magical Britain have only known of the Council of Strathmyrddin as Hogwarts' Board of Governors since the Wizengamot became the governing body of Magical Britain… Because the Norman newcomers feared that any ruling body being referred to as a Council would remind people that the Druid Councils did a much better job of governing Magical Britain, so they insisted that the Council of Strathmyrddin be only referred to as Hogwarts' Board of Governors in public?"
Amelia pretended to think about that. "You may be correct Lord Potter… Scrimgeour has no excuse for not knowing that, because it was his duty to learn the laws of the land, but most people have probably never heard of the Council of Strathmyrddin… Be that as it may…"
She turned and bowed to the Squad Leader of the Goblin Guards. "Squad Leader, do you and your Goblins require any assistance in transporting Rufus Scrimgeour, Ronald and Ginevra Weasley and these other ex Aurors to Goblin facilities to stand trial for their attacks against citizens of the Goblin Nation?"
He returned the bow. "Thank you for the offer Director Bones, but we have the matter in hand. Please advise the Goblin Nation of who will be accompanying you to represent Magical Britain at their trials. Observers from the International Confederation of Wizards will also be present… And as the incident occurred here on the sovereign soil of Strathmyrddin, please advise your fellow Council Members that we will require at least two more members of the Council of Strathmyrddin to be present to formally represent Strathmyrddin."
Amelia nodded. "I will do so Squad Leader."
Then she calmly watched as Scrimgeour and the others were dragged off, shouting threats and screaming abuse at the unheeding Goblin Guards. She raised an eyebrow at some of the Patrol Officers who were looking concerned and outraged about what has happening, but they shook their heads… If both the Director and the young Lord Potter, who appeared to have a shockingly thorough knowledge of the history and laws of Magical Britain for someone his age, were both adamant that this was both proper and legal, they weren't going to argue… Mind you, they would be looking up these laws themselves when they got back to the Ministry, as finding out that they apparently hadn't been educated in Magical Britain at all had been a bit of a shock.
Harry looked at Professors Flitwick and Sprout, Madame Maxime and Auntie Andie, signalling them to come forward, before he turned to Dumbledore and the other students.
"In case your hearing is as bad as Mister Scrimgeour's, you will not be allowed back into the castle until such a time as the Council of Strathmyrddin, otherwise known as Hogwarts' Board of Governors, has agreed on and implemented a more permanent solution to Hogwarts raising wards to eject and bar any who have intent to harm any students within her walls. Mister Dumbledore, as you cannot leave Hogwarts' grounds until the Tournament ends, temporary accommodation will be organised for you and a replacement potions teacher will have to be organised. You will of course not be paid if you are not working, but Hogwarts will provide you with room and board until the end of the Tournament. I can see little point in Hogwarts students remaining here if they cannot attend classes, so I would recommend that they be sent home to complete the year's work though self study. With the exception of Mister Krum, I would recommend that the Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students ejected for having the intent to harm other students be returned to their schools to complete their studies there…. These are of course merely my personal views, the decisions on what is to be done with their students resides, as always, with those in authority in their schools, though I must admit to being relieved that no Slytherin School students have been ejected, not even Messers Prewett who were attacked by their Weasley siblings…"
Professors Flitwick and Sprout and Madame Maxime all nodded, and Pomona Sprout spoke for Hogwarts. "No, those are very sound recommendations Lord Potter. Death Eater… I mean Headmaster Karkaroff, will have to decide on what is to happen with his students of course, but I agree that there is no point in our students remaining at Hogwarts if they cannot attend classes or get into the castle, and as for Albus Dumbledore, there's no room in Hagrid's hut for him and I won't have him interfering with the classes or plants in my greenhouses, but I'm sure we can find a magical tent to put up for him somewhere out of the way…. Madame Maxime?"
Olympe Maxime nodded, glaring at the two Beauxbatons students standing there. "Oui, there is no point in my students remaining if they cannot enter the castle and I will not allow them to stay in our carriage if they intend to harm Mademoiselle Delacour… Because she is the only one I can think of them wanting to harm, so they will be sent back to France today."
Dumbledore and the remaining students looked quite put out by the way they were being so casually dismissed, but no-one cared what they thought. Half of the Durmstrang contingent had flooed to London from Hogsmeade and then returned to Durmstrang via international Floo by the end of the day, and most of the others soon wished they'd been sent back too, because Karkaroff decided that if he and Krum couldn't enjoy the comforts of the castle, no-one could. The two Beauxbatons students returned to Beauxbatons via much the same route, and a dozen from Slytherin House (including Draco No-Name, Pansy Parkinson and Theo Nott) and several other Hogwarts students flooed home from Hogsmeade too. They would have been even more upset if they knew how much more cheerful everyone in the castle was with them gone.
That afternoon, Fleur and Madame Maxime came to the Djinn and they used the portals to pop over to Gringotts Paris, where they met with the Delacour family and ICW officials. The Delacours were outraged when they heard that their eleven year old daughter may yet be taken and placed at the bottom of Black Lake for the amusement of the bloodthirsty savages watching this Tournament, but they were quite appreciative and thankful for the solution proposed to them. While there would be problems if the whole family weren't seen to be at Hogwarts the night before the Second Task, Dora demonstrated that it would be quite viable for their daughter Gabrielle to appear to be at Hogwarts, when she was in fact safely hidden away with friends of the family back in France.
Harry explained that he had other plans in play to… convince… The Merpeople that it would be in their best interests to ensure that the proposed hostages they took to their village were nothing but simulacrums of the real hostages, who would suffer no more than a short trip through shallow water to a ship where they'd be kept safe throughout the task… That way, even if the task proved as difficult as they were expecting for Fleur, as a Veela, Dora would be in little more danger that the real Gabrielle was, back in France.
When pressed to reveal these plans, Harry admitted that he planned to convince the Chieftainesss of the Merpeople's village in Black Lake that if they put the hostages at risk by taking them to the bottom of Black Lake, he'd wipe out her entire tribe and everything else that lived at the bottom of Black lake with poison… Arguing that their hostages weren't likely to be harmed by poison on their skins, but anything taking in the poison through their gills would be killed…
He explained that it would actually be an equivalent of the Draught of the Living Dead potion they used, rather than poison, and the Merpeople (nearly all, if not all of them) would recover after an hour or two, but he was planning on taking her to another Merperson village and making her watch as they dumped the potion into the water a few days before the Second Task. She would be taken back long before the potion had a chance to wear off, so she would believe that the Merpeople in that village were all killed and wouldn't be likely to be willing to risk the same thing happening to her own tribe. In time she'd hear that the Merpeople at the other village had survived, but that wouldn't happen until the task was over and done with. He was also hoping that the Merpeople in the other village would take heed of the warning that Humans could harm them way down where they lived, and stop attacking and killing Human fishermen operating in the area, just because they were catching fish up near the surface.
While they were there, they discussed how they were planning on tackling the task. Fleur had been planning on using the Bubblehead charm until Harry showed her documentation which indicated that while the effect would only last for fifteen to twenty minutes instead of an hour, Gillyweed worked for Veela as well as Human Witches and Wizards… And she could carry more Gillyweed with her to take when it wore off. It wasn't hard to sell her on an idea that would be more effective and draw less on her magic when she knew that she would struggling with her magic in the freezing water.
Fleur was still jealous, however, when Harry and Dora demonstrated how they could turn the Gillyweed effect on and off at will with the Metamorphmagus talent they shared.
With the Delacours and the ICW representatives' agreement to their plans for the Second Task, and the ICW's commitment to provide Aurors and Healers to protect the hostages, they returned to Hogwarts… Where Harry slipped Cedric Diggory a packet of Gillyweed as well and told him to try it out in the Prefects' Baths.
The Chieftainess of the Merpeople's village was willing to do anything to prevent what she'd seen happening to her people after she was taken into a strange ship full of water and sent through some form of portal into another one, where she was forced to watch an entire village of Merpeople dying from the poison released throughout their village.
She was quite forthcoming about what was meant to happen, a group of her people would go up to the dock built for the task an hour before the task was to begin on the morning of the task and collect the hostages. They would be brought down to the village and tied to rocks in the village square. When the competitors arrived, the shark man and Human in sun colour were to be allowed to take their hostages and go without trouble, but they were to do what they could to prevent the Human in green and the Veela taking their hostages, even if they had to be killed to stop them.
She really wanted to get out when she saw Harry's fury at that, but knew that wasn't going to happen until he allowed her to leave, so she frantically agreed that they wouldn't try to stop or harm anyone, and paid careful attention when he showed her where to bring the hostages to, and told her to wait beside the ship until they were given something else that looked like the hostages to take down to place in their village. She also agreed to make sure that the ones she brought to collect the hostages never said a word to anyone about what they saw.
On the night before the Second Task, Dora was taken from the Beauxbatons carriage as Gabrielle, but someone had apparently gotten it through to Dumbledore that Harry had been serious when he said that he'd die if he touched anyone close to Harry, because even the few Hogwarts students he was still on speaking terms with were left alone.
Forty five minutes before the task was due to start, they were told who the hostages were and Hermione, Parvati and Fay burst out laughing. They already knew that Dora had been taken as Gabrielle to be Fleur's hostage, and as Cho Chang had been Cedric's date to the Ball and Hannah Abbott was Krum's, it was no surprise that they were there, but the last hostage was the girls' ex-dorm mate whose bra size was bigger than her IQ, Lavender Brown…
So the slutty airhead who had pissed off and insulted Harry for most of the time he'd been at Hogwarts was who Dumbledore had chosen to put at the bottom of the lake as the one Harry would miss the most… That was just insulting, the only thing Harry could think of that would have been worse would have been it he'd put Ginny, or even worse, Ron Weasley down there in the misguided belief that that could somehow be used to forge new links between them.
When they went down to the dock that had been built on the lake shore for the start of the task, Harry smirked to himself as he conjured a comfortable wingback chair and a brazier which he filled with Bluebell flames, then settled down to get comfortable. Fleur and Cedric joined him to warm their hands over the flames, sharing a quiet laugh as Dumbledore cast a Sonorous and called out. "Mister Potter, what are you doing?"
When Harry didn't respond, he tried 'Mister Potter' a few more times before muttering some form of curse and calling out. "Very well, Lord Potter, what are you doing?"
At that, Harry finally craned his neck around the back of the chair and cast his own Sonorous. "What do you mean Mister Dumbledore?"
"Why are you not readying yourself for the task?"
Harry waved at the Slytherin School group in the stands. "Everyone I care about at Hogwarts is right there, so unless you've been stupid enough to kidnap someone from somewhere else in Magical Britain or further afield, I see no reason to freeze my arse off in that lake. I'll jump in the water as we get close to the end of the task to satisfy the requirements to participate without being wet and miserable for the whole hour, but that's as much as I'll be doing… By the way Mister Dumbledore, congratulations on apparently having the sense not to make me kill you for putting those precious to me in harms way…"
"But what about Miss Brown?"
"Who?"
"Miss Brown, your hostage!"
"What in the Seven Hells are you talking about Mister Dumbledore?"
"Miss Brown, who has been your Year mate, House mate in Gryffindor and friend since you started at Hogwarts?"
Harry turned a confused face Hermione's way. "Hermione, do you have any idea who he is talking about?"
Hermione struggled to hold down her laughter as she cast her own Sonorous. "I believe that he is referring to the girl that Parvati, Fay and I shared a dorm room with up until we left Hogwarts Harry, Lavender Brown… Though I cannot, for the life of me, begin to guess where he could have ever gotten the idea that you two were friends, she is the one you often referred to as the 'Brainless Bimbo' because she was embarrassing herself or trying to insult you…"
"Oh! The stupid cow who thought that pushing her tits into the face of any guy who caught her eye was an acceptable way of trying to get someone's attention! Is that who you mean?"
"That's not exactly how I would have put it Harry, but yes, that is how I believe you perceived Lavender."
"Thank you dear."
He turned back to where Dumbledore was sitting. "Why would you ever think that I'd risk my life diving down to the bottom of Black Lake to save her Mister Dumbledore? Quite aside from the fact that she's a constant embarrassment to herself, her family, and anyone else associated with her… She has offended and or insulted me just about every time I've been forced to deal with her! No, I think I'll be staying right here where I'm comfortable, thank you very much!"
"You can't do that Harry…." He clutched at his chest, because the more magic he lost, the more it hurt when another piece was torn off as punishment.
"Even if she isn't terribly close to you, you can't just leave Miss Brown down there!"
"Why not? I have it on good authority that you swore to Director Bones that the hostages would be perfectly safe in this task, because if for some reason we couldn't recover whoever was put down there for us, they would be brought back safe and sound when the hour was up... By the way, that was a cruel trick, trying to make the competitors believe that whoever was taken as their hostage would die if they couldn't save them in time... I'm only risking losing points by not making much of an effort, and thanks to you and those other petty old bastards, I'm so far behind that I have no chance of winning, even if I wanted to, which I don't. How many times do I have to tell you that the only thing I care about is me and mine surviving this Death Trap of a Tournament that you've forced me to compete in? Now if you don't mind, while I have no intention of going to the bottom of Black Lake to retrieve someone who doesn't like me any more than I like her, some of the other Champions do have someone that they care about to rescue, so will you start the bloody task already?"
Bagman suddenly realised that the task should have started ten minutes ago and set off a canon blast to start it. Fleur and Cedric kicked off their shoes and dropped their winter cloaks on the deck beside Harry's chair, stuffing Gillyweed in their mouths before they got a run up to dive into the freezing lake.
Harry soon got tired of hearing Dumbledore and what was probably Brown's father ranting and raving at him, so he cast a muffling charm around himself and sat back to sip hot chocolate from the bottomless pot that he had sitting on a plate above the Bluebell flames to keep it warm as he waited for the others to return. He had to struggle to keep his emotions from showing on his face though, because the ICW experts were now reporting that from what they discerned when they deconstructed the stasis charms on each of the hostages, the ones on Dora and Lavender Brown would have failed at least half an hour before the scheduled end of the task. The charms cast on Cho Chang and Hannah Abbott were apparently intended to last at least three hours if they weren't brought out of the water before then, but Dora and Lavender were given an hour and a half at most, over an hour before the task was meant to start… So Fleur and Harry's hostages were meant to die at the bottom of Black Lake, and it would no doubt have been made to look like their failures had killed them. He may not like that brainless tart Brown, but the idea of her being so casually killed off just to get back at him infuriated him.
The only thing that kept his rage in check was listening what Dora wanted to do to Dumbledore, because the idea of helping her cheered him up.
Cedric was the first back, and Harry jumped into the water to stop him panicking when his girlfriend appeared to be dead. He trusted Harry enough to believe him when he said that that wasn't Cho, and that she was safe, sound and annoying and would be returning with the other hostages once the main drama of the task was done with, and he remembered what Harry had told him at the start. "If it gets too dangerous to continue Cedric, turn back! The hostages are all safe so there's no reason to put yourself at risk." He was worried about what Harry said about keeping an eye on Dumbledore's reaction when it appeared that Cho had died, and comparing that to his reaction when Fleur got back with another 'dead' hostage, because that sounded like Harry believed that some of the hostages were actually meant to die.
Dumbledore tried to raise an objection when the ICW Healers suddenly appeared to drag 'Cho' out of the water and work on her on the deck for a while, but he was distracted when Fleur appeared and started wailing about he sister being dead. Cedric saw what Harry meant then, because while Dumbledore had looked shocked when Cho appeared to be dead, a satisfied smirk had actually crossed over his face when Fleur's little sister was apparently dead. That changed to an 'Oh shite!' look when Krum appeared with 'Hannah Abbott', and she was apparently dead too. Dumbledore completely ignored the apparently dead Lavender Brown after she was pushed up onto the deck by the Merman who had brought her back up from his village, because with all the hostages dead, he had bigger things to worry about. He wouldn't be able to blame Potter and Delacour for their hostages' deaths now... Because the blame was bound to be directed at the one who had cast the stasis charms on the girls, him… This was a disaster!
Dumbledore was in enough of a panic to put his foot in it as he tried to assure David Abbott and Charles Chang that he had ensured that their daughters would be safe, which got him decked by William Brown when he asked what about his daughter and his response was "I'm sure she would have been fine if she were rescued as she was supposed to be Mister Brown.", because that was a marked difference from the ardent assurances he was giving to the other two Wizards.
He then got decked again by Jacques Delacour when he asked about 'Gabrielle' and was fobbed off with. "Every care was taken Mister Delacour, but we can never be certain that spells meant for Humans will work properly for her kind."
When Amelia caught Harry's eye, he was torn between enjoying seeing Dumbledore getting what he deserved and the three father's torment of believing their daughters dead, but he didn't hesitate to nod so that the silencing and immobilising spells were removed from the three girls. After screaming abuse at them for making them think that their daughters were dead, the three men were shut up when the ICW representative drowned them out with a Sonorous.
"Your daughter would have died if she hadn't been removed from the water fifteen minutes after she was handed over to the Merpeople and replaced with a simulacrum of herself Mister Brown! The four Witches were put in the water a full hour before the task was supposed to start, but your daughter and the Witch whom they thought was Mademoiselle Delacour were only given stasis charms that would last for at most an hour and a half. There was no way that Lord Potter could have brought your daughter back alive, even if the task had started on time. Miss Chang and Miss Abbott on the other hand were given stasis charms that were meant to last for at least three hours underwater, which is why Mister Dumbledore panicked when they appeared to have failed… They were meant to have lived, while the other two were supposed to die.
He waved a hand at Harry. "Lord Potter was expecting nefarious actions on the part of Mister Dumbledore and the others on the Triwizard Tournament Committee, and had seen Mister Dumbledore fake acceptance of the oath he forced him to give, to not use the competitors' loved ones as hostages in this task, so he met with the Delacour family and ICW representatives nearly three weeks ago to present a plan to make this task as safe as possible for both the hostages and the competitors… You see, unlike the Triwizard Tournament Committee, Lord Potter does not wish to see anyone die in this Tournament."
"There were a number of elements to Lord Potter's plan. The first was to have one of his relatives, who is a Metamorphmagus, take Mademoiselle Gabrielle Delacour's place as her sister's hostage while the younger Mademoiselle Delacour was safely hidden away with family friends back in France. The second was to have the Merpeople deliver the hostages to an underwater ship waiting in the shallows as soon as they were handed over to them. The hostages would be replaced with simulacrums of themselves and the simulacrums would serve as the hostages for the rest of the task while the real hostages were revived and examined by Healers to ensure that they were healthy. The final part was to assist the other competitors, and assure them, if they appeared concerned about their own hostages, that they were safe and fine, and had been so since before the task started."
"All parts of Lord Potter's plan were successful. Mademoiselle Delacour's replacement was taken last night along with the other hostages, the Merpeople delivered them all to Lord Potter's ship to be replaced with simulacrums, both Mademoiselle Delacour and Mister Diggory were shown that Gillyweed was a better and safer option to use in the task and when Mister Diggory appeared worried about his hostage, Lord Potter jumped into the water and convinced him that she was fine. Mister Diggory informed us that Lord Potter also asked him to keep an eye on Mister Dumbledore's reactions as the hostages came out of the water…. And he stated that it was obvious to him that Mister Dumbledore expected that Mademoiselle Delacour and Miss Brown would be dead, but it was apparently quite a shock to Mister Dumbledore when Mister Diggory's hostage, Miss Chang, and Mister Krum's hostage, Miss Abbott, were apparently dead too."
"As I informed Mister Brown, what Mister Diggory observed was correct! Two out of the four hostages' deaths were engineered by the people who put them into Black Lake… I know that Monsieur Delacour was most definitely not asked permission for his younger daughter to be used as a hostage and he would never have given it if he was… Mister Brown, Mister Chang, Mister Abbott, may I ask whether you gave permission for your daughters to take part in this task?"
David Abbot and Charles Chang have vague 'No's to that, but Bill Brown spat out. "Not bloody likely! After what Potter was reported saying three weeks ago, I'd never have agreed to let Lavender be involved in something like this. Especially as he made it quite clear what he thought of her earlier, so it's obvious they weren't friends. Whatever people may say about my Lavender, she's no liar, so she would have told me that there was nothing between them if I asked!"
Harry turned to face address him. "Mister Brown, I apologise to both you and your daughter for what I said earlier. Not for speaking the truth, because I didn't say a word of a lie either, but for airing your family's private affairs so publicly. I had no idea who Dumbledore was going to set up to be at the bottom of Black Lake for me and quite frankly, I would have thought he would have picked someone else like Alicia Spinnet who I've had some sort of relationship with to possibly mend. My only excuse was that I needed to rile Dumbledore up enough to make him miss the fact that I wasn't worried about the hostages, because as anyone who knows me at all would tell you, that would be totally out of character for me. The only reason I wasn't worried was that I already knew that they'd been out of the water and under the care of the ICW's healers for three quarters of an hour at that point, so I knew they were all fine. I know that this will be scant consolation, but please know that as much as I have an issue with your daughter's behaviour, which is giving her the type of reputation that I would have expected you as a father to be worried about, I actually like her a lot more than I do Miss Chang and Miss Abbott, because on top of that type of behaviour, they're nasty pieces with overblown senses of entitlement too…"
Bill Brown looked conflicted, on one hand this boy was still trashing his daughter's reputation, but he'd just heard from an ICW official that he was the only reason she was alive. "I'm not sure I really want to know this, but just what type of reputation are we talking about?"
"If she continues on her current path, she could become known as the Molly Prewett of my generation."
Brown looked like he'd been slapped, but he curtly nodded. "Yes, that certainly does worry me… Look, I don't like what you've said about my Lavender, but if she really is getting that kind of reputation, I needed to hear it. Thank you for saving my girl's life Mister Potter… Come along Lavender, you're coming home to explain yourself to me and your mother!"
Harry had two other father's shouting at him as Lavender meekly followed her father away, but while he may have been conflicted about what he said to Bill Brown, that didn't apply to these two.
"If you're going to try and make me recant what I said about your backstabbing cow of a daughter Abbot, save your breath! Like you, your daughter is an exceptionally mediocre student, but she probably has had more luck in getting others to do her assignments and homework for her than you did because as a Witch she's got more to offer. I expect that's why she has already surpassed your record of broom closet conquests halfway through Hogwarts. She has always been ready to take every chance to stab me in the back for the entire time we've been at Hogwarts, and she does the same to everyone else as well. Lady Bones and Lord Longbottom used to be her loyal friends, but because they've both had to put aside having fun for a while in order to make serious attempts at saving their Houses, she has turned on both of them and is spreading the vilest rumours about them. So yes, she is definitely your daughter David Abbot… Because she is a disgrace to Hufflepuff and decent Witches everywhere!"
He turned his back on the dumbfounded Abbott as he started in on Chang. "And while your daughter may not be quite as much of an Empress of the Broom Closets as Hannah Abbott Mister Chang, Cho is certainly no stranger to them either, and it's common knowledge that she enjoys having quite a wide variety of partners in them. She tried to seduce me last year when I was a very young looking thirteen, even though she was with Cedric at the time… And I really hope that she was referring to my Firebolt when she was asking me to let her ride my broomstick!... But as I've seen how she treats people she thinks aren't of any use to her, having her moderately well formed female parts shoved in my face wasn't enough to make me ignore what a total failure of a Human being she is… And on top of that, Cho is a liar, a thief and a bully! The only reasons I haven't hexed her into next Century are that Mister Diggory would most likely feel a misplaced sense of responsibility to defend his two faced cow of a girlfriend and he's too good a man to risk harming in an altercation over her, and my betrothed, the Lady Lovegood, who has been the primary target of your daughter's base attacks, has asked me not to, because she's a better person than I am… I wouldn't want to see anyone die at the bottom of Black Lake Mister Chang, but if I had to pick someone for that fate, your daughter would have been one of my first choices because she's a truly foul creature."
Chang was looking like he was about to have a heart attack as Harry turned to Cedric. "Sorry Cedric, but I've had it and decided it was time I told the raw truth… I've been hoping that Cho would see just what she had in you and put a stop to all the sick little games she's been playing, but I don't really think that's ever going to happen. It took our Elves ages to find where she and her friends hid everything they stole from Luna, and they had to repair most of it after they recovered it, including the last picture Luna had of her Mum before she died… They knew how precious that picture was to her so they made a point of tearing it up after they stole it. The Elves managed to piece it back together, but it's lost most of its magic, I wanted to kill them when I found out about that… I told you more than once that you deserve better than her, so now you know why. I've tried to stay out of your business Ced, but I just couldn't do it this time."
He looked up in shock when Cedric held his hand out to him. Cedric explained as they shook hands.
"Thanks Harry. Like Mister Brown said, I really didn't like hearing most of what you said, but I obviously needed to hear it… I guess I was concentrating too much on those 'moderately well formed female parts' and not paying enough attention to what was behind them. I think we all need friends like you Harry, we may hate your guts for it half the time but you make us open our eyes and see the truth of things, and we need that to become better than we are."
Before they left the lake shore, they forced the judges to score the task.
Dumbledore was barred from participating, as attempting to kill off two of the hostages to effect the results was obviously grounds for exclusion.
Crouch and Karkaroff kept up the same blatantly biased scoring, but Bagman was trying to distance himself from that as he still had hopes of having a career after the Tournament, so overall the scores were fairer than the First Task.
They made Karkaroff and Crouch cast their votes first, so that the others could adjust for them... How they thought that they could get away with giving Krum tens when Hannah Abbott probably would have died from blood loss by the time she got back to the dock due to the fact that Krum had bitten her foot off to free her from the rope boggled the mind, but the other three giving him twos balanced that out.
He still scored higher than Harry due to Crouch and Karkaroff giving him zeros, but twenty three from the others was a fair score for saving the lives of three of the hostages... And Cedric and Fleur had gotten the top scores, so Harry was happy with that.
Rita was wishing that she could adopt Harry Potter, she just couldn't believe what a silver tongue he had. He had torn half of the people there to shreds, telling Brown and everyone else that his daughter was heading down a path to rival the Harlot of Hogwarts… She'd been there when Molly Prewett was, so she knew exactly what sort of reputation that Witch had… And Brown had thanked him, then took his girl home to try and straighten her out… Who knows, after a shock like that they might actually manage to do it. Young Diggory had also thanked him after he told everyone about what a foul, faithless creature his girlfriend was, and how many people she'd been cheating on him with… She thought Diggory had the right of it though, they all needed friends like Harry Potter, someone to strip away all the pretty lies they wanted to believe and force them to take a good, hard look at the ugly truth underneath…
Yes, she'd go easy on the Browns, spin the girl as a silly little thing who hadn't stopped to think about what she was doing until she had her nose rubbed in it and hold up the hope that she would be able to get back on the right track… The father's gesture was a noble one for a simple man, it wouldn't be at all difficult to show him as much more noble than the ones putting on airs… And young Diggory would be dead easy to portray in a good light, a good heart, noble, and wise beyond his years.
Harry of course was easy to make look good, just as easy as it was to make Dumbledore and the others look bad, especially Dumbledore and the Chang girl… That Witch was so evil that she'd actually made Sweet Little Harry say that he wanted to kill her twice! She couldn't say she blamed him either, wilfully tearing up the last picture a girl has of her dead mother out of spite just to hurt her? There was a foul part of the Seventh Hell reserved for creatures like that!
Abbott and his girl would get a bit of space, but there wasn't much interesting about them, having to use what's between her legs instead of what's between her ears to get through Hogwarts, old but it always worked to form an image… Being petty enough to turn on her friends and make up foul rumours about them just because they were making a serious effort to try and save their Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses from ruin? Yes, she could definitely work with that…
But Dumbledore was getting sloppy, letting the ICW get proof that he'd tried to murder two young Witches, one the pre-teen daughter of a prominent Ministry and political figure in Magical France and the ICW, just so he could try and frame Harry and Delacour's First-Born and Heir for their deaths was stupid! Especially when both their fathers had categorically stated that they never would have given permission for them to be involved in the task.
And Harry had made him look such a fool, replacing the younger Delacour daughter with his Metamorphmagus cousin to keep her safe was a brilliant move, and so was getting the hostages out before they could be harmed and replacing them with simulacrums… But she'd skim over just how he'd done that… Even knowing that they'd live, watching an entire village being apparently poisoned like that had been bloody scary. The Chieftainess doing everything he said after she saw that was quite understandable… The fact that the Brown girl at least would have almost certainly been dead if Harry hadn't forced the Chieftainess to cooperate (apparently the cousin could do the Gillyweed transformation like Harry and had had actual Gillyweed as a backup) justified his actions though.
A/N: I know the idea of Hogwarts being soverign soil isn't new, but it works for me, especially when it was instigated by the Muggle kings to prevent all Magicals identifying with Scotland.