Thank you to Kiri and IdiocyForTheWin for beta reading.
"Did you get a chance to watch the third task?"
"A bit. I notice you taught your cousin a few things—he was wicked fast."
Staying near the edges of the crowd filling the plaza, Leo had only a mediocre view of the screens displaying the third task of the Triwizard Tournament. He cared more about keeping an eye on his pickpockets spreading through the crowds and the Lower Alleys performers and vendors selling food and souvenirs around the edges. There had to be hundreds of people there to watch the task. His people would bring in a lot of money here; combined with the freedueling tournament the previous summer, the Court would have plenty of money to see the Alleys through the winter.
By the time the duels started, Leo had noted a dozen Aurors in uniform and an additional half dozen undercover. Harry's whole family was attending and had secured prime seats near the front. He wondered why they hadn't gone to Hogwarts. With Harry's cousin competing, they should have been watching the matches in person. None of them noticed Leo. Although Remus had begun teaching classes in the Alleys, he didn't yet know Leo well enough to recognize him through his disguise. The vendors appeared to be doing well; Leo recognized most of the pennants throughout the crowd as ones made by a group of women that Rispah had organized.
Hermione Granger was in the first match. Leo hoped that she stayed safe. She had never participated in the duels held in the Dancing Phoenix courtyard, so he had no idea what her dueling skills were like. She was certainly skilled at magic, but she was far too cautious for a duel. She held her shield while her opponent did nothing. Leo wondered how the participants were selected and what politics were involved, since the other duelist hardly made any effort the entire match and clearly wanted to lose. He was happy for her when she won, but concerned she would be hurt by a more determined opponent.
After that, Leo had to stop indulging himself and get back to making rounds to check on his people. He watched a screen for long enough to see that Viktor Krum had won his match, and wondered again what a Quidditch star was doing caught up in such a tournament. Krum certainly didn't need the money or fame.
Antiope had apparently been permitted to bring her sword, and obviously knew how to use it. After the previous summer's tournament, the Lower Alleys folk knew exactly how dangerous a sword could be. He hoped for Harry's sake that her cousin didn't have to fight Antiope. Whatever his reputation for impressive feats of magic, Leo was fairly certain Archie Black was not a freedueler.
He did make sure to watch Archie's match against the Chinese girl, since Harry's letters had been vague when he had asked if she would be able to watch. He wanted to tell her about it if she didn't see it, engrossed in whatever mysterious and dangerous business she was up to. It was clear that Archie had dueling training and was fast. The way he dodged was reminiscent of Harry, and he also used the Fortis shield frequently. Leo suspected that he had trained with Harry and Remus during the summers. As the match progressed, Leo noticed Archie draw a rune on the stage. He wasn't sure which cousin had learned to use runes while dueling first, but they apparently exchanged techniques. The fight soon ended when Archie simply overpowered his opponent, no tricks needed.
During the break between rounds, Leo walked around the plaza again. There hadn't been any trouble yet, and he hoped it remained that way. He was tempted to pickpocket one rather drunk man, but knew it wasn't worth the risk of getting caught and not being in a position to help his people.
It was soon time for the second set of duels. From the beginning of her duel with the American, it was clear that Hermione was outmatched. The lass put forth a good effort, but whoever her opponent was, he was one of the fastest duelers Leo had seen.
Midway through the duel, Leo heard a shout from within the crowd. "Hey! Thief!" The crowd shifted as the accused pushed his way between people. "Stop him! Get the Aurors!"
Bending down, Leo cast a quick glamour on his face and shirt and put on a hat, on top of his current disguise. He prepared a few Dungbombs and sticks of Flare Anywhere, which would burn independently for several minutes, in case they were needed. If the kid was able to get away on his own, that would be ideal, but he couldn't count on it.
A pair of Aurors appeared at the edge of the street and started making their way towards the continuing shouts of "Get back here!" and "Gutter rat!" Leo saw Henry weaving between people, heading towards the back of the crowd. Leo quickly banished a stick of Flare Anywhere in the direction of the Aurors, aiming to drop it on the far side of the pair, near the front of the plaza. It landed fairly close to Harry's family and exploded. He saw Remus looking around and gesturing to the rest of the family, but he didn't have time to pay attention to them.
Leo walked quickly to intercept Henry, discreetly tossing another Flare Anywhere stick just behind Henry. Leo hoped it would distract the pursuers enough while he cast glamours on Henry's jacket and hair. He then lengthened Henry's hair several inches, prompting him to look around for who had done it. Henry slowed when he recognized Leo, who caught up and walked next to him. "You look different enough now. Do you still have it?" If he had dropped whatever he stole, there was a good chance that its owner would stop chasing Henry and he'd be fine.
"No," he panted. "I passed it off to Jack."
That was inconvenient. Usually, his pickpockets had plenty of time to take the money and dump a moneybag before its owner realized it was missing. Tracking charms were usually only on the bag itself, and dropping it in a crowd or an alley didn't carry the risks of vanishing it, which might trigger an alarm of some sort. But if Jack had the bag, then he'd be at risk of being caught if the owner had a way to track it and thought to use it.
"I'll find Jack and make sure he got away. You just make sure you don't get caught."
"There you are! I've been looking for you two." Remus hurried over to Leo and Henry.
"Remus! Do you mind keeping track of Henry for me? I need to go find Jack; we got separated in the crowd," Leo said. Remus knew Henry was a pickpocket and would guess roughly what had happened. He wouldn't have approached if he didn't want to help, and Leo felt confident that Remus looked respectable enough to deter anyone who managed to catch up to them. Remus nodded, and Leo ducked into the crowd in the direction Henry had come from.
It was slow going through the dense crowd; he had to push people out of his way a few times. He soon spotted Jack looking for a good mark. "Jack! There you are. I lost you in the crowd for a minute."
Jack spun around immediately. "King Leo!"
Leo bent down to whisper in his ear. "Someone was chasing after Henry. Do you know which bag is theirs?"
"I think so." Jack pulled a plain but finely crafted wallet out of his pocket.
"Since they're looking for it already, I'm going to wipe it before you drop it. Don't take out so much that they'll immediately notice anything missing."
Jack nodded, grabbing a few Knuts and a Sickle from the wallet. Leo tucked it inside his jacket and stood up. "Henry's with Remus. Shall we go look for them?" Jack nodded, and they inched towards a different section of the crowd. After a minute, Leo stopped and crouched down. He quickly cast a spell on the wallet to muddle any evidence they might have left behind, and dropped it on the ground. "Do you think you can manage on your own from here?"
"Yep. Thanks for the warning!"
Leo nodded solemnly. "Be careful, Jack." Jack would be fine, and would likely be as successful on his own as he had been with Henry.
"Seeya!"
Leo kept walking until he found himself in a new section of the crowd. He crouched down again, restoring his glamours to the first set that he had used. He took a moment to check back on the duels on screen: Archie was fighting Krum, firing spell after spell as fast as anyone Leo knew. Archie was skilled, at least at formal dueling. Leo wished he'd seen the fight with Antiope; any skill with a sword would be a challenge for a formally trained duelist. Leo supposed Harry might have practiced using a knife against her cousin, since he'd apparently won that duel.
After Archie won, the next fight was between Krum and the American. Leo wasn't concerned about missing that one, so he started his loop to check on the vendors from the Lower Alleys again. He accepted the apple that Mrs. Fairlay offered him, taking a large bite. Everyone he spoke to was doing a steady business, since the turnout for the event had been high.
As he approached the fourth stall, the customer at the front of the line started berating the stall keeper, Debbie. She stepped back from the counter, gesturing as if she were trying to calm the customer down. Leo picked up the pace and hurried over to listen.
"I'm telling you, I just want a pint of ale. Same's you're selling to everyone else."
"Sir," Debbie began, calm and professional. "I cannot sell you any more alcohol. We have water and soft drinks available. If you do not wish to purchase—"
The customer slammed his hands on the counter. "I want—"
Leo stepped in. "Please stop harassing the shopkeeper."
"Shut up, kid. I'll get my drink myself."
He tried to climb onto the counter, but Leo grabbed his shirt and pulled him away. The apple was an unfortunate casualty as he dropped it on the ground. "No, you won't." The man tried to punch Leo, but Leo stepped out of the way and caught his wrist. Leo blocked his next, weaker punch, and pushed him to the ground. "You'd better hope the Aurors didn't see that. Go sober up and don't even consider coming back here."
He lay on the ground, groaning. "Who're you to tell me what to do?"
"Just a friend to Debbie, here. Will you stop bothering the shopkeepers for alcohol they won't sell you, or do I need to involve the Aurors?"
"No need, no need, I'll just stay here a minute, just don't call 'em."
"Glad to hear it." Leo turned to Debbie. "Is everything alright here?"
Debbie gave Leo an exasperated look. "As always. We could have handled it, Highness," she said quietly.
He smiled. "I know, but you shouldn't have to. That's my responsibility."
"Thanks."
Leo turned to look at the screen showing the duel, but only saw that the American was now fighting Archie before he was interrupted again.
"What'd you do to my friend?" Another man glared at Leo, probably also drunk.
Hopefully he'd be reasonable about this. "I stopped him from jumping over the counter. He's resting for a moment."
"You didn't beat 'im up, did ya?" the man demanded, scowling.
"No. If you'd care to help him stand, you can both be on your way from here."
He looked warily at Leo. "Jus' like that?"
"Yes. He's cut off from purchasing anything here, and don't try to get around that by buying alcohol for him. That's all."
"Thanks, then." Leo kept an eye on him as he went to help his friend, but thankfully, it didn't seem like he wanted a fight.
Finally, Leo was able to return his attention to the screens. They showed Archie walking away from a damaged stage before cutting to Ludo Bagman announcing Rigel Black as the pureblood champion.
He'd missed the rest of the dueling.