Last time on Black and White:

At their silence, he groaned loudly and angrily. He looked between the two adults who sat patiently awaiting his response. He knew where they were coming from; outside of helping him, this would potentially help derail an International Incident. A foreign student dying on British soil was probably something the Ministry wanted to not deal with. Add in the fact that Krum was a Quidditch star basically made him a sort of Royal figure.

If he didn't help nip this problem in the butt here and now, it would bring nothing but problems for him and his family and friends. With a sigh Andrew looked back to Dumbledore who gave the boy an encouraging smile and slight nod.

"... Fine, so it started when Krum and I both grabbed the cup and wound up in the graveyard-"


Book 4 – Chapter 42: Announcements

The end of tournament feast was a tense event. Durmstrang students were obviously either shook up, upset or angry at the news of their star pupil. Beauxbatons students were usually seen within their own circles, sharing whispers and choosing to stay out of the subtle rift between the English and Bulgarian schools. Hogwarts students were seemingly torn in their response to the news; some were firmly in the camp that Andrew hadn't done anything so drastic, others were not so sure after the events of the past year, and many simply chose to remain neutral in the entire affair.

Hufflepuffs were finally swayed by Cedric to believe Andrew about his innocence regarding the tournament, the Gryffindors stood by one of their own wholeheartedly (Harry and the others had scoffed when the call to rally behind Andrew was called in the common room. They were just as bad as the other houses when it had first announced). Ravenclaw was the house that followed Beauxbatons example in their neutrality. There was no question about where Slytherins lay.

As the last of the students walked in Andrew being among them, having convinced Pomfrey that he would be fine and took their seats Dumbledore stood to address the students. A hush fell over the Great Hall as they all awaited the elder man to speak. The aged Professor took a breath before speaking.

"Another year has passed us, it feels like yesterday when you all arrived to begin this journey. Obviously, this year was different from the ones we have already passed." He looked over the students and wandered if he should bring up the elephant in the room immediately, but crushed that thought as it would seem as though he were trying to get through it quickly. It needed to be addressed, in it's own segment.

"First we should get the house cleaning out of the way; the Tri-Wizard Tournament has concluded and a winner has been crowned. Usually, there would be a larger announcement and ceremony to go along with this, but none felt it appropriate. Secondly, tonight will be the last we see of our foreign guests, as such, please take this time to learn as much as you can about their culture, their world, and anything else you wish to."

There was a break, an uncomfortable pause as the students all simultaneously understood what was about to broached next.

"Finally, this is something I... As I am sure you are all aware, Viktor Krum had passed during the final leg of the tournament. This is of course a heartbreaking outcome, as myself and the other organizers of this event had done everything we could to ensure the safety of the champions, but obviously our efforts were lacking, and for that we cannot state how apologetic we are. Loss of life is never an easy topic to discuss or think of. Harder still when that life was not taken through accidental or natural cause."

The heads of the students perked up at that, the murmuring started and honestly, anyone wouldn't be surprised by that, many heads turned to Andrew's direction at that announcement. Students held their breath as they waited to hear whether the Headmaster would accuse Andrew of murder.

"Many in the Ministry would see to it that you never hear this, and believe me when I say that they will deny any and all claims of a similar nature, but I cannot in good conscious allow you all to leave without the knowledge, the truth of what had happened."

McGonagall rushed around the teachers' desk and approached the man and whispered in his ear, after a moment he turned to her and gave her a tired look. She sighed and nodded at the man to continue.

"Viktor Krum did not fall to any spell cast by Andrew Potter, I want you all to hear me; Andrew Potter did not kill Viktor Krum. The culprit of this murder is none other than Lord Voldemort himself!"

At this the murmuring of the students turned to full blown hysterics and gasps of shock and fear. Dumbledore allowed this to go on for a moment before he raised both hands to calm the students.

"He is currently weak and in hiding, but do not be fooled, he will regain his strength and he will make his public return. In the time we have, I implore all of you to take your lessons next year more seriously than you ever have before. Now, I do not tell you this to cause you to panic nor to scare you with the truth, I tell you so that you may all be prepared, so that you all know the truth of this heinous crime that has taken place and the coward responsible."

Harry looked around at that announcement and his eyes caught the sneers and glares at Dumbledore by some of the more openly bigoted students from Slytherin. When one of their eyes caught his, he sent a glare of his own at the nameless Snake who returned the look with one of their own. It did not take long before the entirety of both houses glared at one another venomously. This would not be conducive to the already mounted scorn between the two houses.

"Now, I realize that I have just unloaded a lot on all of you, and I apologize for that, but I truly believe that we as a society will overcome this. We will prevail and come out of this, so for tonight, I would like you all to enjoy your meals, the company you find yourselves in and enjoy your summer."

It was a weak ending and Harry could tell that it didn't calm the students as much as the Headmaster had hoped for, but what else could he have done? He reached for some chicken pieces to begin his own meal when he heard whispering to his right.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just another crazy end of year, right?"

Harry turned to see his brother talking to Hermione.

"So he's really back?"

Harry sighed. "We saw him, he really is."

Ron gulped as his skin begun taking on a paler tone.

"This is mental." the red head said with a shake of his head. "But Dumbledore said he was weakened, so maybe he'll be easier to finish off this time."

Andrew shook his head quietly. "No, I had to fight him off while waiting for Harry and Dumbledore to show up. I can tell you, even in his weakened state, we're no match for the guy. He's... something else."

"So, we get ready." Harry responded.

"Are you kidding me? Did you not hear what I just said? We are no match for him."

"Not to fight him, but you held him off long enough for Dumbledore and I to get there."

"He was...!" Andrew noticed his voice had risen and that he had been attracting looks from the other students, he took a breath and lower his tone again. "He was toying with me, wanted to see if I could give him a fight, like my dad had... apparently."

"Wait, your dad?" Ron asked with a frown.

Andrew nodded and once again took stock of the curious faces around their little group.

"I'll explain later."

"So, what? You think we should just sit on our hands?"

"Of course not, but... I don't know what we'd be able to do against him. Maybe we could hold him off if the odds were in our favour, but... I don't know."

Andrew sighed and turned back to his food, his thoughts going back to that evening, Voldemort was certainly stronger than he had ever anticipated and he was sure that he would get stronger. There had to be a way to beat him though. He'd have to talk to Flitwick as soon as possible.

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

Harry found himself sitting with Fleur on the small hill the pair had kissed on before. They were both silent, staring up at the clouds lazily floating away above them.

"So..."

"So..."

"I guess this is the last time I'll see you." Harry said keeping his eyes locked on one cloud to avoid eye contact.

"Possibly."

Her single response caused Harry's blood to run cold. Had he done something?

"Hey, Fleur?"

"Oui, 'Arry?"

Her pronunciation of his name still sent shivers through his body. He tore his eyes away from the clouds only to see her laying on her side, watching him through her long lashes. He caught himself before he got lost in her ocean blue eyes and cleared his throat.

"I know you said that kisses sometimes don't mean anything, but I think it meant something to me. So, err..."

"Oui?"

He saw a small smirk make its way onto her lips and immediately thought of the soft embrace of those lips.

"Do you think- that is to say, would you mind if I sent you a few letters this summer?"

Her smirk morphed to a full blown smile. "I think I would like that, very much."

He smiled as the relief of her response washed over him.

"Now, I only 'ave a few 'ours before I must leave. Would you like to share more meaningful kisses?" she asked mischievously.

"I- err, yes. Yes, I would."

HP-AP-HP-AP-HP-AP

Andrew knocked on the door of the Charms professor and waited until he heard the confirmation of the small professor before he entered. He walked over to the man sitting by his desk, who seemed to be grading some papers.

"Andrew, what can I do for you?"

"Sir, I need your help."

"What with, my dear boy?"

He bit his tongue at the address, he didn't feel like being confrontational would be beneficial at the moment.

"Sir, I was almost killed by Voldemort, at his absolute weakest. I don't think I could ever take him on in a duel."

Flitwick looked up from his papers and made eye contact with Andrew. He looked thoughtful for a moment before taking off his glasses and again addressed the young boy.

"Honestly, Andrew it would be a combination of coincidence and luck to best He-Who-Must-Not-Named. He has had decades to study and master techniques, delve into the Dark Arts and boost his own power through those methods. You are simply a 14 going on 15 year old boy. Don't misunderstand, you and your brother are talented, to have control over your spells as you do, is no easy feat, and Harry has a large pool of magical reserves, but unfortunately I do not see how you can defeat, You-Know-Who with the skill gap between the three of you."

Andrew knew the response would be something like that, but holy shit did hearing put in such laments turns sting.

"Then... what do we do, sir? How do we defeat him?"

"While a head on approach may not be beneficial to you, tactics are always used by those who are not favoured in battle."

"What? So learn tactics to beat him? How would that help?"

The man smiled.

"I do not believe tactics are you or your brother's forte, Andrew. But as I understand it, Mister Weasley is quite the Chess Master."

"And you think that'll transfer over to battle tactics?"

"With enough training in that direction? Possibly." Flitwick answered with a nod.