Beta: JGNelson (friend)
Original release date: 9/1/2018
Updated: 9/4/2018
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe, in addition to any references to things in the real world that currently exist. AU.
Chapter Sixty Six – That Which Eludes
Standing outside of a courtroom, Pansy and her five comrades stand quietly, wandless and being watched by six Aurors and Amelia. A page exits through the door and speaks quietly to Amelia, causing Amelia to enter into the room.
"Director Black, we hear of a case you want heard, and this is about students at Hogwarts and Unforgiveable Curse usage, is that correct?" calls out Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge from the stands.
"That is correct. Roughly a fortnight before Christmas six students conspired together to cast an Unforgiveable Curse, the Cruciatus Curse, on a fellow students and housemate-" begins Amelia before the door opens and in steps Daphne taking a seat in a conjured chair.
"Miss Daphne Greengrass was the target by six fellow Slytherin girls by the Cruciatus Curse on the night in question" states Amelia firmly.
"And what injuries were sustained by said attack?" inquiries a member of the Wizengamot speaking up.
Wordlessly Amelia turns to Daphne who speaks up, "I did not sustain any injury during their assault as I activated my PRT, Personal Reusable Transport and transported to another location before being hit by the spells."
"To clarify, you sustained no physical injury from their attack?" asks the same member of the Wizengamot.
"That is correct" answers Daphne.
"Why would your fellow classmates try to and fail to attack you?" asks another member of the Wizengamot.
"I'm not completely clear on the motive, but I have a feeling that it was based on me dating Harry Potter, a Triwizard Tournament instead of Draco Malfoy, also a Triwizard Tournament champion" answers Daphne.
Turning to Amelia, Fudge inquiries, "And what proof of this futile attack do you have?"
"I have an audio clip recorded by Miss Greengrass's Omni Play on the night of the attack, in addition to having the girls here to admit guilt" answers Amelia firmly.
"Let us not waste time on hearing a quite possibly fabricated audio clip from a device that Director Black's husband has created and sells. Let us hear from the girls themselves" calls out a drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy taking a stand.
Wordlessly Aurors escort the six girls into the room and into conjured wooden chairs and administer Veritaserum. After checking the validity of the substance, Amelia begins with Pansy, "Miss Parkinson, did you cast the Cruciatus Curse at Miss Greengrass?"
"I did" answers Pansy in a robotic tone.
"Did anyone force you to do so?" inquiries Amelia.
"No."
"Were you going to torture Miss Greengrass until she broke up with Mr. Harry Potter?"
"Yes."
Proceeding down the line of girls, Amelia asks, "Did anyone force you to cast the Cruciatus Curse at Miss Greengrass?"
"Yes."
"Were you under the Imperius Curse?"
"No."
"Were you blackmailed, that is forced to cast the spell in order to not have any kind of compromising details leaked?"
"No."
"Were you or someone you loved threatened with bodily damage if you did not comply?"
"Yes."
"Was the perpetrator of such blackmail Miss Parkinson?"
"Yes."
Continuing down the line of girls and receiving the same answer from each one, Amelia turns back to the Wizengamot and says, "Miss Pansy Parkinson coerced fellow students with bodily harm to help assault Miss Greengrass on the night in question. The only one not being coerced to do so was Miss Parkinson, and therefore I push for an Azkaban sentence for Miss Parkinson for her heinous actions towards her fellow classmates. And—"
"Correct me if I am incorrect, but an underage witch or wizard is unable to press charges against others without familial consent, is that not correct?" inquiries a male voice from the audience.
"That is correct, however the Wizengamot can also perform such actions if the student is in peril" answers Amelia.
"However, since my eldest daughter received no physical harm, she was in no peril, so such action was pre-emptive and not authorized. I wish to not press any charges against of the girls, and thusly end any form of interaction of a case" speaks out Mr. Greengrass firmly.
"What has transpired could be the start of even more grave matters if not nipped in the bud now" argues Amelia.
"It is up to the Wizengamot for a final decision, but I wish no charges against teenage girls whom are starting to grow into themselves and had a moment of misguidedness. Did we not make stupid mistakes when we were younger?" argues Mr. Greengrass back.
"All individuals make mistakes but most mistakes are not of the caliber of casting Unforgiveable Curses at fellow humans. All others that were not under the Imperius Curse that used an Unforgiveable Curse received a life stint in Azkaban. While this is not optimal, we need some form of punishment for Miss Parkinson to show that this kind of behavior will not be tolerated" Amelia retorts.
/*half an hour or so later*/
Exiting the room, Amelia mutters very quietly to herself, "Utter bollocks. Nothing but a farce of the system for punishments."
The seven girls make their way outside and six disappear with their parents down the hallway, Daphne's staying near the door, talking.
"Director Black, while we…appreciate your attempt with our daughter, we kindly would like to let you know that she is a disgrace to our family. We would like to hand you our official paperwork to show that we are disowning her" states Mr. Greengrass handing over a sealed roll of parchment.
Taking a hold of the scroll, Amelia looks back at Mr. Greengrass for several seconds before saying, "I will gladly take care of her if you are unable to do so. My son, Harry, seems to be quite enchanted with her. But if you are truly disowning Daphne, you are forfeiting any contact with her or any children and the likes."
"Of all implications I am aware of and do wish to be rid of a grand disappointment of a child. Here are your belongings" states Mr. Greengrass handing over a miniature chest from a robe pocket to Daphne.
Tears silently streaming down her face, Daphne takes the chest and shakily places it into a robe pocket.
Turning away, Mr. Greengrass strides away, wife taking several tearful looks back and even a wave before turning the corner and out of sight. Waiting for several seconds afterwards, Amelia sighs, "While this is sad, I do hope that you will find solace in our family, your new family."
Nodding her head, Daphne grabs Amelia in a hug, burying her face in the crook of Amelia's shoulder. "Let it all out, but let us go home for privacy. You've had a tiring day and it's barely past noon" before gently activating Daphne's PRT before activating her own.
Arriving home, Remus looks up at Amelia and Daphne, brows furrowing before Amelia speaks gently, "Daphne, Harry is upstairs. Go find him and pick out a room to call your own."
Wordlessly Daphne sweeps up the stairs and out of sight. Looking at Remus sitting in a dark brown cloth armchair, Amelia walks to an opposing armchair and eases herself down into it.
"I assume it did not go well" remarks Remus with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Not only was the punishment for the girls who attacked Daphne simply being forced to go to another magical school, the Mr. Greengrass decided to disown Daphne for not handling it on her own. I had a mind to tear into him for thinking such things, but I remember where I was and what detriment it would be for everyone. Obviously with no family to return to, I opted to take Daphne into the family. Of what I know of, she's got a younger sister and now contact will pretty much be non-existent for the two. This is going to be rough on her, but at least she's got Harry and certainly Susan as well" states Amelia, recounting the day.
"While not optimal, at least she's with a loving family now. Minus her sister, I have a feeling that they were close and loved each other. At least there is a few more days of the Christmas break for Daphne to at least try to settle in with and regain her composure, although I have a feeling that it will take some time to shake the everlasting affects of being disowned by your family" answers Remus sadly.
Peering through a few doors, Daphne finds Harry, back facing the door. "Harry!" exclaims Daphne rushing in and wrapping her arms around Harry's neck. Standing up gently, Harry wraps his arms around Daphne's waist, pulling her in closely. Tears flowing freely, Daphne sobs into Harry's chest, emotions flowing out. Rubbing her back, Harry just comforts Daphne, eventually pulling her into a sitting position on his bed.
Hearing the sobs beginning, Amelia shakes her head, "What a beautiful break this is. And Harry has his next task next week. The kids are getting a whole lot of unnecessary stress heaped on them this year."
/*days later at Hogwarts*/
Looking around the nearly empty common room, Harry remarks to Daphne, "This is nice. Anything you'd like to do in particular?"
"I-I'd like to read a book. Preferably using a pair of noise cancelling headphones if you don't mind" answers Daphne quietly.
"Sure, I'll go get a pair" says Harry before returning to the dormitory. Minutes later Harry returns and hands Daphne a pair of matte black head phones with four symbols on each side.
Turning the headphones over in her hands, Daphne asks, "Why are there the same four symbols on both sides?"
"Only the pair symbol, the one that has a cable that breaks in half and then reconnects is active. After you pair the headphones with the OmniPlay, you select which side you want to activate the controls on. So no matter if you're left handed or right handed, you can use the controls on the earpiece to change the music by skipping a song or going back to a previous one, and pause or restart the music" answers Harry indicating to the press points.
"Oh, that's nifty. But what if one does not want to use the controls on the headphones? How does one change the song like that?" asks Daphne placing the headphones on her head, adjusting the fit.
"The system defaults to using the OmniPlay screen, which has a few modes of use. If you want to stay inside of the application for listening to music or watching stored videos, the controls will remain on the screen and very large, unless it is a video, in which it disappears after a few seconds. If you want to read a book or play a game, you can select to have both on the screen at the same time, with the music one being relegated to either side of the screen, whichever side is your preference" answers Harry with a smile.
"Oh, that's useful. Thanks again" remarks Daphne before taking a seat in an armchair and withdrawing a book from her bag.
"If you need anything, just let me know. I'm here for you" calls out Harry before looking at Daphne for several seconds and then looking away.
"Harry, would you like to do some more dueling practice?" inquiries Neville coming alongside Harry, Ron joining as well.
Pausing to think for several seconds, Harry answers, "I think so. Some last minute practice would be good, especially to focus my mind on the dueling tournament."
"Let's head to a deserted classroom and take a crack at it" remarks Neville heading towards the portrait hole.
Taking up residence in a deserted classroom, the trio prepare an area and Ron speaks up, "I'd like to go first."
"Alright. But since we don't know what the rules will be, let's have a few rounds of standing relatively in the same position and then have a few rounds of being able to more freely move. Does that sound acceptable?" remarks Neville looking at the two.
"Agreed" chorus Ron and Harry together.
A few hours later the trio, thoroughly exhausted, exit the classroom and head back to the common room. Arriving at the dormitory, the trio change before going down to the common room to meet up with the girls before dinner.
"That was refreshing" remarks Daphne with a smile, putting her book and headphones into her bag.
"So Harry, how do you feel about the tournament?" inquiries Hermione as the quintet make their way to the Great Hall.
"Fairly good. Should be enjoyable but the remaining two tasks I think will be the tough ones" answers Harry honestly.
"Honestly Harry, I think you'll win the entire Triwizard Tournament" remarks Ron as they arrive in the Great Hall.
"I'd like to, especially to see my name in a history book but I'll be honest, I'm already in some. The publicity can be a bit…overwhelming" answers Harry as they take their seats.
/*day of the dueling tournament*/
Taking a few deep and calming breathes, Harry looks out at the students in the Great Hall, standing on a platform beside the other champions.
"Our champions will have fifteen minutes per round to best their opponent in a duel. The duel can end early if either dueler concedes defeat, being rendered unconscious, or stepping out of bounds. Each dueler is given and heavily suggested to wear the protective chest plate and each duel will take place on a ten meter diameter circle. There is a protective field in all directions to shield the audience from any stray spells" announces Ludo Bagman energetically.
"Now to our match ups, each will draw a number and then we shall have our dueling tournament" continues Ludo holding out a bowler hat to Fleur, Viktor, Draco, and then Harry, who each pull out a folded piece of paper.
"Miss Delacour, what is your number?" inquiries Ludo.
"Three" answers Fleur.
"Mr. Krum, what is your number?"
"One."
"Mr. Malfoy?"
"Two" remarks Draco smugly.
"And that makes Mr. Potter have number four. Our first match is between Mr. Krum and Mr. Malfoy, with the second match between Miss Delacour and Mr. Potter, and the third and final match between the winners of the first two matches. Gentlemen, please choose if you are using the protective chest plate and then gather at the top of the stairs facing each other" announces Ludo, beaming ear to ear before retreating to the judge's table.
Walking off of the stage, Harry and Fleur take a seat near to the raised platform as Viktor gets the chest plate strapped on and flexes, checking movement, eliciting oohs and ahhs from the audience. Draco pushes the chest plate away, removes his robes with a flourish and brandishes his wand in front of him.
"And…BEGIN!" announces Sirius stepping in as announcer, and the two step into the circular ring and waste no time sending spells at each other.
Opening his mouth to begin announcing spells, Sirius stares in awe as Viktor bombards Draco intensely, causing Draco to back out of the ring, disqualifying him.
"My my, fifteen, no more than twenty seconds and Draco Malfoy has been forced out of the ring, disqualifying him. Let's get Miss Delacour and Mr. Potter on stage" announces Sirius, voice neutral.
"I demand another attempt!" exclaims Draco loudly.
"Mr. Malfoy, you agreed to the rules, and shall be bound to them" announces Mr. Crouch firmly from the judges table.
Stretching arms and legs, Harry equips the new chest plate, awaiting Fleur. Withdrawing her wand, Fleur stands at the ready across from Harry.
"And…BEGIN!" announces Sirius calmly, and the two champions enter into the ring and fire off spells.
"Protego!" shouts Harry, deflecting spells from Fleur before declaring, "Expelliarmus."
"Rictumsempra" replies Fleur, neither spell hitting.
Walking on the outside of the ring, the two send spell after spell at each other, either going astray or being deflected by another spell. As the minutes tick by, Fleur stops moving around the ring, chest heaving. Sensing his chance, Harry rapid fires expelliarmus, adding in various other spells, keeping Fleur on the defensive. A minute later Fleur's wand leaves her hand and flies to Harry who gives a half smile, his own wand pointed at Fleur.
"And now we shall see if Fleur is able to do wandless magic and counter Mr. Potter's restless onslaught" announces Sirius with amusement, watching the standoff.
Seconds tick by, Fleur raises her hand and announces, "I give."
Walking over to Fleur, Harry hands her wand back to her and says, "I enjoyed our match immensely. Thank you."
"And there we have it! Our finalists of Mr. Viktor Krum and Mr. Harry Potter! We shall have a fifteen minute break to let Mr. Potter recover before jumping into the exciting conclusion match" announces Sirius excitedly.
"What a fluke" complains Draco as Harry takes a seat in the champions area.
"About you stepping out of bounds or that I was able to keep up a barrage consistently?" inquiries Harry turning to Draco.
"Whatever" replies Draco disgustedly.
Taking his goblet of water, Harry takes a deep draught, exhaling after finishing. Several minutes later, the two finalists stand up, change out their chest plates and take their place across from each other on the stage.
"And the final match of the tournament begins….NOW!" announces Sirius and almost immediately the two fire off spells at a rate that Sirius can't announce.
A few minutes later, not having had any spells connect with Viktor, Harry starts circling around the ring, sending off a few spells, but stopping about halfway around and returning. Minutes later as both champions breath deeply, Harry glances down briefly, before smiling and charging around the outside of the ring towards Viktor in a counterclock wise direction.
"Uff" calls out Viktor, tripping over broken floor and falling onto the dueling stage.
In a deft movement, Harry bombards Viktor with spells, with Viktor's wand disappearing into the air and into Harry's outstretched hand.
"I surrender" calls out Viktor, panting, still on the floor.
"And Mr. Potter wins the tournament!" announces Sirius.
Crossing the stage to Viktor, Harry holds out his hand and helps Viktor to his feet before returning the wand.
"You vere trying to break up the floor so I trip?" inquiries Viktor walking side by side to Harry.
Grinning, Harry answers, "When we were evenly matched on spells I figured the next best way to get a good opportunity to attack was to make you trip, so I sent several spells towards the floor hoping to make it a tripping hazard. It paid off, did it not?"
"Ya. You vere a great dueler, thinking on the spot" answers Viktor taking a seat in the champions area.
"Thanks, but I only had to do so because you were such a formidable opponent. I had a great feeling that you would push me to my limits, and you did not disappoint" remarks Harry with a smile.
"Champions, please stand on the stage for announcement of the points" announces Bagman, sitting at the judges table.
Standing on the now smoothed out stage, the four champions look towards the now raised judges table.
"For winning the tournament, Mr. Harry Potter receives an eight from Karkarov, an eight from Madame Maxime, a ten from Dumbledore, a ten from Bagman, and a ten from Crouch" announces Sirius.
"For coming in second, Mr. Viktor Krum receives a nine from Karkarov, an eight from Madame Maxime, a nine from Dumbledore, a nine from Bagman, and a nine from Crouch" announces Sirius arriving on the far side of the stage.
"For Miss Delacour, a seven from Karkarov, a nine from Madame Maxime, an eight from Dumbledore, an eight from Bagman, and a seven from Crouch."
"And for Mr. Draco Malfoy, a six from Karkarov, a six from Madame Maxime, a seven from Dumbledore, a seven from Bagman, and a five from Crouch."
"That makes forty six points for Mr. Harry Potter, forty four points for Mr. Viktor Krum, thirty nine points for Miss Fleur Delacour, and thirty one points for Mr. Draco Malfoy. For total point values for the Triwizard Tournament, we have forty three points from the first task and now forty four points for a total of seventy seven points for Mr. Krum. Mr. Malfoy has seventy one points, having received forty points from the first task. Mr. Potter has eighty five points, forty six for this task, and thirty nine from the first task. Miss Delacour has seventy four points, thirty nine from this task and thirty five from the first task. For points, Harry Potter has taken the lead, followed by Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour, and lastly Draco Malfoy."
Coming from the judge's table, Ludo Bagman bounces on the soles of his feet, holding a dark green velvet bag in front of him. "Wonderful, simply glorious! For the next task, you will put your hand into this bag and withdraw your next clue. "Ladies first, so Miss Delacour gets to select first" announces Ludo before opening and holding the bag open to Fleur.
Withdrawing from the bag a scarlet Chinese Fireball with a number one hanging around its neck. "The Swedish Short Snout, that'll be a ball of fire to face" remarks Ludo chortling before moving the bag towards Harry.
Gingerly reaching into the bag, Harry slowly pulls out a dark gray dragon with a number four hanging around its neck, snorting small rings of smoke.
"Ooh, the Hungarian Horntail, that'll be a feisty one to face. You'll be the last to participate in the next task" remarks Ludo with a grin.
Passing the bag over to Viktor, Ludo waits as Krum pulls out the gray-blue Swedish Short-Snout with a number two hanging around its neck. Remaining wordless, Krum looks at the dragon before gently rubbing the top of the head lightly, a plume of smoke billowing out.
"And that leaves the Welsh Green for Mr. Malfoy who will participate third in the next task. What I can tell you about the next task is that you will not hurt any of the dragons in any way. Any injuries will result in points being deducted or even disqualification if severe enough" states Bagman looking at the four champions.
"So what exactly are we supposed to do with dragons then?" drawls Malfoy, confused.
"You either take the clue of doing no damage to dragons and figure it out or you wait until the day of the task" states Mr. Crouch sternly walking onto the stage.
"Tsk" replies Draco before crossing his arms across his chest.
"Are these…real dragons? Or just mimic real dragons?" inquiries Harry looking intently at the miniature dragon in his palm.
"They are real enough to need to be taken care of, if you so choose" answers Mr. Crouch.
"And what if we don't want to take care of them?" demands Malfoy.
"Then I have a feeling that Hagrid would have no issue taking the dragon off of your hands. Do the dragons get any larger?" answers Harry before turning to the two judges.
"No, they are as large as they are going to get" answers Mr. Crouch firmly.
"I don't need a miniature dragon. Professor…take this dragon and do whatever" states Draco before handing it to Hagrid who had been creeping closer to the stage.
Receiving the miniature dragon in his enormous hands, Hagrid coos quietly at the dragon before heading towards the back of the Great Hall.
"I want the dragon. But what is the gender of mine?" inquiries Harry as the students stay quiet in the background.
"All four are male, and have been made certain that they are unable to procreate. Remember that breeding dragons without any permission, which none have been granted, is against wizarding law" answers Mr. Crouch looking at the three champions and then to the back where Hagrid stands enamored with the miniature dragon.
"Any more questions? No? Then everyone can leave" states Mr. Crouch, and the students start filtering out of the Great Hall.
"Harry, can I see your dragon?" comes a voice from his right.
Turning to the right, Harry sees Susan with Hannah just outside the Great Hall. "Sure" before gently handing Susan the dragon. Holding the dragon in her hand like a child, Susan holds out her index finger and gently strokes the dragon from the top of its head down towards but not quite reaching the tail. Repeating this motion over and over, a smile grows on Susan's face before she asks, "What will you name him?"
"I haven't give it enough thought. What do you all think?" responds Harry looking at Ron, Neville, Daphne, Hermione, Susan, and Hannah.
Hearing nothing, Hannah speaks up quietly, "How about Wilhelm?"
"I like it" remarks Harry after no one else speaks up, "from now on he is Wilhelm."
"Now all you need is a cage or some form of contained area for him to roam in, some form of bedding, food, and water" remarks Sirius joining the group.
"Then will you fetch me one since I'm not technically allowed to leave Hogwarts?" inquiries Harry smirking.
"Yeah, sure. Just don't burn down the castle" jests Sirius before breaking away from the group.
"Congratulations on besting Viktor Krum in a duel, especially in such in an ingenious way" remarks Daphne giving Harry a kiss on the cheek.
Tentatively sticking her finger towards Wilhelm as he smells it, Hannah pauses briefly before stroking Wilhelm.
"I do wonder what they eat though. I suppose I can experiment—" begins Harry before Hermione interrupts, "Or you can do the smart thing and research it and not hurt him."
"I was going to see if he was going to simply ignore the food that he doesn't like or do what you suggest and do some research. But I think it comes down to if he is technically a real dragon shrunk down in size or if he is some type of breed that also eats fruits, vegetables in addition to meat" remarks Harry calmly.
"Why not try meat first and see what he likes after that, then document in Magizoologist's Mate?" remarks Luna calmly as she joins the group.
"And have a…system or something that allows you to find books related to the creature or topic and places you can find and buy, or even just read them like the library, and whether or not they are in stock.
"Design the system Hermione, and I'll certainly put it in and use it myself. I'm always down for a good read" remarks Remus with a smile.
"Harry, I think you'd be a great Auror in regards to your dueling skill. We should have a talk about job prospects sometime" remarks Amelia putting a hand of Harry's shoulder before disappearing.
Seeing Wilhelm yawn, Harry remarks, "I think Wilhelm is tired, so I'm going take him and go take a nap", before gently moving the now snoring miniature dragon into his hands and begins to head up the stairs.
Arriving in the dormitory, Harry places Wilhelm on the end table by the bed before removing his glasses and putting them on the table by Wilhelm.
Author note: Thanks for reading! I had some thought on having a court case on this, but decided to do it. When I said press points, I was thinking more of the capacitive touch on some devices that by just having your finger brush it, turns it on or off. I just didn't research if it has a patent (and if so, I do not own it and all rights reserved to the holder(s)). Re-reading chapter sixty two, I apparently left the math portion in for the cameras in, and I think I was going to remove that.
Update 9/4/2018: Thanks to MastrDragn for mentioning having a name discrepancy in announcers. I initially started out with Bagman but switched to Sirius (not even putting in Lee). I'm not a good commentator for play by play, but to improve, one must tackle ones weakpoints.