Ministry Meeting Room No. 7
12:29pm
"Is there a problem Headmaster?" An obnoxiously sugar coated voice of a toad in pink asked the stunned boy. Fleur and Daphne had to do a double take to believe what the eyes could only process as a deformed pink frog. Hermione backed away ever so slightly as to not get caught in the undeniable cross-fire.
"Yes, and I'm looking right at it." Harry snarled, eyes aflame and hand reaching to his wand. The combined forces of Fleur and Daphne were the only reason he hadn't hexed the Dean.
"My, my, that is no way to greet a colleague." The pink mess shook her head and bowed in feign disappointment.
"You are not my colleague and I refuse to say so otherwise. Do you people know what she does to students?" He addressed the people in the room.
"Harry, what happened was in the past. I can assure you that my ways of teaching before are over." The sugary preservatives that this witch ate before she went to the meeting turned the stomachs of all the people in the room, even the Druid.
"The load of Bullshit you could cover in honey is only so appetizing. She uses Blood Quills on her students. Did you know that?" The Minister was sweating bullets and everyone in the room looked at the Dean with contempt.
A woman raised her hand and asked the Headmaster. "Are you saying Dean Umbridge used a Blood Quill as punishment?" Her Australian Accent gone a few syllables. Harry waked to her and showed her his right hand. The one that still bears the scar "I must not tell lies".
Jaina and her secretary gasped and Solomon looked baffled. The knight looked like an enraged lion ready to pounce.
"How could you!? Imposing such a monstrous act over students is unforgivable! We have banned the use of such quills in my continent several hundred years ago. And I'm sure it is not just South America!" The Knight who had been silent since the beginning of it all burst out and reached for his great sword that was on his back. He wielded it with one hand, stood up and pointed the tip on Dolores's neck. No one really said a word against this until the eldest in the room sighed.
"Lazaro, we do not resort to violence in a time like this." The Great Druid's aura spiked through the roof and calmed the angry Knight. The Knight Lazaro lowered his sword and sheathed it back to its rightful place. He looked at Dolores one more time and looked away. That was the last time Lazaro would ever lay eyes on the pink psychopath.
"This information is new to us." The Great Druid continued.
"Dolores, we will inform the Japanese Conference about this and request an immediate check on your school. We will postpone the Tournament until such time the Conference clears your school and yourself. If they found no trace of the Blood Quill being used on students, your school can participate." The old Druid sat back down and rubbed his brow.
"Furthermore, you are hereby excused from this meeting. You are to return to Japan but not as a Dean, not until the Conference gives the clear. I will contact Head Sister Ayaka of this circumstance."
"No need Great Druid. I understand the predicament I am in and already took the liberty of putting the Head Sister as temporary Dean while I am gone. I'll see myself out. Have a wonderful day to all of you." Despite the act of leaving, her smile stayed strong and her voice never once faltering.
"Minister, Harry, Ladies." She addressed one by one as she left the room, to the floo networks and away to wherever she needs to go.
"Now that is over with, if you three sit down, we could start the meeting." Minister Shaklebolt gestured the three silent people to which ever seat they wanted.
Hermione taking the seat where Dolores sat before, which was beside the Minister's. Fleur sat beside the Black haired man whose arms were folded. His eyes lingering on Fleur a second or two longer than that was needed. Harry sat beside her, facing Solomon. Daphne sat beside Harry.
"I guess introductory is needed." The Minister said. Everyone nodded their heads affirmation.
"I'll start. I am Archmage Jaina Everspire. I lead the Archaic Lyceum in Sydney, Australia. This is my secretary Gina." The brown haired mage introduced herself to Harry and gestured to Gina who nodded slightly. Daphne gave her a flailing wave and Jaina just looked away. 'Daphne Greengrass, we've bumped heads every now and then. She has helped us in the past. Nice girl, really scary. What she doing with Potter though? Isn't he married to the Veela?' Jaina inner contemplated.
"Yes, I have heard of your school. You advance in the study of time and space, energy and matter conversion. That is really fascinating. I would like to visit sometimes." Harry said in a serious businessman voice.
"You would be most welcome."
"If you ever want to visit Hogwarts, you are too." He replied.
Jaina nodded. A very strong acquaintance was gained today.
"My name is Lazaro Valentino." The knight started when Jaina sat down. "Head of the Hanging School of Babylon. If you didn't know, my school trains Battle Mages like myself." The knight stood up and bowed. Harry did the same, learning from Alexander that it is common courtesy to do so.
"I have heard stories about you Headmaster, if I would be so bold to ask you to have a practice match against me sometime, would you accept?"
"I don't see any reason why not." Harry replied in a deadpan voice.
"Thank you. I was hop-"
"Lazaro, why don't you and Harry discuss this after the meeting?" The Great Druid raised his hand as he spoke. "Forgive us Headmaster Potter, Lazaro tends to act like a child in the matters of combat." The old man flashed his grandfather smile at the Knight who sat down with a monotonous expression.
"I am The Great Druid of the South." He stood up and walked over to Harry. " A pleasure to make your acquaintance Vanquisher of the Heathen Snake." The old Druid extended his hand.
"Please Great Druid, I am no more a vanquisher than the next. I am just Harry." Harry took the hand and gave it a light squeeze but was surprised when the Druid squeezed back, hard.
"I may be stronger than I look." The Great Druid flashed a smile and walked back to his seat.
"He is as old as Dumbledore, maybe older." Daphne whispered to Harry who nodded.
"Read books about him, apparently he knows Nick as well. The three of them were friends."
Fleur put her own two-cents into the tray of ever-exceeding list about the Druid.
"Solomon Stefan Silas Stanford the Seventh. You might know my great-great-great-great-great grandfather, who founded Stanford University. He was however a Squib albeit an intellectual one." The man in a now grey suit fixed prim and proper with his hair slicked back and his shades turn into glasses.
"Pleased to meet you Director Stanford. If I may ask, why aren't you the head of Stanford University right now?" Harry asked as he addressed the man who looked down in mock hurt.
"Long story short, my great-great-great grandfather, Spencer Saul Seymour Stanford the Second lost a bet. Worry not, the training institute in Frost Cavern is simply top-rated by a lot of influential people in the wizarding world."
"I know that much Director, I have been to your school a bunch of times for business but sadly your secretary informed me you were knocked out? Are you alright now?" Harry really sounded concerned.
"Just a minor setback." The man did a two finger salute and sat back down.
Fleur eyed the peson beside her who was the only one who hadn't introduced himself.
"Ulric Yozhikov. I make the School for the Truly Gifted run smoothly." Ulric said never breaking his stance. He still had his arms folded and his legs crossed. He looked to the side to where Harry was and nodded. Ulric's eyes lingered on Fleur for a moment then he retreated back to his seat. The Veela, Harry, and Daphne didn't notice the eyes of Ulric.
"Now that is taken care of, let's get started." Kingsley said as he waved his wand and papers appeared in in front of each witch and wizard in the room. Harry knew that this was going to be a very long day.
/-/-/skip\-\-\
{Meeting Room No. 7, 1:34pm}
"So we are sticking with Dragons, the lake, and the maze again?" Harry said after they discussed the challenges.
"Well, yeah. We already booked the dragons from Romania and even asked for Wyverns from Norway and Russia." Solomon put down his copy of dragons when he addressed the headmaster.
"I have no questions about the Fireball, Horntail, Green, or the Short-Snout. But why are there fifteen in total dragons and wyverns? I don't need to be an expert but aren't some of these too dangerous? I mean Argentinian Fork-Tongue sounds like a funny name but I have been to Argentina a couple of times and I have seen a nest of those and let me tell you, fork tongued or not those things are quick, vile and poisonous. It took four hours for four fully trained aurors and five veteran dragon handlers to subdue an old and slow Fork-Tongue." Harry said recalling his expedition against said beast. He was one of the nine to fight the wyvern. "And you listed it as Juvenile? What's more intriguing is that you actually thought about putting an Anglican Holyfire in play? Have you seen those creatures spit fire? It's white. WHITE! That is how hot the fire is. Do you know how hot that is? Too hot. Plus, only two are known to exist."
"Headmaster, it wasn't our idea to put the Fork-Tongue in the tournament or the Holyfire. It was Dean Umbridge's." The knight looked saddened.
"How many of these dragons are from her, exactly?" Fleur asked for Harry.
"All of them." Was said in unison in the room, even from Daphne and Hermione.
Harry shook his head and facepalmed himself.
"I object to it all!" Harry said with a voice of vindication as he calmly placed his copy of the beasts on the table.
"So, what, then?" The Minister asked as he eyed the young wizard.
Harry, racking his brain for ideas came out short, until he remembered that one thing.
"What about this?"
/-/-/ skip\-\-\
"Now the first task is settled, are there any other objections to it?" Kingsley asked the table. Ulric's hand rose.
"Besides the creatures being hard to find." Ulric's hand went down.
"Okay. Now moving on. The second task is very peculiar because we will be staring at a lake for an hour. Archmage Jaina has provided us a different alternative."
"Yes, it goes like this, so listen well Harry." Jaina looked at her secretary who nodded. She wrote down something in her notepad. She ripped off the page which burned and was replaced with a glowing blue orb. She handed it to Jaina who then placed the manifested orb on the table. It showed in detail the alternative.
/-/-/ skip\-\-\
"So that is how it goes." Jaina finally concluded. Harry was on edge. The alternative proved to be more interesting and a little terrifying.
"If you don't mind, can we raise security and safety measures?" Fleur asked and Harry nodded. By this time Daphne fell asleep.
"Do not worry dear, they are inside my own creation, nothing besides the six of us," The Archmage pointed to each headmaster in the room. "Could dent, much less break it. Well, Nicholas and the Great Druid might break it but I have faith in them." Fleur nodded and Harry just gave a sigh of relief.
"Hey aren't we neglecting St. Jaune's?" Solomon asked the Archmage.
"She should've have thought about that before using such an infernal device." Lazaro put on a disgusted look.
"Now now, I'll be passing along the newly arranged events to Sister Ayaka. Dean Umbridge is still on temporary leave until her case is solved." Minister Kingsley said, giving it with the best diplomatic voice.
"So the maze is still the maze? No graveyards, no dark lords?" Fleur asked.
"You participated, any suggestions?" Solomon asked for the group. Fleur looked at everyone. Kingsley nodded to her, Jaina gave a half smile, Solomon still waiting for her answer, Lazaro looked straight at her, Ulric gave her a frightened look, Harry gripped her hand from below. Daphne was asleep and Hermione is still busy taking notes.
Fleur nodded. She took a big gulp of air and exhaled.
"Let's see…" Fleur started. " 'Arry, if you may."
Harry nodded his head and waved his hand over the table. What popped up was a holographic image of the entire maze.
"Why don't we start from here…" And so the meeting continued on.
Hogwarts, Headmaster's office
5:43pm
The meeting progressed ever so slowly and Harry's blonde entourage were exhausted.
They flooed back to Hogwarts because Fleur insisted and because if they used the apparte-floo ring, she would throw up her innards.
The trio stumbled out of the floo, Harry first flowed by Fleur and Daphne. Harry caught both of the in his arms. Fleur gave him a small peck on the lips while Daphne was having second thoughts about giving the man affection.
"Something wrong?" Harry asked when he noticed Daphne looking at his face for too long.
"It's nothing darling." She turned around and headed to the large chair-ish throne that sat behind the desk of the headmaster. "Just a little tired."
"Uh-huh, you want something to eat?" Fleur asked the other blonde and Daphne held a thinking position.
"Maybe later." Was Daphne's reply. She kicked up her feet placed both hands behind her head.
"Fleur and I will be walking around. Message me if anything comes up, and please don't break anything." Harry warned her in a nice way. Daphne scoffed playfully and closed her eyes.
Harry walked towards the door and opened it for Fleur. The Veela waved to Daphne who waved back, signifying their departure.
Once the couple were out, Daphne quickly found her way to the Headmaster's Quarters via the secret way behind the bookshelf by pulling the seventeenth book on the fourth shelf from the left. When she reached the room, she jumped on the bed on Harry's side and rolled on it back and forth.
"I'm hopeless…" Daphne whispered to herself once she stole a quick sniff of Harry's pillow.
Outside, waiting for the clock to strike seven for dinner, both Potters were walking around and occasionally getting greetings from walking students and staff alike. The walk was pleasant and much to the amusement of Harry, quiet. No sound of war, no sound of slaughter, just the peaceful sound of their breathing and the cool night air.
They reached their desired spot, at the shore of the lake. Fleur conjured a blanket for them to sit on.
"I wish every night is like this." Harry said as he sat down beside his wife.
"No attempts on your life? I thought you lived for the thrill of getting killed?"
"That and of course you." Harry added the cheesy comment and Fleur blushed a bit.
"You know, I understood the risk of marrying you. Even if the war is over and you've won, there are still… things… out there who would be after your blood." Fleur said as she hugged her legs to herself.
"Hey now," Harry reached his arms across to hug Fleur.
"With all the life threatening events that has happened to me in the past, we already established the fact that death is somewhat my bitch." Harry said with a smug smile but Fleur didn't respond.
"You okay love?" Harry asked but she didn't answer him. Harry turned Fleur to face him but was shocked that she was completely solid.
"What the fuck?" Harry did every diagnostic spell he could think off but nothing. He tried to apparate into the castle but he found out he couldn't. Harry grab hold of Fleur's ring and tried to use it but to his surprise, even the ring didn't work.
He surveyed his surroundings and saw that the waves on the shore also stopped moving. He conjured up a rock and threw it didn't surprise him that when he let go of the rock it stopped mid-air.
"I think" a disembodied voice suddenly said. Harry turned around and fired a couple dozen of lethal curses without a wand in every direction, careful not hitting his wife.
"Death is just waiting for the right opportunity." A cloaked figure appeared in front of him and with the ease of a professional fired his own creation of a lethal hex that would turn the target inside out and burn it whilst electrocuting it. He missed though as the figure disappeared before he even got a chance to hit him.
"Harry Potter. You have no idea how easy it is to kill you." The figure appeared and said to him.
"Get it over with then! With all the shit I've been through, how hard of a challenge can this be?" He warned, keeping his distance close to Fleur.
"You see, you are now a prisoner of eternity. You will not die," The figure chuckled shortly after, "and even I don't think you can. But there are other ways." Harry quickly clawed his memory for a logical explanation of what is happening.
Harry glowed blue for a minute then white, finally red. Until it stopped and it was all clear.
"Time dilation and petrification, scaled over my school and covered it with about a hundred layers of both Archaic and Ancient magic." Harry concluded. "There are only seven people in the world who could do this and I am one of them. Well, I don't suppose you work for Umbitch, do you? Cause I can hardly believe that she can do this."
The figure chuckled again and appeared in front of Harry. "This," it raised a necklace that was concealed before. "Do you know what it is?"
Harry's eyes widened, "The Eye of Col'than Buc, the First Basilisk. That was supposed to be in storage, under the care of Nicholas Flamel." Harry knew this because it was Harry himself who brought it to the Alchemist for him to protect.
"Correct. I believe even you know how powerful the artefact is. You can free yourself, but once again, the only way to do it is to destroy it. And what happens if you destroy it?"
"As a Pillar of Beginning, I could potentially destroy space-time."
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner!" The figure jumped up and down.
"You choice, you know the consequence. I'll leave you to ponder your fate." The figure raised it's hands and a mountain erupted from the ground. Harry was quick to shield Fleur and move her out of the flying rubble's way.
The figure put the necklace down at the very top of the goliath mountain.
"Reach this and it's yours, but…" The figure multiplied.
"I wouldn't want it to be that easy."
Harry chuckled. Just another day in the office. He casted a multi-layer spell shield on Fleur and conjured Guardian Golems to protect her.
"Keep her safe."
Harry, facing a tremendous number of foes started up the mountain, pondering how he was gonna beat this obstacle without destroying, well, everything.
Just another day.
A/N: Okay I promise, the next chapter is the fight and it will be released soon because winter break.
Next Chapter: Clash of Lords Part 2: When a Pillar Crumbles.