Chapter 8
Dell squirmed almost as much as he had as a woodlouse.
"I – they went further than I expected or – or thought appropriate; I – I didn't realise" said Dell. "But he DIDN'T ought to be here!"
"I think that his loyalty to his sister that surpasses his own academic ambition is rather laudable in a way, actually" said David coldly.
"To try to make her turn her back on magic and give up her friends?" demanded Dell.
David blinked.
"Who's been suggesting any of that rubbish? Believe me, I see them at prep in Gryff Tower; he's dead keen for her!" he said.
"Muggles are jealous! They take people away from their family and make them deny magic!" cried Dell "And Freya's a really nice kid, she doesn't deserve to be made back into a muggle!"
David got up and poured a couple of glasses of butterbeer from his wand. It was one of his favourite NEWT level transfiguration skills.
"Drink that down, get yourself under control and tell me what muggle has so addled your brain that you can't see any muggle without assuming they're the same as the git you describe" said David.
Lionel Dell took a long swig.
"All right" he said in a low voice. "My mother's muggleborn; you're muggleborn, aren't you?"
"I am" said David "And with that bloodline, I'd advise not playing with Durmstrangers; you're too close to muggle yourself for THEIR liking."
"Muggleborn are still magical" said Dell "And I've seen how brilliant you are…you'd never turn your back on the wizarding world, would you?"
"The only reason I might was if by doing so I might save it, or save my new wizarding family" said David "And it would hurt more than I care to imagine."
"Yeah, but you're a Gryff and supposed to do noble things sometimes…" said Dell. "My mother was a Huffer; maybe not brilliant, but she was a witch!"
"She's dead?"
"No – I know it's a terrible thing to say, but if she was it might be easier to come to terms with!"
David was shocked; he missed his parents still, but there were tears in Dell's eyes.
"Go on" he said.
"She's always believed in omens and things; I think muggles follow star signs and predictions too?" he glanced at David, who nodded; and went on "She used to follow such things I think before she ever went to Hogwarts, and she read one when she and dad were having a rocky patch which told her to make a clean break and seek out an entirely new life. So she divorced him."
"And this is why I don't think much of Divination on the whole – even if Madam Spikenard is more accurate than most" said David "The trouble with superstitious muggles is that they can be very superstitious indeed; nowadays it fulfils a psychological need that used to be filled by religion, I believe. And I guess with the teaching at Hogwarts that such things can work – and under Powerless Polly I suppose, Madam Trelawney I should say – it'd reinforce any such belief. That's a tough blow to take."
"Oh that's not the worst!" said Dell bitterly "I could almost have coped with that – I mean, maybe a clean break from the quarrelling was best – but her new boyfriend Tony is a muggle, and she told him about the wizarding world, and he wants her to have a totally new life without any of what he calls 'all that revolting rubbish' and you see, part of that revolting rubbish is me, because I'm a wizard. He's told her she can have other kids that aren't contaminated, and forget me!"
He burst into tears in earnest at that point.
David came round the desk to put an arm around his shoulders.
"You poor little sod" he said gently "You poor, poor little sod! But, Lionel, LISTEN to me! This Tony sounds a creep – and no, he's NOT alone among muggles; Harry Potter had to live with his aunt and uncle until he came to school and then in the holidays too, because of a blood oath of his mother, his aunt's sister, through her death-sacrifice; and they were just as bad. He was punished for doing instinctive magic before he knew what it was – they did – and for even talking about the wizarding world when he did know. But they are NOT representative, my good ass! Tamsin Clintock's parents are as proud as punch of her, and Hermione Gr – uh, Weasley's parents too! Mine would have been of me, if they were alive! What about your grandparents?"
"I – well I guess they're all right….and my uncle Geoff and Grigs my cousin. But….you know!"
"Lionel, I can see where you're coming from" said David "But suppose the only wizard a muggle knew was Voldemort? Don't you think that would lead to him thinking all wizards were evil? This Tony might be as crass and ignorant a bigot as bloodsnobs are; or it might be he had a bad experience caused by the Deatheaters when they were running riot, or came up against a Dementor or something. I'll get Lucius Malfoy to look into it; he's very good at that sort of thing. And if TONY is bigoted for good reason, it'd be worth trying to help him get over it too. But you need to know that one person's meanness should not colour you views! The Goblin bookie in Hogsmead is a crook; but Garjala isn't and you came to acknowledge that. Baddock and Pritchard are nasty bullies; but I have many Slytherin friends. You are a clever boy, Lionel, and able to be objective when facts are pointed out to you; but for your blind spot with potions, you'd be the top student in your year in my estimation. I rather like you too; except when you are doing such deatheaterish things as torturing a kid who's smaller than you on no other grounds than his race."
Dell squirmed.
"That does sound rather mindlessly childish, doesn't it?" he muttered.
"And that's what I like about you lad; that you ARE objective about yourself" said David. "And about facts when you see past your unreasoning prejudices. Now we all have fears and phobias; when we test ourselves against the Boggart in the third year, we see what we fear most. What did you see?"
"Tony" said Dell "Coming at me with one of those muggle weapons you used on the werewolves."
"Then I can see it's a deeper thing than just hating him for taking your mother – which is bad enough- but also a real fear that he might be a risk to the wizarding world?"
Dell nodded miserably. David laid a hand on his shoulder.
"I'll get Lucius to check that too; and if he is a risk, I'll ask Lucius to give your mother the choice of giving him up or never mentioning the wizarding world to him again, and Lucius can confund him. Then you need not fear him."
Dell's eyes blazed with hope.
"Oh please! He swore he'd find a way to kill me when I shouted at him for taking my mother from her talent; I – I did say that I could use my wand on him when I was seventeen, and he said then I should have to die before I got that old!"
David's face went flat and hard.
"Of all the…..! does he not expect a little boy to react in anger and say things he might not even mean? Bastard! Lionel, my lad, you fear and hate TONY; but he is not all muggles. I know many muggles; I have known cruel mean muggles who would be at home alongside Voldemort – Madam Malfoy, her first adopted girls Jade and Lydia and I were all in an orphanage that was run by evil bitches….yes, I think you need to know." Quickly he outlined the outrages of the orphanage and told the horrified boy that Krait Malfoy-Snape would bear scars on her back to the end of her life as they counted as cursed, even though put there by muggles; and that Jade too had some faint scarring of the same kind. He stripped his shirt to show his own scars.
Dell started crying again.
"Doesn't that PROVE that muggles are evil?" he said.
"Lionel, if I can survive all this, and still swear to you as honest truth that these muggles are a minority, that muggles are no more good, or evil, or clever or stupid than wizards, will you believe me, knowing what I have been through?" asked David.
Dell blinked.
"Yes I will; if you have seen that and still see good in others" he said simply.
"I know many muggles; and most of them are thoroughly innocuous" said David "And many are silly; and some are wise. If they were mixed in with wizards, and everyone had to wear an overall that hid their different fashions, and magic was forbidden, it'd be hard to tell one group from the other – until either football or quidditch entered the conversation. They have their sports – you know Willow Prince is running hockey lessons for fun this term and we had cricket in the summer, it's part of our way to hide through obviousness – and many are as passionate over them as we can be over quidditch; some of us more than others! I love Quidditch, as I know you do; my girlfriend Ellie smiles tolerantly at me over it. Will you try to put aside your dislike of muggles in general then?"
"Yes Fraser; I believe what you tell me" said Dell, simply.
"Good lad!" said David, smiling quickly. "Now what I want you to do is to go and apologise to Tuthill; and tell him why you had a poor view of muggles. I think you'll find he'll be pretty understanding; I understand the next sister down is jealous, and it upsets him and Freya. Ask him to show you some of his muggle chemistry; Krait Malfoy learned that in her muggle school and she reckoned it gave her a head start in potions. And what little I had learned too, I found useful, so for what it's worth I suggest that as a way to start making a friend of him."
"I – I have to make friends with him?" Dell was not a little dismayed.
David grinned.
"I think it'll happen naturally" he said. "You know Rom Snape is adopted? No? Well he is….Krait turned him and Kinat each into woodlice for making racist remarks at each other; and then sentenced them to talk to each other. And see where they are now."
"Both Marauders" said Dell. "All right Fraser; I'll try."
"Can't say fairer than that" said David, holding out a hand.
Dell shook it, shyly.
Fraser was, in his opinion, the best man in the world!
Ross Tuthill was wary of Dell's approach; but by the time the older boy had stammered out his reasons for hating muggles Ross was indignant on his behalf.
"Gosh, what a dyed-in-the-wool, grade 'A' class '1' SKANK!" he declared "Let anyone try that on my sister and I'd ruddy maim him! I say, let's go into Glasgow together – Fraser'll get you permission to come with me if we ask – and use the internet to lay information that he's a pervert or something and sick the fuzz on him!"
"I didn't understand half of that" said Dell.
Ross grinned.
"With electricity and computers you can talk to anyone anywhere in the world, it's called the internet – I'll show you when we get there – and we can well, fuzz, police, like Alice Trumball's dad, they're like muggle aurors kinda, and if we tip them off that he's a pervert they'd have to investigate him; and it's not that he's innocent that matters but that it'll inconvenience him and they'll stick their noses into every part of his life, and the beauty of it is he won't suspect it of being anything to do with you because you don't DO computers."
Dell brightened.
"I LIKE it!" he said.
And of such are friendships made.
oOoOo
David was drawn to go first in the first task; he and the other contestants waited by the broom sheds at the quiddich field that had been taken over for the competition, and structures built on it. David knew that the spectators on the tiers would be able to see into the arena but that he would have less of an advantage.
And the whistle was blown to start the time.
He went forward, wand at the ready; and was in a room with five doors. They were numbered 10,11,12,13, and14.
Above them was the legend – in rather heavy Germanic script it has to be said that made David frown more with irritation at the pettiness than from a difficulty reading it – that read
"Let the number of your own digits be the lucky number."
"Well, let's assume this whole ruddy thing is in base eight" said David to himself "I have ten digits; and that means one eight and two units, one-two." Boldly he walked through the door marked '12'.
He was in the spider's lair; and the big acromantula reared up, ready to hold him off the spider silk wrapped body behind it. It was nothing like as big as Aragog.
David had thoughts of Hagrid crying over a 'poor little thing' and sighing decided to use non lethal methods. The spider advanced, poison fangs at the ready.
"Heh heh, more prey….two for me" it chuckled. Then it yelped.
The Tarantallegra curse was a terrible thing to have cast on someone with eight legs to dance uncontrollably.
David strolled over to the wrapped bundle – a very small wrapped bundle, a goblin perhaps? – and picked it up easily and walked out past the still frantically dancing spider. He could hear the laughter from the spectators above.
"Look at Fraser like he's out for a Sunday stroll with a girlfriend!" he heard Dell's voice whooping.
He walked out grinning.
By the time he had ripped the wrapping off the bundle he was no longer grinning.
The bundle was a little girl, no more than nine years old; and she was coming to, terrified, and asking questions in a language David did not know.
"What is this? Using children? Where are they from?" he demanded of the German Minister of magic.
The man shrugged.
"They are Romanian orphans" he said "Muggles. Nobody wants them; they have been promised the chance of growing up in the wizarding world if they survive. You have yourself a slave, Herr Fraser."
"Slave? You sausage eating git!" said David "And what do you mean – if they survive?"
"Well, obviously the acromantulas had to have incentives….if the contestants failed, they got to eat the brats, obviously."
Dumbledore's hands clamped on David's arms as he started to go for his wand.
"Other days, other ways, Fraser" he said quietly "I'm sure we are all fascinated by the German way of doing things."
"Yes; we Germans are always efficient" said the German Minister proudly, unaware that he had come close to having the killing curse hurled at him; unaware that David was furious and even had be been aware of that, he would have been puzzled as to why.
Dumbledore said,
"Madam Pomfrey will see to the care of this little one; go to the stands and watch. It is being got ready for Karl Heinz now as we speak."
David heard the note of ordering in the Head's voice, bowed politely and went to sit with his fellow Gryffindors, simmering gently.
Karl spent more time than David finding the right door, going first into '10' and wandering about a labyrinth and ending up exiting at '14' before he hit his head and calculated – using his fingers – where he should be.
Karl did not hang about with the acromantula; he used the Killing Curse as fast as he could, and the immense bloated body twitched horridly as he took the small body out.
"Top marks for German efficiency but like minus several thousand for style" said Abrax.
"German efficiency? Let me tell you about German efficiency!" said David in a low, angry voice; and he told them.
There was a shocked silence.
"Right" said Kinat "Let's get down there when they take the body out, reckon there's seven or more pints of venom there at a hundred galleons a pint, that'll help keep the orphans….we'll kidnap them if this boy Karl tries to keep his as a slave."
"He's not like that" said David "Yes, good idea; get house elves to help."
Kinat slid off and reappeared on the field in workman's overalls looking for all the world like a goblin menial. He heaved off the spider's body and took it to a quiet corner to milk all under the eyes of everyone watching and without a murmur from anyone.
The third acromantula was brought in from its cage, the third wrapped body beside it.
It was Alain's turn.
Alain did the arithmancy fairly quickly and stepped inside.
Then he seemed to freeze.
"Poor bastard's afraid of spiders" said Abraxus.
Alain backed away as the spider laughed; and it chuckled. He swayed and seemed to pass out under its very breath and poison was dripping down its fangs in anticipation.
David could not stand it. He dived, and called for the flying abilities they had learned from Harry's insights into Voldemort's mind; and he was changing as he landed, transfiguring into what a spider feared most; and the spider had time to squeal once in terror before it could scream no more, turned to stone by David-the basilisk's glare.
"Damn, all that poison fossilised!" Abraxus muttered "Half a mo, there's what dribbled out…." He emptied his water bottle and pointed his wand at it "Accio venom" he muttered.
The bottle filled very neatly.
"That's a pint and three quarters then" muttered Abraxus.
David meanwhile had changed back and was checking Alain.
"Daveed? You save me!" said the boy, white faced and shaken, and plainly overcome by the very stench of the venom.
"Let me pick up the child; then you can lean on me" said David. Alain nodded.
Karl came to take his other arm as they emerged.
"I need no 'elp from a German pig" said Alain.
"I don't like the way they do things any more than you do" said Karl "Don't hate me; hate the system."
Alain sniffed; but he was in a bad enough way not to complain too much.
Madam Pomfrey was holding forth.
"Dragons….acromantulas….innocent children put at risk…. This is beyond enough!"
"I agree" said David coldly "You will keep a close eye on those children, Madam Pomfrey?"
She caught his eye, read his fear for their safety.
"No-one will get past ME to harm them" she said grimly.
The judging went ahead; after Madame Maxime had swept David into a bear hug and thanked him effusively for saving Alain.
Madam McGonagall said,
"Weel, laddie, if ye can but manage tae transfigure like that in yer exam, ye'll be afther getting an 'O' grade, ah doot!"
"It was kind of an emergency" said David.
"Ay weel, like the woodlice ah had tae rescue ah suppose."
"Lord, I forgot the German woodlice….thanks Madam McGonagall!" said David.
"And ye canna tell me the five exceptions tae Gamp's rule" sighed McGonagall.
The German authorities were a little upset that one of their spiders was petrified – and Severus refusing to issue any mandrake juice to cure it – one dead and the other…..missing.
With David becoming a Basilisk it had sensed him and broke out of its cage.
Kinat whispered,
"It had a fatal on-purpose on the way to the Forbidden Forest…another eight pints."
"What are you like and what would Hagrid say?"
"Oh Hagrid already went to talk to them and was offended by their manners" said Kinat cheerfully.
David did not really see a problem with acromantulas receiving a fatal on-purpose. They were very nasty creatures and not natural either. It was rather mercenary of Kinat; but he WAS a goblin; and it was for good reasons.
The points were given out.
David had gained twenty four time points; and had received eight style points from France, six only from Germany and nine from Murphy of Britain who disliked spiders and had enjoyed seeing one dance. As he said, he withheld one point because he would have liked to have seen the wretched thing killed.
Karl picked up eighteen time points for wasting time in the labyrinth, though his kill time had thereafter been fast; Germany gave him ten points for style, France only seven, and Murphy said that he would give him five for wand work but was tempted to mark him zero for using an unforgivable curse.
"It is reasonable on a creature!" said the German minister.
"It is never legal on creature or person!" protested Murphy
"You are too squeamish! It is legal on a creature in his home country!"
"There are those who would argue he should be arrested for even using it here!" said Murphy "I excuse the boy on grounds of ignorance, but Mr Heinz, you will be aware that any more uses of the unforgivable curses while you are in Britain will lead to your immediate arrest, your wand being broken and a long sojourn in Azkaban!"
"I apologise if I have done wrong sir" said Karl "My head teacher said that it was a permissible thing to do on creatures. I will not use any such curse again in Britain."
Alain did not complete; and therefore was not entitled to any time points. He got a three and two fours for his quick solution of the arithmancy, almost as a consolation prize. He had eleven points; Karl had forty and David had forty seven.
The three contestants – Alain still groggy – were each given what appeared to be a small wooden box.
"Here is the next clue; it has been set by France" said Dumbledore. "You have over the holidays to solve it."
David almost felt like throwing the thing away in disgust; but sought out Padfoot instead to take him to Romania to learn the language. He followed muggle papers as well as wizarding news, and was not surprised that Romanian orphans could vanish without anyone even noticing, let alone caring much.
He wanted to make up to these poor mites for their experiences.
Karl managed to see David for a few minutes before he had to embark to return until the second task.
"Will you care for the kids?" he asked.
David nodded.
"I will" he said "And they WILL grow up in the wizarding community as they were promised; but not as slaves. We're starting a new school for squibs and muggle relatives; I've been helping with the curriculum."
Karl relaxed.
He dared not take his orphan back with him; he knew too well how she would fare!
The orphans were three little girls; the one David had first rescued called Floriana Asaftei, who hid fear in noisy brashness, and who turned out to be rather musical; Karl had rescued Sanda Ileas, a quiet child who liked to draw, and who did so rather well; and the one assigned to Alain who was David's second rescuee was called Vasilica Petrescu a dark-skinned child almost certainly a gypsy, who crossed herself devoutly, kissed David's hands and asked what happened now.
Vasilica had definite magical emanations; and David told her she would be trained as a proper witch as his ward. Then he handed them all into the care of his excellent Gran.
He would play with them at the weekends but he had too much to do to care for youngsters. One of them plotting the downfall of the German Minister of Sport.
Meantime, David got out the box to study.
It was a cube that had no immediately apparent way of opening it; but on it were various dots.
David wondered if one moved the dots to line up; and found that indeed they did move.
"Is it Wenlock series?" asked Fenella, hesitantly.
"You clever old thing!" said David jubilantly "Of COURSE it's Wenlock numbers, I can see it now…" and he was busy twisting, lining up the dots in a Fibonacci series, as the muggles called Bridget Wenlock's discovery. As he did so, the cube expanded until he had what David referred to as an oblate spheroid and everyone else called egg shaped. It opened readily then and he took out a scrap of paper.
"ARGG another ruddy riddle!" he groaned.
This one said,
"To reach and find your heart's desire
you must pass through water, air and fire
you must prepare and have enough
or coming home may yet be tough."
"Reckon the box was the riddle" said Abraxus "This seems pretty straightforward; this is the one they kidnap Ellie for and you pass through various elements and then have to get her back through them."
"Loads of ways to do that" said Kinat "Gillyweed for water, hovering charms for air, not showing off too much that you can fly by using good old fashioned muggle physics by squirting water out of your wand to push you with the jet; then the flame-freezing charm for fire."
"Or I can transfigure into a fish, a gryffon and an ashwinder" said David. "I say, isn't there a Gryffon kept at Gringott's as a guardian?"
"Yeah" said Kinat "Dad said it's a poor pathetic thing."
"It would be, not free to fly" said David.
"Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" said Abraxus.
"Of course he is" said Kinat "And we're behind you all the way, David mate."
David nodded grimly.
"Thanks… I appreciate that. There's too damn much slavery and exploitation in the wizarding world. Time to start making a difference!"
Dell and Tuthill had come up to David to congratulate him; and offer help teaching his orphans English. David appreciated that.
Once Dell had decided what he believed in, nobody could fault him in being wholehearted about making up for previous misconceptions.
Why they had arranged to have a muggle paper sent and perused it regularly giggling, David preferred not to know.
oOoOo
It was a surprise a few days later when David had to break up a fight between Lionel Dell and Tycho Salaman.
"I only said 'welcome to the human race' to Dell" said Salaman "And he said, 'how would you know', and it was a perfectly private fight, Fraser without any real malice and you had no call to interrupt it!"
"Yes I jolly well did" said David "Third years scrapping on the stairs where any weevil could see, or second year warts and a fine crop of them we have this year; and Peeves too! You should be ashamed of yourselves for not scrapping behind the broom sheds like any civilised barbarians!"
They both grinned.
"Should we resume there then Fraser?" said Salaman.
"No, you'll both write me an impot on…let me see, the Cats of Kilkenny, five times each and reflect upon the futility of fighting for its own sake" said David.
That ought to keep them busy for a while!
David needed his usual bugbears out of his hair to consider things like the future of his orphans, how to rescue a gryffon, what methods to use to succeed with the test – and potions looked the best options for water and fire that he could give Ellie too in case they took her wand or she was unconscious – and even some schoolwork.
Madam Spikenard hugged David suddenly when he met her in the corridor.
"ATTABOY!" she said "You can lose the rest if you want!"
She was teasing him and grinning; and David grinned back.
"Oh let's keep Durmstrang in its place" he said "Could you not tell me more?"
"I didn't KNOW more" she said "I had unease about it; and I cast matchsticks and cards and even tried the crystal ball – which I'm not very good with – and all I got was spiders, children, muggles and danger. It was pretty vague. And if I said too much it might have disqualified you and failed to deliver you where you had to be. I got Professor Dumbledore to make sure you were watching; then I KNEW."
"Why me, as a matter of interest?"
"Did I not say? I kept getting the Fraser tartan in flashes….once I looked up what it was I knew it was you. Though I do not know the significance of the black bear in the tealeaves."
David grinned.
"There's a tune called 'Black Bear'; it's special to me for various reasons, not least being a clan tune, Fraser of Lovatt" he said "And that's all the confirmation I need that it was me. Thank you."
"You're welcome; and so are those poor children."
"One'll be coming here; the others to Rowan House" said David.
He also spoke to Dumbledore about it.
"Can't we DO anything about that iniquitous use of muggle orphans?" he asked.
"I have made strong representations; which is all we can do for the time being" said Dumbledore "You may have to face up to not being able to bring down Odessa in your time at school, you know lad; in fact it may be your children, as it was the children of those who started the move against Voldemort."
David nodded.
"Then we had better continue preparing them through the muggle studies hobby group" he said "My children and Ellie's will be born blood group as the Snapelings are; as Padfoot and Willow's will be, and Grace and Draco, Hermione and Ron and Harry and Ginny. And Myrtle and Abrax for that matter" he added, grinning.
"Dear me, yes!" said Dumbledore "Willow and Padfoot? That passed me by."
"Willow's been stalking him for years" said David "She's got as far as sharpening her claws and purring right now. She'll have him as soon as she's of age I shouldn't wonder, if not before."
"And does he get a choice?"
"Do we men ever?" laughed David. "Ah…sore point?"
"I loved once in a romantic sense…. It was a poor choice" said Dumbledore. "But I am always glad to see the times when it does work; I have never lost my faith in TRUE love; and that is when it is selfless and reciprocated equally."
"Hear hear" said David.