Note: I'm sorry I have not updated, I was busy with Meet The Lupins! This chapter is also rather short, too...but it seemed like a good moment to end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.
12: The House Dueling Champions
COURTROOM SUMMONS FOR DISGRACED HEAD OF AURORS
Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has been forced to call for a disciplinary hearing, following the gross misconduct of Head of Aurors, Nymphadora Lupin, which has led to a number of Ministry employees to call for her resignation.
The incident in question occurred yesterday afternoon in the Ministry of Magic's Atrium, where it is alleged that the former Order of the Phoenix member cursed fellow Ministry employee Artemis Carrow-Smyth a total number of four times. Mr. Carrow-Smyth, administrative official of the Werewolf Registry, had been returning to his office, having just completed his questioning of Mrs. Lupin's husband, Professor Remus Lupin, in connection with both the recent attacks on Ministry employees, and the prophecy of Moirai Cantrall.
Whilst precise details of what occurred in the Atrium are unavailable to the press at this time, we can reveal that Mrs. Lupin left her current posting in Cornwall without warning to return to the Ministry, and this has lead many to believe that the attack was very much premeditated.
The Head of Aurors has been suspended from work until after the hearing. Deputy Head of Aurors Harry Potter will in charge of the department until further notice.
When asked yesterday evening by our reporters in Hogsmeade village what his thoughts were upon the events, Mrs. Lupin's husband Professor Lupin refused to comment.
"What goes on inside of the Ministry has nothing to do with me." he said. "I was not there at the time and consequently have no right or reason to comment on what has happened."
Though admitting that he had spoken with his wife since the incident, the professor failed to elaborate on Mrs. Lupin's own feelings upon the matter. He also refused to answer questions regarding possible links between The Dark Creature's Child and the Atrium Incident.
Minister Shacklebolt this morning condemned suggestions that there is any connection whatsoever.
"I firmly believe that people are mistaking a simple case of office politics gone wrong with something all together more sinister." he said. "And as such I must say that I do not care for such dark insinuations about the Head of Aurors. She always has, and always will have my complete faith and confidence in regards to this matter. The Lupin family have nothing to do with the Dark Creature's Child."
"Good old Kingsley!" Victoire declared approvingly as she peered over Teddy's shoulder at the front page of the morning's Daily Prophet.
"That's bloody fantastic!" Chester said through a mouthful of cornflakes, somehow managing to smile at the same time. "She hexed his FOUR TIMES..."
"Shut up, Chester!" Teddy snapped, tossing the paper down onto the table and folding his arms moodily across his chest. "This isn't even slightly funny!"
"I was only trying to look on the bright side!" Chester protested, and Teddy opened his mouth to snap at him again, only to notice that all around the Great Hall students seemed to be turning to look over at the doors.
The Head of Aurors' son grimaced to see that they were staring at his father as he entered the hall and began to make his way up the side of the room beside the Gryffindor table.
Remus did not appear to notice that half of the room was staring at him, or if he did he seemingly didn't care. He paused just behind Teddy's seat, reached over his son's shoulder to point at the newspaper and asked:
"Have you finished reading that?" he asked, and the boy gave a nod.
"Near enough." Teddy muttered, and Remus picked up the paper.
"Great." he said, before turning to continue on up to the teachers' table, and Teddy's eyes widened as he turned to stare after him.
"What is it, Ted?" Chester asked with a frown as Teddy watched Remus take his seat to read, skipping the front page in favour of another.
"I dunno..." Teddy mumbled as he turned back to his breakfast. "It's just...I feel like that's happened before."
"What, your dad nicking your paper?" Chester asked with a raised eyebrow. "Well of course, he does it pretty much every morning..."
"I know." Teddy said impatiently as he chased a stray cornflake around his bowl. "But I mean...it's happened before exactly like that. Have you finished reading that? Near enough. Great. Exactly like that!"
"So what?" Chester asked, as Victoire drained her glass of orange juice.
"So...so I think it's important." Teddy said with a deep frown.
"Why?" Chester asked, as he and Victoire exchanged a raised eyebrow.
"I have no idea." Teddy admitted, and Chester looked at him as if he were mad for a long moment before saying:
"Right...anyway, back in the sane world, I left my homework in the common room, so we need to go and get it before Charms."
As they got to their feet and headed back towards Gryffindor Tower, Teddy felt only vaguely embarrassed about his apparent insanity, for he was still trying desperately to remember exactly when he and Remus had exchanged those exact words. For the life of him he could not decide why it was important, but something told him he needed to remember.
He did not remember until some hour before dinner that evening, sat in the common room staring blankly down at the title of his Defense Against the Dark Arts essay. And when he did he felt immediately excited.
"That's it!" he cried, dropping his quill down and splattering little droplets of ink upon the parchment. "It was on the morning of the fire!"
Chester, who was busy avoiding his own homework by staring aimlessly up and the ceiling, and Victoire who had made a good start on a potions essay, both turned to look at him with questioning looks.
"The other time my dad took the newspaper and we said the same thing as this morning!" Teddy explained excitedly, oblivious to Victoire frowning and Chester rolling his eyes. "It was the day we set fire to the common room!"
"Oh right," Chester said, voice dripping with sarcasm as his gaze returned to the ceiling. "Well, I'm so glad you've figured that one out..."
"And," Teddy continued, ignoring his friend entirely, "when Dad asked, I hadn't quite finished reading! I was about to read about a FIRE that had broken out at a wedding!"
Chester immediately stopped staring up at the ceiling, and Victoire set down her own quill and turned in her chair to face the triumphant looking boy.
The eldest Weasley grandchild's eyes shone with excitement as she recited:
"It will start with flames!"
"Exactly!" Teddy cried, positively grinning. "And wizards don't have serious fires all that often, do they? They're easy to put out with magic..."
"Most of them." Chester mumbled, shuddering a little at the memory.
"...I bet that was no ordinary fire! It could be the one Moirai was talking about!"
Victoire jumped to her feet, reaching to snatch up her homework and put it away in her bag.
"Well come on then!" she demanded excitedly, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Let's go and find out!"
The library at Hogwarts, like many of its muggle counterparts, kept a supply of back dated newspapers. They were kept in a series of large draws set up against the wall beside the entrance to the Restricted Section.
As Teddy and Victoire began to figure out which draw contained the most recent papers, Chester stood watching behind them, eyes coming to rest upon the wall above the cabinets as he waited.
Teddy's inspection of the draw to the far right was disturbed when he heard Chester ask:
"Hey Ted...is that your mum in that photo?"
Teddy looked up at the wall where Chester was pointing and found himself looking at a series of framed photographs. Inside the frame closest to him Teddy found himself looking at two serious looking students stood side by side, both smiling proudly. The small plaque at the frame's bottom identified them as House Dueling Champions Richard Vines of Gryffindor and Felicity Tate of Ravenclaw.
And in the frame to the right were House Dueling Champions Nymphadora Tonks of Hufflepuff… and Artemis Carrow-Smyth of Slytherin.
"No WAY!" Chester exclaimed as he and Victoire came to cluster around the photograph with wide eyes. "That's never Carrow-Smyth! He's not ugly enough..."
"Mr. Burton!" At the sound of Madam Pince's furious voice from somewhere behind them, both Chester and Victoire jumped. But as his friends glanced round to apologize for the noise, Teddy barely noticed. He was too busy staring in shock at the photograph.
The turquoise haired boy leaned forward to squint at the two students in the frame, frowning deeply.
For starters, he thought as seventh year Tonks waved at him, Chester was right, the boy looked nothing like Artemis Carrow Smyth. He was too...well...handsome. He had a neat head of thick blonde hair, matching grey eyes and rather broad, well built shoulders.
He looked the exact opposite of a half starved scare crow with a boiled egg eye.
And unlike Richard Vines and Felicity Tate, who were stood a little apart from one another as if they barely knew one another at all, Tonks and Carrow-Smyth were looking distinctly friendly with one another. The tall Slytherin boy had his arm around the Hufflepuff's shoulders, and they kept glancing at one another and grinning broadly.
"He's rather good looking, isn't he?" Victoire observed a moment later when the librarian had finally stalked back towards her desk.
"It's weird." Chester concluded, eyes widening more than ever as the Slytherin's arm around the pink haired girl dropped downwards, his fingers reaching to prod her in the side, causing her to let out a silent shout of laughter and push him away from her.
Teddy watched the silent playful bickering unfold in equally as silent shock.
"I hope they were just friends." he murmured worriedly, cringing at the realization that Chester's insinuations the previous day could turn out to be true.
"Who knows?" Victoire mused, sounding equally as worried as the bickering subsided and Tonks and Carrow-Smyth resumed their calm smiling. "You can hardly ask, can you? If they were friends or maybe more back then they're certainly nothing of the sort now. Come on, Teddy Bear," she added, returning her attention to the newspapers. "Let's find this Daily Prophet."
Teddy disliked searching for the paper with the eyes of the Dueling Champions upon him the whole time. He couldn't help but keep glancing up at them, lips pursed together as he watched the two friends wave at him. He was not entirely sure why, but he felt somewhat angry at his mother.
How could you have been friends with somebody like that? Didn't you realise what he was really like?
And as for the possibility of the two being more than friends...Teddy visibly shuddered. Quite frankly it was beyond his comprehension.