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Chapter 43
Lisa Granger watched as her new daughter was led into the Great Hall on the arm of the young man that had changed their lives so greatly in such a short time. She had always considered herself a good judge of character, although that thought had taken a beating when dealing with magicals… Or perhaps it was just that she had felt that she could trust the person of Minerva McGonagall, and it had been their government that had tested her. Whichever way it was that young man and his family had restored her belief.
She glanced across the table toward her other daughter, who was dabbing her eyes and smiling brightly. A few months ago she would have never conceived of such a thing, but here she stood proud mother of a pair of amazing daughters. She clutched the small, but magical bag in her hand unconsciously as it contained the final adoption papers for Luna. They had decided to tell both of them tonight after the ball.
The week had been quite a whirl for them as well, and while it was nice to be home a lot had changed.
Luna had marveled as Tannim, Shar, and Chinthliss had worked on the wards and shields of their house. She had said that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, interconnected domes of crystal in a kaleidoscope of colors. The wards were constructed to not only protect the family and home but alert them to an intrusion well before the first attack could be launched.
The way that it had been explained to them was it was like an overlapping spider web, a single vibration along any strand would vibrate others and pass it along. Even a passive detection charm or a person's ambient magic (if not recognized), let alone someone trying to bypass something, would set off both visual and audio alerts within the house's new non magical alarm system.
The same had been done to their office… The office… She turned her head slightly her eyes passing across a clapping Tannim and Shar, and sighed slightly. Tannim had about laughed himself silly at the sight of their office when they arrived to begin their work on its wards.
Everything had been changed! It seems that Keighvin had a penchant for doing such things, or so she had been informed between fits of laughter. The Elven Lord took his position seriously, and provided the best tools available for his people. Inside there was new equipment, furniture, cabinetry, even the magazines had been replaced!
It had both her and Robert quite flummoxed! They had tried to argue about what had been done, but in the end Tannim had told her it was just something they would have to live with, and that Keighvin wasn't human. To him, they were his people and refusing it was just not something they could do, they were as much a part of Fairgrove as he and his family were. When he told her the story of how his parents had gone from farmers to horse breeders, they began to understand, this was an investment. An investment in their future, not just theirs but their daughter's as well as Fairgrove's. It was no wonder the man's people were as loyal as they were.
Her attention drifted back to the couples making their way up to the main table, Luna's arm wrapped around Harry's. They were soon seated and she picked up the evening's menu that had been printed on a piece of parchment placed upon the place setting as part of a spectacular display. She read it over and began wondering how each of the three entrées would be prepared and served. When she looked up several of the others had already received their appetizers. Confused she looked toward Hermione, who smiled back at her then indicated the menu with a slight nod then spoke her soup choice out loud. Almost instantly a bowl of French Onion soup appeared.
She glanced down at the soup then up at her daughter. "Is this how most meals here are served?"
Hermione chuckled. "No, but the food is always quite good…" She sipped her first spoonful. "And this no exception… normally it is served family style however. I watched the headmaster order while you were looking at the menu." She nodded toward the head table.
Lisa nodded and went back to her musing, finally deciding what she wanted and starting on a wonderful meal. Conversation at their table drifted from topic to topic till it seemed to settle on their plans for the rest of the term.
Tannim shrugged as he spoke. "Other than their classes and Harry getting ready for the second task, we need to make time to go back home for a few days because the nineteenth is the hearing with Harry's school."
Shar grumbled. "I so want to beat that man into the ground for this!"
Tannim shook his head, "And that is why we are going to let the Fairgrove lawyers handle this. We just need to be there to make an appearance, to give the situation a human face… so to speak."
Robert nodded. "That will be important, from what I understand about the situation. He is really pushing this isn't he?"
Shar sighed. "The problem is he's right about some of it…" She stirred her soup absently for a moment. "We want Harry to attend school… and have friends… be a teenager… When he started racing it was a weekend thing, something fun for the family on the weekends…"
Tannim took her hand, as she continued. "The first time I saw a pure joy in his eyes was when he finished his first race… he seemed so alive…"
Tannim took over as she dabbed at her eyes. "His guitar is a therapy he grew to love… but racing… that was… is, his lifeline. If Dix has his way we won't have much of a choice, we'll either need to see if we can make an arrangement with a private school… or home school him."
Lisa listened with a keen interest. "He does seem rather… Driven," she said.
Tannim chuckled. "That is one way of putting it, I guess. For a while we were afraid that he was doing it because he was trying to fit in… trying to win our affection, but this is something he wants for himself."
A smile tugged at the corners of Robert's mouth. "Can I ask why he chose cars? Why not something like Formula 1? Or Rally?"
"Well…" Tannim wiped his mouth with his napkin. "We took him to a couple of Formula races when he was younger… But NASCAR is the name in racing in the states, and it is growing by leaps and bounds."
Robert swallowed his bite then asked, "NASCAR?"
Tannim elaborated. "National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing," he said. "Oddly enough the races grew out of a rough time in the states, Prohibition."
All of the Grangers looked at him oddly and he continued. "Several civic minded groups banded together to try and outlaw the production and sale of alcohol. It worked too, they managed to get a law passed and it lasted for about thirteen years all told, but just as you would expect it didn't go over well with everyone."
He continued to explain as he ate. "That, and the taxes put in place after the repeal gave rise to a new type of criminal, called the bootlegger."
Lisa sat up, and spoke in surprise. "Criminal?"
He nodded. "It started out that way, though these weren't your normal criminals… They and most of their community didn't see them as such either, most of the time because they were drinking what these individuals peddled, whisky or other alcohol."
He took another bite then continued. "Now, at the time something else was happening in Florida, on Daytona Beach. It was gaining a reputation for being the place to go to test yourself and your car, speed records and racing were happening all up and down that beach. So that is where the best drivers and cars went to test their skill, both behind the wheel and with a wrench.
It wasn't long before a man name Bill France started to organize things. It has grown from then to be one of the largest sports in the States, it is getting almost as popular as baseball or football… well American football not the type they play here."
He continued, "The thing about it is, the cars that are driven, other than their paint job, look like the ones anyone can go and purchase off a showroom floor, and just about any reasonably able shade tree mechanic would know what everything is under the hood, other than some of the safety equipment. No computers, no telemetry, no unidentifiable bits and bobs. At the lower levels or in one of the other associations, like SERRA, it can even be done as a hobby."
Robert looked a little confused. "What is the difference between SERRA and NASCAR?"
"Originally it was where it started, the rules, and types of courses. Some of that has changed over the years however. SERRA started in the south west and has spread east while NASCAR has done the same in the other direction, and raced more often on road courses vs the round tracks. The deciding factor for Fairgrove however was the use of reproduction parts, and being able to use non ferrous parts instead of steel or iron."
Both of the Grangers nodded their understanding and he continued. "NASCAR has a larger following now, because they have done an exceptional job connecting with their fans…" Further dinner conversation was diverted by the band beginning to play and the champions escorting their dates on to the floor.
Lisa watched as Harry began to lead Luna across the floor. She chuckled. "Why does Harry look so nervous?"
Shar snapped another picture of the couple before she spoke. "This is the first time he's been to a dance and not been in the band. He is nervous about dancing."
One thing was running through the mind of the youngest champion, 'don't step on her toes!' The young blond he was dancing with looked up at him with laughter filling her eyes. "Relax Harry. It is just you and me, dancing."
He gave her a lopsided grin, then placed his right hand in hers and his left on her hip and set off around the dance floor.
As the next song began he found himself with his arms around a different young woman, as Luna was replaced by Hermione. She shrugged. "She made me promise I'd dance the second dance with you… then Sue, then Fleur… I think your dance card is filling rapidly for the night."
He sighed softly, "I'd rather be playing."
She shook her head slightly. "I know." They began to glide across the floor as the music began again.
It had taken some doing but Harry finally managed to exit the dance floor and found a place to sit and take a break along with a much needed drink. No sooner than he had he was joined by a redheaded girl he really had no wish to speak with again.
He started to stand but her hand on his arm paused him as she said, "Ha-Harry…Please… I-I want to apologize…"
He cut her off. "Then why are you talking to me? I'm not the one you did something to!" he snarled.
The girl sniffed her eyes glistening with tears, "I tried! They won't even let me try…"
He turned toward her and glared. "And you thought this was the place to do it?" He gestured to the ball. "Here?"
She shook her head. "NO! I've been trying all week! They have been avoiding me, I've really tried!" Tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I even have tried to speak with you… but…"
"And what did you expect?" he hissed. "you threatened them… HURT them! I can see why they would avoid you!"
"I KNOW!" She snapped back. "But what else am I supposed to do? I've tried everything I could think of… I even tried Owling! But all they did was circle and come back! I-I didn't know what else to do… I've thought about what you said… and read what was written in the Prophet… I-I started to think about things… The way I've acted… I just want to say I'm sorry…" She looked up at him her face streaked with tears, suddenly her eyes grew wide. "RON! NO!"
A hand grabbed his shoulder and spun him around, he only got a glimpse of another redhead before his vision exploded into brilliant shards of light. Harry sprawled across the floor, his ears ringing, before he could gather his wits. A weight landed on him and lights exploded behind his eyes again.
Before the third blow landed he had pulled his arms up to guard his head and was twisting his body so the blow landed on his upper arm. He thought he could hear yells over the roaring of blood in his ears.
It took a few moments to realize the blows had stopped, and another few for him to be able to make sense of the voices. "-ts from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley! For attacking another school's champion!" scolded Headmaster McGonagall.
"He did something to Ginny! She was crying!" yelled the boy.
A female voice yelled back, "It wasn't anything he did Ron! It was me! I was trying to apologize! I was wrong! I was trying to ask Harry for his help! I wanted… I wanted to apologize to Luna, and Hermione… For what I did… for hurting them…"
Tears were falling freely down her cheeks as she spoke. "I hurt them Ron! Both of them! I did. and I can't live with myself! I don't want to be that person any more…" She collapsed to her knees. "That's why I got you to bring me… they wouldn't give me a chance to talk to them, not that I blame them, and Harry has been so busy… I couldn't pass up the chance to talk to him tonight. I-I thought if I could explain myself to Harry… maybe he would help me."
Her brother looked at her with confusion evident on his face. "Why would you want to apologize to Looney Lovegood and the bookworm?"
"Because of what I did, Ron!" she yelled. "I ATTACKED THEM! I hurt them! I thought it up! I've called them names! Laughed at them! Luna WAS my friend Ron! My best friend! Till we came here! I never called her that! Not once! As for why we went after Hermione? Because she was smart? Because we saw her with Harry Potter? That was stupid! I was stupid! I was wrong! And I wanted a chance to tell them I'm sorry!"
If possible he looked more perplexed by her answer, "Potter I can understand. He's important, those two though they..."
She jumped to her feet and slapped him. "They are people Ron!" Then she turned and ran out of the great hall.
McGonagall stepped in front of the stunned young man. "Mr. Weasley, you will go directly to your dorm. I expect you in my office immediately following breakfast in the morning! We will be speaking with your parents about this!" She pointed toward the doorway. "Now! Mr. Weasley!"
The boy glared at Harry as he passed and headed out the doors.
When he was gone she turned to Harry who had made his way from the floor to one of the chairs. "Mr. Potter? I apologize on behalf of Hogwarts. The behavior that was exhibited here tonight is not what is expected of our students." She sighed. "Please come with me, I will escort you to the Hospital wing."
Tannim and Shar had finally made their way through the crowd and to their son's side, "We will have him seen to Headmaster. I believe you have other things that need to be seen to tonight."
Minerva looked at them both sadly, and nodded making her way out into the hallway.