Chapter 18
"Angela? We need to talk. Privately."
Noticing his seriousness and the use of her full name instead of the usual nickname, Angela became serious and nodded. "Sure Ry', the room?"
Her brother nodded and they went to the seventh floor. Angela asked for a place where they could talk without being bothered and the room delivered, turning into a cozy place with armchairs and bean bags.
"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" She asked as she sat in a comfy armchair.
Harry sat in front of her, looking a bit nervous. "Remember how you told me about thestrals?" She nodded calmly. "I can't see them yet I've seen you k… I've seen someone die. How come?"
Angela looked a bit sad for a moment. "Seeing death is not the only requirement. You need to be able to understand it and then to accept it as well. Meaning you've seen and understood death but you haven't accepted yet what you've seen."
"How could I accept that? You… You killed someone!" He blurted out. "You used one of the darkest curses possible, professor Moody taught us all about the Unforgivables."
"That man was about to try and kill us, Harry. I had to do something so I acted!"
"But an Unforgivable Eli! You killed him! They could send you to Azkaban!"
"Listen Ry', the thing with the Unforgivables is that you have to mean them to be able to cast them. If you don't sincerely wish to inflict pain on your target, your crucio wouldn't work. Same for Avada. I knew what I was doing and I don't regret it. I could have tried to kill him with another spell like diffindo or bombarda or an entrails-expelling curse. I've read about some nasty ones in the Black library. Avada is the quickest and most painless way to die, in a way it's being merciful." She paused and sighed.
"I know you are probably unhappy with my choice but I would do it all over again, you know. I'm fucked up Ry' with fucked up morals. Plus it is war, it's kill or get killed. I'm not in a state of mind where I can say I wish to live but I don't wish to die anymore. I'm not about to let myself be killed so if I have to use an Unforgivable to save myself or someone else I will do it without any hesitation nor regret."
"I don't want you to be a murderer…" he whispered.
Angela smiled sadly. "Better be a murderer than be dead or watch people you love die. You already know about my boggart. What I fear the most is being unable to protect those I love. There is nothing I wouldn't do if it's to protect my family. I'm not someone nice Ry', I'm not a good person."
Harry whimpered. "You're not a bad person Eli… Just maybe there was another way…"
"Oh Ry', you sweet naive boy… any other way would have been infinitely more cruel than a quick and painless death."
"You could have stunned him!"
"Stunners can be countered and even if I had succeeded he would have just been given the Kiss later or be thrown in Azkaban for life."
Harry looked conflicted, torn between his love for her and his morals. He finally let out a sigh before standing up to come and hug her. "Just be careful Eli, I don't want to lose you."
She hugged him back gently as if he was something fragile about to break in her arms. "You won't lose me, Ry', never. I'd follow you through time and space, always and forever, I promise."
"Thank you, Eli."
With that they stayed in the embrace for a bit before separating and deciding to work on their charms assignment together.
oOoOo
Mad Eye had them working on how to resist the Imperius curse, Harry succeeding rather easily unlike the rest of them. Angela found out that just like occlumency, she had a natural immunity to it. The curse didn't work on her because the voice telling them to do something was like that of another alter co-fronting or co-conscious trying to convince them to do something they didn't want and they had plenty of practice fighting for control of the body.
'Sing.'
"I don't want to." Angela answered out loud to the voice in her head and crossed her arms over her chest, a stubborn expression on her face.
"Oh, oh, impressive! You don't seem to be fighting off the curse at all." exclaimed professor Moody.
"The curse doesn't work on a shattered mind." She shrugged her explanation and went back to sit on her seat.
Seeing Draco pretending to be a ballerina was worth attending that lesson in her mind, she kept the memory as potential blackmail material. She knew the curse wasn't funny in the slightest but she couldn't help a bit of harmless teasing. The blond had been surprisingly flexible and good at what he did, a bit too much to just put it on the curse. Of course he denied and said it was Quidditch that made him that flexible but Angela snorted. Harry was playing Quidditch as well and was as flexible as a statue.
At the end of the day Hermione came to Angela.
"Hey Angie, can I borrow a bit of your time?"
"Of course Hermy, what's wrong?" she replied easily before the gryffindor dragged her to an empty classroom.
"Nothing is wrong, I just wanted to talk to you about a project of mine."
Angela paled slightly. "Don't tell me it's about SPEW?"
"How did you know?" The girl had stopped moving and looked at her with her eyes wide open in surprise.
"Hermy… I just know." She chuckled gently. "While I understand where you're coming from, you're doing a disservice to the elves. Besides the fact that they genuinely enjoy taking care of their family, they would die without a bond with a wizard, they need the magic we give them by bonding with them."
"But Dobby…"
"Would have rather died than keep on working for the Malfoys but abuse like that is rare. Instead of freeing them you should rather focus on their rights along with those of goblins, werewolves, vampires, merfolks, centaurs, veelas and so on. I can even let you talk to Dobby if you wish." Angela had explained calmly, hoping to deter Hermione from her freedom quest.
"But Angie, it's slavery…"
"No Hermy, it looks like slavery but it's a symbiotic relationship. We give them magic and life and in return they help us with chores. Of course there are bad people who abuse the situation but just like how not every muggle is bad but if you look at Harry's family…"
The bushy haired girl seemed torn after listening to Angela. She could understand what was told to her but it went against what she believed to be right. Hermione sighed and took a deep breath.
"Fine, I'll rework SPEW but I'll need time to think it through and I want to be able to talk to Dobby to know what he really thinks about freedom."
Angela smiled and hugged her friend. "Fine by me, Hermy, you can ask to talk to him anytime and I'll call him. Thank you for listening to me. You know if your cause is right, I'm even willing to become a sponsor and make generous donations. I have more money than I know what to do with it, I'd be happy to help."
The two girls separated with a small smile even if Hermione's brain seemed to be already working on future plans for SPEW.
oOoOo
Weeks went by in a flurry of homework that they did together either in the library or the room of requirement until the foreign schools arrived.
Angela was wrapped in her warmest cloak, a nice fur lined black coat with silver embroidery, waiting among the other students for their guest to arrive. After some time, Draco pointed to the sky from his position beside her.
"Are those abraxans? Father owns a few of them."
Abraxans turned out to be gigantic winged palomino horses the size of a small elephant and a dozen of them pulled the carriage from Beauxbatons. The carriage landed and a boy came out to pull stairs before bowing to the biggest woman Angela had ever met. She knew from the book that Madame Maxime would be tall but it was something else to see in person.
Dumbledore started clapping and soon after the students followed him.
"Madame Maxime, welcome to Hogwarts." declared the headmaster with a smile.
"My dear Dumbledore, I hope you've been well."
"I'm doing great." assured Albus.
"Allow me to introduce my students."
Behind her were a dozen students, all shivering in their blue silk clothes without any cloak to protect them from the harsh Scottish weather.
Dumbledore and Madame Maxime discussed the care of her abraxans that would be entrusted to Hagrid before the headmistress led her students inside the castle, the Hogwarts students parting to let them walk.
"The lake! Look at the lake!" exclaimed Lee Jordan.
The usually calm surface of the lake was bubbling and a whirlpool appeared at its center. Soon a ship emerged from the whirlpool, looking like a ghost ship under the moonlight. Its passengers disembarked after reaching the shore. The Durmstrang students were wrapped in thick cloaks with fur making them look imposing.
"Dumbledore!" exclaimed their headmaster warmly. "How are you, dear friend, how are you?"
"Perfectly fine, thank you professor Karkaroff."
Karkaroff shook Dumbledore's hands in his.
"Good old Hogwarts, a pleasure to be there. Viktor, come closer to the warmth. Do you mind Dumbledore? Viktor is slightly sick."
When Draco noticed who Viktor was, he took Angela's hand in his and squealed, making the girl try to suppress her laughter.
"Ange, it's Krum!"
"I know Dray." she whispered back.
They followed the Durmstrang student inside, going to the Great Hall where those coming from Durmstrang sat with the slytherins to Draco's greatest pleasure. The blond proceeded to make small talk with the Quidditch star.
"I'm Draco, Draco Malfoy. And this is my god-cousin, Angela Schiffer."
Angela frowned at being introduced without any warning but nodded politely. Viktor had taken off his cloak and was looking at the enchanted ceiling with a vague expression of interest. Draco tried to rope Viktor into talking about Quidditch, the older student replying with short answers to the point where Angela had pity and took Draco's hand to catch his attention.
"Lay off, Dray. He's just a human like you and me, it must be tiring for him to have people gravitate toward him for his fame. Mr Krum, I apologize for my god-cousin's behavior, he is a bit too excited."
He gave her a look that made her think she had offended him before he nodded with a slight curving of his lips making her sigh in relief.
Dumbledore was the only one still standing and the Great Hall quietened.
"Ladies and gentlemen, dear ghosts and most importantly dear guests, good evening. I have the great pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts. I hope and am sure that your stay will be comfortable and pleasant."
One could hear a girl from Beauxbatons openly snorting in a mocking way, making Angela narrow her eyes.
"The tournament will be officially open at the end of this feast. But for now, please, eat, drink and consider this place your home!"
Food appeared and the feast began. The slytherin girl observed from her place Ron making a fool of himself in front of who she knew to be Fleur. The part-veela rejoined the Ravenclaw table and Angela had to snap her finger in front of Draco's face to make him come back to reality.
"Who's that girl, Ange?"
"Fleur Delacour, a quarter veela and future champion of Beauxbatons." she whispered quietly.
Draco frowned when he realized he had been entranced by her allure but didn't add anything else, taking the information quietly.
Once the feast was over, Dumbledore stood up and smiled at them.
"The time has come. The Triwizard tournament will begin. But I would like to give some explanation before bringing in the casket to clarify the rules of this year. To start, allow me to introduce to you Mr Bartemius Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and Ludo Bagman, head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports."
The students politely clapped, with a bit more enthusiasm for Bagman, probably due to his past as a beater.
"Mr Bagman and Mr Crouch worked hard during the past few months to prepare the Triwizard tournament. They will be part of the jury along with professor Karakaroff, Madame Maxime and myself. The casket, if you please Mr Filch."
Filch approached with a huge wooden box set with precious stone.
"The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr Crouch and Mr Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways ... their magical prowess, their daring, their powers of deduction and, of course, their ability to cope with danger."
At this last word, the Hall was filled with a silence so absolute that nobody seemed to be breathing.
"As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector ... the Goblet of Fire."
Dumbledore took out his wand, and tapped three times upon the top of the casket. It opened and Albus reached inside it to pull out a large wooden cup. It would have been entirely unremarkable, had it not been full to the brim with dancing, blue-white flames.
Dumbledore closed the casket and placed the Goblet carefully on top of it, where it would be clearly visible to everyone in the Hall.
"Anybody wishing to submit themselves as champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment, and drop it into the Goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the Goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their schools. The Goblet will be placed in the Entrance Hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete." He paused for a second.
"To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the Entrance Hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line. Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this Tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obliged to see the Tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the Goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are whole-heartedly prepared to play, before you drop your name into the Goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Goodnight to you all."
Excited chatter broke through the Hall and the Weasley twins were already planning how to get past the age line.
"Dray go ahead, I have something to tell Ry', I'll join you in our common room."
The blond gave her a look but nodded as she made her way toward her gryffindor friends.
"Ry'!"
"Eli!" exclaimed Harry with a big smile, taking her hand in his.
"Tomorrow let's have a dance practice alright? I'll have something to tell you as well."
The boy looked confused for a second but agreed easily. "Sure, let's do that. Let's meet at 3pm in front of the Room of requirement."
Angela gave him a bright smile and a short hug and left, waving at him as she went.
oOoOo
The next day, they met as was agreed and the slytherin started teaching him how to dance.
"One, two, three. Like that Ry', follow my movement."
Teaching Harry was a great deal of fun as he was clumsy and kept stepping on her feet but after two hours she had managed to drill the basic steps into his brain.
"Let's take a break, we have to talk anyway. You did well, we'll need a bit more practice but you'll do just fine at the ball."
Harry nodded with relief.
"What did you want to talk about Eli?"
"The tournament."
"Why do I have the feeling that I won't like it?" he asked with a groan, taking a seat in a comfy armchair that had just appeared as his sister mimicked him.
"Because you won't like it, dear brother of mine." She crossed her legs and joined her hands. "I won't lie to you, you'll have to participate in the tournament, your name will come out of the Goblet."
"But I didn't put my name into the Goblet!" He protested vehemently. "I don't want to participate in this death trap!"
"I know Ry' but someone did it for you and so you'll have no choice. Once selected there is nothing you can do to avoid it. This is why we have to do some damage control. First I want you to swear an oath on your magic that you did not put your name in the Goblet nor asked someone to do it for you. If you swear in front of everyone, at least people will know that you are unwilling and they won't have a choice but to believe you."
Harry calmed slightly and nodded. "I can do that, I will swear that oath after being selected. Second?"
"Second, I will tell you the content of each task before you face it. I'll help you prepare to the best of my ability. Professors are forbidden from helping the Champions but there is nothing about a student helping them, not even one with knowledge such as me." She gave him a reassuring smile.
"So it won't count as cheating?"
"No, I promise! Although we better keep it our secret just in case someone tries to do something about it."
"And third?"
"Third…" she paused, frowned and then sighed. "Third, I promise you that you'll survive the tournament, the one entering you wants you to win it, not to die during one of the tasks. I'll explain more about it before the third task, you have my word."
"So you know who entered me, how and why, don't you?" Harry asked with a small frown.
The girl sighed and gave him a nod. "For now, knowing won't change anything but make you worried for nothing. I won't put that stress on you. You'll come out of this alive and that's all that matters."
"I understand, sis. As long as you tell me everything eventually, I'll be fine."
"You are calmer than I thought you would be when learning that you'll participate in the tournament."
The gryffindor let out a dark chuckle. "It would have been too good to be true if I had a quiet year. I hoped that with the age limit I'd be fine and out of this but the possibility that I'd get tangled in it didn't escape me."
She stood and went to give him a hug. "I promise you everything will be alright. My only worry is about Ron…"
"Ron?"
"I don't know how he will react to you being selected. In the future I know, he reacts badly until he watches the first task and realizes how dangerous the tournament is. I don't want you to have a falling out with him."
"Eli, Ron is my best friend, I'm sure he'll understand!"
She felt something squish her heart at the absolute faith Harry was having in Ron. She genuinely hoped that the oath would be enough for the red head to not get jealous of Harry but she didn't really believe in it.
"Now come on, let's practice some more before dinner."
He groaned but stood up as she laughed brightly, taking his hand to dance or at least attempt to dance.
oOoOo
They went to dinner with Harry exuding nervous energy. He knew what was about to happen and could barely eat, playing with his dinner. Angela tried to send him a reassuring smile from where she sat, ignoring Draco who was trying to convince her to give him the name of the Durmstrang and Hogwarts champions.
"Here we are, the Goblet of Fire will make its decision soon. When your name is called go through this door to wait for further instructions." explained Dumbledore, showing a door behind the professor table. In a move that Angela determined was only for the dramatics, he extinguished all the candles in the Great Hall, making the Goblet the only source of light.
Everyone became silent when the blue flames turned red and a piece of paper was expelled. Dumbledore caught it.
"Durmstrang's champion is Viktor Krum."
Everyone clapped for the quidditch star who stood up to go to the other room, Karkaroff looked particularly proud of him. Silence came back and the flame turned red a second time, expelling another piece of paper.
"Beauxbatons's champion is Fleur Delacour."
Among the students clapping, one could notice a few Beauxbatons students crying openly. Silence came back and Harry felt his stomach constrict. Hogwarts champion was next and he knew he was going to be put on the spot. He didn't know yet that it would be even worse as he wouldn't be the first Hogwarts champion. The flame turned red once more and a third piece of paper fell in Dumbledore's hands.
"Hogwarts' champion is Cedric Diggory."
The whole Hufflepuff table stood up, clapping loudly for their champion while Cedric made his way to the door with a big smile. At this point Harry was confused but part of him hoped that his sister had been wrong.
"Excellent!" exclaimed Albus once they calmed down enough. "I'm sure I can count on you to support the Champions." But before he could finish his sentence, the fire turned red once again and expelled a final piece of paper that he caught deftly.
"Harry Potter."
The gryffindor stood up and remembering Angela's words, he took out his wand.
"I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic that I did not put my name in the Goblet of Fire nor did I ask anyone to do it for me. So mote it be. Expecto Patronum."
A gigantic stag came out of his wand and galloped around the Great Hall shaking everyone. Angela smiled proudly while Dumbledore looked stern. Harry went to the door to join the other champions.
"Now what, do we have to come back to the other room?" asked Fleur when she noticed him. Harry shook his head quietly.
Bagman joined them and dragged Harry toward the fireplace.
"Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen, lady, allow me to introduce to you the fourth Triwizard champion."
Cedric was looking from Harry to Bagman, back and forth. Krum was giving Harry a glare while Fleur just smiled.
"Very funny Mr Bagman."
"Funny? But I'm serious, Harry's name just came out of the Goblet."
Fleur looked shocked. "But he can't participate, he's too young!"
"We're all very surprised but as you know the age rule was created this year for security. As his name came out of the Goblet, there is nothing to do. It's in the rules, we have to… Harry just has to do his best to.."
The door to the Great Hall opened and the headmasters, McGonagall, Snape and Crouch entered the room. Fleur ran to her headmistress.
"Madame Maxime did you hear? They say that this little boy will have to participate. It's insane!"
"Dumbledore, you better explain the meaning of this. Hogwarts cannot have two champions."
"We thought your age line would keep the underage students out of the tournament or else we would have brought more students from our schools." said Karkaroff.
"Potter is the only one responsible, Karkaroff." declared Snape, making Harry frown.
"Come, Severus, you witnessed the oath he took, Harry did not put his name in the Goblet. He swore on his magic, he can't have lied." Snape sneered at Dumbledore's words but didn't add anything.
"Since he is an unwilling participant is there nothing we can do so he doesn't have to participate?" asked McGonagall.
"Unfortunately no, the Goblet creates a magically binding contract. If Mr Potter were to not participate he would lose his magic." explained Crouch with a shake of his head.
"So the boy has to participate."
"Thank you professor McGonagall but don't worry, even if I wasn't entered willingly, I will do my best on each task." The stern professor frowned but gave Harry a small reassuring smile.
"I'm afraid there is no other solution anyway. Let's come back to the instructions if you will, Mr Crouch." invited Dumbledore.
"The instructions for the first task, yes… The first task will be testing your daring. We won't tell you what you will be facing. Bravery in front of the unknown is a very important quality for a wizard. The first task will happen on November 24th in front of the students and jury. The Champions will be armed only with their wand. When the first task is over, they will receive information on the second task. Considering the tasks taking time and energy, the Champions are exempted from end of year exams."