18. Let the feast begin
The Welcome Feast of 2014 was one for the records. A new headmistress after 66 years of Albus Dumbledore occupying the position and 219 years since the last woman at the head of school. The Wizarding World Wrangles being formally announced, with the presence of the Minister of Magic and other high-ranked Minister officials. The largest batch of first-years to sort in many years (nobody was sure if they ever had that many before): 138, of which only 35 were boys! And, most interesting, the majority of them were not British, but came from 32 different countries!
During the week Hogwarts' students saw a lot of improvements in the existent facilities and several new structures added to the grounds. The Quidditch pitch stands were totally redone, and it now looks like one of the great muggle football stadiums. Instead of places for 600 spectators, it can now accommodate 25,000! During the year it would be used not only for the tasks of the tournament but also for musical concerts and plays. All students will have free entrance, and tickets would be sold to the general public.
A total of 26 schools were registered for the tournament, coming from England (Dumbledore), Scotland (twice, with Hogwarts and FUMA), France (Beauxbatons), Norway (Durmstrang), USA, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Mali, Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, China, Greece, Persia, Mesopotamia, Spain, Senegal, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Mexico, Jamaica, Italy and Egypt. Hogwarts and FUMA would be accommodated in the castle, the others in large tents (even larger inside) in 4 rows of 6 tents in the grounds between the castle and the Forbidden Forest, each one with the flag of the school and of its country at each side of their entrance.
At the opposite side relative to the castle they were building the shopping and gastronomy centre. Business owners of Hogsmeade were invited to open a branch there for the year, but people invited by the girls in Harry's extended group were taking the majority of the places bringing food, drinks and merchandise from all around the world. Fudge was furious that Hogwarts' grounds were out of the jurisdiction of the Ministry and so businesses done there were exempt of Ministerial taxes. A year of business exempt of taxes was a Merlin's gift for the people of Hogsmeade and a nightmare for the Ministry.
But the bulk of the construction frenzy was behind the castle. It was there that the attractions to keep all the kids entertained were being built: sports courts, acclimatised water park, roller-coasters, a pendulum ride, fun house, ice skating rink, thrill ride, carousel, bumper cars and disco. The lake didn't escape either: a sand beach was created near the castle, and near it a pier will rent small sailing or rowing boats, pedal boats and kayaks.
.o0o.
Draco Malfoy was now a fourth year student. In his mind, it was time for his fellow Slytherins to recognize his innate position as leader of the House and support him. And, still in his mind, the easy way to start his path to glory and power would be with the entrants, still in awe of the castle and the new world of magic opening to them. After all, they still were waiting to learn their first spell. Between the fame of his name, and his status as an advanced student, they should be grateful to have his attention.
That's why he was so deep in thought right now, looking at the ceiling of the infirmary, his body so covered in bandages that it made him look like a mummy, trying to figure out what had gone so wrong. He had prepared a fantastic speech, highlighting all of his countless qualities, all of his family's great deeds, all of the power his father enjoyed in the Ministry and all of his big dreams for a better magical world under his command, and how it was their right and obligation to fight alongside him to make these dreams come true.
It was when he finished his speech and was expecting for their ovation that something went wrong. Someone started laughing. Not a little giggle, but a full-on laugh. Soon, they were all laughing of him! Laughing at him and his dreams, as if they were jokes! Such disrespect! Such humiliation! It was only natural he had went for his wand to curse those idiots! What wasn't natural was all the pain he suffer for it. All the broken bones and burns and pustulent blisters. Crabbe and Goyle weren't spared either, and were there in beds in front of his.
At that moment something click in his mind, and he had the realization that his problems weren't over yet. Those two had been the perfect minions so far, supporting him in all his endeavours. But the way they were looking at him now was telling him another story. A single word escaped his lips, summarizing his understanding of his situation: 'Fuck!'.
.o0o.
During the Soviet Era the Russians had two main newspapers: Pravda (Truth) and Izvestia (News). It was a common joke to say 'In Truth there is no News and in News there is no Truth'. The famous reporter Rita Skeeter was feeling the same being said of her precious Daily Prophet nowadays, and it angered her to no end. In recent times that rag The Quibbler had raised from a bad joke to the pinnacle of Truth and News in the Britain Magical World. How?
That was the position traditionally filled by The Daily Prophet! They were sponsored by the Ministry! They had great installations, great staff and great presses. How could a ridiculous and poorly financed fortnightly magazine became more famous and read than The Daily Prophet?
Rita wanted to shine. Rita wanted to be read and admired by everyone. Rita would do whatever it took to make her dreams come true. And the international tournament at Hogwarts would be her hunting ground for the news which will replace her in her rightful place, at the top of the chain.
.o0o.
The week passed in revision, waiting for the arrival of the other schools and their teachers before starting with new material. The breakfast on Saturday was a little earlier than usual. At 8am the gates were opened for the visitors, and those who had studied in Hogwarts were shocked by the changes in the grounds of their beloved school. Luckily, most of them liked the changes and were a little frustrated that nothing similar had happened during their time as students.
The solemnities occurred in the new Quidditch stadium and, as was inevitable, began with speeches by the Minister of Magic and other authorities at 9am. Two large screens, behind the opposite field goals, amplified the images so that all could have a good view of everything important.
By means of the fake invisible mark implanted on Fudge and other Ministry officials, the group knew in advance what to expect of the Minister speech, who had shamelessly prepared a speech to extol, as a result of his own efforts, the grandeur of the event and the huge works carried out in Hogwarts. They had thought long about it, and decided to adopt an idea of Lisa, Padma and Morag to deal with this affront. Instead of entering in direct conflict with the politicians, they chose a more subtle approach, using cynicism and derision. As Fudge cited each of his alleged contacts, meetings and decisions to create all that, it was Harry Potter who appeared in the screens doing the meetings, sealing agreements and supervising the execution of works, from images taken from a pensieve. Fudge kept going on and on for a good ten minutes before the audience's laughter and the images on display were noticed and he realized the ridiculousness of the situation he had gotten himself into. At this moment his face returned to occupy the screens so all could see how many contorted faces and shades of red he was able to exhibit in a few seconds.
After that the speeches were cut down and headmistress Sprout could proceed with the main event. First, the presentation of the Goblet of Fire, which would be used to select the champions, and then the arrival of the visiting schools.
The unspeakables of the Department of Mysteries had done the necessary changes so that more than the three traditional participants could compete. Harry's group had the honour to be invited to help, and they contributed both with ideas and with their implementation. Two main changes were made: a protective ward was added to avoid any tampering with the Goblet, and a previous step before the selection of the champions was included to register the participant schools. Harry's group also made a proposal about how to protect the Goblet from invalid enters, which the Department of Mysteries approved and would submit to approval of the participant schools.
At intervals of five minutes a different school arrived behind one of the sets of goals and was conducted to the centre of the pitch, keeping the arrival point free for the next school. While they wait for the arrival of the next school, those five minutes were used to present the school which just arrived, giving the audience a brief description of its history, specialities and peculiarities. Also, the head of the school would formalize their participation by depositing in the Goblet of Fire a parchment with the data of the school, including the list of students currently attending it. When the next school arrives, the prior leaves the pitch to occupy their designed position in the bleachers.
When the School of Talents Dumbledore was announced, with just two members, there was some laughing from the audience, and it was not just because of the size of their delegation.
"Why are they laughing, Sally?"
"I don't know if it was deliberated or not, but the acronym STD has a very special meaning for zero-mages."
"And what it stand for?"
"Sexually Transmitted Diseases."
The Minister and his entourage were already angry with the flunk at the beginning of the solemnities. When they saw and recognized the group representing the Full-Mages Academy they became murderous. The group presented as teachers encompass a vampire, a kitsune, a sphinx, two centaurs, some other half-breeds and… Harry Potter! And the students with them were just a bunch of kids not older enough to carry a wand by the Ministry's laws. It was outrage! An insult! It was a dishonour to witches and wizards even think that such an abnormal group of ill-born riff-raff have something to teach!
But they were there, and they were receiving a standing ovation! Now wasn't a good place or time to demonstrate their anger and protest against that unforgivable offence, they still needed to know their strength before, but this wasn't the end of it, decided Fudge and Malfoy. Today's humiliation couldn't be forgotten and would never be forgiven. These full-mages were now enemies, and would receive their just punishment. After the last school was presented, Fudge gave a short speech about confraternization and international cooperation, declared the games open and left the stadium with his group.
.o0o.
"It's just my impression, Harry, or is everybody lighter and happier now that the 'authorities' left?"
"Do you like them?"
Maeve only answer was to look at Harry as if he had morphed into something disgusting.
"Well, most of the people here share your sentiments."
"Hey, what are those huge cauldrons for?"
"It's a special potion to open our minds for new knowledge and to help fix it in our memories. Each one of us will receive a dose. After that several charms professors and some assistants will come to each of us and put a charm so we could understand a new language. Those who don't speak English will receive the knowledge of our language while the others can choose a language of their preference or skip it."
"Why would someone skip this chance?"
"I have no idea, but we decided to offer it as a choice instead of an obligation."
"Oh, that makes sense. Without it Hogwarts would be a modern version of the Babel tower, and no mixing would be possible. It's such an amazing idea that I'm sure it came from our group and not Dumbledore or the Ministry, right?"
"It was Alexandra, a seventh year Ravenclaw, who found the recipe for the potion and suggested it. Professor Slughorn supervised the brewing of the potion by a group of upper years as extra credits in his class. The charm is quite common. I used it during the Summer, for Portuguese, but it's usually of short duration. With the potion and a little of practice, we can acquire the knowledge for life."
"Amazing! What language would you take, Harry? There is so many good choices… I'm in doubt which one to choose."
'Su and Cho had suggested me Chinese, the Patils suggested Sanskrit, the sphinxes ancient Egyptian, the Sirens and Centaurettes suggested Koiné, the form of Greek language spoken from around 400 BC to 400 AD, but in the end I opted to be practical choosing Portuguese because of our base in Brazil. This way I may fix it permanently. It sounds so beautiful!"
"Koiné! I just chose! This way I'll be able to read most of the Greek philosophy in the original! And there are many ancient texts on magic in Greek, too! And many important books from the Hittites, Mesopotamia and Egypt only survived in Greek copies preserved in the Library of Alexandria! Oh, I'm so excited!"
"Yes, I can see. Another Ravenclaw..."
With the potions and charms administered, people started to mix around just to test their new skill. Harry trembled with fear when he saw that Lavender had chosen Bengali. She and Parvati could now say all kind of things about people around them without their poor victims knowing!
Knowing that now she could be understood, headmistress Sprout explained to all guests the basic layout of the castle and its grounds, the several points of interest, the way the classes and extra activities would be handle and all kind of details that could make their stay in Hogwarts easier, while the screens showed them maps and photos to clarify everything.
As the visiting students were exiting the Quidditch stadium they were welcomed by the human members of Harry's group, who were distributing flyers to all visitants with maps of the castle and its grounds, the location of classrooms and all kinds of facilities and useful places they may like to know, as well as their first allowance (in the form of special tickets) for food, drinks and entertainment, respectively in green, yellow and red colours so none of them would cut on food to play. They also received their class schedules and a list of electives to chose from, to be delivered to their minders the next day.
With so many people present, Harry and Pomona had decided that the Great Hall wasn't so great to accommodate everybody during meals. They decided it'll be used by the teachers, staff and authorities only, the students being free to use the restaurants in the gastronomy centre, for which the allowance was generous provided. The elves that worked in the kitchens didn't like it at first, but they were elated when they discovered they would be helping in the gastronomy centre in a rotation schedule that would allow all of them to learn about all kinds of different cuisines.
.o0o.
"Haaaarrrrrryyyyy!"
The boy just have time to turn before being ran over by a blonde missile with curled hair, brilliant blue eyes and an angelical face who knocked him to the ground, settled on his chest and started talking a mile a minute. She was such cute little thing that Harry lost her initial words while admiring the girl.
"… and then I took the potion and the charm and… voilà… I was understanding the headmistress talking about everything here and so I knew you would understand me too, so we could meet and be friends, so then I try to find you but there're so many people around here and you were so far from me in the stadium! I ran as fast as I could, but I lost you in the crowd and it took me forever to find you again! But now I found you and I'm so happy that we could be friends now! You want to be my friend, don't you? Because I really had been waiting so long to come here and see you!"
"Hey, that's good, but you need to slow down a bit. First, who are you?"
"Oh, sorry! I'm so excited! I'm Gabrielle Delacour, and it's really great to finally meet you, Harry Potter!"
The girl extended her hand to him, which forced Harry to make a little contortion as the girl was still laying over his chest and her offered hand was closer to his mouth than his right hand.
"Nice to meet you, Gabrielle. Hope we could be good friends."
The little girl giggled with Harry's difficult pronouncing her name, which led him to offer: "Maybe you would allow me to call you Gabby? It would be a lot easier for me."
"Gabby! Yuppie! I have a nickname! I'm Gabby! Take that, you bitch!" she screamed and turn around, showing her tongue to someone at her back. "Oh, sorry! Fleur isn't here."
"Who is Fleur?"
"My old sister. And a monster who loves to make me angry! She thinks she'll be Beauxbatons' champion, and that I'll never be good at anything!"
"Well, if you'll be around all year maybe we can teach you something so you could prove her wrong."
.o0o.
With so many new people to be accommodated in the castle, Xeno decided to relocate to their base in Brazil. He had talked about it many times, and finally the temptation to explore the exuberance of the Amazon forest had won. As they weren't expecting any problems soon, Sirius and Amelia took the opportunity to take a vacation too. The Chamber was now clean and comfortable, but was a closed environment and they want some outdoors life.
.o0o.
"When you said to Gabby to be around and learn, did you expect so much effort from her part?"
"No, not really, Astoria. She is really amazing, isn't she? Such determination and focus..."
"And she is so cute and sweet that I feel my teeth rot every time I look at her! She is too perfect! There must be a law against it somewhere."
"Now you're only being mean and jealous, Romilda."
"I know, but is my right to be. The first couple of days she glued to you like she couldn't breath without you near her. Luckily she saw you training Maeve. She now idolizes Maeve as her model to copy."
"Maeve have being great with the little ones. Astoria, you were really inspired when you told her that the better way to test your knowledge on something is trying to teach it to others. Where you get that, by the way?"
"I read it somewhere. I read a lot about how to learn better. This one I think I get it from an American physicist called Richard Feynman. He was really a smart guy, for a muggle. Incredible how much the zero-mags discovery about how the world works."
"Well, it was a good thing. Maeve has gained a lot in confidence and progress after she had started to teach the younger kids. You too idem, as well. Good work!"
"The little ones are learning so fast! How is this possible?"
"I think they are benefiting from the fact that no one has had time to convince them that learning is hard, boring and difficult. They saw it as a game and have lots of fun with it. That's the way it should be in an ideal world. And they are doing it in a group of friends, one helping the other with their difficulties and challenging the other to do better in friendly competition. It's amazing to see their dynamics."
"You also helped us a lot. Common teachers just keep throwing things at us to learn without saying why we should learn it. You always made us see the large picture before you teach us something. This way we always know why you are teaching us something and where you want to conduct us. It makes things so much easier when we know it!"
"Well, I had a teacher in primary muggle school who did the same to me, and it made her classes so much better and relevant that it seemed natural to do the same with you. You know, it isn't just good pedagogy, it's also respect for you as persons."
.o0o.
One thing Harry regretted was let himself be convinced to allow entrance of the marked people to the Entrance Hall and Great Hall of Hogwarts. He made the concession expecting just Karkaroff, as headmaster of Durmstrang, to use it. But Lucius Malfoy and his friends were there daily, occupying the Slytherin table with the Death Eater headmaster. And worst, using the immunity as a professor of a visiting school, there was Severus Snape too, summoned by Dumbledore as potions master of his school of just one student.
At least, with the excuse that the main table was only for Hogwarts' staff and Ministry's representatives, he had the joy to deny Albus a seat there. It seems that The Quibbler's articles about him had reached a public far away from Britain by the way other teachers and heads of school at the Gryffindor table were avoiding engaging in conversation with him.
But Snape's presence was disturbing. Harry was worried about any machinations of Albus involving the potions master's presence here. He would talk with Hinata about keeping both of them under heavy surveillance. The kitsune would know better than him what to do.
.o0o.
"Harry, that red-headed boy tried to chat up my sister again! How many times he must be dumped before he learns that 'no' means 'no'?"
"Well, it seems that at least one more time. What he did this time, Gabby?"
"Oh, just the same. He approached Fleur while she was walking with some friends around the lake, near the pier. He ordered her friends to go away because he had 'serious stuff' to talk to her. She just banished him into the water. He wasn't a good swimmer, did you know? Is there something he is good at? He is such a pompous and arrogant boy!"
"Well, maybe chess."
"Chess? What utility have it? Well, don't mind! The difference today was that he wasn't in black common robes. It seems that old man Dumbledore is rubbing on him. He was wearing bright orange robes, with violet and green accents! It made my eyes hurt! And that medal on his chest, and he walking around with his nose in the air like he owned the place! Too bad I couldn't get close to him before he reached Fleur. But when he got out of the water I made him trip and fall into a puddle! The brown of the mud looked so much better with the red of his hair than that bizarre orange!"
"Gabby! I told you already, don't use your magic to prank people!"
"But, Harry, it's the red-haired menace! Are you sure he is people? He wasn't even able to use his wand to clean himself! And he is hitting my sister! Can't we agree that he is out of the ban?"
Gabby pouting with her head down while looking up at him with pleading eyes was too much.
"Only him, okay?"
.o0o.
With so many children and teenagers living at Hogwarts, one could have expected to find people scattered everywhere at all times. In fact, not one but several people had expect it: Malfoy, Fudge, Dumbledore, Snape, Skeeter… The list was long, including one Ronald Weasley still trying to find a girlfriend. Their reasons were varied, but their disappointments were very similar.
Most of those students knew they have in hands a unique chance to learn and reach their potential that they couldn't afford to waste. And more than a chance of learning, there was also the chance of survival against perils they hadn't identify yet, but they were sure would fall on them. So, they had voluntarily accepted a well established agenda. During the workdays, their focus was on their studies, which occurred inside the castle, be it a common classroom, the Room of Requirement or the Chamber of Secrets. You would only find them in the grounds for their three meals or a single hour of fun at the Entertainment Centre. Even with their special tents available they still usually pass most nights in the castle, in their two hidden and secured spots.
They were all informed of the intentions of some 'upstanding citizens' of Britain magical society, especially against those they considered as 'half-breeds' or 'creatures'. So, even on weekends, when they're free to enjoy their youth, freedom and stamina, no one was ever found with less than 40 others around, at least three of them with enough skills to fight off a single assailant.
At Fudge's orders, Scrimgeour had 'visited' the school with the company of a platoon of aurors, with the excuse of some 'concerns about security'. They saw one of the sphinxes entering a tent and decided to follow it inside for their first mission. When they entered they found that the tent didn't have its interior magically expanded and was totally empty, except for a seemingly furious Harry Potter sitting on a couch in the centre of the tent.
"What a surprise!" said the boy, evidently not surprised at all. "Now the DMLE invade foreign territory without prior notice with an unauthorized military force on these lands I own, just to satisfy the ambition and pride of a mediocre politician who has achieve a position far above his merits and capabilities! Bravo! Now, you can inform your boss that aurors will no longer be welcome at Hogwarts. Begone!"
With that, Harry changed the wards to evict any member of the DMLE performing their duties, making the platoon and their leader be threw out of Hogwarts grounds.
Walking back to The Room Harry was congratulated on the way he dealt with the attack from the Minister.
"This was just a small inconvenience because we have an amazing intelligence department, or it could have been a major international incident. It is wonderful to know where and when we need to act, and against what. This way we can plan in advance, use minimal force and be certain of our success. Without this effort you're doing to keep us informed of the movements of our potential enemies, we would be constantly stressed, never knowing who would try a new attack and how, and all our other activities would suffer from this constant stress of now knowing enough. Thank you everybody, for an amazing job!"
.o0o.
"Harry?"
"Maeve? You look so sad. Come in, please. What happened?"
The girl was so distressed that Harry decided to cuddle with her in a sofa.
"I don't know if I'll we good enough for the tournament, Harry. I'm really trying my best, but I don't think I'll be better than Morag, or the other advanced girls like Daphne and Hestia..."
"But you don't need to be better than them, Maeve. You already did amazingly well by reaching this point so fast! We're not forcing you to be the best of us. We don't care if you win or not. We just want you to show how advanced you already are for your age. We want you to have fun and help us show people what a full-mage is about and how it's good at any age. Are there people demanding you to win?"
"No, not demanding, but… I think they expect me to win..."
"Well, I expect you to win, too. But I don't want to see you stressed over it. I just wish you to go there and do what you already know how to do. I don't expect you to be a master in each kind of magic until the first task… I'm sorry if the pressure was too much, it wasn't our intention, I'm sure."
"But… what if I fail? I'm afraid."
"Don't be! We already won, whatever the results of the tasks we already won! Our group is growing immensely, we're all learning a lot, we're making new friends, we'll show them all that wandless magic isn't only possible but also easy and powerful if you start learning it young. At the pace things are going soon half-mages will be limited to some old witches and wizards that refused to die, while our group will be the future. We already won, Maeve. Any extra success you bring us with your participation in the tournament will just be the cherry on top of our extra huge sundae."
"Will… will still like me, even if I couldn't win?"
"I'll love you even if you choose not to compete."
"No! I… I'll compete… It's just that I can't promise to win."
"But, Maeve, I would never ask such a thing. If you think you are get stressed with all training, we can slow it down. What do you think? I think you already know everything you'll need for the tournament."
"Really? Do you think I can win with what I already know?"
"Yes, I think you can. And if you don't win, I don't care. You have been studying magic for a year, and will be competing against people with seven years of study. I'm sure you'll do better than any of them at your age, and even better than most of them at their currently age. That's already a great victory and I'll be very proud of you. I'm proud of you already."
"Thank you, Harry. I'll do my best… Should I go now or can I stay a little more?"
"You can stay for as long as you want."
.o0o.
"Well, with 22 votes in favour, 1 against and 3 abstinences is decided that the judges would be required to stay at their special box during all the duration of each task..."
"I still think..."
"We all know, Albus. You have been defending your position for long enough, but we already voted it and it's closed. Did you noted how many times you have being alone in your positions? This meeting must have occurred weeks ago! We're near the start of the tournament still discussing basic rules about it! You delayed this meeting for too long and now you're contesting every single point we all have agreed ages ago, trying to change things. Next point: the protections to be put on or around the Goblet of Fire to prevent cheating and match fixing."
"Well, I'm sure that a simple line age..."
"Oh, please shut up, Albus! We already discussed and voted that there will be no age limits on the participants! Should I remind you that your only student is a minor? With no dragons in the first task it would be safe enough even for him."
"What do you mean by 'even for him'?"
"I taught him for three years. I know him. You're a good teacher, Albus, but not that good. Well, headmaster Potter of FUMA..."
"I really don't think..."
"Yes, you don't. So, shut up, please. Headmaster Potter of FUMA submitted a proposal, have you all read and examined it? Good, so let's put it to vote..."
"No, it's useless. The kind of magic Harry is proposing is beyond even my own abilities. There is no way to implement what he is proposing."
"Wanna bet? I'll do it here and now in five minutes. If I fail, I'll keep my mouth shout and vote the next topics whatever way you want. If I succeed, you'll keep your mouth shout and vote with the majority. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"
"Harry, my boy, you couldn't think to be able to win such a bid. I'm telling you, it's impossible..."
"Then accept the deal! If you're so sure you'll win, why not?"
"Well, if it's what it takes to make me point, yes, I accept the deal. Don't blame me for your loss."
Pomona gladly summoned the box containing the Goblet of Fire, depositing it in front of Harry. He carefully extracted the Goblet from the box and put it standing over the table so all headmasters could see it.
There was a reason why the schools had submitted the list of their students together with their names to the Goblet of Fire. Harry's group was thinking ahead on doing this, so now they could really protect the Goblet against all kinds of interference they could conceive. Have done it before in a common cup for practice, it took Harry less than two minutes to complete protect the real Goblet of Fire, involving it in a half-metre bluish sphere.
"It's done. As promised, it'll acts like specified in the section VI of our proposal. Any parchment approaching the Goblet must be in the hands of a human being or it will be incinerated and the alarm will sound. It must contain exactly two lines of information, or it will be incinerated and the alarm will sound. One line must be the name of one of the participating schools and the other one of its students, or it will be incinerated and the alarm will sound. If the hand holding the parchment isn't from the student named in it, the parchment will be incinerated and the alarm will sound. You can test it now."
Some of them tested it, some just observed. None made more attempts than Dumbledore, but even him had to concede defeat in the end. And, for everyone else delight, he remained silent and voted with the majority in the remaining topics. Without his interruptions, the meeting could proceed in a faster pace and be finished soon. More than that, they were spared hearing the old man again defend some of his stupidest ideas, such as kidnapping hostages to be used in the second task, using some really dangerous creatures in the third task, relaxing the castle's security, or abolishing the magically binding contract forcing the judges to judge the contestants in an impartial and fair manner.
.o0o.
By the end of September the girls were actively selecting the boys to be invited into their group. Harry still didn't know if the girls were being overzealous or if the boys were really less apt to work in groups or if it was an effect of the way they were educated by family and society, but only one quarter of them were really being considered for invitations so far. He had promised them he wouldn't interfere and that was a promise he really wanted to fulfil.
One of those nights the core of Harry's group had a meeting at The Room. They decided that, for the next few weeks, they would turn the fake dark mark of the Death Eaters continuously darker, to simulate Voldemort slowly getting stronger and see how they would react. At Halloween night, they would fully activate it and see who would try to return to their master. They also planned to make the mark totally invisible some days later, as if Voldemort was truly and definitively dead, and also check how their behaviour would change. Further actions against the Death Eaters would then be considered according to the way each one reacts. Relapses into a life of heinous crimes would be severely punished.
.o0o.
The darkening of the brand had been noticed by all Death Eaters, and the group was carefully monitoring the reaction of each one to it. By far, it was Karkaroff the most panicked of them, and the guy was ready to depart if his renegade master really come back. Some others, especially those incarcerated in Azkaban, were excited to see the vile wizard again, still believing that everything would be better for them. But a considerable number of them, which include mainly the richer and free Death Eaters, were uncertain of what to expect. For one side, the return of the Dark Lord could put an end in the travesty that the tournament brought to their society, putting an end to the invasion of Hogwarts by foreigners, half-breeds, creatures and the mysterious 'full-mages'. But it would cost them a lot of money and respect they had worked hard to regain after the Dark Lord 'defeat' by the Potters. Even more, they were now aware of Voldemort's past, and his condition as a half-blood, and were uncomfortable with it.
Some discussion about what to do was had in some groups, but as they didn't know where their Lord was and in what state, they could only wait for a summon when he finally returns. And that was a certainty for them: Lord Voldemort would be back to life, as he had promised. This was too much for Karkaroff: alleging urgent and serious personal problems, the Durmstrang headmaster abdicated his position and disappeared on the 12th of October. His absence was felt by few, and as a reason for happiness.
Fudge didn't have a dark mark, but he was also very worried about the situation as he saw it. That Potter boy had betrayed him in a way. He thought he had his gratitude and support after the incident with the dementors, but the humiliation he was submitted at the Reception Feast for the schools was terrible, and on top of that he now suspected the boy was responsible for the articles in The Quibbler about Black's case and the corruption on his government.
With the support of his good friend Lucius, he had been approving a series of laws to expand his powers on cases of national security as pre-established by previous legislation on 'dangerous creatures'. This term was defined so openly that any intelligent being not totally human, no matter how diluted the foreign presence in their blood or which creature it had come from, could be considered a 'dangerous creature' and he now have power to detain, interrogate and, if necessary, eliminate them.
After seeing so many creatures and half-breeds openly interacting with Hogwarts students at the Welcome Feast to the participating schools, he felt it was his duty to act immediately before the future generation of wizards and witches could be contaminated by contact with those sub-human beings. He was disappointed to find discordant voices against his so pure wishes, and shocked that Potter had the audacity to expel his aurors who were just following the law.
With funds provided by Lucius and his friends, he put Rita Skeeter on a mission to prepare a series of articles portraying this unnatural mixing of pureblood wizards and witches with creatures in the bad light possible to try and convince the public that serious measures were need and their Minister was ready to act. The articles would come the day after the selection of the participants (on Halloween) and he was ready to enact new laws and attack Hogwarts soon after. He would put an end point to all this mess about full and half-mages, creatures and Potter controlling the school. For this, he would need to convince the majority of the Wizengamot and a good part of the public about the necessity of his planned changes. Hogwarts, in the law, always have autonomy from the Minister, and it would be hard, but necessary, to change it so he could lawfully retake the school for the good citizens of Britain Magical Society, retaking it from a rebel who betrayed his heritage and no longer considers himself a wizard.
.o0o.
Halloween came out as a dark and heavily cloudy day. After lunch Hogwarts's gates were opened, and people start coming in to see the Selection of Champions ceremony. Many came from places were heavy rain was falling, and were elated to see that the school was dry and comfortable.
"I wanna kill Dumbledore!"
"Yes, for months now, we know it, Flora. But what had he did now?"
"He is walking around, all smiles, greeting everyone who arrives and insinuating that the weather here is better than outside because of something he did himself, Susan."
"Is he really taking credit for what Harry did by blatantly lying to everyone?"
"No, he isn't lying, but using dubious remarks to trick others into thinking so. I heard an old couple asking him how could Hogwarts be spared from the bad weather that prevailed across the country, and he just stuff his chest and said 'Magic is such a wonderful thing!' blinking and smiling to them. He seems unable to pass up a chance to inflate his ego by making others think how powerful and wise he is!"
"It's a pity Harry had asked us to not do anything against him. Dumbledore is really deserving some good pranks to put him down a peg or twenty."
"Yeah, but Harry's right. Letting him have these small, irrelevant victories soothes his ego a little, enough so that he doesn't try anything more drastic."
"And to think that just one year ago we all revere him as the greatest wizard since Merlin..."
"What he is the greatest actor since… Well, I don't know any great actor of the past, but he really is a good actor. I wonder if he is really more than a good but limited wizard… I mean something like a Lockheart with some skills to help…"
"I understand. Lockheart was a total fraud, and still deceived many. Someone with average skills could deceived many more for a longer time."
"Yes! That's exactly what I mean. Propaganda and politics creating an image of power and wisdom."
.o0o.
"... Cyan, Aqua, Indigo, Azure, Magenta, Teal, Mulberry, Cedar, Ochre, Tuscany, Mocha, Pewter, Thulian, Fuchsia, Ecru, Carnation, Artichoke, Carmine, Dijon, Sepia, Mauve, Thistle..."
"Enough, thanks! I got it. There are many more colours than I ever thought, I'm an ignorant who just knew the basic ones, and Dumbledore and super-Weasley will show me all of them if given enough time! But, please Lavender, for my peace of mind and sanity, tell me that these combinations they're using right now are at least unusual."
"Unusual? It's an atrocity! A first degree attack on good taste! A freak of nature!"
"Good! I was getting worried… But, then, why they do it? Just to stand out from the rest of us mere mortals?"
"The short answer is yes. We don't need clothes to protect us against weather and thorns, we have magic for it. So, clothes are used to hide our bodies establishing a hierarchy between people based on how expensive and original the clothes they wear are."
"Why must we hide our bodies? I never understood."
"Who make the laws in our society, Harry? Old overweight people, wrinkled and bent with age. Compare them to young people at their prime. They will look ugly and inferior. But they have big egos and the power to change things. They wouldn't allow it to happen. So, they turned everything upside down. Hide the bodies and use clothes, jewellery and all kinds of accessories to indicate your wealth and prestige."
"Yeah. Another reason explaining why this society is sinking so fast."
"Hey, quiet now! The Selection will start."