Antonin could so easily be angry with Ron for reminding Hermione about that terrible day at the department of mysteries, but he knew the truth. He had only himself to blame for that. "Yeah, Dumbledore had a few choice words for me about that," Antonin admitted sheepishly while making a concentrated effort to avoid eye contact with Hermione. He imagined an angry expression on her face.
"I will bet." Ron nodded in understanding. A smirk spread across his face that quickly disappeared. His lips pursed on the cusp of asking a question, but those words died in his throat.
"What does this have to do with Cyrus?" Harry asked in a no-nonsense tone.
"A few years ago, I sent an anonymous letter to Dumbledore. Anonymous was the intention anyway, but he knew it was from me. He told me he left a reply with my good friend Cyrus. Obviously, I had no idea who Cyrus was, but after getting out of Azkaban for the second time, I looked him up, figuring I had nothing left to lose by trying," Antonin said.
"That reminds me." Hermione turned to Antonin. "If it is ok with you, I would really like to read Dumbledore's reply to your letter."
With a wave of the hand, a letter appeared in Antonin's hand. He passed it off to Hermione. "Cyrus, could I talk to you privately please?"
"Sure." Cyrus agreed with no hesitation. They both left the room. Harry donned his invisibility cloak and followed them out, determined to find out exactly what the two of them were up to.
Hermione began to read Dumbledore's letter out loud. "I will ignore the overall egotistical nature of your letter, the fact that you should still be locked up in Azkaban and the fact that you somehow managed to write your letter in my handwriting."
"Wait, Dolohov can send a letter in Dumbledore's handwriting? How do we know this isn't something he wrote himself?" Ron asked. He started to realize he seemed blocked in asking Antonin a question but had no problem asking Hermione something.
"I doubt he would really point that out if that is what he was doing," Hermione declared while rolling her eyes at Ron, yet beyond that she couldn't come up with a definitive answer for that, so she kept reading. "Provided that you are not involved in any more crimes, I will not alert the ministry of your escape."
"Looks like I am right. There is no way Dumbledore wouldn't alert the ministry if he knew about his escape before it became public knowledge." Ron grinned, feeling proud of himself.
"The information you provided about the change of time and location of Mr. Potter's underage magic hearing was both accurate and useful to ensure justice was done." Hermione's eyes glistened as she looked at Ron. "There is your answer."Then she continued to read the letter. "I admit, I was expecting some form of deception or a trap of some kind, yet there was none. I appeared at the hearing and spoke on young Mr. Potter's behalf. He smiled after hearing the 'cleared of all charges' verdict. He called out to me, and I knew he wanted to thank me, but I departed almost immediately. No doubt, I would have missed that hearing completely were it not for you, and the outcome would have been far worse." Then Hermione looked up from the letter and faced Ron. "This is very specific and something we can ask Harry about," Hermione said, then she continued to read the letter. "Therefore, it is only fitting that you receive credit for this too."
"Bloody hell, this letter really is from Dumbledore," Ron admitted as he remembered the day he and Harry stood before the old wizard thinking they were both going to be expelled, then were told 'Therefore, it is only fitting that you both receive special awards for services to the school.'
"I have long believed the dark lord's followers to be a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty." Hermione read the next line of the letter.
"Which is Dolohov? Weak, definitely not," Ron said.
"Ambitious maybe, but he doesn't seem to be seeking shared glory," Hermione said.
"Agreed, before seeing that memory of his, I would have put him in the last category," Ron admitted.
"Certainly not. The mere act of him informing Dumbledore about Harry's hearing, shows an interest in justice, not cruelty," Hermione said. Then she read further. "You do not fit any of these categories. You sought justice for someone you don't even know…" Hermione stopped reading the letter briefly. "And it looks like Dumbledore agreed with me." She grinned with pride, then continued reading. "Which prompted me to take a closer look into your background and motives. First and foremost, I would like to express my condolences. What happened to Elina never should have happened and I wish you had sought my help back then. I would have done something about it."
"What?" Ron asked. "Wait, isn't that the name he was saying in the vault?"
"I think so. I believe that whatever happened to Elina, it was probably the ministry's fault," Hermione said with a nod, before continuing to read. "I suspect you joined," Hermione skipped over the word Voldemort, then continued to read. "Under the pretenses that your enemy's enemy is your friend. Someday soon, you will realize your mistake and the regime you wish to put in power is a thousand times worse than the existing one. When that day comes, you can come to me. Help is always available to those who ask for it."
"What was Dumbledore going to do? Get him a pardon?" Ron asked incredulously.
"Probably," Hermione said with a nod of the head.
"And his actions at the battle of the Department of Mysteries blew any chance of that happening." Ron smiled with gleeful satisfaction.
"Probably," Hermione admitted with a sigh.
Harry followed Cyrus and Antonin through the lavish hallways of Greengrass Manor.
"I was joking about that request. I didn't expect you to actually do it," Antonin snickered.
A glimmer of mischief danced in Cyrus's eyes as he posed a question that held more weight than it seemed. "Should I reverse it then?"
Antonin chuckled in amusement as he shook his head no. "I'd say no, but I don't think the boy is a complete idiot. He might figure it out if you keep it up. So yes, please cancel it. Anyway, I am not planning on sticking around long enough for it to matter."
Harry wondered if 'the boy' was Ron or himself. He also wasn't clear on exactly what request, or exactly what Cyrus did. He even had mixed feelings about Dolohov leaving. On the surface it sounded good, but if he left, went straight to Voldemort, and gave their location that would be bad.
Cyrus, leaning forward, let the plan's gravity sink in. "What about the plan? Is that still a go?"
Antonin's answer was swift, a firm nod punctuating his certainty. "Absolutely."
A quizzical thought bubbled in Harry's mind. What plan could they be discussing that made Antonin's demeanor shift so quickly?
Daphne emerged from her room, dressed to kill, her hair and makeup done to perfection. She wore a little red dress that really showed off her figure nicely. "Have you seen Harry?" Daphne asked her father.
Not that anybody could see it, but a smile spread across Harry's face. He, unlike Ron, knew the extra effort was put to impress him, not anybody else.
"He is in the library with his friends," Cyrus told Daphne. "Tell your mother we will be stepping out again."
"Sure." Daphne gave a quizzical look. "What are you two up to?"
"Hermione asked a small favor. I am not sure I can pull it off, but I am going to try," Antonin said. "If I can, it will be a nice surprise for her. If not, well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her. So please, do me a favor and don't tell her, ok?"
Harry thought this was nothing but a lame excuse. No way did he believe Hermione would ask a favor from Dolohov and even if she did, that would be a definite 'no' anyway.
"You can count on me," Daphne said. She went off to the library hoping to find Harry.
Harry's hormones demanded he go chase after the sexy girl in the mini dress, but the responsible side of him remained in control. He continued to follow Cyrus and Antonin. He certainly would catch up with Daphne later.
A few moments later, Astoria came out of her room. She wore a royal blue crop top and a matching short skirt. "Oh, you are not wearing that," Cyrus said. "No daughter of mine will be dressing like a tramp. Go back to your room and change."
Astoria huffed in annoyance and headed back to her room.
Antonin snickered, then in a voice just above a whisper he said, "and you didn't even notice what Daphne was wearing? Can you say double standard?" He fondly remembered discussing with Hermione the different treatment the two sisters would receive in pursuing Harry and Ron.
Shockingly, Harry found himself agreeing with Antonin. He thought the most likely reason for Cyrus calling out Astoria on her outfit choice is because of how far Ron got with her. Good thing Cyrus didn't know he and Daphne went all the way last night. No doubt, he would have made Daphne change her clothes too.
Cyrus gritted his teeth and sighed. "You are right." Then he called out to his youngest daughter. "Never mind. You can wear that."
"I don't mean to question your parenting practices." Antonin scratched his head.
"No, it was a good thing you pointed that out." Cyrus shrugged, "Who knows? She might have taken the outfit off and not bothered to put anything else on just out of spite."
Antonin couldn't help but laugh. "If that's the case, don't say that so loud. You wouldn't want to give her any ideas."
Cyrus chuckled, and Harry slapped his hand over his mouth to avoid laughing.
He followed the two men to Cyrus's office. Cyrus went first, followed by Antonin, who promptly closed the door behind him. Harry felt an overwhelming compulsion not to open the door as if ordered by a very powerful unseen hand. Harry forced himself through, ignoring the compulsion not to. Cyrus's gaze sharpened, his actions speaking louder than words as his wand materialized in his grasp. An unexpected twist hung in the air as he intoned, "Imperio."
There was no mistaking it. Cyrus just put Antonin under an imperious curse. He couldn't shake the memory of Antonin's negative reaction when Ron had attempted the same spell. This couldn't be what Antonin had bargained for. Cyrus, who had previously stressed the importance of consent, yet he was now wielding power without restraint. He couldn't help but wonder if Ron was right. Was Cyrus a bad influence on Antonin, or worse, just outright controlling him to do terrible things?
Cyrus's actions felt like a departure from his own principles, a silent breaking of the house rules he had advocated. Doubt gnawed at Harry. What exactly had Antonin agreed to? Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't this. Harry made a hasty retreat to the library to rejoin Ron and Hermione.
Of course, Daphne arrived at the library before Harry did and asked where Harry was. Ron couldn't help but stare at Daphne. Hermione pointed Daphne down one of the many passageways that naturally formed from all the bookcases. Ron watched her as she left, but then stopped as he didn't want to get called out by Hermione for checking out Daphne.
Not long after, Harry arrived. "Daphne was looking for you," Ron told Harry.
"I know," Harry said. "What did you tell her?"
"I think you went that way," Hermione pointed down a hall.
"Ok, I will catch up with her a little later. But…"
"You clearly want to tell us something, but we have a question first. Do you remember that day a few years ago, your hearing at the ministry for using underaged magic? I am curious, what did Dumbledore say to you after the hearing?" Hermione interrupted.
"He didn't say anything. He just took off. I didn't even get to thank him," Harry said.
Hermione smiled while Ron frowned. "What was it you wanted to say?" Hermione asked.
"I just saw Cyrus put Dolohov under an imperious curse," Harry told Hermione and Ron.
"After telling me not to," Ron scoffed at that. "What a hypocrite!"
"What? Why would he do that?" Hermione asked, not really expecting an answer.
"I have no idea. That is just what he did. Cyrus is definitely up to something," Harry told her.
"I thought it was possible Cyrus was a bad influence on Antonin. Maybe it is worse than I thought. We know so many death eaters have used that imperious curse defense. Could he have actually been under one?" Ron asked.
"I guess anything is possible," Harry said. "But let's not jump to conclusions without more proof."
"You said even Daphne wanted to get away without her father knowing…" Ron suggested.
"That could be just because she wants to avoid an argument about it," Hermione said. "Or he would find a way to stop her."
"Like using an imperious curse on her," Ron suggested. "Interestingly enough, when Dolohov asked Cyrus to make me stop asking him questions, I found I couldn't."
"Oh!" Harry's eyes lit up. He realized this was probably the thing that they were talking about when Cyrus asked about cancelling it. Harry took off to go find Daphne.
Harry wandered down the halls lined with bookshelves seeking knowledge that wasn't in any of the books. He finally spotted Daphne. Their eyes met, and the world seemed to hold its breath as their lips met in a kiss that ignited a spark between them.
"I was just talking with Ron and Hermione about that request you made. I just have a question," Harry said.
"Sure, you can ask me anything," Daphne said in all sincerity, her voice laced with a hint of seduction.
"Your dad seems like such a great guy," Harry said with a momentary breaking of eye contact. He honestly wasn't sure if Daphne would agree or give him a horror story about the horrible person her father really was.
"Yes. He really is." Daphne nodded with a sincere smile on her face.
"I wouldn't feel right having you leave with us without his knowledge. Why is it so important to you that he doesn't know about it?" Harry asked.
"Ah!" Daphne paused for several moments. She looked around almost as if wishing the books would have an answer for her, or more likely she was just avoiding eye contact. "The truth is, he really is a great guy, but he is also very overprotective. He would never allow me to take any serious risk. He would stop me from going for sure."
"There might be an argument about it, but at the end of the day, you still have free will. Don't you? You get to make your own choice, right?" Harry did his best to maintain eye contact with this probing question.
"Dad can be very persuasive. He would talk me out of it," Daphne admitted giving full eye contact, then she looked down at the floor. "And if that doesn't work, there is a slim chance he would resort to alternative means."
"You mean like an imperious curse?" Harry asked. He gently brushed a few strands of hair off her face.
"Ah, I didn't say that," Daphne said.
"But you are not denying it either," Harry said with a nod. "And what do you mean 'slim chance?' I would say it is an absolute certainty. The more I think about it, he used an imperious curse on six aurors, Ron, and Dolohov. Those are just the ones I know about."
"What? Are you sure about that?" Daphne asked with a seductive smile.
"I saw him use it on Dolohov, the rest is just speculation. I suspect he is strong enough with that spell to use it without words or a wand," Harry said.
"Wait a minute! Are you spying on my father?" Daphne asked, anger evidence in her voice.
"Really? The fact that I may have been spying bothers you more than the fact that your father used an unforgivable curse," Harry retorted, sounding a bit angry himself.
"I know the imperious curse is considered unforgivable, but it shouldn't be," Daphne said.
"Hearing you say that scares me. It is unforgivable for a reason," Harry declared. He remembered Daphne and Astoria talking about the imperious curse at dinner, but their mother Sophia cut the discussion short, most likely to protect Cyrus. Daphne is obviously aware of her father's use of the spell and where she grew up around it, really believes that it is no big deal. "You are not at all surprised by your father's use of that spell, are you?"
"I am sure if my father really did use that spell on Antonin, there is a good reason for it," Daphne said, and then she gave Harry her famous 'ice princess' stare. "What I can't see any good reason for is you spying on my father, who did nothing but offer you and your friends shelter, food and protection."
"Actually, I was spying on Dolohov," Harry said, even though he wasn't being entirely truthful as he had been trying to find what both of them had done during their errand earlier, not just Dolohov. Daphne must have noticed he was omitting something, as she kept glaring at him with her arms folded.
Harry then added, hoping it would be enough to get her to drop the icy stare and defuse the situation, "Come on, notorious death eater. You must understand why I don't trust that guy."
Daphne nodded. Clearly, she didn't like it, but she understood. Harry didn't like omitting things from her either, but he was treading on thin ice at that point and pushing it would mean sinking. "But the only thing Dolohov did that was suspicious was claiming he was 'doing a favor for Hermione.' Please, you are not that…" Harry paused for a few moments trying to pick the right word. Of course, naïve was the first word that came to mind, but he wanted to say it without insulting her.
"Stupid?" Daphne guessed what Harry was going to say.
"Stupid, no, maybe gullible, naïve, maybe," Harry suggested. So much for not insulting Daphne.
"Look, I know Antonin better than you do and for all his faults, being a liar isn't one of them," Daphne asserted with confidence.
Harry lowered his head, realizing he had made a huge mistake. When Daphne asked to leave with him in secret, he believed she could have been aware of whatever shady dealings her father had been up to, but she clearly wasn't. But now, he was the one who thought she would be better off away from Cyrus. Unfortunately, she was pretty upset with him and now he wasn't sure if she would rescind her previous request.
He didn't trust Cyrus, and he knew he would never trust Dolohov. But Daphne was different. It wasn't because she slept with him last night. She liked him for his heroic actions, not his boy who lived fame, nor his status as the chosen one. "Look, I don't want to be fighting with you. Especially after last night." He put his hand on her arm.
"Then don't make accusations against my father without proof." Daphne pulled away from him.
"Ok, I will drop this," Harry said. If she wants proof, he will get it, but that would take time. Proving Dolohov, a liar should be super easy, barely an inconvenience though. "But let me prove Dolohov is a liar."
"Good luck with that," Daphne snickered. She started to see Harry as the liar. He started this conversation by telling her what a great guy her father was, only to follow it up with accusations against him. He is either lying or he has a very weird definition of what a great guy is.
"True, you know Dolohov better than I do, but I know Hermione. There is no way she would have asked a favor from him. Allow me the chance to prove it." Harry and Daphne made their way back to Ron and Hermione.
"This time I have a question for you. Did you ask a favor from Dolohov?" Harry asked.
"No, of course not," Hermione said.
"Just as I thought. See he lied about that," Harry said to Daphne.
Hermione thought about it a few more moments, then she corrected herself. "Actually, I did, by accident, but then I quickly talked him out of it," Hermione admitted.
"Are you sure?" Daphne asked. It was unclear if she was asking Hermione or Harry.
"Why do you ask?" Hermione began to worry. If Antonin tried to do that favor for her, he was nearly certain to get himself killed.
"He claimed you asked a favor of him, and he was going to try to do it," Harry told her. "I thought it was bull…" He stopped talking once he noticed Hermione's face getting a few shades whiter.
"Oh no," Hermione said with a feeling of dread creeping in. "He can't! He is going to get himself killed."
"Dad would never let that happen," Daphne said with a smirk on her face. "He will do everything within his power to prevent it."
Harry could feel the weight of her stare almost as if it were a physical force to be reckoned with. He fully understood the hidden meaning within her words. He could feel an 'I told you so' lemming in the air.