I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.
"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Parseltongue"
Currently, Harry was quite annoyed. This damned Egg, that had caused him many a headache and sleepless nights over the past few weeks had the most ridiculous answer you could imagine. How in the world, or hell or heaven was he ever supposed to figure out that he had to dunk the damn thing... in water. Honestly, the runes and symbols are decorative at best there is nothing about the model or make of the Egg that would suggest anything close to something water-related. Even when it was opened there was far too much pain from the screeching to see anything that was actually in the Egg. It must've been the stupidest thing he had ever seen.
It was an Egg, that you had to retrieve from a dragon clutch. It would make more sense if you had to put it in fire or something to solve the clue. But no, you had to dump it in water. As for how Harry came to this it was by complete accident.
It had been three days since the night of the Ball and it had been fantastic. Harry felt much more confident in himself and would have no problem showing affection for his girlfriends when he could. Of course, he wasn't going to be snogging them as soon as he saw them, but if they ever made the desire known or if they had a moment to themselves he wasn't hesitant to embrace them.
Malfoy, while still deep in the group's shit list, had been rather quiet since the Ball. Still pompous and arrogant as was the norm but he hadn't sought out a confrontation with Harry or the girls since that night. Harry didn't expect that to last but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
Beyond that, he decided to spend most of his free time training taking steps to get ready to attempt the Protego Diabolica spell. While training he had decided to try a few spells that he knew from outside the Grimoire. Such as Aguamenti, the water summoning charm. Doing the usual process that he used to amplify his spells.
When he cast the spell he had accidentally flooded the room The water from his wand had enough force and volume to knock him off his feet completely soaking him as well as knocking his bag into the water along with the Egg. When that happened the Egg opened and Harry squeezed his eyes preparing for another headache-inducing screech... but it never came. In fact, instead of a screech, he could hear a rather soothing muffled melodic voice from the water.
Ignoring his current soaked state and his most likely ruined books he approached the egg and hesitantly put his ear under the water and he heard it, a soft beautiful voice singing from the Egg.
"Come seek us where our voices sound, We cannot sing above the ground, And while you're searching ponder this; We've taken what you'll sorely miss, An hour-long you'll have to look, And to recover what we took, But past an hour, the prospect's black, Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
Harry pulled his head up and closed the Egg. Just in time as the water began flooding out of the classroom so it would've been brought out of the water and Harry did not want to deal with the horrid screeching again. Though the message gave him pause. Something was going to be taking something from him, something he would sorely miss.
What could they be taking? Not his wand, he wouldn't be able to compete without it. His personal effects? No one knew about the map, at least he hoped they didn't know. Except for the Weasley twins and probably Dumbledore, unfortunately. His invisibility cloak was an option but again only a handful of people knew about that which again, to his detriment, included Dumbledore.
Actually, Dumbledore had access or involvement with most of his personal items. Another thing to tack on to his growing list. Then Harry had a thought. The Ball was still fresh in his mind and also the fact that McGonagall was adamant that he had to bring one official date. Something that had caused him some undue trouble yet he still had a fantastic time with all of his girlfriends non the less. But with this clue... they wouldn't... oh who was he kidding himself, Dumbledore was one of the organizers of course he would.
Quickly gathering his things he exited the room a wave of excess water following his movements. He began to rack his brain, where would Daphne be right now, they had their lunch break a little while ago so now both she and Hermione would be in Ancient Runes just about to end. Taking off at a run he ignored everything instead of heading straight for the tower that Ancient Runes had their class in.
He passed a few students that had left their classes early and most got out of his way while giving him started and strange looks. As you would when a soaked teen was bolting through the halls. Coming up on the tower Harry rushed up the steps skipping steps and nearly tripping on three different occasions.
Eventually, he made it to the door and could hear the bustle of students as they gathered their things and start to leave class. He stepped out of the way and saw student after student leaving the classroom. Those that noticed him gave him those same odd looks seeing his drenched state. However, he didn't see either Daphne or Hermione leave and he got a sinking feeling in his stomach as he rushed in.
He breathed a sigh of relief seeing that both of them were simply discussing something with Professor Babbling. Both girls looked back at him and their eyes widened in surprise seeing his state.
"Ah speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Soaked in this case." Babbling said with an amused smile.
"Harry? What happened?" Hermione asked as he shook his head.
"Just a practice accident I actually came to find you two."
"Is everything alright?" Daphne asked.
"Yes... Well, probably not, but we need to talk." Harry said as Babbling nodded.
"You girls can go we will discuss your request later." Babbling said as the girls nodded. The trio left the tower and descended the stairs.
"So what's the matter?" Daphne asked as they walked and Harry looked around but didn't feel comfortable talking about this in the view of the portraits.
"Not here, we need to be alone. Do you think you can miss some of your classes?" Harry asked and Hermione looked like she was just asked to commit murder. Daphne rolled her eyes and flicked Hermione's arm.
"We can." She said and Hermione had the decency to blush and nod.
"Yes, for you Harry of course. Shall we get Susan?" Harry nodded and the trio made their way to the Hall nearest to where the students coming from Care of Magical creatures would come from. It didn't take long for them to spot the buxom beauty. She smiled when she noticed the three but that morphed to confusion when she saw Harry's current state.
"Why are you so wet?" She asked as she pulled out her wand and cast a quick drying charm. He kissed her as thanks which brought a smile to her face.
"Training accident but I need to talk to all of you. Can you..."
"Let's head to our usual spot." She said not needing to hear anything more. She could more than afford to miss a class if it was for Harry. The group wove through the crowds and eventually made their way to the bathroom that they used for their discussions.
"So what's the issue?" Hermione asked as all three girls looked at Harry.
"I figured out the Egg clue."
"Really? That's great!" Susan said as Harry pulled out the Egg from his bag and Hermione almost had a heart attack.
"Harry! Your books!" She exclaimed as Harry just laughed nervously as she rolled her eyes. As she took them and went about restoring them. Harry then went over to one of the sinks in the bathroom.
"Do any of you know how to extend this?" Harry asked and Susan stepped up.
"I can." She said and went about making the sink bigger and deeper.
"Here you go Harry, be more careful okay." Hermione said handing him back his bag with his books. He smiled and gave her a peck which caused any irritation she had to melt right off her.
"It's done." Susan called stepping back and Harry placed the Egg inside and filled it using a normal Aguamenti spell. Then he opened the Egg the glow from inside casting a wavey golden light to shine out of the wall.
"It's not screaming." Daphne said as the girls came closer and heard the muffled singing voices. Then something clicked in Hermione's brain as she slapped her forehead.
"Of course, I'm so stupid."
"I don't think that's true but... why?" Susan said looking towards Hermione.
"The screeching, I thought it was some sort of creature like a banshee so I was looking through how to silence one seeing if that would work with the Egg. But there are other species that sound's like that. Like merpeople!" Hermione said as Daphne looked thoughtful.
"I think I remember hearing that, merpeople sound awful above water."
"The Egg said something about that, about not being able to sing above ground."
"What else does it say?" Daphne asked and Harry stepped back to let them hear it for themselves. Once each girl listened to the clue each came out.
"Something you would surely miss?" Susan asked and Harry nodded.
"I thought it was going to be something like an item, you know like my broom or something but then I thought about it." Harry said as Daphne and Hermione seemed to be trying to come up with conclusions themselves.
"Why was McGonagall so adamant that I could only officially take one of you girls to the Ball instead of just going with all three of you." He said and all the girl's eyes widened.
"Surely not!" Hermione denied with a shake of her head.
"Unfortunately it makes sense. We are dealing with students from different schools in this tournament right? The easiest way to figure out what would be most important to each champion? A planned event where each champion is required to take a person they are interested in a romantic sense. What else could be missed more than your girlfriend or boyfriend."
"You really think Fleur is going to be losing sleep over Davies?" Harry asked, having seen just how little fun the French champion had at the dance.
"Probably not but still." Daphne agreed.
"So, if we're right, that means Daphne is going to... what be kidnapped by Mermaids?" Susan asked.
"If only, Mermaids like warmer waters and are rather pleasant, here in the north and these frigid waters you'll have to deal with selkies, they are mermaids just mean, hideous, and quick to kill." Daphne said rubbing her eyes.
"Surely they wouldn't let you be in such danger." Hermione said.
"Do you still have such faith in Dumbledore?" Daphne asked and Hermione shook her head.
"No, but what about the other officials."
"While they might be mean these Merpeople are still intelligent. Most likely the Ministry is going to cut some kind of deal with them." Daphne said and they could see the logic in that.
"But what are we going to do? I can't just let them take you!" Harry said and Daphne shook her head.
"I doubt they are going to be putting a sack over my head and dumping me in the lake. Remember I am still a Pureblood witch and my family has a seat on the Wizengmot. Most likely I'm going to be called by my head of house for a meeting with the officials."
"Which includes Dumbledore." Susan reminded.
"No eye contact and I'll make sure my head of house is present in the room."
"They'll probably put you to sleep or something, it's an hour-long after all. He might try something while you're out." Harry said and all three girls thought.
"My aunt is arriving today." Susan stated.
"That's today!?" Harry said completely forgetting it was today and feeling dread start to increase along with his worry for Daphne.
"Yes, but that's not the point. After you talk she could probably pull a few strings and get some extra security to ensure your safety." She said addressing Daphne at the end.
"Is this before or after she throttles me for snogging her niece?" Harry asked and Susan giggled.
"She'll like you Harry don't worry. But after your talk, you can get more protection for Daphne."
"Okay but what about actually getting to her? I can swim but I don't think I could hold my breath for an hour no matter how hard I try." Harry said worriedly again.
"We could use the bubblehead charm." Daphne said and Hermione nodded.
"I read about that but it can be broken easily right?" Hermione asked knowing that there was more than just merfolk in that lake.
"That's true." Daphne conceded and Harry had a thought.
"Wait what about my spells?" Harry asked.
"What about them?"
"I'm not going to be able to use anything I've been training with, I can't summon lighting I'll just electrocute myself, my fire won't burn underwater, using ice will just freeze me more than I'll probably already be. And I doubt conjuring a storm is going to make swimming any easier." Harry said, while he still had some of the standard spells he knew his big-ticket spells were going to be unusable underwater.
"You also can't use Demona, unless she can somehow breathe underwater?" Hermione asked and Harry shook his head. At being mentioned Demona decided to manifest herself with a yawn and a stretch.
"Can you?" Harry asked the hound and received a feeling of disgust in reply. He chuckled at that.
"Well, we're not going to figure anything out here, we should go to the library and do some research on the Black Lake." Hermione said and the others nodded. They needed information like what to expect and possible ways to aid Harry underwater. Demona whined as she melted back into Harry's shadow.
"Sorry girl, We'll go running soon I promise, Hedwig would love the exercise too." He promised and felt a rush of warmth from their bond. The group set out and headed towards the Library.
"We also need to discuss my Aunt." Susan said as they walked causing Harry to become nervous.
"Don't be so scared Darling, Susan's Aunt isn't nearly as scary as you would expect. Of course, you are dating her daughter which might cause some tension but I'm sure you'll be fine." Daphne teasingly assured Susan rolled her eyes.
"You really shouldn't be scared, my Aunt will be entirely professional. While we're at the library we should write down all the things that you will want to discuss with her. She has the memories you already sent her but do you have the... other thing on you?" She asked subtly rubbing her ring finger. Harry nodded and patted his chest where he kept his Family ring in a chest pocket. Susan nodded and Hermione looked over to Daphne.
"Say, how long are you going to keep calling him Darling for?" she asked and Daphne smirked.
"I like it, so probably forever, if that's okay?" She asked batting her eyes at Harry who blushed.
"Well... I don't mind." he mumbled earning a smile from Daphne who turned back to Hermione.
"So yeah, forever. Why? Do you want to have a pet name too? I'm sure I can think of one." Daphne teased and now Hermione blushed. Susan laughed.
"C'mon we're here." Susan said as the group entered the Library and Hermione split off to find some books about the black lake that could help.
"While she's finding the books let's make a list for my aunt." Susan said pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill from her bag.
"Pretty much everything we've already sent her and also about the legilimency." Daphne said and Susan nodded and began to write everything down.
"Also, Harry there is something else I wanted to ask about." Susan said while writing. "Your mail, what do you usually get?" Harry was a bit confused about the question but answered all the same.
"Um, just letters from Hermione and the Weasley family mainly. There's also my... Godfather too along with official Hogwarts letters." Harry said recalling the wizarding mail.
"No fan mail? Nothing from Gringotts?" Susan asked and Harry shook his head.
"No, why would I get fan mail?"
"Why wouldn't you get fan mail?" Daphne returned "You're the most famous wizard in our world at the moment. The boy-who-lived, if you were a family that had been living in fear of Voldemort then wouldn't you have wanted to send your thanks to the boy who vanquished him?" Daphne explained. Harry thought about it and found that it made sense, and with this, it did seem odd that he never received any form of mail from the wizarding world until his Hogwarts letter arrived.
"Then there is also Gringotts, you are the heir to an ancient house Harry. Gringotts would've tried to be in contact with you or your house's proxy. But again, we know that you don't have one because if you did they would sit in for you on the Wizengmot." Susan explained and Daphne nodded.
"Right, in fact after this tournament we should make a visit to Gringotts." Daphne said and Susan agreed. Harry was thinking about the letter issues and the more he thought about it the more it didn't make sense. He wasn't able to think about it too much since Hermione returned with two books.
"Oh? No twelve book stack?" Daphne teased and Hermione just rolled her eyes.
"No need, these books completely detail what we should need to know." Hermione said handing one of the books to Harry. Taking it he saw it was a study of the creatures in the Black Lake. With how thick the book was it did not fill Harry with confidence.
"A study of Merfolk. Lovely." Daphne read aloud as she opened the books and began to flick through it.
"Funny how I got to be your official date to the Ball and now I'm going to be a hostage." Daphne sighed as she read the book.
"Sorry." Harry apologized but Daphne just smiled.
"It's fine, if it wasn't me, then it would've been Susan or Hermione. Actually, if I refuse they are going to be the backup options for your hostage." Daphne deduced and Susan and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"Let's just focus on figuring out what you're going to have to deal with in the lake then we can come up with strategies." Hermione said as the group began to examine the contents of the book thoroughly. There were many creatures in the lake but there was only a handful that would be an issue. The Merpeople for one, then there were the Grindylows, vicious little water demons that liked to swarm their prey. Of course, there was also the giant squid but that creature liked to stay in the depths and the darkness so hopefully, it wouldn't be an issue.
The group studied for a while, every so often making observations or notes about some creatures. As for spells Harry was right in the knowledge that the spells he has been training with wouldn't be very useful for him while he is submerged in water. Though he would be able to use other basic spells though they would be difficult to use underwater since they would have to travel through the water and run out of power quicker.
"We should head to dinner, My Aunt should be here by now." Susan said stretching.
"I concur." Hermione said rising and gathering the books while Daphne gathered all the notes they have taken.
"Here Harry keep this." Susan said handing him the list she had made to help him with his interview with her aunt. He thanked her and quickly pocketed it. The group made their way to the Great Hall and were greeted with the usual buzz of activity and they made their way to the Slytherin table. Jones, Tracey, and Blaise were waiting for them.
"Oh had enough snogging for one day?" Jones teased and the Harry, Hermione, and Susan blushed but Daphne just grinned.
"Never enough, but we do need to eat I suppose." She said with a false melancholy tone. The group chuckled at that as Harry and the girls took their seats. The conversation was relatively light as they ate until Dumbledore called attention to himself as the Hall went quiet.
"Good evening students! I apologize for the interruption but I have an important announcement. It would appear that the Ministry has felt the need to increase security for our champions. Be assured that they will not disrupt our daily activities and are here only for added security for the tournament. With that, I would like you all in helping me welcome Madam Bones and her Aurors." He finished and polite applause rang through the hall as Harry looked over to where Susan's aunt would be.
The woman was very similar to Susan's thought with a few differences, like the fact that Madam Bones had a harder, more stern face and her hair was darker than her nieces. Though she had the same eyes and her physique was also similar to Susan just more developed. Her eyes were scanning the Hall and when they landed on Harry and his group they lingered for only a moment and her facial expression didn't even twitch.
Harry suddenly jumped when he felt something tap his knee. Looking down he was very surprised to see a house-elf under the table. It took him a moment but he recognized the Elf as Flecky, Susan's house-elf. She raised a finger to her lips in a shushing motion and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Harry who took it as discreetly as he could. Once he had it Flecky popped away silently.
He resumed his meal so as not to give away what just happened but Susan noticed and raised a brow at him. He just mouth 'Later' to her and she nodded.
"So Harry any luck with the Egg?" Blaise asked and Harry nodded.
"Actually yes."
"You figured it out?" Jones asked and Harry nodded.
"Well, more like figured it out by accident. It's really idiotic when you think about it."
"How did you figure it out?" Blaise asked.
"I accidentally dunked it in water. When I did that there was no screeching just singing."
"Water? Why would they use water? It's a Dragon egg." Jones wondered out loud.
"That's is literally the same thing I thought!" Harry exclaimed.
"Great minds Harry! Great minds!" Jones said with a laugh.
"So it sings underwater?" Tracey asked.
"Mermaids." Daphne said simply.
"Mermaids? Wait do you think...?"
"The second task is going to take place in the Black Lake." Hermione explained.
"You're going to freeze." Blaise said.
"Thanks, mate." Harry replied and Blaise nodded.
"No problem." He returned cheekily.
"Do you have a plan?" Jones asked.
"We're working on it." Harry said as Hermione, Daphne, and Susan all nodded.
"Oh so I'm not good enough to come to for advice, I see how it is. I help you with your girlfriends and all of a sudden I'm tossed to the side. Why don't you do a little tap dance on my shattered heart while you are at it." She said wiping away a fake tear. Harry rolled his eyes.
"In my defense, I only figured it out today."
"Okay, you can have this one."
"In any event, we have another week to figure it out. You can still help us out." Susan said and Jones nodded.
"I can ask Neville, He's very smart you know." Tracey said turning and smiling at Neville who happened to be looking over from the Gryffindor table. At being caught looking he blushed and looked down.
"Oh, I'm sure." Daphne said with a smirk. The group continued to speak for a while and left the Hall, Harry and his girlfriends separated and headed for Myrtle's bathroom. Once they reached it Harry pulled out the letter that Flecky had delivered to him.
"Where did you get that?" Hermione asked.
"Flecky, She delivered it during dinner.
"I thought so. What does it say?" Susan asked as Harry opened it and began to read.
"I don't know." Harry said and turned it over to show what was on it. It was just a series of numbers and at the bottom of the paper was a weird message in bold writing that read AHPTG 1-3, 3-14.
"Oh let me." Susan said taking the parchment and opening her bag as she brought out a smaller bag and opened it pulling out some books from it.
"Wait aren't those..." Daphne began with a smirk but was cut off by Susan.
"There just for emergencies."
"Oh..."
"Not the kind your thinking of!" Susan denied it with a blush but opened two of the books and began flipping through them. Hermione peered over her shoulder and caught the titles.
"Adventures of Harry Potter The Great?" She asked and Susan just blushed harder.
"It's not what your thinking." Susan denied as Harry felt his face heat up. Susan just continued to work as she flipped through the pages of the books circling words and then writing them down onto the paper.
"What are you doing?" Harry asked.
"Whenever my Aunt needs to talk to me about sensitive topics she always sends it in code. A code you can only decipher if you have the code itself and the corresponding books. In this case, refers to the books while the numbers refer to which book in the series and the chapter. These other numbers tell me which page, paragraph, and which word to look for. Once you do that you string them all together and you get the coded message." She said writing down the last few words while tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"You're brilliant, you know that right?" Harry said honestly very impressed with Susan who blushed brightly at his praise.
"Right... well here." She said handing the message back. Turning it over he began to read what Susan had deciphered.
"The room we require, dancing trolls block the way. Don't be seen." Harry read "The room we require?" He asked.
"I think she means the Room of Requirments, I've read about it. It's a room that takes on the shape of the person's needs." Hermione said.
"What about dancing trolls?" Susan asked and the group thought for a moment.
"Wait, there is a tapestry on the seventh floor. It shows two trolls trying to dance." Daphne said.
"Do we go together?" Harry asked and the Susan shook her head.
"No, you should go alone. People will take notice of our group but you can slip by on your own easily enough. Just remember what we talked about and you have your list." She said and Harry patted his pocket feeling the folded parchment.
"Okay, be safe, don't be seen and everything will be fine."
"That is after she throttles you for snogging her niece." Daphne chimed in teasingly.
"Daphne!" Susan and Hermione exclaimed but only received giggles in response.
"Okay, I'm going to head on up there." Harry said his nervousness rising.
"We believe in you, Harry!" Daphne said and he smiled nervously in response.
"We'll send Hedwig with a message letting you know where to find us after." Hermione said and Harry nodded and left. Taking a deep breath he started walking towards the stairs quickly ducking into an alcove and pulling out his invisibility cloak he unshrunk it and threw it over himself and made his way up the flight of stairs. He had to weave around a few students but thankfully his trip wasn't interrupted by anything or anyone.
After he climbed up to the seventh floor he began to scan the walls looking for the tapestry with the dancing trolls. It took him a while but he eventually found the ridiculous tapestry. He didn't see any doors around and looking behind the tapestry he saw nothing back there either. Taking another quick look around he took off his cloak and shrunk it down so he could put it away in his bag.
Thinking back he mentally kicked himself for not asking Hermione how to get into the room of requirement. Taking one more look around he shook his head. Then he felt an urge from his bond with Demona and looked down.
"Come on out girl." he called and she appeared in a swirl of shadows and flecks of flame. She shook her fur out as she bumped Harry with her head.
"Can you find it?" He asked and he felt a surge of warmth flow to him as Demona put her nose to the ground and he could hear her quick sniffs and her nose twitch as she looked for a scent. She circled him a few times and anyone who looked down would probably be very put off by seeing the giant Hellhound pawing around the corridor and that thought filled Harry with a bit of pride.
Thankfully it didn't take long for Demona to walk to the wall opposite of the one where the tapestry hung and pawed at it her claws scratching at the stone. Harry approached and checked the wall feeling around seeing if there was maybe a button but found nothing.
"How do you get in?" Harry asked aloud and received a huff in response from Demona.
"You need to pass in front of the wall three times while thinking of the kind of room you want." A voice answered and Harry whirled around with Demona standing next to him ready to come to his defense fangs bared and puffs of smoke escaping her maw. Standing next to the tapestry was Susan's aunt. Harry had no idea she was there, no he was sure she wasn't there and he definitely didn't hear her walk up to him, and even if she did Demona should have caught her.
"Where did you come from?"
"Faith, Trust, and Pixie dust." She answered flatly and Harry was confused before he recognized that little quote.
"Wait... isn't that from peter pan?" Harry was not used to anyone from the magical world understanding or even using muggle references. Hell even Mr. Weasley who deals with muggle artifacts can't even pronounce electricity properly.
"Yes but we're not here to talk about that." She said and approached the wall as Harry backed away with Demona. Like she said she paced in front of the wall and just like she said a door seemed to grow out of the wall with the stone morphing into wood and iron.
"Come." She said opening the door and Harry followed Demona having to jump in and out of his shadow so she could enter seeing as she couldn't fit through the door. The room was simple and rectangular with two large chairs and a single circular table in the center with a fireplace at the back already lit with a flame.
"Take a seat." She said and Harry did with Demona laying down behind his chair curled around it. Susan's Aunt took her seat opposite and pulled out several papers from her robes.
"This is what I have compiled on what we have in our records." She said taking out a folder from the pile and handing it to him.
"This is what I found for the trial of Sirius black." Harry's eyes widened at that as he quickly opened but only found two papers. One detailing his Godfather and the other being what he assumed was the arrest report.
"This is it." He asked.
"Yes, my thoughts as well. I've never looked into it before and I am glad you brought it to my attention. Your godfather never received a trial which is both disappointed and not entirely surprising."
"How so?"
"It was a time of war and my predecessor, Bartemius Crouch, was a very hard and strict man and remains so to this day. During his time as head of the DMLE, he put many people behind bars but he was quick and ruthless so it doesn't surprise me that he streamlined Lord Black's case. You have to keep in mind that at this time you-know-who was defeated just recently. This doesn't excuse his actions but it helps explain them. If you wish to bring this issue to court you are well within your rights." She said pulling out another folder this one is a bit larger than the first.
"In this file is the official claim that Lord Sirius Black of House Black claims one Harry James Potter as his heir to the Black Family." Harry was shocked as he took the folder.
"Since your Godfather did this it means that with this knowledge that he was never given a proper trial you can take this straight to the Wizengmot and they would have to hear the case since, as it stands with things now, you are the most ligament claim to the name of Black and as such you can use that power to give your Godfather a trial. Of course, you will have to provide proper evidence of his innocence. Your memories collected by me along with others, such as Miss Granger, will suffice along with written statements. If you can get into contact with Lord Black it's imperative that he contact me at his earliest convenience so we can begin working towards this." She said and Harry was shocked, he hadn't even talked to this woman with only Susan sending her some memories and she already seemed to have a plan in place for one of his biggest concerns.
"This is amazing." Harry said astonished.
"This is only the Beginning Mister Potter. Clearing your Godfather's name will be relatively easy compared to the other things you have loaded onto my plate." She said seriously.
"These issues you have brought up with Albus are quite serious and equally complicated. The Act of legilimency alone is grounds for termination for him but all these other claims you have made are something else entirely. You have to understand how difficult this is going to be. Any other faculty member would've been a cakewalk." She said sighing.
"What makes him so difficult." Harry had a pretty good idea why but he wanted to hear her answer.
"You mean despite the fact that he is Albus bloody Dumbledore? Defeater of Grindelwald and considered to be probably the most powerful Wizard in all of Europe in our day. The Chief Warlock of the Wizengmot, Supreme mugwump of the international confederation of wizards as well as Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and wizardry. Not only does he have all these positions of power but he has a plethora of connections to draw upon. If the death eaters like Lucious Malfoy can get away with all their atrocities by throwing around their gold and pureblood family names, then what do you think Albus Dumbledore could do?" She explained and Harry began to realize just how hard this was going to be.
"That is not to say that there is nothing that we can do, It will have to be fought in court and with good evidence and arguments, witnesses, and statements made under the veritaserum potion we could win. But don't expect him to do time, the most we could hope for is removal from his positions of power. But that leads us with another problem."
"What is that?"
"With his positions stripped that would leave vacancies that would need to be filled and I imagine you wouldn't want someone like Malfoy taking over any of those positions." Harry quickly shook his head the thought of Draco's father in a position of power like that was downright horrid. He was already on the board of governors and that was a headache in of itself.
"All this is purely theory as first you will have to finish this tournament since you can't stray too far from Hogwarts grounds without it taking your magic. Your lucky that it didn't consider Hogsmede too far." She said with narrowed eyes as Harry's eyes widened and he wanted to smack himself for being so stupid. Hogsmede was such a part of Hogwart's life that he never really considered them separate, to him Hogsemede was a part of Hogwarts.
"Right, What about all the other things, like the Basilisk the dementors." Harry said pulling out the list Susan had made for him and seeing he wasn't missing anything except for his Family ring but he would talk about that in a moment.
"Like I said if Lucious could get away with Rape and Murder with nothing more than an old name and money then Albus could do much more. He might not have an ancient family but they are old and they are pure, they are also rather well off. So while he will be able to avoid proper time in Azkaban I can assure you that even if they don't remove him from his Headmaster position the parents surely will. This is where publicity is going to play an enormous role in your crusade. The dementors are a pretty weak argument since they were stationed by the Ministry and not Dumbledore himself. Even if I understand what you were concerned with don't rely too much on the idea of Dementors. The Basilisk however will have parents up in arms, especially if they could see just how large the creature was. Your memories will suffice, however, if we could obtain the corpse of the creature and show it that would help you immensely in the court of public opinion." Harry nodded at her words, He had never actually been back to the Chamber of Secrets since second year when he found it.
"There is something else I'm not sure if Susan has told you or not." reaching into his coat pocket. "This was discovered in Dumbledore's office." He said placing his family ring on the table and for the first time since their conversation began her eyes widened as she leaned forward.
"You are quite sure? Do you have proof? Memories?" She asked and Harry shook his head.
"Not me personally, I may have conjured some snakes who retrieved the ring for me after finding it in his office." She nodded.
"Are these Snakes still here or did you vanish them?" Harry shook his head.
"No, they are still around, I can call them." Harry said as he pulled out his wand and quickly conjured a viper. It looked confused before looking towards Harry.
"I need you to find the Serpent who retrieved this ring, tell her to come to this room with all haste." Harry hissed out and the viper nodded before slithering towards the door as it opened for the serpent and closed again.
"I see you are quite proficient with the use of your ability." Madam Bones observed.
"Thank you, ma'am, but what does this mean for me?" He asked indicating to the Ring.
"There is a lot you can do with this Mister Potter. The possession of a family ring by someone who is not a reagent let alone even a part of a family can be very advantageous. I will dig into our records but as of now, I can assure you that the Will of James and Lilly potter has been sealed and without a proper reading the Ring should've been returned to Gringotts to be kept safe, at least you either came of age or appointed a regent for house potter."
"My Parent's Will was sealed?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Shortly after Sirius was arrested and your parents were... found, their Wills would have been read but that never came about, the only reason for this occurring is that the Wills were sealed by an official of the Wizengmot, there are only two individuals within a position of power that could have accomplished this. One is the Minister of Magic and the other is the Chief Warlock. And even then they would have to go through a lot of trouble to do it quietly in so little time." She explained to Harry who sat back just taking all this in.
"As for the ring, the fact that it was in Professor Dumbledore's office can spell a whole world of trouble, disgusting as it is, with everything else Albus could weave through so many loopholes to avoid proper punishment. However potential line theft or line endangerment is an issue that is seen as worse than murder, this is also something that can help your Godfather with his trial as you could make a case of Line endangerment with his imprisonment without trial. That is something to be discussed with him present." She explained and paused when she noticed two large constrictor snakes making their way over to Harry's chair.
"Noble Speaker, you have need of us once again?" The female serpent spoke to him, the same one that came to him with the information about his ring before. The second one was the one who physically got his ring. Harry nodded and motioned towards Madam Bones.
"She requires your memories of the event where you found my ring. Bring them to your mind so she may extract them. There is no danger and you will not be hurt." He assured and the snakes made their way to the table as they coiled at the top waiting for Madam Bones. She pulled out her wand and began to extract the memories from the snakes and placed them in tubes she produced from her robes.
"You came prepared." Harry observed and she smirked.
"My niece made a very good argument for your case, your memories have also made this a priority for me. Susan was in danger here as well. That is something I wanted to ask you about, your second year with the Basilisk. Everyone knew of it correct, or at least they heard rumors of it?"
"Not necessarily, they knew of Slytherin's monster but they didn't know it was a Basilisk. Oh actually." Harry said and looking at the list and saw that Susan added some notes one of which mentioned how she never felt the urge to contact her Aunt about second year or even after she went home for the summer.
"Susan made a list for me, and here she says that during the second year she never wrote to you about the creature or told you over the summer. She says that she never felt the need to." He explained and nodded his head.
"I'll have to do a little digging but if the other students report a similar feeling about the issue then that could indicate a possible dosing of the student body with potions."
"Speaking of potions something strange happened to me recently, you see a little while ago Demona stopped me from drinking from a goblet and made a bit of a ruckus in the Main Hall, Professor Snape confiscated that one but it happened again during Yule Ball, I didn't want to make a scene so I left it only but it's curious."
"Indeed, I will have a word with Snape as soon as I can, with any luck he may still have the goblet in his possession. And hopefully, by some miracle, he will not have brought it to Albus's attention." She said then pulled out a pocket watch clicking it open to check the time.
"We have plenty of time, get comfortable Mister Potter, I like to be thorough." Harry nodded more than willing to invest the time and effort, anything that could help him.
_SCENE_
Here is chapter 13, just moving the plot forward a bit, next chapter is going to be a bit more of Susan's Aunt and talking but I will be working in the next task, and I am very excited for what I have planed for that event. Hopefully I will be able to give it the epic portrayal I want and hopefully Ya'll will like it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter and hope it made sense. Until next time this has been your Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel!