Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the plot. The original concepts belong to JKR and Warner Brothers. Any concepts brought from other fictions are either coincidental or will be used in their own way, and no plagiarism is meant.
Chapter 24: Travels
July 13, 1994
Black Family Office
Ministry of Magic Floor 2
"What was this request about, Lord Greengrass?" Sirius asked.
Unfortunately, he wasn't in the best of moods. The Wizengamot didn't believe that the Triwizard contract needed to be changed to specify what of-age meant. Personally, he thought it was because it would require a second meeting in a few weeks time to ratify it within the British Ministry, but that was neither here nor there.
"You do not know yet?" Lord Greengrass asked. "Have you not checked the record for House Potter?"
"I have only begun last week. Organizing and repairing my own estate was a nightmare, along with the healers, getting a new wand, and overall getting out. If I need to search for something specific, you need to tell me." Sirius replied without patience.
"Very well. Perhaps you should look at the contracts in the coming weeks." Lord Greengrass said with a huff, turning to leave. "We will speak again once you have."
"Lord Green-" Sirius tried to stop the man, but he was already gone from the office.
Sighing, he looked around, before finding an old bottle of his Grandfather's scotch. Downing a glass, he sighed.
Purebloods
Deciding he had no choice, he walked from the office, locking it with his ring on his way, before heading to the eighth floor, and out into the auditorium. From there, he made it through to Diagon Alley, and then into Gringotts.
"I wish to speak with Axrak, the Potter Account Manager." he told the teller.
"You do not have an appointment." the goblin replied after a minute.
"I know. See if he has five minutes to spare. I'd be happy to wait if necessary." Sirius replied with as much patience as possible.
After a minute, the goblin told him to wait over in a seating area, and it was nearly twenty minutes later that he was escorted to Axrak's office.
"Lord Black." the old goblin said, "Perhaps you can enlighten me as to why you randomly dropped by?"
"I was approached by Lord Greengrass about a contract with House Potter. I was unaware of anything between the two houses, and hadn't seen anything in my short period of searching. I was hoping you may know?" Sirius asked.
The goblin frowned. "Several contracts have passed here in the last years that Charles and James were alive. I would need to search the Family Vault for the records. It will take me some time."
"That is fine. He insists that I discover the contract myself, so the sooner the better, but I also am unsure of the necessity of the rush. He has waited this long to approach me after all." Sirius said. The goblins really didn't like being rushed with requests, hence his lack of pushing for it.
"Very well. Now, was there anything else? I have a meeting in twenty minutes." The goblin asked.
"No, thank you Axrak, for seeing me. May business always go in favor of you." Sirius said respectively, bowing slightly.
"And may your enemies fall when they face your wand." Axrak replied.
Evening…
"How was your day Harry?" Sirius asked at dinner.
"Alright. Training was rough as always, but I am counting down the days until the tournament. Only two more days of practice, and five until we leave." Harry replied with a smile. "I also saw Neville and Susan today. We played some board games and caught up. Neville is getting to go on a trip next week to Brazil for plant harvesting. How did the Wizengamot go?"
Terrible. "They didn't see it necessary to change the contract, as any changes would have delayed the signing by weeks while Bulgaria and France ratified the changes." Sirius replied with a frown. "Bureaucracy is annoying."
Harry smiled. "Well, that's good news and bad. It means I could enter if I wanted, but it means that my name will be entered regardless."
Sirius frowned at Harry's words. "Why would you think that?"
"My luck is terrible Sirius, I will end up as a champion one way or another." Harry replied. "However, I think I'll sit it out. Maybe swear an oath proving my innocence."
"Hm. It probably wouldn't free you from the contract, but it would get a lot of people off your back." Sirius replied. "However, the best thing is to not compete at all. I know full well that they are bringing in dragons for the first task, and the third task will have a sphinx and a Chimera."
Harry whistled, "Well, just in case, I believe I will start training for them after the duel."
Sirius laughed, and once things calmed down, spoke, "I also met with Cyrus Greengrass today, at his insistence. He believes there is a contract between House Potter and Greengrass. I've already spoken to Axrak and he will begin searching the records, but until we have something back, it may be nothing."
"Alright?" Harry replied hesitantly.
"So, did you ever speak with Daphne?" he asked. Harry frowned, before his eyes went wide.
"I was so tired that night that I forgot that I needed to!" Harry exclaimed.
"Really Harry?" Sirius asked. "I know your memory is nearly perfect."
"Nearly, not entirely." He snarked back. "I forgot. I am sure I will have plenty of time to meet her next year, or during this summer at some point."
"True." Sirius replied, though he seemed distracted. "I am only worried about the contract though. James never mentioned much with them, and other than being in the Potter Will, I am unsure of any business between them and you."
"You don't think it is a marriage contract, do you?" Harry asked uneasily.
"I would not think so. Lily would never approve of it, or at least, not unless there was a lot of leeway and a cancellation clause." Sirius said with a frown. "After all, if there was a contract, then it would have made them targets. Cyrus is a family man, he would worry most about his wife and children."
"Well there is nothing we can do until it is found." Harry replied. "So let's not dwell on it, and instead ensure everything is set up for the Dueling Tournament. Dora and Andi are still coming by Saturday, and we need to be packed on Sunday to leave Monday morning."
"Right you are. One question though," Sirius said with a slight nervousness, "Uh, what do we pack?"
Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I was just going to take my trunk. I can't be missing anything if it's all with me."
"Good answer, I think I'll do the same. Have you gotten your regulation dueling robes yet?" He asked.
Harry's eyes widened. "Tomorrow. I need to go get them tomorrow."
"Gets what Master Harry?" Dobby said from the door.
"My regulation dueling robes. I ordered them from Twilfitts but I-" Harry heard the telltale pop of Dobby disappearing, and sighed. "He just went to get them, didn't he?"
"Yup." Sirius said, taking a drink of Butterbeer.
Sure enough, the excitable elf and Serny both appeared a few minutes later, one holding several flat packages, and the other a shrunken box. "In my room please. I'll get them put away in my trunk later. Thank you both."
Every time… every single time…
July 16th, 1994
Backyard, Potter Cottage
"Are you sure you're ready to lose?" Dora taunted with a grin.
They stood roughly twenty feet apart, each wearing vastly different clothes. While Dora was wearing basic dueling robes, which they most likely used at the academy, Harry was in a pair of muggle joggers with a skin tight shirt, made with synthetic materials and quite stretchy. He stood with just a wand hanging in his limp hand, swinging at his waist.
"Sure, let's do this." He replied.
She suddenly seemed slightly less sure of herself, her smile visibly faltering and her hair dimming slightly. Regaining her courage at the fact her opponent was younger and not even out of school, she fired off a nonverbal banisher, and watched as it h-
"What?" She said, stunned at the minimalistic movement that caused her to miss. What had been at his head, missed as he leaned slightly.
Harry took the opportunity for what it was, hitting her with several jinxes before stunning her. She awoke feeling the world spinning and everything tinted blue.
"What the fuck is happening to me!" She yelled, turning where she thought Harry was, as he laughed at her.
"Undo it you cheeky brat. I'll put you in your place afterwards!"
Sirius and Andi had come outside at her yelling, both laughing at the scene unfolding. This did not help matters for Harry any, as he collapsed on the ground in a fit of laughter as he watched her attempt to crawl towards him. It was like she was drunk, as her poor balance coupled with the terrible spinning of the disorientation hex caused her to faceplant more than once.
"Wh-Why would I un-Undo it!" He laughed.
"So I can properly kick your ass!" She yelled back, lunging towards his voice and missing by a foot. He simply climbed up and stumbled a few feet, dizzy from laughing.
"Ha-Harry! As funny as this is, undo it." Andi yelled from the patio.
"Fine!" He sighed in disappointment, before coughing and very audibly yelling, "Finite!"
It was clear how much it affected her, as a few seconds afterwards, when her hair changed to red and she climbed to her feet, she leveled her wand at him.
Ten minutes later, both were standing, but Dora was clearly worse for wear, breathing heavily while bleeding from several different cuts, while her left arm was hanging limply after being dislocated at the shoulder from a piece of marble Harry had banished at her. "How?"
"I've been practicing. Flitwick is a good teacher." He said, breathing heavily. He had several cuts, and his shirt had a large hole in it from being a burst of fire he failed to block. Harry raised his wand, but was stopped by another voice, followed by footsteps.
"Enough." Andi called out, "Both of you are injured, and Dora dear, your arm shouldn't be hanging like that."
Of course, neither had any say in the matter, as Andi was quickly between the two, and in the process of healing before any spells could be fired again. Sirius stood a few feet away from Harry, frowning.
"Sorry pup, but I'm not good at healing." He said, "Only useful at slowing the dying process I'm afraid."
Harry shrugged, and waved his wand at the various wounds, and watched them close in morbid fascination. Andi turned around and saw him, but didn't stop him, as she noted the cuts seemed to be perfectly healed, though the burn definitely needed a bit of ointment.
"Well done Harry. I am impressed you knew how to heal those injuries at all." She appraised.
"Flitwick was insistent that if I can make the injuries, I should be able to heal them." Harry replied, "Granted, I can only do dislocations, minor sprains, minor to moderate cuts, and small burns, but it is something, which is better than nothing."
"I approve of his methods. You never know. A small cut to the throat is just the same as a cut to the arm in matters of healing." She said with a smile.
It wasn't wrong though. Overall, there was very little difference in the anatomy in healing a cut that punctured the jugular versus a cut to the inner arm, only quickly did one bleed change. Now, a stab wound to the stomach was far harder to heal, as the deeper it went, and the more organs it hit, the more complicated the process became in order to heal it.
The two stayed for a little while, talking and making jokes. Dora asked both Sirius and Harry for some dueling practice in the future, which both were happy to agree on. Sirius was still better than Harry, but that was only because of the experience he had. In raw power, Harry wasn't below him by much, if at all, and in spells, Sirius outclassed him due to the… abnormal… style and spell choice.
Needless to say, Harry was pleased that he was never a criminal who had been captured by Sirius.
Burying such thoughts, he left Sirius that evening, apparating the distance to Hogwarts, where Salazar awaited him.
"Are you ready for tonight's ritual?" The portrait asked.
"Of course. Are you gonna miss me this week?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Cheeky brat. A break from you will be a relief. I can get back to my normal pastime of watching the Headmaster," the portrait grumbled, "if he is even here."
"Is it normal for him to disappear?" Harry asked, checking his already drawn rune circle. It looked just as it had the night before, when he drew it.
"He has two other major positions!" Salazar said, almost like it was obvious, "Of course he is often missing for periods of time."
"Well, regardless, I should probably get changed." Harry replied.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of this healing ritual, he had to wear all natural, magic-free, clothes. Which meant he was going to be wearing some muggle cotton clothes. As he was a mostly simplistic man, it was just a plain white shirt and gray sweatpants, which were comfortable, yet warm.
Starting the ritual at midnight exactly, he felt the itch start across his whole body, and slowly travel inwards. At three minutes, the itch turned to pain, increasing until it was nearly unbearable at seven minutes when it all stopped. He laid on the floor, shaking, for nearly ten minutes.
"Are you alright?" Salazar finally asked.
"I-I'll be fine. That just hurt a lot more than I thought it might." He replied shakily. Slowly, he sat up, before making his way back to the living room.
"Well. Tomorrow you begin your first entrance into the professional dueling world. What is your plan?" Salazar asked.
Harry smiled, "Flitwick wants me to go all out from the first fight. Start with simple spells for the earlier duels, but be on my toes for someone good. We know some of the bigger competition, but there may be other unknowns there as well."
"Good. Have you prepared a public statement, both for winning or losing?" He asked, "As someone so famous, you will need one no doubt."
"Yes. Flitwick was adamant on both, though I still wonder if it's necessary." Harry replied with a frown.
"Of course it is. Reporters will be there watching you intently, as well as many larger public figures. You are a world renowned person for surviving the killing curse Harry, people will be watching you." He huffed out, "Hell. There is likely already articles on your entrance in the first place."
Harry scowled, "Yea. Rita Skeeter, at the Daily Prophet, already made an article saying I got in by favoritism and famousness, and that 'I'll be knocked out in the first round'. Stupid hag."
"She is a nasty one. Prove her wrong though. Win it." Salazar commanded.
"I plan on it."
"Good, third shelf from the left, second to top, Battle Transfiguration. It was Godric's specialty, and that book was written by him. You know the drill." Salazar replied in earnest.
Yup. Time to read, make notes on the first three chapters, and learn the magic from them. Then continue. Harry groaned in his mind. He had long learned not to say such things aloud or else end up stuck in a rant.
By the time he turned back to eleven, going nearly eight hours, he had mastered two spells from the book, one that was entire intent based, transfiguring the ground into sharp weapons or even just spikes, and another that could transfigure rubble into small needles or even glass, something that would cause a lot pain to dozens of opponents on a larger scale, but could be focused to points on a person's body with the right control.
July 18th, 1994
Saint-Denis, France
Harry looked around in wonder, finally feeling better from his first intercontinental portkey. The thing was incredibly disorienting, but it mattered little. Now, they had just made it to the area where the Dueling Hall was located, and would be staying in a hotel inside the building.
It looks muggle, but then again, it is likely to have been rented, controlled by Oblivators, and warded with space underneath for the actual event.
"What do you think of France?" Flitwick asked excitedly.
"Its nice." Harry replied, "I know us Brits tend to look down on them sometimes, but personally, the architecture is amazing, and I keep smelling food that is making me hungry."
"Yea, they have some really good dishes here. A shame that Hogwarts doesn't serve them. Worry about food later, pup. Let's get checked in first." Sirius said, almost as excited as the goblin. Once they were checked in and had their rooms warded appropriately, they made their way down to the hall.
"Today is the first round Harry, you have to win three of five duels to continue, and the less you lose, the more likely you are to make it through elimination to the finals." Flitwick said, "They will check you for potions before we begin, so be prepared for that."
Harry groaned as he filled out the paperwork. It was three pages of stupid questions, followed by a quick spell-based scan for potions. Once he showed his Cherry Wand to them, he was permitted through, and soon enough, away from his mentor and godfather to change into his dueling robes.
Unlike his normal ones, these were styled vastly different. They had his name, along with the crests of House Potter and Black on the back, and were Gray in color, split at the sides instead of the front, making a very long V dropping to the ground. On the sleeves, he had the British flag, and the British Ministry crest, while the chest had Flitwick's clan symbol on the left breast.
Eventually, he was released from the room, and sent to stage four, where roughly thirty others were located. I can do this!
"Alright. Here is your list Mr. Potter, best of luck to you." The referee said, a heavy french accent coating the h's and twisting the words slightly. Harry found Flitwick seated near the middle, and Harry knew Sirius would be up above in the viewing gallery.
"Let's see the list." Flitwick said, "Hm, Davis is a Ravenclaw sixth year, you will easily beat him unless he has been hiding his ability all these years. Your first opponent is an unknown though, Stephan Duval. I don't recognize the name, but it seems he is here with the French. Take no chances with him. The other three are lower tiers, who managed to rank high enough in their countries to get here. They aren't amateurs though, and have experience. Take no risks." He emphasized.
"I know. No holding back." Harry replied.
At twelve exactly, nearly three hours after arriving, the first duels began. His first one wasn't until the third round for their stage, which came quite quickly. He would be the first to duel Duval, and he was curious. They did the ceremony bow, and then stood in their squares until the mark. Instantly, Harry threw three stunners, followed by a concussion and disorientation hex.
The three stunners went high, but the bang of the hex distracted his opponent, causing the disorientation hex to mess with him the instant it hit him in the chest. Harry quickly followed it up with a stunner and body bind, and his opponent was out.
"Good job Mr. Potter." Flitwick said. "Be prepared. You will duel again in three rounds."
Harry closed his eyes, meditating until it was his turn again. His duel was with Davis, and the poor boy was down in the second barrage of spells, the first of which he had shielded against, and failed to hold even that. The second barrage was already being sent after the boy was disarmed, so he ate a stunner and banisher both, getting launched off the stage unconscious.
After his three following duels, Harry sighed. I hope things get better here, otherwise, I am going to be vastly disappointed.
"Good job today pup." Sirius said, approaching with a couple in tow. "I made some friends up there. Meet Kevin and Samantha Alexander."
"A pleasure to meet you both. Hadrian James Potter-Black, Heir of both of the Houses. Call me Harry though." He replied instantly, if a bit lazily causing him to get a look. He didn't care though. He was distracted.
Both people in front of him, no matter how casual they looked, were powerful, and Harry thought the magic felt old too. Despite their looks of around forty or so, Harry felt like the magic they were giving off was far older, centuries older.
"A pleasure to meet you in person, Harry. We've heard some thrilling stories about you, but to see you duel is impressive for someone so young." Kevin commented.
"My husband is being modest. He couldn't stop himself from coming to watch because you are here, though we had already planned to be in France anyways." Samantha said happily.
"I must say, you look quite a bit like your father. I met him once when he was young, perhaps thirteen. I knew Charles from an event, and met him at a second event later. You are only missing the glasses." Kevin said.
"Thanks. I had glasses once, but they were healed after an incident." Harry said, "Where are you from though? Your accent is different."
"Well. We were actually born here in France, but moved to Australia back in 1990." Samantha replied. "We come here quite often though, and my husband has a thing for dueling, and enjoys coming to any championship he can get tickets for."
"What do you do for a living?" Harry asked as they made their way out of the building.
"She is in a research group, looking through old tomes and whatnot. I spend my days researching potions and ingredients, amongst other things." Kevin replied. "It was nice meeting you, but it is time for us to head home. Stay safe, and good luck through the tournament."
Both disappeared a minute later, and Harry wandlessly checked himself for tracking charms and listening charms, a skill Salazar was adamant he learned first. "They are not who they claimed to be."
"Why do you think that?" Sirius asked with a frown.
"Their magic? Could you not feel it? It was old, and very powerful too." Harry replied, turning to his godfather.
"I felt some power, but I couldn't tell what it was. I wonder why you could feel it?" Sirius commented thoughtfully, "I know you have gotten quite far along, but I wouldn't think you have surpassed me. Perhaps be wary of them, but say nothing. After all, it would be quite rude."
"I don't think I have passed you in sensing, I may never actually, but it is interesting to note." Harry said. "I agree though. Until we know more, we shouldn't say or do anything."
"Well pup, since we are done here, what sounds good to eat." Sirius asked with a smile.
In the end, they dined in at a restaurant Harry most certainly couldn't pronounce, and Harry was pleased that his Cassoulet was good. It was an odd dish from his normal, being a stew with white beans, and having mutton instead of beef or chicken.
He also had the luxury of trying Tarte Tatin, which was better than even his Treacle Tart. It was his first bite that made him decide that he would be coming back to France in the future.
A/n: Sorry for the shorter chapter, but I believed that it would be best for the story to have the separation. I also wanted to include some French dishes, but unfortunately I've not had the luxury to travel and try the food I put in. Other than what I found on google, I am vastly unaware of the food there.
As for the Animagus voting, it is now closed. Thanks to those who put in their vote!