18

The Meeting

Jesse woke up much later in the day. Given the circumstances, that would be understandable. Unfortunately, the only other person in the castle in the know was Draco Malfoy, and it wasn't him who wanted her attention.

A scroll of parchment appeared above her in a burst of fire, landing on her face with a light smack, startling her awake. It took a moment to realize what woke her, and when she did, she unrolled it quickly.

Miss Potter,

The looping, elegant writing read.

At one in the afternoon there will be a meeting regarding your participation in the tournament. Your presence is required. Professor McGonagall will meet you in front of the Gargoyle, and escort you up.

Headmaster Dumbledore

Jesse's heart couldn't decide whether it wanted to be in her stomach or her throat. Casting tempus, she cursed asthe smoke formed twelve fifty in the air. Quickly, she grabbed the first robe she could find, and placed it over her pajamas. Shoving her feet into her trainers, she ran out of her rooms and down the corridors as fast as she could while trying to comb out her hair with her fingers.

Oh Merlin, I'm going to be late. Why wasn't I told of this meeting before? What if they make me compete simply because I was late?

Jesse could see it now. Snape looming over her announcing, "As you can see the girl isn't taking this seriously. She obviously does not want to be taken out of the competition." And the other judges behind him nodding, disapproval clear on their faces as she proved once again what an attention seeking liar she was. She didn't even think they were going to look into the rules again anyway.

Before turning into the corridor that housed the Headmaster's office, Jesse slowed to double check that her shoes were tied and her pajamas weren't showing. Trying to calm her breathing, Jesse turned the corner and walked as normal as she could toward her stern Head of House who was waiting for her with her arms crossed and heeled boot tapping.

"Cutting it a bit close, aren't you Potter?" Professor McGonagall said sharply before turning toward the statue and muttering the password under her breath so that Jesse couldn't hear.

Inside the Headmaster's office it was tense and silent. Dumbledore was sitting behind his grand desk. Madame Maxine took up most of the corner that was Dumbledore's personal library, her head almost touching the ceiling. Kauroff was standing a way from her, by the fireplace, frowning and tugging at his goatee. Ludo Bagman was sitting slouched in a chair next to Percy Weasley who sat hunched writing furiously on a scroll of parchment and periodically glancing up at everyone. Probably writing down every single movement everyone made to mail to Crouch later. Professor McGonagall nudged her to the empty chair that sat in the middle of the room, away from everyone.

Jesse slowly sat in the chair, feeling as if she was on trial. Everyone's eyes were on her, but no one spoke. Gulping, she wondered if they were expecting her to say something. But all she could say was the same thing she had been saying for months. She hadn't put her name in. She didn't know how it got in. She didn't understand why she had to compete anyway. No one ever explained how she was magically bound.

A sudden whoosh and the fire burned green as first Lucius Malfoy stepped into the crowded office and then a tall man Jesse didn't know followed behind swiftly. Mr. Malfoy was, as usual, dressed in fine robes with not a hair out of place. He walked to Jesse's side, conjuring up a chair for himself and sitting down as he gave Jesse a small nod. Dumbledore, she noticed, was watching them closely.

The unknown man was tall. Only Madam Maxine was bigger. His salt and pepper hair were cropped close to his head that he held high as he surveyed the room with dark eyes. Karueff shifted, paling as a look almost like dread crossed his features. Madame Maxine stood a little taller, pushing back her shoulders. Percy stopped writing, watching the two men wearily. He almost looked like prey watching his predators. Like he hoped if he was still long enough, they would walk away, and he would be safe again.

Bagman cleared his throat, straightening his robes, and stepped forward. "Now that everyone is here, I am afraid to announce that this meeting is a waste of everyone's time. Nothing has changed since Halloween. Miss Potter must compete."

Jesse gripped the arms of her chair tightly. Then why were they here then? To get Jesse's hopes up just to crush them? She was already squished enough from the rest of the year.

"Yes, that is what I told Mister Malfoy and Mister Flint when they told me they wanted this meeting, but I am afraid they insisted," Dumbledore said, leaning his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers together.

Mr. Flint sniffed stiffly, glancing between Bagman and Dumbledore with distain. "I have heard about this so called first meeting. One where Miss Potter had no chance to speak, and no one spoke on her behalf despite her being a minor Every adult in the room simply listened to one man, who I must mention, has repeatedly failed to show up in the following months leaving his inexperienced assistant in his place, repeat that to his knowledge nothing could be done."

Percy made a strangled noise. A quick glanced showed a red face and white knuckles.

"We cannot change the rules for—"

"From what I understand, and feel free to correct me if I am wrong, there are no official rules," Flint said. "From my research, the Triwizard Tournament simply goes on precedent. That is to say what did previous tournament do? Miss Potter's situation both then and now have not happened before. Furthermore, nobody understands how the Goblet of Fire works." He paused looking around the room. Nobody spoke up. Jesse's mind was whirling with all this new information.

Finally, Dumbledore asked, "What do you suggest we do?"

"Take the Goblet of Fire to the place the place that all mysterious objects go to be examined."

Everyone, that is except Jesse, Mister Malfoy, and Mister Flint, visible started and started speaking at once.

"You can't mean—"

"Merlin what good—"

"Is that even possible?"

"The Department of Mysterious."

"Would they even take it?"

Mister Flint cleared his throat, a self-satisfied smirk crossing his face. "As a matter of fact, I have already spoken to the Unspeakables and they are ready to receive the Cup whenever. We just need the esteemed Headmasters permission for them to retrieve the Cup." He shows off a stack of paper, and laid it in front of Dumbledore.

The Headmaster quietly looked through the parchment while the other adults continued questioning the decision. That is, until, Dumbledore picked up his Phoenix quill and signed them. Mister Flint gathered them up, making sure Dumbledore didn't leave a line unsigned.

"Will they be by today?" the headmaster asked, wearily. He did not seem happy with this, and Jesse could not understand why. This was a good thing right? Though, why did everyone react like that to the Department of Mysteries? What was the Department of Mysteries?

"Yes. I simply have to file these and then me and the Head Unspeakable will come to retrieve the Goblet."

With that, he nodded to both Jesse and Mister Malfoy before disappearing through the fireplace. Leaving behind a few stunned adults, a worried Headmaster, a satisfied Malfoy, and a pregnant teenager who felt a little bit of warmth settle into her chest as she was defended for the first time in a very long time.

Jesse found Hermione and Ron in the library, textbooks and parchment looking barely touched. Ron seeing her first exclaimed entirely too loudly, "And where have you been?"

Madame Pince swooped down upon them with a scowl to rival Snape's, and shooed them out. Jesse quickly began to explain the meeting this morning, choosing to wait to explain last night later. She was extremely tired and sore, not to mention hungry, but she didn't feel like getting into that. It was too scary and too confusing, and she didn't want to see the worried look on her friend's faces right now. The curiosity mixed with excitement they now showed was much like a balm to her soul.

"The Department of Mysteries?" Ron yelped, then again, a second later when Hermione sank her elbow into his ribs for being too loud. But she still wasn't entirely quiet herself when she said,

"Unspeakables are rarely seen out and about. They are so secretive. It is usually not known who is actually one at all."

"Let's go to the Goblet and see if we can catch them," Jesse suggested even as her stomach growled. She made a mental note to go straight to the kitchens after.

They hurried to the Entrance Hall, where the Goblet was set back on an elaborate pedestal after Halloween. Just so you wouldn't forget what a weird year this was within the months between tasks.

The entrance hall wasn't crowded. A group of third year Hufflepuffs were heading outside, and the back of a Slytherin was disappearing down into the dungeons.

"Oh good, they haven't been here yet."

The Goblet stood on its elaborate pedestal, fireless and plain. To think, this relatively small cup was the start of all of this year's problems. Because, really, who is to say this baby would have been made at all if not for the Yule Ball?

"There you are! Where on Merlin have you been?"

Jesse turned in surprise to find Malfoy being followed by Crabbe and Goyle, blonde hair a bit mussed and a frown turning his lips downward. Looking around, there wasn't anyone else he could be talking to, could there?

"I thought with what happened last night," he said as he reached her side. He was slightly out of breath. "You would be resting in the rooms all day, but no, of course you can't do what's logical. can you?"

She frowned, both at the insult and the curiosity he had ignited in her friends, but nobody could say anything as it was that time the Unspeakable appeared.

The only reason Jesse even knew she was an Unspeakable was through deduction. Headmaster Dumbledore was flanking her left side while Mr. Malfoy was on her right. The Unspeakable wore a simple black robe. Her hair was brown, brushing her shoulders, and her pale face was serious but ultimately unremarkable. Jesse felt like as soon as she was gone, she wouldn't remember a single detail about her personal features.

Both Dumbledore and Mr. Malfoy glanced their way, the former without expression and the latter with a slight nod toward them. Neither looked surprised to see them there. The Unspeakable only had eyes for the Goblet. Jesse expected her to simply pick up the Goblet and walk away, but that isn't what happened.

First, she pulled out her wand and did several short sharp movements saying not a word. Nothing visibly happened and Jesse wondered if that was good or bad. Not looking away or talking at all, she pulled something out of her robes, a small jewelry box from the looks of it. A swish and flick later, The Goblet rose, and impossibly, got sucked inside of the box. Then, they left the way they came. The whole situation lasted less than five minutes, and no one had uttered a single word.

"What in the Bloody Hell was that?" Malfoy finally demanded. Jesse was impressed he was silent this long. She had half expected him to strut up to the Unspeakable and demand to know who they were and what they were doing.

Jesse sighed, knowing that she was going to have to talk about last night. "Let's go to the kitchen to talk about this. I'm starving."

Malfoy scoffed. "No, we will go back to our rooms and my elf will feed you good food. Then, we can talk with actual privacy."

She thought about arguing, but really, she would rather be more comfortable for this, and the couches in their common room would do that.

"Alright," she sighed. "Lead the way."