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For those of you eager for Sirius' reaction, voila!
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Published 17-2-2024
Chapter Eleven
The Rage of a Star
Getting up to go to breakfast was the last thing Alura wanted to do. She'd rather mope in her bed about her impending doom. Unfortunately, Susan dragged her out of bed and to the shower, prodding her into washing her hair and fixing it into a crown braid, then insisted she dress for the day and put on some blush to cover her pale cheeks. Then they went downstairs, where the boys and the twins were waiting grimly. Everyone surrounded Aludra like an honour guard, and they headed down to breakfast.
At breakfast, Cedric hurried over from the Hufflepuff table to join them, and again Aludra was tucked in the middle of everyone else. They ate mostly in silence, with most of the talk being the others trying to prod Aludra into actually eating, instead of just picking glumly at a slice of toast with butter.
All throughout the previous night, and that morning, Aludra, while she had thought of how angry her father would be, had been too distraught and panicked to think of actually contacting him to let him know what had happened. It seemed everyone else had also been too distracted to do so either.
The Great Hall had slowly filled up with students, as well as teachers. Aludra's grandparents and uncle had been the last to enter the Hall, looking tired and frustrated, even her usually-smiling grandfather.
They had just taken their seats when the doors slammed open and Sirius stormed in, followed by most of his team save Lord Potter, Emma and Uncle Remus, who both looked grim. Uncle Ted was there, clearly in his capacity as Black Family attorney to judge by his robes, and he had his nose stuck in a copy of 'Triwixen Tournament Rules for Legal Minds', underlining different sections even as he followed Sirius into the Hall.
Aludra's eyes widened in alarm. "Did anyone tell Daddy?" She hissed at her friends, who looked alarmed at the sheer rage and power rolling off of Sirius.
Grimly, her friends denied it.
Aludra moaned and buried her head in her hands. "He's going to kill somebody," she predicted glumly.
"DUMBLEDORE!" Sirius yelled as he stalked up the Hall. "What the hell is this?!" He held up a Daily Prophet with a picture of Aludra smiling on the front page and a headline of SURPRISE FOURTH TRIWIXEN CHAMPION: ALUDRA BLACK SWEARS OATH SHE DIDN'T ENTER!
Aludra's grandfather rose to his feet. "Sirius, let's discuss this in private," he implored.
"I DON'T CARE ABOUT PRIVACY!" Sirius bellowed, his face a dark red from raw rage. "I WANT HER OUT OF THIS TOURNAMENT! NOW!"
"Daddy, please!" Aludra begged, jumping to her feet and hurrying over to him. "Please, let's go to Granddad's office to talk about this!"
Sirius' rage softened a bit when he saw her pale complexion and red-rimmed eyes. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders protectively, tugging her against his side, then turned a glare back on Dumbledore. "Fine!" He spat. "Your office, now!"
He turned and ushered Aludra out of the Hall, heading towards the gargoyle that guarded the Head's office with the accuracy of a prankster.
"Honey, are you okay?" Emma asked Aludra as they all rushed to keep up with Sirius' long, furious strides.
"It was a very long night," Aludra dodged the question. Her father, who hadn't released her, squeezed her shoulder, his gentle grip a sharp contrast to his clear rage.
"We're going to figure this out, Ally," Aunt Alice assured her. "You won't have to compete."
Aludra shook her head miserably at that. She glanced at Ted, who was still reading his rulebook, and saw his expression was grim. Clearly, he too couldn't see a way out for her.
Somehow, Granddad, Grandma and Uncle Al had beaten them to the office, and were waiting outside of it when they arrived.
Without speaking, Granddad led them up into his office, where he conjured up seats for everyone. Aludra found herself sitting between Emma and Remus, both of whom whispered warm and comforting words to her, while Aunt Alice, who was sitting behind her, rubbed her back gently. Sirius ignored the seats, storming over to loom over Dumbledore, who looked up at him calmly but tiredly.
"How," Sirius gritted out. "Did this happen?!"
"Myself, Minerva, Filius, Bathsheba and Alastor spent all of last night studying the Goblet, trying to discover how Aludra's name was able to come out of the Goblet. It is as Alastor suspected. A powerful Confundus Charm to make the Goblet believe that four schools were taking part in the competition, not just three, and then Aludra's name was submitted to it under a fake fourth school.
The Goblet itself was unable to be altered to only accept students who are of age, as it was originally for all years and the enchantments are too delicate to be tinkered with. The Age Line was the defence against the younger students entering, and I did put safeguards in place to avoid an older student putting in a younger student's name, but they clearly weren't enough and as yet we do not have enough evidence to figure out how they were subverted.
I can only say that I am so very sorry, Sirius. Aludra is my treasured granddaughter, and I never would have let this happen if I could have avoided it."
Granddad rose to his feet and gave his own Bow of Repentance, deeper than Aludra's last night to show the greater weight of his supposed, because Aludra didn't blame her grandfather in the slightest, sin. Sirius didn't look any happier.
"Your regret's not good enough, Dumbledore!" He snapped, banging his fist against the desk. "This is the fourth time in four years that my daughter's life has been endangered, and I'm sick of it! I'm extremely tempted to withdraw all the students of Black blood and vassalship and send them to Ilvermorny instead!"
"Sirius, no," Emma protested, rising to her feet and going over to press a hand to his back. He softened a fraction as he looked at her. "Hogwarts is the best school in the world," she pointed out. "And all of Ally's friends are here. She'd be distraught to leave."
"Yes, Daddy," Aludra agreed. "Please, don't take me out."
"You can't remove, anyway," Uncle Ted announced, snapping his book closed and looking at Sirius grimly. "Not while the Tournament is on, at any rate. It would be considered a breach of contract to remove Aludra from her school, and Magic knows what school that is, even if the Goblet doesn't. It might not cause her to lose her magic, but that's a strong 'might', and she'd still have to compete either way if she didn't lose it. I would advise you, as your attorney and as family, not to risk it."
"Are you saying you can't find a way out?" Sirius demanded angrily, glaring at his cousin-in-law.
Uncle Ted grimly shook his head. "The only escape clause is if the Champion is too injured to continue, in which case they can forfeit the remainder of the Tournament. But these rules are airtight, Sirius. It's compete or lose her magic."
Aludra's father clenched his fists in helpless frustration, while Uncle Remus spoke up.
"What about if she showed up to the tasks, and then just forfeited them?" He suggested. "Would that be acceptable?"
Aludra twitched slightly at the prospect of not putting herself one hundred and fifty percent into something she was set on, whether forced into it or not, but she forced herself to be rational instead of prideful. These tasks were designed for seventeen-year-olds about to do their NEWTs, not fourteen-year-olds who hadn't even done their OWLs yet.
It turned out not to matter how she felt about the idea, as Uncle Ted shook his head again. "No, only if she's injured can she forfeit," he stated. "She has to try, at minimum. Again, these rules are airtight. They should have been revised before the Tournament was restarted to allow for an escape clause."
"Well, what else can you expect from Ludo bloody Bagman?!" Sirius snapped angrily. "The idiot was congratulating me, can you believe it? He's lucky I didn't wring his stupid little neck. He was in charge of security for the damn thing, and he let this happen! I'm suing him for negligence leading to the endangerment of the Black Heiress! We'll see how happy he is when he's forking out from his empty vault for lawyers for the next year!"
"Speaking of security," Uncle Al spoke up, changing the subject away from Bagman. "I've been leading the investigation."
"Have you found something?" Sirius demanded. "Do you have an idea of motive?"
"Oh, I got thoughts on motive," Uncle Al grunted. "She's Heiress Black-Dumbledore. My thought is that she's being targeted by someone with a grudge against you or Dumbledore. I haven't finished checking, but I've pretty much eliminated a grudge against House Urquart. They're Traditionally Light, but have connections to both sides of the political divide and I can't find any record of blood feuds for the last three centuries, nor can Minerva think of anyone with a grudge against her who would go after Ally.
But that still leaves the families of everyone you've arrested, and anybody still alive who Albus has ever annoyed, which is a lot. I've already got a list of ninety-three suspects. And that's not discounting the possibility of whoever put her name in being under the Imperius Curse, which is impossible to trace, as you well know."
"So, finding out who's behind this is going to be practically impossible," Sirius said grimly. "We'll have to question all the other teach-ouch! Moody, what was that for?" He demanded, rubbing his arm where the stinging hex had hit him.
"All the teachers!" Uncle Al barked. "Including the three of us. Nobody is above suspicion!"
"Questioning you rather defeats the purpose of having you here to guard the Tournament, doesn't it Alastor?" Aunt Alice pointed out, earning herself a glare from her old mentor.
"Nobody is above suspicion," he repeated. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Especially now."
"Fair enough," Sirius sighed. "We'll question all the teachers then."
"Once I've been cleared I'll help," Uncle Al added. "And I'm not giving up until I find them," he vowed. "The scumbag who targeted our girl won't get away with it."
Sirius nodded in thanks to him, then turned back to Dumbledore. "My team will be investigating as well," he stated, not asked. "I will expect the full cooperation of Hogwarts and her staff."
"And you will have it," Granddad assured him. "You may not believe it, Sirius, but I'm on your side. I'm on Aludra's side."
"I believed it before the troll," Sirius replied tightly. "I don't anymore. Seeing as there's nothing else to be done, I'll be going to start the investigation with the Goblet. We may find something you missed. Also, I want the parchment with Ally's name on it. We might be able to pick something up."
"I couldn't find anything, as it had been handled by too many people, but definitely double-check," Moody stated.
"Maybe we should continue this conversation without Aludra present," Remus suggested. "I think she would be better off spending time with her friends then here, listening to this."
Everyone glanced at Aludra and Sirius nodded curtly.
Aludra didn't object. This whole argument was only making her feel worse, and she was eager to escape it.
She had a brief thought that she was grateful Lord Potter wasn't present. That would just be the cherry on top of an already terrible day.
To think it was only ten o'clock.
"Alright, but I want to talk to you for a second, Ally," Sirius replied, tugging Aludra aside and going down on one knee to cup her face in his hands. "Ally, I'm going to get the Grimoire, and bring it here for you," he told her. "I want you to study it every day for at least an hour. Those spells could save your life."
Her eyes widened. She'd been studying small sections of the Black Family Grimoire, one of the oldest Grimoire books in the world, dating back to the Augustan period, for several years now, but only under Sirius' strict supervision. "Daddy, I-" she began.
"You're ready anyways," he cut her off. "And I trust you to be responsible with it. Just remember to be careful. Not even Susan and Neville can know what's in that book, understood, Aludra?"
She nodded solemnly. "Daddy, I'm scared," she admitted in a breath, regretting it when she saw the pained look that flashed through his silver-grey eyes.
"I'm sorry, my little star," he breathed. "I wish I could fix this for you. I promise, we will find this person, and they will rue the day that they crossed the House of Black."
She leaned in for a hug and sighed in relief at the familiar feeling of being protected that came from being held just tight enough in her father's strong arms.
After a moment, they released each other from the embrace, and Sirius pushed Aludra's shoulders back gently, squaring them for her.
"Remember, you are Aludra Scarlet Black, daughter of Sirius Black III, stepdaughter of Emmeline Black nee Vance, granddaughter of Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, goddaughter of Remus Lupin and Alice Longbottom. You've faced Voldemort himself twice, and held back over a hundred dementors at once," her father told her firmly, meeting Aludra's gaze with a determined gaze. "You are strong, you are powerful, smart and most importantly you are a survivor. You are going to show this son of a bitch why you don't cross the House of Black. No no-good coward who can't even fight you to his face will defeat the Heiress to the most ancient House in Britain."
His pep talk worked. Aludra took a deep breath and squared her shoulders properly, lifting her chin defiantly. "I am Aludra Scarlet Black and I never give in," she declared firmly.
Sirius smiled for the first time that morning. "That's my girl," he said approvingly. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. Then they all said their goodbyes, and Aludra left in search of her friends. She found them in the Entrance Hall, all whispering worriedly to each other.
"Ally?" Cedric called, seeing her.
She smiled at them as she walked over. She saw their relief that she was no longer on the verge of tears.
"Did your dad manage to get you out of the Tournament?" Evan asked hopefully.
She frowned a bit and shook her head. "No," she admitted. "Uncle Ted said that a severe injury is the only escape clause. But Daddy did remind me that I'm a Black, and the Blacks don't let anyone, especially not cowards who can't even attack them to their faces, beat them. Anyone willing to join me in the library? I have a lot of work to do."
They all joined her, to dig into past Tournaments in search of a clue as to what the first task would be. By lunch, one thing had become clear.
She and the others would be facing off with some sort of dangerous magical creature.