I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the two main pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them certainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 43: The Three Champions
It was the early morning after the selection of the champions and Fleur Delacour sat on a small bench outside the guest building, thinking about her selection as a champion in the Triwizard Tournament. She did not particularly felt ready yet to go into the castle for breakfast.
To be honest, part of her had expected to be selected. No slight against her fellow students, she knew the others were all competent in their own right, but it had felt to her like Madame Maxime was actually banking on her and had fully expected her to be selected. After yesterday's joy, she now was pondering about her selection as a champion and the implications that came with it.
Despite what they say about having made it more safe, the danger is still there. I wonder what Maman and Papa will think about it once they read the letter I've sent to them, Fleur thought.
She hoped her letter would arrive before the morning paper. No way she wanted her parents to learn of this in the news, since that would be the worst way for them to be told their daughter was selected for this really dangerous tournament.
She knew her parents would most likely be sick with worry about her, while her little sister Gabrielle would probably think of it as a big adventure, not considering the dangers. In a way she felt guilty for all the worry she was about to cause her family with her selection. However, the selection of the Goblet can't be undone, Dumbledore had been very clear about that.
"You know, brooding is not like you." Looking up, Fleur only now noticed Sabrina who had sat down next to her.
"Don't get me wrong, I do feel honored I got selected and now can prove I'm more than my allure, but that doesn't remove the dangers involved. I only now am thinking about it," Fleur confessed to her friend.
"Come on, keep your head high," Sabrina told her friend. "Madame Maxime promised it's no longer like the insanity of past tournaments, and she never breaks her word."
"Easy for you to say..." Fleur sighed.
Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Sometimes it feels like you recently decided to do all the moody teenager stuff you skipped over in past years."
Fleur gave Sabrina a look that made it clear she had heard that from her friend before. "I'm not moody! Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't ponder the ramifications if you had been selected as a champion?"
"At least I know I wouldn't try to be emo about it." Sabrina then got up and pulled her friend along. "You better eat something now, because otherwise you will regret it later when our lessons start."
"Thanks for reminding me about that," Fleur said with a slight grimace, her growling stomach betraying her. Looking to the carriage where the teacher who had traveled with them was sure to prepare lessons, she sighed. "Going hungry into lessons is no fun."
"I think both of us have no room to complain, considering how good our marks are," Sabrina reminded her friend. "We also have to do something about your emotional mask, otherwise others could get the idea you are a stuck-up bitch."
Fleur knew after years of using her mask, it had become a sad habit whenever she was outside of her comfort zone. Unless she made an effort, it snapped into place all too easily. However, if she wanted to make a good impression during the tournament, she had to learn to let go of it... which was easier said than done.
"It's a work in progress..." Fleur told her friend.
It was that moment Marc walked out of the door. He took one look at Sabrina leading Fleur to the castle and shook his head. "I don't want to know. Sometimes it's better to just let the girls do their own thing."
From the deck of the Durmstrang ship meanwhile, Viktor Krum watched the two girls walk toward the castle.
I wonder what is going through her head. I for my part can't wait for this farce to be over. Karkaroff is doing all this so that he profits. I for my part feel I already have enough fame, Krum thought.
Of course he would still give it his all, since doing a half-assed effort would go against his personal honor.
He then looked to where Karkaroff made the roll call, again acting like a petty little dictator in order to put everyone into place. That he insisted on doing this on their ship instead of the entrance hall of the guest building also spoke volumes what kind of control freak Krarkaroff was. He wanted to always make sure it was him who was in control - a character trait of their Headmaster everyone in the school had started to hate.
Krum of course was exempt from this treatment, since he after all was the golden cow that Karkaroff wanted to milk - thus the special treatment, since Karkaroff wanted to keep the golden cow to milk it more. That of course had helped to alienate him from a good part of the students, who resented him for this special treatment he had never asked for.
Krum noted that it was a bit depressing how cynical his time in Durmstrang had caused him to become.
Finally the roll call - and Karkaroff doing some shouting - was over and they marched towards the castle for breakfast. Krum made sure to be at the back. There, Piotr Rasputin, a huge tank of a man, was grumbling the entire time that he and his sister had not come to Durmstrang for such a treatment.
"Karkaroff likes to be in control," Krum commented quiet enough that Karkaroff couldn't hear it.
"He likes it too much," Rasputin grumbled. "That aside, how does it feel to be the champion for Durmstrang?"
Krum shrugged. "I don't feel any different. Not that my nomination comes as a surprise. Karkaroff made sure that I get selected."
"Wouldn't I know it. He intentionally picked all of us knowing each of us has a weakness that would prevent us from being selected. His favoritism speaks against our Headmaster," Rasputin complained. "I feel sorry for Illyana. After all of this here, she still has to endure one more year at the school."
Knowing that Rasputin was ready to lay down his life for his sister - a sentiment he understood all too well due to being an older brother himself - he nodded in agreement. It was said that school was the happiest time of the life, but going to Durmstrang for school had robbed all of them of that opportunity.
Ah yes, I have to write my family about these news. My sister will write me a massive letter in return with countless questions, he thought while they walked up the path to the castle.
Inside the castle meanwhile, the mood at the Hufflepuff table was downright ecstatic.
"They shouldn't overdo it. Yes, Diggory got selected and he is one of them, but this is a bit over the top," Ron said while filling his plate with breakfast.
"Cut them some slack, Ron. The Hufflepuffs don't get many opportunities to shine, so they have every right to be overly happy about this opportunity," Harry reminded his friend.
Even Ron knew that it was true. Hufflepuff as the house of the fair and hard-working was often overlooked in favor of the other three houses with more memorable themes. Many even saw Hufflepuff as a simple dumping ground for those who hadn't made it. Ron himself after all had thought so once as well before he'd learned better.
Dora herself had been very outspoken how unfairly her old house was treated at times and how much that kind of thinking had become ingrained. Such a dismissive treatment of course had caused a noticeable amount of bitterness in the Hufflepuffs. Thus it was understandable why they now were so happy that this time it was them being in the limelight.
"If you put it that way..." Ron decided that silence was better and started to put his attention to his breakfast.
"At least the other houses don't act like something has been taken from them. I heard the Headmaster has worked quite hard over the years to reduce the barriers between the four houses," Hermione said, observing that there was no serious grief given to the Hufflepuffs, apart from the usual suspects.
"After all, this year is all about houses working together. It would be quite counter-productive for them to get divided over this issue," Luna added while filling up her mug. She then watched two girls from Beauxbatons enter the hall, one of them being Fleur Delacour. "It does look like she now understands what being a champion entails."
"Notice how she relaxed she was with her friend, until the hall gave her attention. That moment the mask snapped back into place," Ginny added. "Had we not met her before, I would probably only think of her as frou-frou."
"I honestly don't envy her," Neville said. He also made little secret that he felt the whole tournament was rather stupid, even if he was excited as long as he himself stayed out of it.
Hermione meanwhile was putting away her dental braces into the small special carrier box. "I will be very relieved once I get rid of those for good over winter break."
"You get rid of them for good?" Ron asked, looking up.
Hermione did notice his unusual attention to the matter. "Yes, my important growth spurts are over, so once I'm home, I can officially say goodbye to them forever. I understand why I needed them, but I won't feel sorry I'm rid of them. I felt awkward smiling while wearing them."
"Uh-ha." Ron didn't dare to mention that he felt Hermione not wearing metal in her mouth made her look better.
It was at that point that the Durmstrang students entered, walking in two columns.
"They really give off the military feel," Harry remarked, starting to be a bit disturbed about it. "It honestly makes me wonder what kind of school treats its students like that."
"Not a very nice one. I've read that Durmstrang had always been about discipline, but nothing like that. The change must have happened under Karkaroff," Hermione relayed her findings.
"How fitting..." Harry remembered Sirius' warning about Karkaroff, who had been a Death Eater. Considering the crowd the man had run with, it was perfectly logical that he would have wanted to get Durmstrang under his complete control and enforce his authority. After all, cutting that deal with the Ministry would hardly change his personality and Karkaroff clearly enjoyed being at the top.
Makes me wonder how he got the position in the first place, Harry thought.
Ginny meanwhile saw Ron clearly thinking about getting a second helping once he was done with his first, knowing her brother too well. "Ron, we have Defense as our first subject today. Don't you remember what happened two weeks ago after you stuffed yourself at the breakfast table?"
"Don't remind me..." Ron said with a grimace. Moody's practical lessons were quite taxing, and not fun if you'd overeaten. Thankfully, Moody had vanished the mess he'd made instead of forcing him to clean it up. Thinking about it, Ron shoved his plate away.
"Smart move... Barfing in front of the teacher during lessons certainly was a first one I have to admit," Harry added, honestly hoping that would never happen to himself.
The rest of breakfast went by without much fanfare. The daily mail call only yielded a letter from Neville's parents in which they reminded their son of how much more difficult the schoolwork is in fourth year and to write them more often. That reminded Harry that it was about time he wrote his guardians about the recent events at school. Hearing it from him would most certainly be different from reading it in the newspaper.
Sooner than they wanted it was back to regular lessons.
o
Transfiguration was the second class of the day, and after the tight ship Moody was running in Defense and him having no tolerance for students goofing off, even McGonagall's no-nonsense teaching style would be a breath of relief. Even Ron, who normally had trouble with Transfiguration, said it was easy after getting a taste of Moody's intense lessons.
"Class, today we will go through turning a hedgehog into a pincushion. While I will give you exact instructions how to do so, do not expect me to hold your hand. Instead, you are encouraged to ask for help your more successful fellow students, regardless of house," McGonagall announced at the start of the class.
Several students gave her strange looks and she knew what that was about. "If your memory were better, then you would remember I said before that this is not so much about the object we turn the animals into, but to refine your control over transfiguring a living subject without harm being done."
While McGonagall was busy with writing the instructions onto the blackboard before she would explain them, Ron whispered to Harry "Thank all goodness all the animals we are working on are not real ones, or Hermione would have started a crusade."
"Well, at least until seventh year. Remember her reaction when we first started with what looked like live animals," Harry whispered back, remembering the incident too well.
That had been back in second year when seemingly the first lesson on the living subject called for them to turn beetles into jacket buttons. Hermione had in front of the class told McGonagall that using animals as Transfiguration material was very much animal cruelty. McGonagall at that point had explained that after similar complaints in the past the school had started to use animal constructs, which were artificial and not truly alive.
Wile that had placated Hermione for the time being, McGonagall had added that for seventh year in order to ensure that students could safely transfigure a living being, real animal Transfiguration was still being taught. Everyone knew this would be an attack on Hermione's sensibilities and how that conflict would play out once the time came.
Meanwhile, McGonagall was done with writing and explained the instructions, before giving one final point. "I honestly encourage you to seek partners from the other house for this lesson. After all, this year is all about cooperation."
Thanks to the positive nature of the Hufflepuffs, the mingling was easy enough.
Harry ended up taking this lesson with Justin Finch-Fletchley, which was a relief to Harry, since over the years, starting in magical preschool, he had worked together with the boy on multiple occasions and thus knew he was friendly and reliable - obviously also the qualities that made him a Hufflepuff.
"To be honest, while I understand we need to train on the living object - as alive as these constructs can be - I honestly wonder if there ever will be any real-life situations where we turn animals into an object. I mean, you then very well could also use a random object to do so," Justin remarked while they got to work.
"I guess it's the same as the tap dancing pineapple back in first year. The teachers want to check if we are capable of it, practical applications be damned. Maybe they want to ensure that should we transfigure a person, we don't do accidental harm?" Harry speculated.
"Sounds like it, though some of it still makes me feel like a mad professor in one of these old films," Justin said, then managed to turn some spines into needles.
"Well, since we are here, what is the situation in Hufflepuff after Cedric was named the champion for Hogwarts?" Harry asked while trying add more needles.
"It would be an understatement to say the whole house is in a state of euphory. We Hufflepuffs in general always get the short end of the stick when it comes to recognition, though our hard work does pay off for individual merits at the end of the year. Many feel this is finally the moment to step into the limelight," Justin explained to Harry, clearly being proud that Cedric got selected.
"Hopefully the whole school can rally behind him instead of only the Hufflepuffs," Harry remarked.
"I honestly don't think our fellow students are that narrow-minded and will give him the needed support," Justin said optimistically.
Harry, after giving the hedgehog the texture of a pincushion, then asked "What do you personally think about this whole tournament business?"
Justin looked a bit thoughtful at the question. "Do not think this means I support Cedric any less, but this tournament doesn't feel right to me. Not only is it terribly disruptive in our school lives, but the idea that students compete in a competition that in the past was known for its death toll doesn't sit well with me."
"Not something you would have seen at Eaton, right?" Harry asked.
"Most certainly not. All the competitions between schools there are non-violent and truly about sports instead of potentially dying due to it. Sometimes I honestly feel like magic being an easy fix for most injuries made them callous to it," Justin admitted how he felt about the matter.
He's not wrong about that. Remembering how brutal the Quiddich World Cup finale was... that would have never flown in non-magical society, Harry thought.
The reminder also made him realize about the various things Madam Pomfrey had fought to introduce in Hogwarts, like not playing in terrible weather, which should have been common sense. If even the teachers had seen nothing wrong with it, then it truly was a problem of the entire magical society.
"ARGH!" That scream made everyone look up.
That had been Hannah Abbott, who had partnered with Seamus. Looking at the burning hedgehog already was answer enough why she had screamed. Seamus sadly had the tendency to accidentally set things on fire if he got frustrated. It happened often enough that it had become a running gag in Gryffindor.
McGonagall quickly put out the fire. "Mr. Finnigan, please try to keep your temper in check!"
Seamus for his part looked quite embarrassed. "I try to, Professor."
Harry could only shake his head while Justin whispered "Thank all goodness these are not real hedgehogs."
The smell alone made Harry think so as well.
...later that day after the final class...
"I understand that Astronomy is important for some really specialized fields of magic, but do we really have to know the stars in all those constellations?" Ginny wondered while they sat down in the common room after Astronomy, having put their telescopes back into their trunks.
"Better be glad the school is nothing like the Blacks before Sirius took over. Sirius and Andromeda told me horror stories how they were forced to know the night sky by memory before even coming to Hogwarts, and that they got spanked hard with a carpet beater if it looked like they were neglecting their lessons," Harry told his friends.
That was another small reminder of how horrible the Blacks had been, and a reminder that they had become messed up enough to almost go extinct. Today's House of Black had next to nothing to do with what it had been, and that was a good thing. Sirius and Andromeda both hated the old ways and wanted them dead and buried.
"What a reminder how screwed up the Blacks were before Sirius took over," Neville added, unable to imagine a family being that horrible.
"The Blacks might be an extreme example, but there are other old and bigoted families with the same line of thinking. It is interesting to observe how those who are at the top for a long time have their morals degrade over the years. Almost like some sort of sickness," Luna observed.
"That's if they had any in the first place," Ron added, then looked to the big clock. "Still over an hour before dinner. Any idea what we can do for the time being?"
"Maybe already tackle some of the homework? Better get out out of the way early," Hermione suggested.
Before Ron could comment on that, there was a pecking sound from the window. Looking, they spotted Harry's owl Hedwig sitting there, waiting for them to open the window. Harry did and then watched Hedwig land on his offered arm. "Hedwig? What brings you here?"
The snowy owl gave him a look as if asking 'really?', then offered her leg, where a message was attached.
"I better don't ask how you knew someone wanted to deliver a message to me," Harry remarked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer anyway.
Hedwig looked quite proud of her secrets, but then looked to where Crookshanks was lazing on a cushion. Said cat noticed the owl and gave her a look as if daring her to try anything. That standoff lasted several seconds before some kind of secret agreement was reached. Crookshanks returned to taking a nap and Hedwig flew back out of the window back to the owlery.
"It never gets boring with pets in the house..." Harry then looked at the message. "In case you wonder how to spend our time, Bill wants us to come to the shore of the lake; says he now has more time for us."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Ginny said, making no secret that she really wanted to talk to Bill.
Walking through the castle, they walked by several other students who were busy with all kind of things before dinnertime. However, they stopped just when they were about the entrance hall, becoming witness to an interesting scene.
"You... you really think being in Hufflepuff is awesome?" Astoria asked.
"Awesome? I think it's wonderful! You've shown what is really important for you and no one can take that away from you. Many of the children from old families feel pressured to be in a house they are expected to be," Dora told the young girl.
"Millicent's friend Dudley told me to be honest to the hat, and so I did," Astoria admitted to Dora.
"Oh yes, he was really good at reassuring her," Daphne, who was watching the whole thing, added.
"Dudley? I think I have heard that name before," Dora thought aloud.
"He is friends with Harry and you zapped his arse like you did with all of us in Defense last year. He also was involved with the whole rescue from the Chamber of Secrets," Daphne said helpfully.
Harry gulped when realizing that he had neglected to tell Dora of the connection between himself and Dudley. She'll give me some choice words once I tell her.
Thankfully, Dora, Astoria and Daphne soon left for a better place for their little conversation, allowing them to finally leave the castle. While commenting on what they had witnessed, they walked down the path to the lake, past the currently empty Durmstrang ship. After all, the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students right now were hanging out in the guest building.
They soon enough saw Bill waiting for them at the shore of the lake.
"Bill!" Ginny ran to her oldest brother, but instead of a hug she gave him a scolding look. "Why didn't you tell us you would be at Hogwarts this year?!"
Bill for his part had a scare for a second. "Ginny, don't do that! For a second you looked like Mum when she scolds us."
"I did?" Ginny then grimaced when she saw Bill nod. "Note to myself, never use that face again, I was at the receiving end of it often enough after all. Still... Bill."
Bill held up his hands to show surrender. "All right, I know I owe all of you an explanation. See, I actually got this nice job because Dumbledore approached Gringotts and asked for me specifically, and so they loaned me to the school for the year - of course being compensated for it."
"Why would he ask for you?" Ron wondered.
Bill shrugged. "Maybe because he is a nice chap and has a soft spot for me? Maybe because he wants me to spend more time with the family? Whatever his reasons, my competence for the tasks ahead is in no doubt, even though he could have selected older and more experienced people."
"I see you got rid of the whip," Luna said bluntly, having observed that said item was gone from Bill's belt.
"To be honest, I felt a little stupid wearing it..." Seeing that no one believed him, he sighed. "All right, after hitting myself with it two more times I decided I'm better with a wand than a whip and put it away into my trunk."
"Bill, what exactly are you doing for the school? You were a bit vague about that," Harry asked the oldest Weasley brother.
"Well, while I can't tell you the details of course, all three challenges involve numerous enchantments of one kind or another. I was sworn it to faithfully help set up those and control them before each task to ensure that fair play is ensured. Of course since this hardly takes up all my time, I also help out in NEWT classes and several other things around Hogwarts," Bill explained his job.
Harry let out a laugh. "Considering how even that isn't a full-time job, it's pretty obvious Dumbledore wants to help you be more close to your family for this year."
"You could say so..." Bill said while steering the conversation in a different direction..
Good thing you don't know what Dumbledore is doing behind the scenes, Bill thought.
Truth of the matter was, that while Dumbledore did have those things in mind as well, his main reason was that he was starting to gather allies. After the disaster at the World Cup, Bill's parents had revealed to him that Dumbledore knew a storm was gathering and had actually recruited them into the Order of the Phoenix as part of the 'old crowd', even if only by association due to then having had little involvement in the war. Bill, due to his skills and connections, would be a vital asset as well.
He did join the cause and now understood Dumbledore's additional reasons for wanting to have him here in Britain. It also meant he had to say goodbye to adventure and accept a job in the domestic services of Gringotts. However, it would be worth it.
Thankfully, after that and until all of them went to dinner, they talked about harmless things and Bill heard what they had been doing in school in the past two months.
...Ministry of Magic, November 3rd...
The round of people that had come together in big meeting room of the Ministry for the vast majority held no official position in the Ministry itself. Instead, they were from influential families who held a vested interest in the politics of Magical Britain. Some of these families had seats in the Wizengamont, while others didn't, though that didn't mean anything in terms of power.
This round was a perfect example of how checks and balances as well as separation of powers was either unheard of or a farce in Magical Britain. It hadn't always been this way. While realpolitik had always existed, in days past honor had played a big role. Nowadays however the glaring deficits of this system took an ever-growing place in the limelight.
After living in an actual democracy for well over a decade, Sirius couldn't help but to notice these things.
Yes, my star is rising and I am supposed to feel honored to be included in something like this for the first time ever, but it feels wrong, Sirius thought.
Not that he was alone in feeling like that. From subtle body language he could see that a number of the attendees were uncomfortable with attending, but due to the fact it was either them or someone worse, they could hardly say no. The only one missing was Dumbledore, and he had the excuse that it was Thursday and thus school was in session and he had to do his job.
Sirius himself had only gotten off his job at the police half an hour ago and honestly couldn't care less that he was hurting sensibilities by wearing his normal civilian clothes instead of robes. After all, he already did have a certain reputation as a blood-traitor and thus such behavior would only reinforce what others already thought about him.
"Welcome, welcome!" Fudge greeted everyone, looking much better compared to how stressed he'd looked after the World Cup. "It has been a while since we last came all together, but much has happened since then."
Augusta Longbottom kept her emotional mask firmly in place, but deep inside she wanted Fudge to get to the point.
"The first point in our agenda is the Triwizard Tournament. Too bad that Dumbledore can't be present this time due to time constraints. Dolores, if you please...?" Fudge completely failed to read the room in that no one apart from him liked Umbridge, even the heads of the radical families had their reasons to dislike her.
"Thank you, Minister." With just two words she has been laying it on thick. "I can proudly report, that the start of the tournament has received a very positive echo in the press. People are very eager to follow how the competition will develop. Regardless of the outcome, it will benefit the Ministry greatly."
"It seems to be a little too early to say that. After all, the tournament hasn't even yet progressed to the first task," Mr. Greengrass reminded Umbridge.
"Maybe, but the positive impact up until this point can not be denied," Umbridge said, though it was clear she disliked her narrative being put into doubt.
If anything, Fudge was blind to the tension in the room. "This is wonderful news after the recent difficulties."
"Recent difficulties is putting it mildly," Augusta Longbottom said. "After all our relations to Magical Germany are at the point of a cold war and Magical Bulgaria also has soured on us. Not to speak of our loss of face in front of the world due to the World Cup fiasco."
"Well, you see..." Fudge tried to explain.
Sirius for his part watched Lucius Malfoy during this. Recently Malfoy had started to look a bit paler than he already was and also was less prone to his usual antics. He knew that it was Malfoy who had caused the riot, but the man didn't seem to truly enjoy the fruits of that act, which was a bit puzzling.
It's like something else is constantly on his mind, Sirius thought.
Sirius also knew that the Minister's politeness and friedly attitude towards him was only a front. Fudge had clearly recognized him as a political rival. While Sirius was getting more popular over time, Fudge had to honestly fear for his re-election. Sirius knew, given the chance Fudge would try to neutralize him, meaning he should not just dismiss him despite all his weaknesses.
The meeting continued in an interesting pattern. While a number of political topics were being discussed, it always was Augusta Longbottom, who after two other topics breached a controversial one that was bound to get Fudge to stutter and try to explain. At times it even looked like Umbridge was acting like Fudge's prompter so the man wouldn't be struck speechless. Augusta Longbottom for her part seemed to gain a perverse pleasure from grilling Fudge like this.
It took over an hour before this unofficial meeting was over, the other powerful families clearly now planning what to make of the information gained.
"What do you think, Black? It was embarrassing and a bit concerning to watch how at times Umbridge was literally telling the Minister what to answer and he still seems to think it was his own idea," Mr. Greengrass asked Sirius while they walked down the corridor.
"It is concerning. Most of the information we aleady knew, so his growing dependency on Umbridge is the real news we have to work with," Sirius replied, not being surprised with this development. "Though I've heard Malfoy also can now whisper anything in the Minister's ear, and he'll think it's his own idea."
Mr. Greengrass grumbled. "He should have never been elected. Sadly, at the time no one with charisma or political experience wanted to step forward. Seeing how the office had worn down Bagnold, no one wanted that poisoned chalice."
Sirius could honestly understand why no one wanted the job. By the end of her term Bagnold had become visibly worn out and downright cynical due to the war and it's aftermath, in which justice was denied and the Ministry was starting its slide into the mess it was nowadays. Bagnold herself had retreated into private life embittered and nothing had been heard of her since. In retrospect, the cowardice of so many people had enabled Malfoy to install his puppet.
"For evil to succeed it takes good men to refuse to act..." Sirius knew the damage now was done and they had to deal with it.
"I know Horatio told you I'm watching you. What I've seen up to now is very promising. You don't waver from what is right, invest your own resources to do good and you don't shy away from risking your own safety to fight for the just cause. Yet, you are no fool at all," Mr. Greengrass told Sirius while they walked to the lifts.
"He also told me political alliances are something you can't decide on a whim," Sirius added, knowing how that worked.
"Horatio is a very smart man. Yes, such things require careful consideration, but things are looking good for you. Continue like this, and Horatio and me can come to an agreement with you," Mr. Greengrass promised, then entered one of the lifts.
Sirius meanwhile had to wait for the next one. After some moments however, he noticed someone approach and quickly put on his pokerface when seeing that it was Umbridge.
"Ah, Ms. Umbridge. Is this just a coincidence or is there a particular reason?" he asked, not revealing what he truly felt.
Umbridge had her own mask up. "Oh, most certainly just a coincidence, Mr. Black. However, running into you, I have to admit however that I have to exchange some words with you considering your recent political moves."
Sirius arched an eyebrow in feigned ignorance. "Oh, really? Is there something controversial I should know of?"
Umbridge's mask slipped a little bit. "Your role in delaying the laws against non-humans has made you enemies. It's a bit difficult to believe that someone who claims to work for the betterment of society wants to allow such dangerous elements to continue to do as they please."
"Only the usual suspects are angered. Well, seeing how the werewolf laws have worked out so wonderfully..." Sirius made no secret of his biting sarcasm and how repulsed he was by said laws "It is to the betterment of our society that no more such laws are enacted. The Ministry already got enough enemies."
Indeed, if anything the werewolf laws had been an utter disaster, driving the werewolf population of Britain underground, forcing them to either remove themselves from society or become criminals to survive. People who normally would have preferred to just mind their own business became embittered towards the Ministry destroying their lives. The only thing these laws did was to create a ticking time bomb and destroy the reputation of Magical Britain.
No wonder that Remus was living in the non-magical world. There after all he was enjoying actual rights and was treated with basic human decency.
Umbridge's eyes narrowed a bit, but she controlled herself. "Interesting. You know that such views could cause you some serious trouble."
The lift door opened and Sirius gave Umbridge a knowing look. "I know the kind of people who would be offended by my views. I know the places were it's fruitless to even try and convince others of my views."
As soon as the doors had closed, Umbridge dropped her emotional mask and looked like she could kill someone, before she composed herself.
Your luck will soon turn bad, Black. Just wait for it... she thought.
Her influence on the Minister was greater than ever, although she knew that Malfoy also had his turn with whispering ideas into Fudge's ear that the man seemingly always found great and was eager to support and bake into law. However, Malfoy was not stepping onto her toes and thus she had no interest in a confrontation with him.
Black on the other hand would learn that drawing her anger was a bad idea. It would only take the right means and the right time.
o
If she were to be honest, Rita Skeeter always felt a bit insulted that the best she could afford was a flat on the top floor directly under the roof - an attic that had been converted into living space so that the house owner could squeeze more money out of his property. But fact of the matter was, thanks to the various defamation suits she had lost as well as the fine she'd had to pay last year, this was the best she could afford.
Still, having her own rooms was better than having to live in some sort of shabby pension.
It already was late, but she still was busy with writing. The typewriter - oh, what a wonderful invention she had found purely by chance - was allowing her to write her material far faster than any dicta-quill could, and it was way more readable, to boot. Some of her readers probably would have a fit seeing her use a Muggle contraption, but for her it was a time-saver and an advantage in this cutthroat competition.
Her workroom was only illuminated by the enchanted kerosene lamp standing on her desk as well as the light from London coming in through the roof window. The soft light revealed walls full with newspaper clippings, stacks of papers and several filing cabinets. Right then the rattling of the typewriter stopped and Skeeter pulled the final sheet out and onto the stack.
"Ah, done..." Getting up she quickly got some tea from her small kitchenette. After warming it with with a tap from her wand, she sat back down at her desk. Her eyes fell onto today's newspaper sitting on her desk.
The Daily Prophet said I'm too expensive due to the lawsuits. Hypocrites, considering what they print in their rag. One day they'll beg me to print my stories, she thought coldly.
After a painfully bland education at Hogwarts, she had started out in journalism, only to quickly learn several valuable lessons. For one, if you wanted to have success, you needed to be ruthless. Also, people lapped up stories with scandal in it, those often having sex and/or violence as their content. These truths explained why her earlier attempts to be an honest journalist had been doomed to fail.
She had made the conclusion that in order to get anywhere in the world, you had to be willing to step over dead bodies; a lesson she fully internalized and gave her a change of career that finally gave her success, albeit at a cost.
One day I'll show all of you you should not have dismissed me so easily, she thought, remembering her setbacks all too well.
She had never wasted a thought to the fact that the truth was, that it was her lack of talent which had hampered her career and that logically people would fight back against malicious slander.
She then looked at the stack of papers that were her correspondence with her informants inside of Hogwarts. She had no doubt that it had to be students with an axe to grind, but she didn't care, because they had opened up a gold mine for her. Not only these detailed papers and suggestions how to hit where it hurts, but also photos that would prove to be of use. Her benefactors had told her not to worry about legal consequences, only to wait until the Triwizard Tournament is on its way.
Skeeter still was ticked off that thanks to that old fossil Dumbledore, she had not been there when the champions had been chosen. It was the chance of a lifetime, and she had been forced to miss it. Since she knew Dumbledore had banned her because of his precious students - and she didn't dare to test the defenses with her highly illegal animagus form - she felt hurting his students was a way of hurting Dumbledore indirectly.
Not to speak that in her incredible pettiness, she also had a personal axe to grind and very much welcomed the opportunity to do so.
Soon we'll see who is laughing. You little snots shouldn't have made fun of me, she thought.
...November 11th...
"The teachers don't seem too happy that this is another day where classes and canceled," Neville observed while trying to make himself comfortable at the Gryffindor table.
"It IS a bit stupid that a whole day of lessons was sacrificed for this ceremony. However, considering how many members of the press are present, the Headmaster must feel it is more practical this way," Luna speculated while wiping her glasses before putting them back on.
"Professor Slughorn looked a bit bit annoyed that our Potions lesson got canceled, and considering how laid-back he normally is, that says a lot how he thinks about it," Harry remarked, looking to the staff table. "Guess he's unhappy that the Ministry was unwilling to move the ceremony to the weekend."
Indeed, while most students had reacted positively that this Friday wouldn't have any lessons, some had grumbled that the tournament was cutting into their lessons. The teachers clearly were not happy with this, but considering the circus surrounding this normally rather simple ceremony the Headmaster had made the right decision.
It was a little before lunch time that the ceremony of the Weighing of the Wands would take place in the great hall, since no one wanted the students to walk around needlessly. The ceremony essentially consisted of Mr. Ollivander as the highest expert on wand lore in Britain officially examining the wands of the three champions to ensure they were fit for the tasks ahead and didn't give an unfair advantage.
Again the press had invaded Hogwarts and this time they also had spotted Luna's father Xenophilius, who had promised to them they could talk later. Thankfully, despite Fudge liking the limelight, he was not present - he would be for the tasks - and instead Bagman and his colleague Castamere from the Ministry as judges would be present, though they currently were not in the hall.
"Honestly, all this just for Mr. Ollivander to confirm the wands are in good condition and not give any unfair advantage?" Ron wondered. "Why do they even call it 'weighing'?"
"It probably has nothing to do with actual weight. Considering how long the tournament is around, blame language drift for it." Hermione then frowned. "But you are right that this is over the top."
"The whole show is just for the press I bet. You know, good photos. Helps with the damaged image of the Ministry," Ginny said cynically.
"It makes me wonder why Fudge opted to miss this opportunity. I thought he would have killed to again be in the center of attention," Harry added, leaving unsaid that he wasn't sad about the Minister staying away.
"I honestly don't want to imagine how that man thinks," Ginny said. After hearing what her father had to say about Fudge and personal experience, she wanted to keep a healthy distance to the man.
Over at the Slytherin table, Dudley already was bored.
"Don't get me wrong, I never say no to a free day, but do they have to make such a big production of it? I'm hungry and lunch is delayed due to this," Dudley complained to no one in particular.
Millicent for her part also heard her own stomach growl in agreement. "Yes, this is a nuisance, they very well could have done this in private."
"It reminds me of these award ceremonies back in primary school: terribly long and terribly boring, full of long-winded speeches and in the end pointless. No one liked those, not even the ones getting awarded. Dumbledore does it much better when he hands out awards at the end of the year," Dudley added, hoping this would be over soon.
"The way you talk about school at times makes it sound like you regret going to one before Hogwarts," Daphne remarked, not having any experiences of that kind due to having been home-schooled.
"Don't get me wrong, not all of it was bad, but I had not exactly been the best student in primary school. No, I had been a shitty student. You both would have hated my old self." Dudley made no effort to defend how bad he had been.
"To be honest, I have difficulties to imagine you having been that bad," Daphne admitted, only ever having witnessed Dudley's improved behavior.
"I actually hope you never get exposed to someone like I have been..." Dudley fell silent for a moment. "Oh, cripes! It's already too late, since there after all are Malfoy and Parkinson."
"Oh dear..." Millicent felt that if Dudley compared his past self to them, he truly must have been a little terror. However, she had never met that Dudley, so she could just swipe the whole thing under the carpet.
Meanwhile outside the hall Mr. Ollivander had some serious words with Bagman and Castamere.
"Honestly, all of this makes me wonder if I should not do it. It makes me feel like my art is being reduced to a spectator sport. And considering this could happen before each task as well... Perhaps agreeing had been a mistake," Ollivander said, though he of course knew his reputation would take a serious hit, should he back out now.
However, Bagman and Castamere didn't know that and paled. "Mr. Ollivander, Sir!" Castamere gasped, clearly being afraid the whole ceremony could be canceled at the last minute.
Bagman was afraid as well, pale in fear that this after the World Cup could be another black mark for him. "Sir... this will be the only time. Before each task, you can check the wands in private with the champions. I promise it!"
Knowing that this was the best he could get, Ollivander decided to relent. "All right. Then let's get this over with and hope that in the future this will not happen again."
Back in the hall moments later everyone saw the three men walk in and to Dumbledore, exchanging words.
"Ah, there is Mr. Ollivander. It's been over four years since I bought my wand from him, but there is no way I could ever forget him," Harry said when seeing Ollivander.
"He is a very memorable man with interesting insights. It took him only a few moments to understand the true me. I speculate he has some form of limited Legilimency to allow him to see the true self of his customers," Luna speculated, clearly being impressed by Ollivander.
That moment Dumbledore stepped forward.
"Dear students, members of the press, the moment has come for Mr. Ollivander to conduct the Weighing of the Wands. I now ask the three champions to come forward so that Mr. Ollivandercan get to work," Dumbledore announced.
Cediric, Krum and Fleur did as told, then waited for further instructions.
"Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?" Mr. Ollivander asked Fleur, and Fleur swept over to Mr. Ollivander and handed him her wand. He gave it a close look. "Hmmm..."
He twirled the wand between his long fingers like a baton and it emitted a number of pink and gold sparks. Then he held it close to his eyes and examined it carefully. "Yes," he said quietly, "nine and a half inches ... inflexible ... rosewood ... and containing ... dear me, Veela hair?"
"My grandmother donated it," Fleur admitted, blushing a little bit when thinking of her at times completely shameless grandmother.
"Yes, that kind of familial connection would make the wand especially loyal to you," Mr. Ollivander observed. "Yes, I've never used Veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands... however, to each his own, and it does suit you."
"If that's from her grandmother, that means she's only a quarter Veela, and yet her allure is quite potent. I still shudder at what these Veela at the World Cup caused," Neville whispered, knowing it was only the quick thinking of the adults that had prevented him from getting his mind dominated.
"That does remind us to always treat such power with the respect it deserves," Luna added.
Mr. Ollivander ran his fingers along the wand, apparently checking for scratches or bumps; then he muttered, "Orchideous!" and a bunch of flowers burst from the wand tip. "Very well, very well, it's in fine working order," Mr. Ollivander said, scooping up the flowers and handing them to Fleur with her wand.
Despite how he acts, that man is an old charmer, Fleur thought.
"Mr. Diggory, you next," Ollivander then said.
Fleur stepped back, allowing Cedric to walk up to Mr. Ollivander. "Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn't it?" Mr. Ollivander said with much more enthusiasm, as Cedric handed over his wand. "Yes, I remember it well. Containing a single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn ... must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked his tail. Twelve and a quarter inches ... ash ... pleasantly springy. It's in fine condition. ... You treat it regularly?"
"Polished it last night," Cedric said, grinning.
"Diggory, who polishes his wand," Ron whispered and the boys let out some quiet laughter.
Hermione blushed a little at the crude humor, then saw that Ginny and Luna seemed unfazed. Ginny most likely due to growing up with six older brothers and Luna due to... well, being Luna.
Mr. Ollivander clearly looked pleased and sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room from the tip of Cedric's wand Satisfied, he gave Cedric his wand back and then said, "Mr. Krum, if you please."
Viktor Krum approached Mr. Ollivander, thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his uniform. He clearly just wanted this ceremony to be over.
"Hmm," Mr. Ollivander said with interest, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I ... however ..." He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.
"Yes ... hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees ... quite rigid ... ten and a quarter inches ... Avis!" The hornbeam wand let off a blast like a gun, and a number of small, twittering birds flew out of the end and flew up to the ceiling, where they vanished. "Good," Mr. Ollivander, handing Krum back his wand.
"He seems really unenthusiastic," Ginny observed.
"Considering how he seems to resent Karkaroff treating him like his golden boy, that's little wonder," Harry observed, having seen such scenes enough over the past several days to have an idea what was going on.
Ollivander then turned to the five judges. "I can proclaim that all of the wands are untampered and in good condition. They will serve the champions well."
"I thank you very much, Mr. Ollivander, that you've allowed us to take some of your precious time for this and that we can continue to rely on your services over the course of the tournament," Dumbledore thanked the wand-maker. He had not missed how all the flashlights had annoyed the man and knew all future wand inspections had to be a private matter.
Moments later lunch finally appeared, causing Ron to sigh in relief. "Ah, finally..."
"Ron, sometimes it's like you think with your..." -gwwrroool- Hermione stopped when hearing her own stomach growl in protest. Feeling like her own body had just betrayed her, she decided to say nothing and instead start to eat.
Despite all the circus around it, and how fascinating wand lore most likely could be, the whole thing in the end had been terribly boring and a waste of everyone's time. Having seen it they guessed that was why Fudge had not bothered to come and instead would only attend the actual tasks.
...the following day...
Ginny frowned when watching Lavender and Parvati reading the newest edition of Witch Weekly together while lounging on Lavender's bed. She wouldn't want to be caught dead with something like that. She had no idea what her mother saw such magazines, having found it utterly boring and repetitive after looking through it one time when finding one on Lavender's bed.
Thank all goodness that neither Hermione, nor Luna read such drivel, she thought.
Interestingly, the reasons of these two girls not to read such magazines were very different. Hermione felt that these magazines were insulting human intelligence and thus refused to touch them. Luna on the other hand had claimed that such magazines were conspiring to turn women into airheads. Her friends speculated it was more likely her father got into conflict with the magazine publishers and it became a matter of principle for the family.
The constant giggling and aaahing finally became enough and she stood up. "All right, right now the common room actually looks like the better option to write my letter. Less distractions."
Watching the redhead leave their dorms, Lavender rolled her eyes. "She's too sensitive... and way too much of a tomboy. I offered to share a magazine with her one time, and she said she wouldn't touch it with a ten-feet pole."
Parvati snorted. "Tomboy indeed. After all, I have seen the stack of Quidditch and broom magazines beside her bed."
"Not that Hermione or Luna are much better in that regard, even though they are less obvious about it," Lavender added, looking to the stack of math and science books besides Hermione's bed and the esoteric literature next to Luna's.
In their minds, all three girls were rather tomboyish in their interests and how little they cared about activities that were seen as typically feminine. They didn't wear any make-up - not even lipstick - didn't read girl magazines or romance novels and never participated in girlish weekend activities or gossiping. While Kellah and Elizabeth found nothing wrong with it, Lavender and Parvati openly wondered what was wrong with these three girls.
The idea that these three were still feminine in their own right, just not following a stereotype, never crossed their minds.
Lavender then stopped when looking at the next article. "Take a look at this! There is an article about Harry and his friends!"
"Really?" Now Parvati was interested, wondering how that happened to be. "I had no idea they were even talking with a reporter."
"They didn't. I think this is more an investigative thing, you know?" Lavender looked a bit conspirative, then started to read the article, holding the magazine so that Parvati could do so as well.
What they were reading was nothing world-shaking, but nonetheless interesting. The article put a spotlight on the tightly-knit group of six and openly asked questions, like what kind of secrets these six were keeping. In the author's words, why were those six so anti-social? Several other questions were raised and the author promised that she got respectable - though secret - sources that would help her investigate and drag whatever these six were keeping secret to the light.
It was all written in a way that nothing was outright stated but rather put in as a question or a reasonable guess - a rather transparent attempt to escape a libel lawsuit that probably wouldn't work. However, to the reader that would make things only more interesting in the end.
It essentially was not much, just the promise that embarrassing and interesting revelations would come in the future, but the seed of doubt was subtly planted with it. Skeeter of course knew she could not pull out the big guns right away, she first had to get readers addicted and invested in reading more, and the initial articles were to accomplish that.
"You know, I never thought about it like that, but do they have any closer friends at school outside of their little group?" Lavender wondered.
"The only ones I can think of are these three Slytherins, and I have no idea what their deal is. Everyone else they are friendly with but there are no closer friendships," Parvati concluded, her own bias due to the three girls keeping everyone in the dorm at a respectful distance, coming through.
"Yes, these three Slytherins... it was -bam- and suddenly they got friendly with them in second year and in third year actual friends. There must be a story behind that," Lavender agreed.
"Wasn't that one girl involved in the whole chamber business?" Parvati then asked.
"Oh dear, you are right! I never thought about it like that, so there has to be a secret involved," Lavender said with a dramatic gasp, already trying to imagine some dramatic reason.
And thus even with an article that was not spelling out anything yet, it had already started its destructive effects. Letting people come to their own, mostly absurd theories was essential before actually spewing out the actual libel. The soil was being prepared for the readers to accept any kind of drivel as potentially true.
It was not only the article in Witch Weekly - numerous other publications aiming a similar market and articles just like that from Skeeter. While most of those were aimed at girls and women, one publication aimed at boys had one as well, though worded differently, aiming at jealously and envy instead of gossip and scandal.
Thing was... Harry and his friends stayed completely ignorant of the development and the emerging undercurrent for the time being.
None of them were reading such magazines, and neither did their parents. Molly Weasley had switched to non-magical ones three years ago due to them being more entertaining. Their teachers also were not in the habit of reading such publications, nor were Daphne and Millicent. Thus they stayed ignorant of it for the time being.
Someone else however was far from being ignorant of it.
In a secluded corner of the Slytherin common room, Pansy Parkinson was showing a copy of Witch Weekly - she normally felt such drivel was beneath her but she made an exception for the cause - to Draco, pointing out the article in question.
Draco looked pleased. "Yes, that is a good start. Boy, they'll wonder what happened to them once the whole thing got rolling and turned into an avalanche. They should not have stepped onto our toes so often."
Pansy for her part was pleased as well. "While part of me wishes this would go faster, I know that the end result will be quite amusing and teach them a lesson. Just wait until the fires have been stoked a bit. People can be really dumb and yet useful."
"My father called them useful idiots. These sheep will believe anything if you package it up the right way," Draco said with a mean chuckle.
"Now we can only wait..." Pansy then put down the magazine. "Draco, you know that next week is a Hogsmeade weekend?"
"Yes, but why do you ask?" Draco wondered, being a little clueless what Pansy was playing at.
Pansy, normally not one for insecurity, looked a tiny bit shy. "I would really like to spend it with you... far away from the two apes."
Draco knew she meant Crabble and Goyle with that and he also was a bit surprised at the request. "Time alone with me in Hogsmeade?" He saw Pansy nod and... was that a tiny blush? "You know... I actually would like that. Just not Madam Puddifoot's."
Draco honestly felt a bit out of his depth, since up until now Pansy had not exactly tried to test out the waters if there could be more between them. He'd felt a bit hurt in his masculine pride that Pansy had made the first step, but he honestly would get over it soon enough. However, he had heard of the horrible tea shop and had no wish to be roped into that horrific death trap.
Pansy for her part looked a bit offended. "No way I would force you to endure that tacky nightmare!" She then clamed herself. "I promise you'll have a good time."
Draco for his part hoped so, since this would be the first time they would try to do so as more than just friends.
...November 14th...
The Chairman of MI-X looked through some papers while everyone got seated at the conference table. Despite everything going on in Magical Britain as well as their other activities, the economic part of their observations as well as well as their preparations for all kind of actions connected to the wizarding economy. Unlike what other people might think, economic warfare could be especially destructive and thus care had to be taken with each action.
Knowing it was still some minutes before this meeting would officially start, he kept himself busy so that everyone could sort out their papers. Thing was, no one in Magical Britain actually had numbers about their economy, so a good part of this meeting would be about reports about the findings after several years of observation. It was a long-term project and now the condensed facts would be presented as the first point.
Finally the activity die down and the Chairman looked up.
Everyone was gathered, so he took the word. "Since everyone already is in the know about the topic of this meeting, we can skip that formality and don't waste any time on it. We better start right away. Mr. Urqhardt has the word to present the results of the analysis of the economy of Magical Britain."
Mr. Urqhardt, the man also working for the Bank of England and who years ago had managed to secure from the goblins the means to mint their own Galleons, Sickles and Knuts that were exactly like the ones produced by Gringotts, stood up while the shades lowered over the windows and a projector activated.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman," Urqhardt said. "Some in this round already know, but it had been surprisingly difficult to get actual numbers of the economy of Magical Britain. The Ministry of Magic is not surveying their economy in any meaningful way, meaning we had to design and implement our own methods and find the correct sources. As you can imagine, this had taken up the majority of the time."
The first slide then was shown. "The economy of Magical Britain is highly insular, not even connected to other magical countries in any meaningful way - though that is nothing unusual on their side. Many things of everyday life and most of the foods are bought from non-magical suppliers, though no way they would ever admit that. We already expected that this would mean little economic growth and even corrected our calculations by taking the rather recent war into account, yet we still reached a surprising conclusion: their economy is actually shrinking."
There was silence, before one man asked the question. "You mean their economy is in a recession and they didn't notice? How is that even possible?"
"It's been in a recession for years. A number of factors are connected to the recent war. The loss of life is more severely felt in such a small community and the war lasting over ten years depressed their economy. It clearly never recovered from it and they most likely due to the long time think this is the normal state of affairs. Of course there are other factors as well," Urqhardt explained.
"What kind of other factors?" a woman asked.
Urqhardt switched to a different slide. "One contributing factor are the shifting demographics. The percentage of magicals hailing from non-magical families is rising and those of them that do work in magical society very often don't want to live in it. That means apart from the most essential magical goods and services, they are taking their purchasing power elsewhere."
"That's all understandable, but that surely can't be the only reasons for the constant recession?" someone further up the table asked.
"Yes, you are right. Over the years, we discovered something interesting. Despite the Ministry having new coins minted by Gringotts, the money supply actually is slowly decreasing," Urqhardt revealed.
The Chairman actually raised an eyebrow at the revelation. "Considering that no noteworthy foreign trade is taking place and new coins are being minted, doesn't that mean someone is removing currency from the circular flow of income?"
"Yes, and considering there is no concept of fiat or giral money and all the money thus is bound to physically existing coins, we knew pretty fast the only culprit could be Gringotts, who do have a banking monopoly in Magical Britain," Urqhardt confirmed.
"But how do they do it? And why?" one woman asked after some moments.
"How they do it is rather easy: with the fees for money exchange. When we noticed that things were not adding up, our investigations revealed that the goblins are shaving off part of the fee and remove that from the economy. They still make a profit, but make sure that slightly more money leaves the economy than enters it. As for why, we speculate it's war by different means. Since open warfare failed, they instead started to use a long-term strategy to harm wizards," Urqhardt explained.
"Actually pretty smart. So they very slowly over many years wiggle down the money supply, causing the economy of Magical Britain to suffer a little more with each year. Clever little bastards," the Chairman admitted. "However, wouldn't that make everything even more vulnerable to an inflationary shock should we flood their economy with money that we are minting?"
"Oh yes, indeed. It would be utterly destructive - worse than we up until now predicted," Urqhardt confirmed, having seen the new calculations.
"I think the Prime Minister will be most interested to hear that," the Chairman said.
The meeting then continued.
Over two hours later, the Chairman was alone in the conference room and used the desk phone on the secure line to talk to the Prime Minister. "...and these are the most important points," he concluded his report.
"That's exactly why all the power over the currency belongs in the hands of a central bank. If I understood you correctly, their economy would have imploded sometime in the future anyway?" the Prime Minister asked.
"As far as Mr. Urqhardt has explained, yes. The goblins are running a long-term strategy, but in about twenty to twenty-five years a point would have been reached where the damage would be irreversible," the Chairman confirmed.
"They clearly realized that open violence has not worked and instead are now using economic warfare... Rather clever," Major admitted. "However, as important as that is, it can wait until we meet in person. Right now I have several issues of the Daily Prophet from the past 20 days on the desk before me. As well as a womens' magazine, whose presence only made sense once things were pointed out to me."
"Sir...?" the Chairman asked, wondering what the Prime Minister could be playing at with that last point. Since after all even he didn't know about everything going on in MI-X.
"No, you obviously can't know, since I myself only learned about this today," Major said. "The newspapers speak of that tournament of course."
"We are watching that situation, since the presence of students from two foreign school has the potential to cause in international incident," the Chairman reported. "Our man will be present at each of the events."
"Good, though I still find it distasteful and irresponsible to hold such a dangerous competition with students," Major said. "Now for that magazine. I do not hold it against you that it was only discovered now, evading our usual screenings of magical media. After all, none of us would expect anything of importance in such a gossip rag. Let me enlighten you what was found..."
The Chairman then listened to what had been discovered and his eyebrows rose. "Sir... I sincerely doubt that even in the magical world going after minors in such a way is legal."
"It isn't, not that that fact is stopping that Skeeter woman. I want you to keep an eye on that situation," Major told the Chairman.
"Yes, Sir. I'll gave the needed orders. Considering how they are the children of our people of interest, it's important to keep an eye on the situation," the Chairman agreed.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"The First Task Sabotaged"
Notes:
Here the notes.
There is not much of any action is this one, but I hope the content makes up for it.
Some more insight what Fleur and Krum think as well as the dynamics with other students. Looks like Karkaroff is really not well-loved. Also a little more on the in-Hogwarts reaction.
Quite a lot of stuff I put into one Transfiguration class. I hope you like all these little details I have added to it. Also, we finally learn what Bill's deal is, though there are things he's not telling them (and that shed light on what Dumbledore is doing).
Seeing the politics in this chapter. I remembered a story that was good but suffered from two big flaws. The first was the author hated Ron and literally replaced him with Neville. Second was the ENDLESS politicking! I hope I managed to condense it to the important points. Of course we also see more of Umbridge.
And of course Skeeter. I hope I gave a good idea about her and her circumstances. However... now the poison has started to flow and we'll see what that leads to...
Oh, and you thought the thing about economy is gone? It was always in the background and the MI-X meeting proves they are very busy on that angle. I hope you like that I made the goblins sneaky in trying to sabotage Magical Britain after direct aggression failed.