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 47: In the Shadow of the Task
It had been a lazy Sunday morning. Draco and Pansy had lazed at the breakfast table, enjoying that they could take their time, when an owl they recognized as from the post office had delivered a letter to them. Since they only got Skeeter's letters from the Hogsmeade post office, it had to be from her. It honestly created the question what that woman could now want from them, since they were holding up their end of the deal.
Truth to be told, the whole thing was working perfectly. Their little system of spies that were reporting all kind of things about Potter and friends, which they in turn would send to Skeeter so she could use it as a basis for her slander, was working like a well-oiled machine. Best was, the six idiots had never once noticed how they were under observation for months by now.
Skeeter had no idea who she was actually dealing with. All the mail was sent to a post box in the Hogsmeade post office and then was delivered to him from there, and his answers went to the post office in order to be sent to Skeeter from there. They had no wish for Skeeter to know who she was dealing with, as that would only cause that vulture to try something.
"I wonder what Skeeter wants. Isn't she pleased with all the material we are giving her?" Draco grumbled while they walked to a place where they could read the letter without spying eyes.
"We most certainly do. The trash she writes to demonize Potter and his friends is wonderful and the show we got when the mudblood and the Weasel girl got what was coming to them was great," Pansy agreed, still holding that incident in fond memory.
"Sadly we did not get a repeat performance," Draco replied.
"Yes, but at least we do have the consolation that Skeeter is continuing to hurt them and when they get out of school there's a bunch of morons who will hate their guts because they blindly believe Skeeter's crap." Pansy seemed quite amused at the idea.
Draco chuckled darkly. "Which proves you don't necessarily need to have a brain in the head to survive. Too bad that in the school, only the truly dumb still believe that stuff after Dumbledore's speech."
Having reached a quiet place where they knew they wouldn't be spied on, Draco opened the envelope and both of them read the letter.
"Hm, now this is interesting. Why does Skeeter ask us to also try and send her material about Greengrass, Bulstrode and Dursley?" Draco wondered after they were done with reading.
"Most likely some petty reason. Did you notice how she doesn't even know Dursley's name? The description however does only fit on him. I wonder what they did to tick her off?" Pansy wondered, feeling vindicated in her low opinion of the woman.
"Yes, that must be it. They after all are friends with Potter and company and must have taken offense." Draco quickly vanished the incriminating letter with his wand, then chuckled. "We shouldn't let this chance go to waste."
Pansy understood what Draco was talking about. "Yes, they can finally get what's coming to them. No more hiding behind Slughorn or status. The mudblood and those two blood-traitors are overdue for a lesson to remember their place."
Frustration spoke out of Pansy. Almost four years of not managing to beat down those three had left their mark. Now suddenly getting the chance to cause them grief was something she would not let slip through her fingers, so much was for certain.
"Exactly, Pansy. I'll write to her that we'll deliver material as soon as we can. You talk to our network and ensure they know what to do," Draco decided with a smirk.
Pansy could help but to chuckle. "I can't wait to see their faces once they get that treatment. And the best thing? Should this blow up, it's Skeeter's ass in the fire alone, as she doesn't know who we are."
"Then we can think she should have considered if it's truly smart to trust people who want to stay anonymous," Draco concluded.
Laughing, both of them went their own way to do what was needed to do. They certainly felt great, since they could hurt those they disliked without getting their own hands dirty. That was a massive step up from their failures in previous years.
o
Despite it being a Sunday, the office of Mr. Shark was occupied, something he only did for some of his most important clients. Sirius Black was pretty much his most important client of all. His law firm had flourished even better ever since Mr. Black had decided to entrust them with all of his legal issues. Over the years it had given them fame and a financial security blanket.
However, the most recent situation had become a source of frustration for not only Sirius but also Mr. Shark himself and it was the reason why both men were in the middle of a conversation.
"...and I have to be honest, I have never encountered such a situation before. All the previous lawsuits against Ms. Skeeter's mud-slinging articles, as far as I was able to look up, were mere formalities and done in a matter of days," Mr. Shark told Sirius.
Sirius for his part frowned after all what Mr. Shark had told him. "Meaning, this is not normal."
"Yes, Mr. Black. I don't like that at all. Someone with enough influence is ensuring that the courts drag out these cases, which normally would be standard fare. Even the help from Mr. Dumbledore didn't undo the situation. That means it has to be someone sitting very near the top who has some sort of vendetta against you," Mr. Shark agreed.
And I know who that someone is, Sirius thought darkly, remembering Harry telling him of their suspicion on who is feeding Skeeter with information.
To be honest, Sirius was not surprised that this was most likely another Malfoy plot. Lucius and Narcissa hated his guts, and thus also everyone associated with him. While it was more likely that Draco had come up with the idea, it had to be Lucius who was protecting Skeeter and the magazines she writes for from the legal consequences of the slander against minors.
He now felt justified for another reason that he had ensured Draco would never see a single Knut of the Black fortune. By now it was pretty obvious that the apple had not fallen far from the tree and Draco was taking after his father very much. Thankfully, Draco didn't seem to be as smart as his father, but this plot proved he was shaping up to be smart enough to be dangerous.
"Still, continue your best to unclog the situation. Use every trick in the book to rise the pressure," Sirius told Mr. Shark.
"We will do our best, Mr. Black, but sadly even I can't do wonders The problem is, that the system itself is working against you, which considering your status is saying something," Mr. Shark reminded Sirius.
Minutes later Sirius was leaving the offices of Shark Solicitors & Barristers.
Harry and his friends deducing who is most likely to send the information to Skeeter and then starting to observe if their suspicion is correct shows they are using their heads, Sirius thought.
He was not concerned that the investigation into Draco's activities would endanger Harry and his friends in any way. Part of his old self, which he nowadays rarely acknowledged, even felt a little proud that they most likely would violate some minor school rules with their investigation. Despite having become a responsible adult, that part of Sirius would probably never die completely.
Walking through Diagon Alley to the exit, Sirius' thoughts wandered.
Steve and Kathleen were doing well in primary school, though both of them at times were struggling to keep a lid on their accidental magic. Sirius hoped there wouldn't be any big incident for a while, since he had no wish for Ministry officials to show up at the school. He knew he couldn't hide the children forever, but he wanted to delay the inevitable as long as possible.
Family was the most important thing to Sirius and he would protect them at all cost.
...Hogwarts great hall, February 5th...
It was another Sunday morning at Hogwarts and apart from their guests from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang the hall looked like any other Sunday. The students were out of uniform for the weekend as usual and the same went for the students from Beauxbatons. The students from Durmstrang on the other hand always seemed to wear their uniforms, which only reinforced the military vibes they were giving off. The formality this radiated set a sort of invisible barrier during weekend days.
It was only minutes before the daily mail call with the usual owl invasion - since after all post owls did not care about Sundays.
"Percy told me that it's starting to get tiresome to filter out the harmful mail and dispel all these Howlers. Of course there never is any hint who sent that crap. It's honestly depressing to think there is such a big jerk population who believe all that junk," Ron grumbled while putting milk into his cereal.
"My Gran always says that the refuse of society is more numerous than we think they are. I guess she has been right the entire time," Neville agreed while reaching for the orange juice.
"Even only taking a superficial look at the normal hate mate that still comes through shows that most of them are not particularly smart. The actually dangerous ones are those who believe this libel despite otherwise being smart," Hermione reminded her friends.
It was a bit depressing that in a society as small as Magical Britain there were so many jerks that would believe what Skeeter was writing and send them mundane or magical hate mail. It had damaged their faith in humanity a little. Thankfully, Percy and Penelope sorting out the harmful letters and Howlers at least made it manageable. The only owls making it directly through to them were from family or trusted people.
"I'm more concerned that Dudley, Millicent and Daphne now also have become targets. While it's moving that they are defending our honor, I hope they are prepared what inevitably will happen," Harry reminded everyone, knowing something was bound to happen after two weeks of smearing the three.
Ginny grimaced while buttering her toast. "I know what she writes about us is disgusting, but what she is writing about them does take the cake."
Indeed, while Skeeter had written numerous nasty lies about Dudley, Millicent and Daphne, the core of her stories was taking the slowly changing relationship of Dudley and Millicent and twisting it almost beyond recognition to imply that Dudley was a horrible gigolo who wanted to build himself a personal harem and that Millicent and Daphne were only too happy to submit to him. It was all peppered with many disgusting implications in Skeeter's typical style.
It was that moment that the mail call started when the owls began to fly in. Their table stayed empty, since all their mail was diverted to the administrative office. Nonetheless, in only moments they saw that this was bound to get ugly due to something else happening..
Daphne for her part dropped her fork, with bacon still on it, when seeing what the owls had dropped in front of them. "Stand back, you can never know!" she warned her friends.
"Shit!" Dudley cursed while all three of them jumped back. Besides suspicious envelopes he did spot a few Howlers - Howlers which exploded open only a moment later.
It was not as bad as when Harry and friends got plastered with Howlers, but it still was bad and loud enough. Most of what was screamed against Dudley was accusing him of being a monstrous playboy, but just as often racial slurs like 'mudblood' were heard, screaming at him to know his place. Millicent and Daphne in turn got screams that either they were wicked girls or got vulgar calls to 'not spread their legs for a mudblood'.
It was all horrifically humiliating, though thankfully the teachers made haste to quickly dispel the Howlers and vanish the other offending mail before it could do harm, having learned from the previous disaster. All three of them had expected this to happen after hearing and seeing the shit Skeeter was writing about them, but the real thing they had not been prepared for.
"These... these..." Millicent was trying to find word for how she felt. Dudley then held her close and she felt her trembling lessen a bit. "I knew this would happen, but..."
"We thought we knew what to expect... We clearly weren't," Dudley agreed. He knew Millicent was a strong girl who had toughened up significantly after healing from the chamber business, but there of course were still ways to hurt her.
"Look at that... those two little shits," Daphne growled under her breath.
They glanced discreetly to where Daphne was looking and saw what she meant. Malfoy and Parkinson had real trouble to hide their true emotions and a smirk of satisfaction was flickering through a few times. They knew what Harry and his friends had told them about those two being the prime suspects fro giving Skeeter information, but this for them confirmed it.
"They are not even trying to hide it anymore. Overconfident tossers," Dudley now growled as well. "I really want them to pay for it."
Millicent knew Dudley mainly said this for how this had hurt her. "Yes... but better be careful. This is so unlike the idiotic things they did in their first three years."
Dudley held her a bit closer and barely heard what the teachers were starting to tell them. Daphne meanwhile gave Malfoy and Parkinson a look of disgust. Both of you will regret having started this entire thing. Better believe it...
Back at the Gryffindor table, the Six were startled, but little surprised about the whole thing.
"I knew this was bound to happen. How much do you want to bet that the law firms for the Greengrass and Bulstrode families also won't get far?" Harry said with a sigh.
"No way we accept such a bet. Though, you can only piss off so many influential families before the pressure becomes too strong," Neville reminded his friends.
"Yes, Sirius is already mighty ticked off. The Longbottoms are also throwing in their weight. Now the Bulstrodes and Greengrasses as well? Skeeter is stepping onto too many toes. Now it's only a matter of time before her patron can't protect her anymore," Ron mused.
That was the thing. The lawsuits were against Skeeter and every single magazine - from each impacted family. Add two more angry and influential families into the mix, and once things would get unclogged, Skeeter would lose her last shirt and even those dirt rags would not want to touch her stuff anymore. But until that happened...
"Not that we should wait that long..." Ginny said slowly. "We meet later. I observed some things. And Harry... thanks for lending me your cloak."
"No problem." Harry knew Ginny had spoken in code.
They were all busy with observing their surroundings and had already noticed things they had not noticed before. Harry had felt no guilt at using the map and his invisibility cloak to spy after those they had seen observing them in a suspicious manner. Ginny had just talked about yesterday, when she had used the invisibility cloak to spy on some girls in the toilets, who were using the place to exchange information on what they had observed before reporting to Pansy.
It was not only students from Slytherin. A few students from the other three houses were also involved, proving that everyone has the capability to be a jerk. Granted, there was no way they could ever use their knowledge to have these students face official consequences, but there were other ways to make them see the error of their ways.
By now they knew who was pulling the strings. They were way too angry by now to give any mercy and Dracon and Pansy would get what was coming to them.
...private office of Horace Slughorn, February 12th...
The private office of Horance Slughorn was very different from the one he was using for Hogwarts business. While his work-office was mostly functional and for him managing the requirements of his job effectively, his private office was a very different matter. It looked more like a cozy living room where people would meet to have a good time.
The room was decorated tastefully with furniture from the beginning of the 20th century, big armchairs inviting people to get comfortable. The walls were decorated with non-magical oil paintings, the floor covered with that looked like a Persian carpet. They even spotted a piano in one corner of the room. A warm fire burnt in the fireplace while Slughorn was being busy with filling a number of crystal glasses.
"Oh, don't you worry, I would never offer alcohol to minors!" Slughorn reassured them when seeing the looks Hermione was giving him. "This is a non-alcoholic grape juice."
Despite his activities, he takes his responsibilities as an educator seriously, Hermione thought. She had never fully warmed up to the Slug Club, but would no longer complain.
Besides the six of them, a few other students from their year - all members of the Slug Club - were present in the office, which seemed to have magically expanded to easily hold all of them.
From Hufflepuff they spotted Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones. Justin most likely was part of the club due to his social status in the non-magical world, something Slughorn couldn't miss. Susan meanwhile was the niece of Amelia Bones, current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Combined with her being a very good student, Slughorn's choice was understandable.
From Ravenclaw they spotted Mandy Brocklehurst, and considering her family also was important, her invitation made sense. Slughorn clearly didn't care that her father was a muggleborn wizard. Finally, from Slytherin Blaize Zabini and Daphne Greengrass were present. Both were good students and both had influential parents.
They knew Millicent was not in the club due to her not having shown interest in it and while she would never tell Slughorn, she had also been a bit insulted that Dudley had not been even considered and thus it had given her more reason to decline.
"Excuse me, Professor, but you were a little vague about why we have this little gathering," Susan Bones asked while accepting her glass.
"Oh my, I didn't? Quite an oversight from my sight." They knew Slughorn simply couldn't help it. "You see, all of you are now in your fourth year at Hogwarts. Now it is time to start to think about the future."
"You mean thinking about what kind of career we want to strive for after school, Sir?" Justin asked.
"Oh yes. Now is the time start and think about that. You see, I care for those I network with. I've had many success stories due to me at times giving the little extra push needed for a rise to greatness," Slughorn said, looking quite proud. "There are many former students who have become successful and are still thankful for the help I gave them. Not that this however is an invitation to not always do your best."
"So that's why there are others who are no longer members of the club. They did not meet your high standards," Luna observed sharply.
Slughorn looked a little pained. "Sadly, at times it takes a little while to reveal that someone would not be suited. Some think it's the easy way, and that's the opposite of what I encourage - greatness of your own with only some help from my side if needed. Others showed a front and later it turns out there is far less talent. However, I can only help with what's already there. What use are the best connections if the student in question holds little talent or is incapable of civilized behavior? I used the previous years to see all that for myself and gently let them know about it."
Hermione couldn't help but to feel a bit better about the club when hearing from Slughorn himself that he held no interest in students with a personality problem or those who thought being in the Slug Club meant using the easy route. That Slughorn only wanted students with actual talent and manners - even if only for the fact that they were very likely to succeed in life - was a bit of a relief.
She couldn't have known that after several serious failures in the past - especially Slughorn having Voldemort and some of the first-generation Death Eaters in the Slug Club during their school years - Slughorn had tightened his criteria, not wanting to risk a repeat of such a situation.
"However, it is more than just realizing what you want. Once you know what your future is to hold, you should think about how to reach that goal. That is the part I like the most and where I'm most eager to give guidance," Slughorn added.
Ah, there is the first part of the help so that the students to feel indebted to him, Harry thought. If to be honest, he felt it was a very smart system.
"Now, first, who already knows for certain what their future plans are? I know many of you most likely are following a dream, but don't be shy to tell all of us," Slughorn asked.
Surprisingly, it was Ron who first spoke up. "Well, in the past I thought about becoming a Quidditch player, but that has changed. Considering how much money I've already made off it, I do plan to become a professional chess player. That means however, I will mostly be in the non-magical world."
"Quite ambitious," Slughorn agreed, already making plans.
Luna spoke up next. "I know it is my father's hope that I work in the Quibbler, and I will do so. However, I always was fascinated by magical creatures and want that to be my second leg."
"Never put all your eggs into one basket. A good plan," Slughorn said, knowing there was more to Luna than most saw at first.
Encouraged, their friends spoke up one after the other. Ginny was next. "I want to play professional Quidditch. That's my passion and no one can stop me from doing so!"
Slughorn couldn't help but to laugh. "Ohh, you certainly are feisty enough to be one."
"While I know that I have to represent my family, my passion are plants. I really want to become a professional herbologist," Neville said, being pretty sure about that.
"The burden of being born in high circles..." Slughorn almost sounded a bit envious, most likely because he'd had to work his way up.
"While my grades would allow me to do a lot of things, and I most certainly want a carreer to fall back on, I also want to go into politics. There is so much to do and I want to make a difference," Hermione explained her plans.
Slughorn raised an eyebrow. "Looks like we maybe have the future Minister in our midst," he then joked.
That left Harry as the final of the Six. "At first I was unsure, but after some good advice from my godfather, I'm honestly thinking about going into law enforcement." Harry would not tell that Sirius working for the police had been the deciding factor.
"Want to catch the bad guys, do you? Considering how many good things I'm hearing from Severus about your dueling powers, I don't doubt you'll do great in it," Slughorn remarked.
What Harry had not said, was, that after Hogwarts he would also get several years of adult education to get a non-magical degree as well. He had no wish to depend on the small job market of Magical Britain. Hermione was wanting to do the same and he knew his other friends at least were toying with the idea for one reason or another.
Slughorn then went on to hear the future plans of the other club members.
...February 25th, day of the second task...
The day of the second task of the Triwizard Tournament had come, and like for the first task, the spectators were flocking to the Quidditch arena of Hogwarts. Also again like last time, people were able to buy snacks and drinks from vendors. This time however, how the task would be done was rather clear as soon as the spectators entered the stands.
"This is not something you see every day. Would be interesting to ask how they built it," Luna remarked with a raised eyebrow when seeing what occupied the Quidditch pitch.
Ron and Ginny on the other hand looked in horror at what was occupying the pitch until Ginny voiced her horror. "That oversized bath tub has crushed the entire pitch! It's complete crap now!"
The reaction of the Quidditch enthusiasts was understandable, considering what was occupying the pitch at the moment.
It looked like a deep metal bowl grown to truly absurd size - big enough that it occupied the entire pitch and its upper end was just below the lowest of the stands. The space between the rim of the bowl and the stands was covered in wooden planks, allowing for more than enough space for the tables of the judges, the three broadcast stone basins and various other people milling around. The massive bowl was filled with water and the keen-eyed could spot Bill Weasley talking with some merpeople at the edge of the bowl.
"Good luck on restoring the grass, but at least we now know why Krum and Fleur were swimming in the lake," Harry commented while they were walking to their seats.
"I honestly don't understand what the problem is. After all, after some games the pitch is ruined as well. Also considering how the pitch turns into a mud bowl during rain..." Luna started to explain her confusion.
"I think we get the idea, Luna," Ginny told her friend, then again looked at the water. "Still insane to have them swimming outside in February, but better than using the lake for the task."
"I guess they think so as well," Neville remarked after they had found their seats. "Look down there."
Thanks to the lower distance, and them using their omnioculars, it was easy to spot the three champions preparing themselves for the task. All three of them were wearing bathing robes and looked very unhappy and cold. Each of them had another student helping them. For Krum it was some boy from Durmstrang whose name they didn't know, for Fleur it was Fleur's male friend and for Cedric it was surprisingly not Cho but her friend, a girl named Edgecombe.
"I can't blame them. Taking a swim in February will be brutal on them, regardless how much they've tried to adapt to it," Hermione said, shuddering at the mere idea of her having to do so.
"Yes, Fleur looks like she could vomit at any moment at the thought. Just take a look at how she's eyeing the water like it could snap at her," Harry added, feeling bad for the champions that they had to go through that.
"All three of them don't look thrilled about it," Ron agreed after taking a look. "I just wonder what they have to actually do in the water, especially with merpeople being involved."
"Maybe they have to swim laps and the merpeople have to be as disruptive as possible?" Neville wondered, remembering part of the first task.
"No, merpeople do have their pride. They would only agree to helping with this task if their role is more substantial than that," Luna reminded him. "They would settle for nothing less than being an integral part of it."
That left them stumped for the time being what the actual task could be.
Outside at the stalls of the concession vendors meanwhile, a discovery had been made.
"Since when do they sell popcorn? Not that I complain," Dudley wondered while accepting the bag.
"What is popcorn?" Astoria asked, having decided to watch the task together with her sister.
"A snack food that's popular in the non-magical world and eaten during big events by the spectators. Normally it's either loaded with lots of sugar or salted. And seeing that Dudley took sugar, you won't get any," Daphne told her sister.
"Unfair..." Astroria grumbled, knowing she wouldn't be able to buy her own without her sister noticing.
"You should have thought about that before deciding to accompany your older sister," Millicent reminded the younger girl while they walked to the entrance.
"Hmpf... I'm starting to regret doing... Ooof!" Having looked to Millicent, Astoria had not been careful and walked into someone. "Ow, excuse me..."
"Oh non, excusez-moi..." the girl she had run into started in French.
They then noticed two adults who had to be her parents, and the girl's father shook his head. "Gabrielle, ils ne comprendront pas un mot de ce que tu dis." [Gabrielle, they won't understand a word of what you are saying.]
The girl, Gebrielle, now looked embarrassed. "Oh... I... am sorry..." It was obvious she was only starting to learn the language, considering how often she had to pause.
Surprisingly, Astoria let out a short giggle, and then said. "Ne t'inquiète pas, je te comprends assez bien." [Don't worry, I do understand you well enough.]
The girl's parents gave Astoria a comical look when both girls started to talk in French. Then finally, the mother asked the obvious question. "How comes that a girl her age speaks fluent French?"
Daphne chuckled and both of her friends gave her knowing looks, knowing the answer already. "We Greengrasses have a family tradition that all of us learn foreign languages as early as possible. We don't advertise it, but it's there. Our father for example also speaks Bulgarian of all things. That's why me and my sister speak fluent French."
It was then when the conversation started for real.
Back in the stands meanwhile, the discussion had shifted away from what the task could be.
"I'm spotting Bagman... Boy, the bloke looks like a vampire drained him. Just take a look at how pale he is," Harry commented after having spotted Bagman with his omnioculars.
"Don't expect any kind of compassion from me for that man. He probably is in trouble after I reported him," Hermione said, finding it interesting how much she could despise a person, though she already had experienced that before with Lockhart.
Hermione of course couldn't have known that this wasn't the reason Bagman why was so pale. It was fear his creditors could do something drastic as well as desperation due to Diggory soundly and repeatedly refusing all and any help from his side. Bagman also couldn't see the hidden looks Cedric was giving him, like he knew something that Bagman didn't.
"All of this still can't replace a regular Quidditch season..." Ginny said while looking around.
"We all know that, Ginny. But hearing you complain about it makes it sound like you got your knickers in a twist over it," Harry commented.
"Oh, you sure seem to like talking about my knickers." Ginny then giggled when seeing Harry blush a little. It had been crude but got the intended effect.
"These two have changed a bit since the ball. They wouldn't have had such a banter before," Neville whispered to Luna.
"Oh, they are not the only ones who have changed." Luna knew this was a private thing, so she whispered back. "I after all did notice you looking at my butt a few days ago. I very much appreciate that kind of attention from you."
Yes, Luna blushed a bit as well when confessing this - though not nearly as much as Neville - but unlike before it came easier to her. She felt incredibly flattered that Neville saw her as a desirable girl, causing interesting and new emotions in her. While emotions were complicated, she very much liked these new ones.
"Sorry that we made you wait, people."
That was Dudley, but to their surprise he was not alone. While they had expected Millicent and Daphne, and even Astoria. However, they had not expected the family of three following them. Just one look at the mother already was enough for them to make the connection that this was Fleur's mother. Thus that was Fleur's family approaching.
"Can I introduce to you the Delacours? They are the family of the Beauxbatons champion," Dudley said. "Pierre Delacour, Apolline Delacour and Gabrielle Delacour."
"Mon Dieu, you have to be Harry Potter! Fleur described you vividly in a letter home!" Madame Delacour said in delight when looking at Harry. "It was a bit amusing that she only made the connection with the so-called savior of Magical Britain hours after you told her your name."
"She wrote about me?" Harry asked. "We haven't interacted that much. Her friends told us she's rather reluctant to befriend others after bad experiences. Her friends are trying to convince her to give it a chance, but it's slow going."
"No need for excessive humility. You came to her defense while you were still outside of the influence of her allure. Sadly, her being reluctant about approaching you is little wonder. Not many people are showing her such kindness these days and she is being careful," Monsieur Delacour told Harry.
"She told us enough that we know her life wasn't easy," Hermione said, remembering how Fleur was struggling with her allure.
"It's an age thing, give it a few more years and it won't leak anymore. We are already preparing for Gabrielle's troubles once she enters puberty." M. Delacour then looked over to where his younger daughter was chatting with Astoria. "It also looks like my younger daughter made a future pen pal."
"Lucky me," Daphne commented. "Now she's got a pen pal with whom she can exchange what kind of mischief they can do."
Ginny then couldn't help but to ask "Has Fleur written you about the Yule Ball?"
Mme. Delacour now looked a bit annoyed. "No, she didn't. That girl can be very stubborn about some things and she refuses to even talk about it. There also was no press coverage. Was it such a disappointment for her?"
Now Ginny chuckled and Ron already knew that while Ginny loved Bill, she couldn't help it. "Ohh, then she didn't tell you that she had a really good time with my eldest brother Bill? He's that redhead down there talking with the merpeople."
The Delacour parents looked a bit poleaxed, while Gabrielle was oblivious. Her father then looked quite serious. "We really want to hear more about that. We know that the man saved Gabrielle from drowning, but we didn't notice anything when we visited..."
"Ginny, you know Bill will give you a hard time for doing that, right?" Ron whispered to his sister.
"Oh, I know. Don't get me wrong, I love Bill, but I also know he would be too chicken to talk about it with them anytime soon," Ginny admitted, not feeling guilty at all.
More likely you still haven't fully forgiven him for keeping the Yule Ball thing secret from you, Ron thought, but knew better than to say so aloud.
Mme. Delacour then remembered something. "But maybe first some introductions from your side? Apart from Monsieur Potter, we don't yet know any of your names." The Six looked at each other, laughing off that faux-pas before starting to introduce themselves.
o
Down near the edge of the water meanwhile, the three champions were coping with the wait each in their own way.
"Merde, j'ai froid! Combien de temps devons-nous encore attendre?" [Damn, I'm cold! How long do we still have to wait?] Fleur cursed.
"Pourquoi ne pas vous réchauffer avec votre magie?" [Why don't you warm yourself up with your magic?] her friend Marc asked, pointing at the wand strapped to her arm.
"Et puis avoir un choc thermique une fois que je saute dans l'eau? Non merci." [And then get a temperature shock once I jump into the water? No thanks.] Fleur knew that would be even worse. "Je me demande encore pourquoi Sabrina s'était portée volontaire pour tout ça." [I still wonder why Sabrina has volunteered for the whole thing.]
"Ne me demandez pas. Je la connais depuis des années et je ne sais toujours pas ce qui se passe parfois dans son cerveau," [Don't ask me. I've known her for years and still don't know what at times goes on in her brain,] Marc said. While Sabrina was a dear friend, the girl at times was prone to make questionable decisions.
Over where Viktor Krum was waiting, Poliakoff was watching Viktor looking grim.
"Recete, Viktor?" [Everything all right, Viktor?] Poliakoff asked, still feeling flattered that Krum had selected him to assist in this task, despite them not being that close.
Krum looked up, looking a bit conflicted. "Quaevis opinio cur Illyana offerat? Frater non fecit," [Any idea why Illyana volunteered? Her brother didn't,] he then asked Poliakoff.
Poliakoff knew that Illyana Raputin was one of those people you couldn't help but like. "Nihil scias, sed considerans quam versatur in fratrem, non videtur hoc tutum putare," [No idea, but considering how concerned her brother became, he doesn't seem to think of this as safe,] Poliakoff answered.
Krum grunted in response, knowing that Piotr Rasputin was very protective of his sister due to her subpar health. Hopefully nothing would go wrong at this task or Piotr would go berserk should his sister get injured.
The final champion meanwhile also talked about someone.
"And her parents are okay with her volunteering?" Cedric asked again.
Marietta Edgecombe rolled her eyes. "This is already the third time I'm telling you, and yes, they are. They were convinced that it is perfectly safe for Cho, so they gave their OK for it. You know, it's kind of sweet that she wants to be freed by you."
Sometimes I wonder what goes on in a girl's head, Cedric wondered. "Well, she shouldn't then complain that she is freezing her butt off in that cold water."
Edgecombe let out a short laugh. "She knows and thinks it's a worthwhile sacrifice from her side. She really wants you to be her knight in shining armor.
-dong dong dong- -dong dong dong-
Everyone went silent when the signal was given that the task was about to begin.
Ludo Bagman truly didn't feel well due to all the pressure from his creditors as well as his plan for Diggory not going as he wanted it. He hoped he could hide that when starting the announcing. One look to where the Minister was watching him was enough to raise the pressure. One more blunder, and Fudge would fire him for sure.
"Welcome, welcome to the second task of the Triwizard Tournament!" Bagman greeted everyone. "Now, everyone can obviously see the new addition to the pitch, so please let me explain what we will see!"
"This water tank is essentially a huge underwater maze. Our champions have to navigate its dangers in order to reach their goal! ... Of course they hopefully have found a way to breathe underwater. Now, I can hear everyone wonder, what is the goal of this task...?"
The three stone basins activated and there were loud gasps when everyone saw what was shown to them.
The scene everyone saw was underwater and three students, one from each school, were down there, being bound to poles and guarded by merpeople. It were Cho Chang from Hogwarts, Sabrina Raincomprix from Beauxbatons and Illyana Rasputin from Durmstrang. However, the big air bubbles encasing their heads already were a clue that things were not as they seemed.
"Now, don't be frightened. These three ladies volunteered for the part of the hostage, and it's all perfectly safe!" Too bad for Bagman that he also sounded slightly doubtful of that. "The merpeople will right away take them to the surface if something goes wrong and spells ensure they can breathe and won't suffer from hypothermia."
"Why do I have the feeling this setup is destined to go wrong?" Dudley commented while taking some popcorn.
"Don't jinx it. Also, it's already progress they didn't decide to hold the task in the lake," Harry told Dudley, again being glad he had no part of this tournament. He was fine with watching but nothing could have made him participate.
"Here is the task the three champions have to fulfill. With the sphere from the last task, they got a clue they have to find a way to breathe underwater. I sure hope they all found a way or it's flunking the task." Bagman clearly was trying to be funny, but failed. "Once they dive, they have to master numerous obstacles on their way until they reach the hostages and rescue the one from their school. Oh, and of course they then have to get back to the surface. It's not only how fast you do it that gives you points. The time limit is one hour; get above it and suffer point penalties. Now, champions, prepare!"
The stands erupted in noise when the three champions shed their bathing robes, revealing that Cedric and Krum were wearing swimming trunks, a choice many girls agreed with, while Fleur was wearing a tight swimsuit which caused a reaction from numerous boys.
Fleur was glad she had put her long hair into a braid, thus it would not slow her down underwater. All three champions had their wands strapped to their arm. Then Marc gave her the Gillyweed they had prepared. "Ici, je sais que ça n'a pas l'air savoureux, mais ça devrait marcher. Ne le mangez qu'une fois que la tâche commence, car vous ne pouvez pas respirer hors de l'eau à ce moment-là." [Here, I know it doesn't look tasty, but it should work. Only eat it once the task starts, since you can't breathe out of the water then.]
Fleur look in disgust at the plants. "Ça a l'air dégoûtant mais je vais le manger" [It looks disgusting but I will eat it.]
Cedric meanwhile used his magic to create a bubble around his head that looked like he was wearing a glass bubble. "It works! Let's hope the spell lasts for an hour."
"Yes, would be really dangerous if it runs out while you are down there," Edgecombe commented, hoping that wouldn't happen.
Poliakoff meanwhile gave Krum an interesting look. "Cave. Piotr collum tuum evellet si tibi meditata transmutatio sororem suam laedat." [Be careful. Piotr will wring your neck should your planned transformation cause his sister harm.]
Krum knew that this was no empty warning. Piotr Rasputin was very protective of his sister. He gave a short grunt of acknowledgement, then prepared for casting the spell once being underwater.
"Get ready!" Bagman announced. Moments of silence went by. "GO!"
Cedric and Krum jumped into the water right away. Fleur meanwhile quickly stuffed the herbs into her mouth and started chewing. She had to fight the urge to spit them out and instead forced herself to swallow. Feeling the changes start to take place, she quickly jumped into the water as well, knowing that thanks to the effects of Gillyweed she wouldn't be able to breathe air for the duration of the effect.
The three basins switched to each again following one champion, obviously three people holding the transmission crystals following the champions underwater. Cedric caused little reaction, since he just had conjured a Bubblehead Charm acting like a diver's helmet. However, Krum and Fleur were a different matter.
"What the hell did Krum just do to himself?" Millicent gasped.
"He partially transformed himself into a shark," Luna stated the obvious. "Very interesting, though hopefully it won't give him the urge to bite someone."
"Any idea what Fleur did? She suddenly sprouted gills and webbed hands and feet," Ron wondered, looking in fascination at how the girl had changed physically.
"She's eaten Gillyweed," Neville commented, recognizing the effects. "It's a herb. Eating it causes these physical changes for about an hour. It's a good idea, but I hope she finishes before the time is up."
"Ohhh, la grande sœur sait vraiment quoi faire!" [Ohhh, big sister really knows what to do!] Gabrielle meanwhile said, making no secret of how she admired her sister.
All three champions quickly swam to a point where the path split up three ways, each path clearly labeled with the coat of arms of the respective school. Clearly it would be a lot like the first task in that regard. Wasting little time, they all went their separate ways.
"Watch them swim. What dangers will they meet on their way?" Bagman commented.
"Good thing they found a way to transmit from underwater. Could you imagine just staring at the surface for an hour, waiting for them to come back out?" Harry commented, finding the idea ridiculous.
"I can. Had it been left to Bagman, we would be doing just that," Hermione replied, watching the champions swimming through winding tunnels, constantly being busy with defending themselves against defensive mechanisms. "They must be doing their spells non-verbally to be able to cast underwater."
"Ah yes, non-verbal casting," Daphne said, remembering something. "We'll start to learn that next year. I've heard it's not easy, but Professor Snape is really good in it and puts great weight on teaching that to his students."
"I can see how useful it is," Millicent remarked, knowing normal spellcasting, even with a Bubblehead Charm, would be next to impossible underwater. "Not only for environments were talking is not possible, but also to surprise your enemy."
The minutes went by, before the champions came out of the tunnels and into bigger caverns. It was honestly impressive that all of that had been built inside the water tank - and it was bigger on the inside than on the outside, clearly magically enlarged - making it a bit of a pity that it had to be removed. Merpeople were already waiting, crossing their tridents to block passage. However, violence didn't look to be their plan.
"Oho! Now that the champions passed the winding tunnels, how to solve a question when all conversation is non-verbal? Oh, and violence of course is forbidden," Bagman commented.
"Looks kind of funny how the merpeople are trying to get their point across," Astoria giggled when seeing the over-the-top gestures in place of verbal communications.
"Any idea what they are trying to say?" Ron asked Hermione.
However, he got disappointed when Hermione shook her head. "Sorry, but that's so esoteric, I have no idea what's going on."
Luna then spoke up. "Really? I find it easy to follow what they are saying." Seeing the looks of disbelief, Luna realized she had to explain. "For fun I looked into the sign language of merpeople. It's very fascinating and I broadened my horizon. According to what they are trying to explain to the champions, they want two red shells from the close-by pile."
Indeed, looking closely, the message could be discerned by paying attention. Interestingly, while Cedric and Krum were still trying to puzzle it together, Fleur seemed to understand and swam to the pile of shells, holding up a shell to see the reaction of the guards. With gestures they helped her narrow it down until she gave each of them a red shell and they pulled back their tridents, allowing her passage.
"Fleur Delacour did it! She solved the puzzle first and can now continue on!"
"That's our daughter! Despite what others might think, behind her beautiful face she does hold powerful brains," Mme. Delacour said full of pride.
"She sure is to... huh?" Bagman sounded surprised.
Slimy tentacles had shot out of a hole and ensnared Fleur. Like every female in such a situation she panicked, which was very understandable, considering the primal fears this conjured. She was struggling while the tentacles were slowly pulling her towards the hole, unable to find the concentration to fire a non-verbal spell.
Gabrielle screamed in fear for her sister, while the others were unsettled. "Have you seen Bagman's reaction? That's not part of the task!" Ginny gasped, like most other girls in the stands feeling a primal terror at what she was seeing.
"Yes, the merpeople are startled as well and they are coming to help," Ron added, seeing the merpeople approach with their tridents, looking ready to cut the tentacles.
However, they weren't needed. Fleur's hands and feet suddenly went through a change, becoming scaly and clawed. With a look of utter fury on her face, Fleur then started to cut the tentacles to ribbons, becoming a whirlwind of destruction. The slight shimmer in her eyes underscored how angry she now looked.
"Woah, what the...?" Millicent gasped, surprised by this change.
"You forgot our daughter's ancestry. Veela after all do have a transformation into something fierce," M. Delacour reminded them. "Though this is the extent of the transformation that she can do. Her blood is too thinned-out for more than that."
"Remind me to never get your wife angry," Dudley commented, realizing that Mme. Delacour was capable of much more than what they had just witnessed from Fleur.
Fleur transformed back to normal, with the effects of Gillyweed still intact, before she was on her way. Meanwhile, the other two champions had also managed to pass the test. Bagman tried to act like nothing had happened. "Uhm... now the next test, the tunnel of horrors!"
The next test was what it promised. The tunnels were full of nasty things, like grindylows and other beasts, and it took the champions significant effort to get through. Krum especially was disturbing, since he did bite a few of the creatures with his shark teeth, making for a gruesome sight. Due to still having a lead, Fleur passed it first. Cedric was closely behind her on his own route, when suddenly...
-pop!- Many gasped in fear for Cedric, when there was a flash of light and his Bubblehead Charm suddenly fizzled out.
"What happened?!" Neville gasped when seeing the suddenly struggling Cedric. "It shouldn't do that, right?"
"It shouldn't!" Hermione agreed. She knew the wizard transmitting the picture would step in should Cedric be in danger of drowning, but that was not making it better.
Cedric was struggling for some more moments, the sudden water pressure and lack of air having hit him like a sledgehammer, before he finally managed to silently re-cast the spell, the water being pushed away from his head. However, the shock of almost drowning was still lingering and Cedric had to recover from it first. That allowed Krum to get ahead of him, before Cedric managed to gather himself.
"Damn it, thanks to that Cedric is thrown back to last!" Astoria cursed, clearly not caring about her lessons on good manners.
Bagman obviously was startled by this new unexpected turn of events. "Well... our champions are nearing their final goal. The actual rescue is about to take place."
Fleur did reach the small fake settlement first and was already expected by the merpeople, who pointed at a sign which read: Free the one that is yours and return to the surface. And indeed, there was a clear path back to the surface, which was nothing like the gauntlet she had went through.
Swimming to Sabrina, she proceeded to use cutting charms to sever the ropes and free her friend. Sabrina looked relieved to be free and together they just started their ascend when Krum arrived. -sploooosh- Both of them surfaced and Fleur gasped for a moment, unable to breathe, but then Marc canceled the transformation and Fleur was able to take a deep breath.
Swimming to the edge, Sabrina gasped. "Merde, ils m'ont protégé de l'hypothermie, mais j'ai toujours froid et moite!" [Damn, they protected me from hypothermia, but I'm still wet and cold!]
"Tu n'es pas seul avec ça!" [You are not alone with that!] Fleur agreed, already starting to feel miserable.
Thankfully, as soon as they were out of the water, they were quickly escorted inside, where they could get dry and slip into fresh clothes, before the nurse would ensure they would not suffer from any ill-effects.
They had just went inside when Krum and Illyana broke the surface.
"Krum, id est scary! Parumper putavi me mordere," [Krum, that's scary! For a moment I thought you were about to bite me,] she gasped while they swam to the edge after Krum had cancelled his partial transformation.
"Paene imperium perdidi. Sicut utilem sonabat, sed in retrospectu methodum tutiorem invenirem," [I almost lost control. It sounded like a good idea, but in retrospect I should have found a safer method,] Krum agreed, feeling quite guilty over that.
It took a little longer before Cedric and Cho surfaced last. Cedric looked a bit depressed. "Last place... Not exactly my best showing."
Cho saw that her boyfriend took his loss quite hard. "This is not the end. I'm sure you can still make up for it in the final task and still win the whole thing."
Up in the stands meanwhile the Delacours were happy that after the danger Fleur had come out of it uninjured and even finished the task first. Gabrielle was happy that she did have such an awesome older sister, while Fleur's parents were proud of their daughter.
"Wow... that was certainly quite intense to watch," Dudley admitted, knowing he would never have managed to get through that, even if only due to him not wanting to swim in cold water.
"Intense? Insane would be a better word for it. Thanks all goodness it's not us having to go through these tasks," Millicent said, being content with staying a spectator.
It took several minutes before the champions and the volunteers returned, all of them now dry, warmed-up, filled with Pepper-up potion and dressed in dry uniforms. They most certainly looked much more comfortable now. It then came to giving the points and to no-one's surprise, the points reflected the order in which everyone returned to the surface, though of course there was a point of controversy.
"Oh, come on! That arse Karkaroff is so biased it's not funny!" Ron commented when seeing Karkaroff again give too low scores to the other two champions.
"Ron!" Hermione gasped at his foul language. "We all know that, so no reason for such language."
The announcement of the overall scores was the actual surprise. All three champions were quite even in their score after two of the tasks, thus each of them still had the chance to win the entire tournament by winning the third task. Bagman seemed especially excited, since it meant the final task could be made more exciting by having a contingency for such a case take effect.
Lots of camera flashes from the press went off while Minister Fudge stepped forward to address the crowd.
"Ahh man..." Harry groaned when seeing that. "People, we should leave. Lots of waffle is dead ahead."
"Well, our snacks are all gone anyway. Them all gone means the show is over," Ron remarked, also not keen on hearing one of Fudge's speeches.
"We will stay. After all we do want a word with our eldest daughter why she is keeping things from us. Also, we want to take a good look at Mr. Weasley..." M. Delacour said.
Everyone knew that what would come next wouldn't be fun for either Fleur or Bill. Hearing Fudge start his speech, they then left quickly, not wanting to be bored to tears by all the long-winded and empty words from that man.
...some time later...
The Hogwarts teachers had all gathered to talk about the new incidents interfering in the tournament. Madame Maxime was present as well and looked quite angry. She had managed to hide it during the task, but had vented as soon as the task had been over. However, it was Alastor Moody who right now was the most vocal about the situation.
"Once might be explained away as a coincidence. Twice however points at a pattern," Moody told Dumbledore. "Spells don't dispel themselves like that and these tentacles were not part of the task. You could just give me the go ahead and I would nail Karkaroff."
"Alastor, as much as we all would like you to do that, fact is that despite all of us knowing it has to be him doing that, we don't have any proof. Without that it would be illegal and also cause a serious crisis with Durmstrang," McGonagall reminded him.
"Yes, the letter of the law..." Moody was unhappy how that slime Karkaroff was continuing to escape justice.
"Zut alors... this is a massive scandal! I have reported this to the observes from the French Ministry. This is now starting to strain relations with Magical France," Madame Maxime complained, looking quite stressed. "That a man with so much proven blood on his hands is still walking freely is the true scandal! I might be forced to play nice due to his position, but now I'm tempted..."
"Madame Maxime, please! We all here know that. All of us wish Igor Karkaroff would have faced justice for his crimes," Dumbledore said, having noticed how Snape had grimaced for a second at Maxime's angry words.
"I say piss on diplomacy and throw his ass out of Britain. We all know keeping him here will only provoke another incident." Moody didn't feel like being diplomatic.
"As much as that is true, I fear as long as Karkaroff is not caught red-handed, we have no legal grounds for removing him. Doing so anyway would have serious consequences for all of us," Dumbledore reminded everyone.
"Damn politics! I already hated that whole viper nest when I was still on active duty," Moody spat bitterly, showing how little he thought of the top brass of the Ministry.
"So nothing can be done about it? It's like your Ministry is willfully ignorant to how this looks like from the outside," Maxime reminded everyone.
Professor Flitwick sighed. "It's like this tournament is bringing all of us nothing but problems and headaches. The Ministry wanting this to be a success at all costs is not making things any better."
Moody then snorted. "Well, at least very soon there will be one problem they can't sweep under the rug. Bagman will soon see the error of his ways."
"Monsieur Bagman?" Maxime asked. "I know he is incompetent, no doubt about that, but there is more to it?"
"Ah yes, you can't know. One of our students noticed Mr. Bagman doing several very suspicious things and approached the faculty with her observations," Dumbledore started to explain.
"Aye, that she did, and the lass did everything right by doing so. That gave me reason enough to use my connections and nudge the right people to dig at the right places. What they found is indeed very interesting." Moody looked like the cat which caught the bird.
"This is news to us as well, Alastor, so please tell us what you've found out," Dumbledore asked Moody.
Moody looked all too eager to do so. "Turns out that Bagman is not only incompetent, but also corrupt and even downright criminal. I try to keep it short. As it turns out, during the World Cup finale Bagman was running a huge betting pool, hoping this would help him to settle his big debt with the goblins. You see, he borrowed a veritable sum from them and now was struggling to pay them back."
"That alone already is illegal due to his Ministry position," Professor Rogers remarked.
"Very much so," Moody agreed. "Too bad for him that Ireland won, since he had put his hopes on Bulgaria. He then swindled everyone he had to pay by giving them disguised Leprechaun gold, which of course did vanish the next day. However, the goblins cornered him and took away all of his money and shortly later seized all his holdings, but that still wasn't enough to erase all of his debt."
"So that man is not only a dolt, but also a scammer," Snape snorted, his already low opinion of Bagman plummeting even lower. "So what did he do?"
Moody now snorted. "Like every gambling addict, he gambled again. He bet against the goblins that the Hogwarts champion would win, and then tried to give Diggory a leg up some time before each task to make sure."
Madame Maxime looked highly offended. "That swine! He was rigging the contest."
"He didn't get the chance to do so. Diggory proved to be quite the lawful type and rejected Bagman's offers outright. The lad just wasn't smart enough to also report him. Bagman should cool his heels in a cell very soon." Moody looked quite pleased that in the end Bagman would land where he belonged.
"After what he did, he deserves that." McGonagall then thought of something. "While I know he will be replaced as one of the judges, what about his still outstanding debt? I sincerely doubt the Ministry will reimburse the goblins."
Dumbledore shook his head, knowing where this would be going. "They won't, so Gringotts will be stuck with the losses. This will only serve to worsen relations between the Ministry and the goblins."
This left everyone with the unpleasant truth that while Bagman would pay for his crimes, in the bigger picture it would hurt their position, since the goblins would be less inclined to help them in the future. Considering the inevitable conflict some of them knew was at the horizon, this was a bad thing, and they thus cursed that idiot Bagman.
o
"Sir, I have to... Oh!" The charismatic wizard, after having knocked on the door of the Chairman's office, had entered without waiting and now was frozen when seeing that the Chairman already was in a meeting with the Prime Minister of all people. "I'm very sorry, Sir! I had no idea..."
"Agent, stop apologizing," the Prime Minister told the wizard. "Storming in like that means you do have news from the tournament, correct?"
"Yes, I felt I should report it as fast as possible," the wizard confirmed, feeling he'd just avoided a stern reprimand.
"Good, then take a seat. You can give your report, once we are done," Major decided and the wizard made haste to follow that order. Major then returned his attention to the Chairman. "You can continue with your report."
The Chairman was annoyed at the interruption, but decided to drop the matter. "Ah yes... furthermore I can report that the wizards and witches infected with lycanthropy that we did manage to recruit are adapting well. A number of them had lost the right to use a wand due to Ministry policy, so after years of not using one, they first have to learn again to do so properly. Their services will be invaluable, especially now that we also have access to wolfsbane potion."
"Indeed, this is a major boon for our operations. As wrong as it sounds, the racist policies of the Ministry only moved us in a better position in that regard," Major agreed.
"However, I have kept the best for last, Sir. MI-X has managed to place a spy in a good position in the Ministry," the Chairmain told his boss.
"Impressive..." The Prime Minister actually meant it. "We've tried for many years to get someone into a good position in the Ministry. How was this accomplished?"
"Through years of our man actually aggressively working his way up in the Ministry. The growing corruption of the Ministry helps, as it made the job easier. Granted, the department he holds his new position in is rather unimportant, but that does little to downgrade the flow of information we enjoy now," the Chairman reported proudly.
"And just in time, considering how the situation is worsening at an ever faster pace now," the Prime Minister concluded.
They did exchange a few more words, before the Chairman turned his attention to the wizard. "All right, now your report. Considering that you did not bother with etiquette, it must be important."
"Yes, Sir. The second task also suffered from sabotage," the wizard reported.
"Better explain from the beginning," the Chairman told him.
And so he did. He explained about the task and how it had started as intended. He then however told them about the separate incidents happening to Diggory and Delacour, with Diggory's diving spell being dispelled and Delacour being attacked by tentacles. The reaction from the officials was proof that these two incidents had not been part of the task and thus further sabotage.
"...That most likely again won't get any press coverage, like last time. At least not from the domestic magical press," the wizard concluded his report.
All three men knew what that meant. After the first task, while domestic news didn't mention the incidents of possible sabotage with even a single word, it was a different story with the news from other magical countries. They had asked questions. Now, after a two new incidents which clearly were not part of the tournament, they would start nail the Ministry to the cross. The French press would be the most vicious, that was to be sure.
The Prime Minister looked displeased at these news. "We all know who the most likely suspect is. I do hope MI-X is already planning to neutralize that terrorist?"
"We do have, Sir. We especially have stepped up our efforts after Karkaroff became the prime suspect for trying to murder Mr. Potter. I found it baffling how such an incident is being kept mostly quiet. Though the crimes for which we can lock him up are those from 15 years ago," the Chairman reported to the Prime Minister.
"Good. Should that terrorist set foot outside of Hogwarts grounds, do not hesitate to apprehend him," the Prime Minister said, making no secret he thought of Karkaroff as a terrorist who only was free due to being a slimy bastard who made a deal with a corrupt system.
After all, even considering a deal with someone with so much blood on his hands was morally bankrupt, war situation or not. That would have been like Britain accepting Rudolf Hess's help in World War II. No, should Karkaroff step outside of his bubble of protection, they would make sure he wouldn't escape the consequences of his dark deeds.
...Room of Requirement, the next day...
"Honestly, I would have never guessed that there is a door right there, had you not shown me," Dudley remarked while walking into the Room of Requirement. "Still bizarre that there is a room which can take any form we need."
"That was our reaction as well. We would have liked to show you earlier, but things had been a bit hectic over the past week with school work and all that preparation for the second task," Harry replied while closing the door after everyone was inside.
Indeed, this was the earliest they found the opportunity to actually share their findings about the whole smear campaign against them after their observations had been finished. They now wanted to discuss what to do so that the whole thing would stop or at least be defanged. They after all had no illusion that Skeeter would let go after having put her fangs into a target.
"And it really takes any form you need?" Millicent asked, taking in the room which right now looked like nothing out of the ordinary.
"Any form. We actually experimented and did such things a getting a swimming pool, a library, a workshop and even a disco floor complete with a disco ball hanging from the ceiling. There seems to be no limit to it," Hermione told them of their experiments.
Truth to be told, their experiments had been much fun and they knew they would find much use for this room in the future. The swimming pool was their favorite room, since the school had no equivalent and it thus allowed them to practice swimming even during winter and not having to resort to swimming in the Black Lake. The potential of the Room of Requirement was sheer limitless and it was a bit of a shame the school had no idea about it.
"Now, before we talk about our findings, you also think that what happened yesterday stinks of sabotage?" Ginny asked, referring to the two incidents during the second task the previous day.
"Even a blind man leaning on a cane would have seen that," Daphne snorted. "That nothing is written about it says more about those in charge than anything else."
"Though, to be honest, the Daily Prophet is hardly what I would call quality journalism," Hermione admitted.
That provoked a snort from Ron. "I wouldn't even wipe my arse with it. After all, I could catch something."
"Since Krum was again the only one not suffering from sabotage, it's pretty obvious it's Karkaroff." Millicent knew Karkaroff was the only one with the motive and the needed magical powers to do such sabotage. "But good luck proving that."
Harry shook his head. "Right now we can't do anything about him. Let's concentrate on the issue we can do something about."
"Granted, we didn't have an invisibility cloak or a special map available, but just watching Malfoy and Parkinson was enough to see they got their hands dirty," Dudley admitted.
"I have to admit that if you don't know what to look for, it is difficult to spot. Over several weeks we discovered their network of informers in the school and how all of the information reaches them. It's quite the secretive system," Luna explained, pushing her glasses up her nose while doing so. "Of course, once you do find a point where to start, it does unravel."
"Yes, it's a bit frightening that they got informers in all houses," Neville admitted, a bit frightened at what they had found. "We honestly underestimated them."
"After all the stupid things they did in previous years, we had not expected them to come up with something like that," Ginny said, before her face showed a downright frightening expression. "Still, these two tossers have to pay for what they did."
"So, what do you think we should do? After all, you can hardly tell the adults. You've got no hard proof and no way you can tell them that you know all these things due to spying," Daphne reminded them, seeing the upcoming problem.
"We are well too aware of that..." Harry admitted with a groan, remembering how they had talked about it before. It made everything more frustrating. "But there is something else we can do, though it won't exactly be legal."
"And as much as I hate to say it, I actually approve of the plan." Hermione was known to dislike breaking the rules, thus her saying this meant she had been pushed over her limit. "Granted, while Skeeter will continue writing, her being cut off from her source will most likely make things very difficult for her."
Dudley shared a look with Daphne and Millicent, both girls silently giving their consent. Dudley knew the die was cast. "Tell us what you are planning. After what happened a few weeks ago, all of us really want Malfoy and Parkinson to have their asses burned for all the crap they did to us."
"We've already developed a plan, but you three supporting us will make everything a lot easier," Luna said, only hints of her approval shining through.
"What kind of plan would that be?" Millicent asked.
It was a bit scary how Harry, who normally was a nice guy, could look so sinister. "We'll give Malfoy and Parkinson an evening they won't forget. An evening we make sure they won't forget so they stop the dirty game they are playing"
"However it'll take a little time. We need to prepare first. Also, all of us will have a difficult time to keep a straight face during it," Neville added.
"Oh, come on... Tell us," Daphne said a bit impatiently.
Thus they were told what exactly the plan was. And while they did blush when hearing what it would entail, they also couldn't help but to laugh when imagining how it would make that evening unforgettable in all the wrong ways for Malfoy and Parkinson. While it was quite cruel and most certainly against many school rules, these two very much deserved what now was coming for them.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"Darkening Clouds"
Notes:
Here the notes.
Yeah, Skeeter is butthurt and makes a serious error by also going after Millicent and Daphne. You should not make yourself too many enemies - especially powerful enemies. We also get a bit more detail how Lucius is clogging up the whole justice process. And of course the hate mail arrives just as predicted. Yet, Draco and Pansy will pay in one way or another.
More from the Slug Club. I hope I did Slughorn justice and fleshed out the process of how Slughorn operates. I reasoned after the disaster with Riddle, Slughorn would be more careful with selecting Club members (which already was hinted at in earlier chapters).
Of course the big part of this chapter is the second task. It's still underwater, but most certainly not in the lake and under more controlled circumstances and with more varied challenges. Also, the 'hostages' had to be volunteers or agree to the whole thing and there is no deception. Hope I did the task justice, though again sabotage is in play.
Poor Daphne, looks like Astoria just got someone that will give her numerous harebrained ideas. Mr. Greengrass being able to speak Bulgarian was a hint at this 'tradition' of languages in the Greengrass family.
Bagman won't be for much longer, that is for sure. Also, MI-X is not idle, either. And Draco and Pansy will soon get an evening they won't forget (for all the wrong reasons).
Btw., I can already announce that after Year 4 is done, there will be a hiatus, since I feel a bit burnt-out after the pace I write these chapters (one every two weeks) so I need more time for Year 5 and write ahead 8 - 9 chapters. Also, from now on there will be a hiatus after each school year.