Having landed in the start/finish platform in style, I then woke Victoria from her enchanted sleep in the most fairytale manner possible: gentle kiss to the sleeping beauty in my arms as I carefully maneuvered her body to be ready to stand.
I could hear the thundering cheers from Hogwarts students mixing with the going off of dozens of cameras from different news organizations and those wanting to capture the moment for personal reasons.
I felt my girl stirring as she woke and her reciprocation towards my kiss was nice, then she opened her eyes filled with warmth and slowly separated our lips.
"Morning my Queen. Just like I promised, got you out in no time at all." I cheekily said with a smile.
"Did you now? How long did it take?" She asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"7 minutes and 51 seconds out of an hour." I answered immediately.
"Shouldn't have taken more than 6 minutes knowing you." She said as she looked at me with the unsaid question in her eyes.
"You know how moonlight is. We haven't visited in a while and wanted to catch up a bit. She also had her own role to fulfill." I defended myself without missing a beat.
"Alright alright. Now put on a shirt before every girl around us gets a nosebleed or passes out. I can handle it, but they don't have any resistance towards that." Tory said as she relented.
I did take a quick look around and saw quite a few women and teenage girls looking at me with very heated gazes.
"Hahaha! Quite right! An easy fix." I say with a good laugh at the situation.
With a wave of my wand I summon my bottomless bag and quickly enchant my school robes to dress me, taking only a few moments to be fully clothed again.
"And here come the reporters for our perfect champion. How's it feel great and powerful lord Bones?" She then teasingly asked as we watched witches and wizards fighting to be the first to reach me.
"I'd much prefer going somewhere private with my lovely fiancé to show her my apology for making her wait." I whispered in her ear as I make her blush from the implication.
Unfortunately the reporters managed to make their way through the crowd and started to bombarded me with questions.
"Lord Bones, how did you get those scars?"
"How were you able to finish the task so quickly?"
"How are you able to use the level of magic you used in the first and second task?"
"What is your relationship with Miss Travers?"
"Are you planning on releasing anything new in your store?"
"Do you believe in the existence of Crumpled-horned Snorkacks?"
'When did Mr. Lovegood get here?' I thought when heard that one.
"Would you be willing to do a photo shoot with Incubus magazine?"
'Isn't that an adult magazine? How did they get permission to be here?' I wondered in shock when I heard that one.
"Please come over to Witch Weekly for an interview! Too many are sending us requests for one."
They continued to ask questions without end, so I simply raised my hand and let a bit of my rulers aura leak out to silence them.
"I am thankful for your desire to interview me, but I have already scheduled one with the Herald due to my own views coinciding with theirs on many issues, the professionalism they displayed during my previous interactions with them and their integrity which has been impeccable so far. Any other questions not asked during said interview shall unfortunately remain unanswered. Thank you for your attention and please do not interrupt the remainder of this task." I politely said since no one wants to be the enemy of the press for no reason.
They all dejectedly walked away after that and my friends were able to come and congratulate me for another first place, even if the scores will only be announced after everyone was done this time. But it isn't really up for debate when it comes to it.
And so an atmosphere of silent excitement and nervousness returned to the stands as everyone wanted to see the moment when the next champion would return, something which was hard to maintain after ten minutes had passed.
I was just enjoying myself be writing in one of my fresh idea journals as everyone watched a peaceful lake, discussing ideas with my friends and thinking of applications for our creations in general.
Christian had an idea for a type of peaceful illusion which could be applied to calm magical creatures in hopes of studying and interacting with them properly. The idea reminded me of the calm spell from Skyrim in my past life and kinda made a slew of new ideas come to me.
'I'll have to figure out which game spells and enchantments would be feasible with the magic system we use, but it is a fresh batch of ideas.' I thought as a result.
James suggested imbuing the spell into harnesses and the likes to only affect specific creatures, which really made our friends eyes light up.
As we workshopped with each other people were given us looks of awe and shock as we were talking about creating new magic like it was nothing. Thinking of revolutionizing magizoology and having new magical tools available.
Meanwhile Victoria was starting to edit her own medical books regarding her own potions, muggle medical breakthroughs and our combined book of light magic, new healing spells and light potions. Basically the creation of a future 'holy' book for healers.
Observers couldn't possibly understand what we were doing, but the headmaster was interested in our discussions as he probably saw us as important for the war which was about to restart in earnest. Good thing we are as far from dark magic and death eaters as possible. Well except for Tory, but she my wifey and is going to come out as the best healer and potion maker ever, as well as her capabilities with my new magic genre, so no problems there.
Not that I really care at this point since I can take either him or Pratlemort myself (maybe both if I keep improving), while my friends should be able to take on a few senior Aurors or core death eaters on their own now. Not counting my private army, spy network, wealth, media control, equipment, infrastructure and general knowledge on how both men work.
Yeah, I'm going to wreck their little game real soon.
Anyway, it took half an hour before Viktor came out with Hermione as he undid his partial shark transmutation and people started drying her.
Karkaroff was quite happy that his favorite was able to get back second.
Hermione was worried about Harry after she got her bearings and came over to my group with Viktor in tow.
Not even two minutes later Harry and Fleur popped out together with their own hostages, both also having a few scratches from underwater creatures or plants.
While they were being dried and warmed up, the judges discussed between each other and listened to the report from moonlight about how things went down there.
I imagine everyone would get a better score since they made it within the time limit, but I don't know how Harry's score will go since Cedric wasn't there and Fleur made it to Gabrielle.
Dumbledore then started his announcing of the scores, making everyone fall silent.
"Due to him being well within the time limit, finishing first, demonstrating mastery over water manipulation, rune creation and his own knowledge of mermish by holding peaceful discussions with our resident tribe, Mr. Bones is awarded a perfect score of 50 points!" He declared as frenzied cheers erupted from all sides, even as our two guest headmasters were having a polite smile and a scowl, whilst Percy looked smug and Bagman was sweating bullets.
"Mr. Krum showed am advanced form of transmutation, which although incomplete, rescued his hostage second and within the limit. He is awarded 47 points." Dumbledore said as Durmstrang and Krum fans cheered.
"Miss Delacour showed great mastery over the Bubble-head charm, as well as proper capabilities at combating underwater creatures, rescuing her hostage at the same time as Mr. Potter. She is awarded 45 points." The Headmaster declared as Madame Maxime smiled at her.
"And lastly Mr. Potter. Your ingenious use of Gillyweed, your desire to help other champions and their hostages, a fact that the Merchieftainess has told us that you were the second to reach the hostages, but refused to leave them behind and wanting to rescue all three and not merely his own. He has been granted 48 points." Announced the elderly man as he smiled proudly at the teen and cheers resounded from Hogwarts students once again.
So the order in which the champions would perform the final task was decided. I would go first with a total of 96/100 points, Harry would be second with 93, Viktor would be third with 87 and Fleur would enter last due to her having 85.
Our dear Headmaster finished up by announcing that the final task would occur at dusk on the 24th of June and that we would informed about its contents a month prior.
With that done, everyone could begin their celebration of whichever champions they supported, but I decided it was better to organize a big one to promote actual inter-school friendship as I borrowed the great hall and payed for a feast. Much better than having a few smaller celebrations and more memorable.
I mean, with my connections and money, all I needed was permission from the headmaster to use the Great Hall and get the other champions to show up. Everyone would follow after them in an effort to hear about the task or get to know the famous people.
Had Butterbeer brought in by the kegs, a bunch of juices, some harder stuff for visiting adults and legal age students. Had to enchant the cup to stop anyone underaged from getting to drink the harder stuff, something which Dumbledore found quite interesting as it was a clever application of the same principle as the age line he drew earlier this year.
Food and music was also brought in, making the whole affair an impromptu celebration for many, much less formal than the Yule ball, but a different kind of fun as everyone mingled.
A good night for everyone as they let loose after a kinda boring event for the spectators, and making proper memories and friends for students.
Pretty much everyone went to bed with smiles that day. Well except for people who got straight up rejected by girls they were trying to pick up or got blue balled when they tried to take them to bed.
It was hilarious watching that little bitch Malloy get straight up rejected by the Greengrass Sisters. He didn't dare try anything against them too since Victoria is actually pretty protective of them. Told me it was because they were in pretty similar situations being born as women in a sexist pureblood noble family, worrying about being married off by their own parents. She was even researching something for them, but said she couldn't tell me without their permission so I let it be and supported her however I could.
Three days passed after the second task, with the school still talking about the second task. Fortunately Ron was much better in my timeline since he has been able to achieve things through his own efforts and actually distinguish himself through the Dueling Club, so he wasn't making up ridiculous stories about fighting armed men. It also helped that Victoria just told everyone how it went for her so they would stop swarming her for information.
But then my little interview came in and made me the subject of talks once again.
'LORD BONES REVEALED
By Martha Cromwell
Many have questions about the new Lord of the most noble house Bones.
His intelligence and ingenuity have been lauded due to his creations, breakthroughs and record breaking grades.
His business acumen is said to be as sharp as a goblins.
His demonstration of strength against an actual dragon has set him in a league akin to the second coming of Merlin himself, Albus Dumbledore.
His looks are praised as perfect by nearly any witch who's seen a picture of the man.
But how many truly know him?
He spends his time either at Hogwarts or in his own home. He knows and interacts with many people, but only a few a actually close to him. He is a Champion of the triwizard tournament but keeps surprising all with his performance.
And so we arranged an interview with Lord Aedan Bones, to answer some of the popular questions about him.
When asked about his performances in this years reinstated tournament, the young lord has been very calm about his dominant performance. He said that he treats this as a way to make the wizarding world know that he is not just a brainiac. He didn't spend all of his time either cooped up in a library or laboratory. He informed us that he has been training extensively since a young age to achieve the results he had demonstrated and is always working towards new heights. His own words were that "I am not a weak and naive lord who can be taken advantage off. My aunt did not pass the lordship over to me simply because of emotions or guilt. She passed it to me because I have shown excellence in academics, management and magic, as well as it being something which should fall to me by birthright. And I have shown the world exactly that. Any who choose to belittle me after this will only be a fool for doing so."
An answer found in absolute confidence with himself and his achievements. Only to be followed up by questions on the most recent discovery about the young lord during the newly finished task: his scars.
At a young age of 17, lord Aedan Bones seems to have more scars covering his body than most Aurors, making many worried he had been abused as a child, giving birth to accusations against his aunt Amelia Bones, current head of the DMLE. The young man himself completely denied such accusations and gave a heavily censored reason for such scars.
"When my parents and the rest of my family were murdered by Death Eaters near the end of the war, I didn't miraculously escape or remained hidden. I was kidnapped and imprisoned under what I later found out was a Lestrange family manor, kept in a dark cell and later experimented on and tortured. The scars are evidence of the dark magic they used on me and said magic is also the reason behind my hair color being so different from others in my family. It was only after maybe 8 months and the fall of their lord that I was rescued by ministry Aurors."
A completely jarring answer from the young man. Especially since it means that he suffered through such events at the young age of 4.
Although he is capable of calmly speaking of such traumatic events, it would be disrespectful and insensitive to continue to dig into such a topic. Hence our next few questions being lighthearted until one such question many young witches have been hoping and dreading for an answer came up: Is the Young Lord Bones spoken for?
A question which gave the young man an amused smile and warm eyes as he simply answered it.
"Yes I am. I already have a truly wonderful fiancé by my side."
Simple and heartfelt, most likely breaking the hopes and dreams of countless young witches, but this is life. All princes will find their princesses, or in this case a lord found his lady.
The rest of our time was spent discussing other topics or gossips about the man and his business, things which shall be found on p.10 for full details. But one last question which was asked gave us a truly shocking answer.
What's next for Lord Aedan Bones?
"I am going to show the world what true light magic is. By the summer, the world will have an answer for dark magic. You will also see that my friends are worthy of being prodigies as well."
An answer which made this reporter shiver due to the intensity he displayed, leaving us in suspense.'