Chapter 141
Hermione blinked back at her for a few
moments, gaping like a fish out of water,
before what she was about to say occurred
to her, and she blushed in shame when
Daphne's expression stopped her from
commenting further.
Since not long after the move into the
apartment, Daphne had been educating both
Hermione and Harry on wizarding culture.
She'd been slowly working through a lot of
the reasons of the 'why' and the 'how' things
were done as they were. However, the best
lesson she had given was to convince
Hermione not to comment on matters she
was not fully aware of in advance. Harry then
used the matter of house elves and their
bonds - and Hermione's lack of
understanding the necessity of them when
she first learned of them - as the lead
example. Without a bond, house elves wither
and die. And the manner of death is very
unpleasant.
Hermione, after remembering what she tried
to accomplish in their previous fifth year, was
near inconsolable for the rest of the day. She
thought she had been responsible for the
horrid deaths of many of Hogwarts's house
elves. Harry had to tell her it was Dobby who
had collected up all the little hats Hermione
had knitted that year. And that she hadn't
unintentionally been the cause of painful
house elf deaths.
Turning back to Ackerman, with a sheepish
expression, she muttered, "Sorry."
With a bit of a light chuckle, Ackerman
replied, "That's quite alright, Miss Granger.
I've known many muggleborns who've had
the same reaction, in the past."
After a bit more discussion, where the
bondmates did not let the wily old wizarding
solicitor know Harry had already submitted
the parchmentwork to be emancipated,
Ackerman left with new instructions for both
himself and Margaret.
The following Saturday evening, the
bondmates celebrated Harry's emancipation.
The goblins had submitted the
parchmentwork immediately, as promised,
and the week had now passed by with nary a
whisper of anyone learning of the change of
status.
Part of the celebration included the
bondmates writing to Mafalda Hopkirk of the
Ministry, the Improper Use of Magic Office,
who were charged with detecting underage
magic so he could get the Trace removed.
They were also aware that, once Madam
Hopkirk was in receipt of that
letter, everyone would know in a matter of
hours. If there was one thing the Ministry
was very good at, it was a complete inability
to keep anything secret. Especially, when it
came to one Harry James Potter.
So, they prepared for the Headmaster to
accost Harry about it either Sunday evening
or Monday morning. Of course, it was not
difficult for them to deduce the Headmaster
would try to get the emancipation
overturned. He would first try to get Harry to
request reversing it, before then trying to use
his Chief Warlock status to get it done.
That meant writing to Madam Bones, who
was Head of the Department of Magical Law
Enforcement, the department that covered
underaged magic, to explain why Harry
sought emancipation; and who was involved
in determining he was considered of-age the
night his name came out of the Goblet. They
believed that naming Dumbledore as one of
the people who determined he would have
to compete that night, would effectively pull
the rug out from under Dumbledore's
attempt to have his emancipation
overturned.
Sure enough, Monday morning's Daily
Prophet screamed the headline that Harry
Potter was emancipated.
* # *
BOY-WHO-LIVED NOW ADULT
As a result of Mister Harry Potter's (14) name
coming out of the Goblet of Fire, and being
named a competitor in the Tri-Wizard
Tournament, the Boy-Who-Lived applied for
emancipation, and it was granted, writes
Hieronymus Cartwright.
For those unaware, the Ministry deemed
only those witches and wizards attending the
three eminent European schools of magic -
Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang who
were of-age - were permitted to compete in
the Tri-Wizard Tournament. As Mister Potter
was chosen, and he was not immediately
disqualified, Mister Potter appears to have
used the opportunity to have himself
declared emancipated; and, therefore,
of-age.
The Daily Prophet has already alerted you
that, on the 1st of September, Mister Potter
became bonded to two similarly aged
witches. What Mister Potter's emancipation
means for those two witches is not yet
known.
* # *
"Damn it!" Harry softly exclaimed, on
reading the paper. "While the article is
truthful, it still makes me out to be a 'bad
guy'. It implies I'll possibly force an early
marriage between us; so I can have my
wicked ways with you."
Daphne laughed and said, "But
you already have your wicked ways with us.
Clearly, this Cartwright character has no idea
about soul-bonds. It's well known what
happens to establish and finalise such a
bond."
The three bondmates had now progressed
their soul bond to the point they were
engaged in acts that would surpass what
would be considered 'M' rated if they were in
a story or movie. However, they still hadn't
taken the final step; full sexual intercourse.
"Humph!" muttered Hermione. "No doubt
there will be others, including Miss Pentridge,
who will soon set him right."
As expected, two days later Harry received a
summonse to appear before an emergency
sitting of the Wizengamot to determine
whether or not he should retain his
emancipation. Of course, the motion was
made by Dumbledore.
With muttered imprecations, Harry handed
the summonse off to Daphne. "The old fool
just can't leave well enough alone."
"He's panicking," she replied. "He's so
worried you'll run for the colonies first
chance you get he's trying everything he can
to keep you here."
"That's something we three haven't properly
discussed, you know," said Hermione, after
she read the summonse. "Do we actually go,
or not?"
With a frustrated sigh, he replied, "Actually,
most of what I said about that was just to
keep Dumbledore hopping. I was dangling
the threat out there to worry him. I don't
know if we should or not.
"I say... maybe," he said. "Both of you have
family here... and little Astoria will be left
without her big sister and future
brother-in-law around to protect her... if we
were to leave the country. It's that which is
holding me back."
"There is another option," put Hermione.
"We get the Headmaster to make a magical
oath he will cease and desist all efforts to try
and control you beyond the role of
Headmaster."
"He's too tricky for that," disagreed Daphne.
She thought a bit and said, "I say, go ahead
with setting up a transfer for the three of us
to Salem. Have everything organised. Once
we do that... and Dumbledore sees you're
being serious... he may come up with the
idea of a vow or oath he's willing to abide
by."
Chapter 142
Nodding, Harry looked at Hermione and saw
she was in agreement. Turning back to
Daphne, he said, "Let's do that, then.
However, I also want to talk to Sirius first,
though. But, I think I'm pretty sure in stating I
think he'd even come with us if we were
actually going to go."
"It's a plan," nodded Hermione.
She then reached out and pulled another
sheet of parchment towards herself and
asked, "Does anyone know to whom I'd have
to address a letter to the Headmaster of
Salem?"
"To the Headmaster 'slash' Headmist... No.
To the Principal, Salem Witches Academy,
Salem Massachusetts," muttered Daphne.
"Of course," sighed Hermione, as if she was a
little angry with herself. "They call
them Principals, over there, don't they?"
Daphne just nodded.
"Don't get worked up about it, Hermione,"
Harry chided the girl. "You're not expected to
know everything. Or, even remember
everything you know as if with a snap of your
fingers."
Again, the three dressed in their finest to
attend the hearing before the Wizengamot.
This time, it was Deece who came and
collected them. Thankfully, however,
Dumbledore did not try and stop them from
leaving.
They entered the atrium via Floo, passed
through the checkpoint, and headed directly
to the same courtroom as before. Courtroom
Ten; the largest available.
Harry caught the attention of one of the
aurors on the main floor and asked, "Do I
need to go into the antechamber, this time?
Or, do I get to stay in here?"
"In here, Mister Potter," said the auror, who
Harry recognised from before but didn't
know. "Just take a seat at the table, over
there." The auror pointed him to leftmost of
a pair of tables sitting side-by-side with a
four foot gap between them.
Harry went and sat at one of the chairs just
as Stewart Ackerman walked in and headed
across. He took the other seat of the two at
the table and asked, "Alright there, Harry?"
"Alright, Stewart," he sighed.
"It appears your Headmaster is again up to
his old tricks, eh?" the solicitor asked.
"Yeah," sighed Harry again.
As they were quietly conversing, Dumbledore
walked in and took seat at the other table, as
if he had not a care in the world. He did not
even acknowledge Harry's or Stewart's
attendance.
They were sitting for less than a minute
when Percy Weasley, who was again sitting in
the Court Scribe's seat, rose and intoned,
"Hear ye! All those with business before the
Wizengamot this day, please rise."
Everyone stood as the Wizengamot filed in
and took seat. At least, this time, they
weren't all looking at him with distaste - or
worse. The Pink Toad was not in attendance.
The one who took the centre chair, Harry
recognised him as Tiberius Ogden, sat first
and banged his gavel the once. "Be seated,"
he ordered.
After everyone sat, he turned to Percy and
demanded, "What business brings us to
assemble this day, Scribe?"
"You have, before you, a request - filed by
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore - to
have the emancipation of Harry James Potter
overturned," Percy dutifully replied.
"I see," nodded Ogden. Turning to the centre
of the floor he asked, "Mister Dumbledore,
you wish to proceed?"
"I do, Acting Chief Warlock," replied
Dumbledore. "And it's Chief Warlock
Dumbledore, Acting Chief Warlock."
"Not while you're sitting in that chair, it's
not," disagreed Ogden, with a very slight
smirk. "You claimed magical guardianship
over Mister Potter as Mister Dumbledore;
not Chief Warlock Dumbledore. If you had, I
daresay you'd no longer be Chief Warlock,
anyway."
Dumbledore just gave a short nod in reply, as
if in acknowledgement.
Turning to look at Harry, Ogden asked,
"Mister Potter, you wish to contest?"
As Ogden was speaking, Stewart laid his
hand on Harry's near arm as if to hold him in
his seat. Once the question was asked, he
stood and replied, "Stewart Ackerman,
solicitor and legal representative for Mister
Harry James Potter. Mister Potter contests
the claim."
"Very well," said Ogden with a nod, as if
there was any doubt.
Turning back to Dumbledore, he instructed,
"Mister Dumbledore, as the Applicant, it
behoves you to prove your claim. The floor is
yours."
What followed for the next twenty to thirty
minutes was Dumbledore listing all the
reasons he could think of for why Harry
shouldn't be allowed to keep his
emancipation. He made claims Harry was too
young, too lacking of knowledge of the
wizarding world, the Potter fortune was too
large for such a young man to properly
manage without oversight, he had no
training in managing such a large fortune,
and he was still a student and therefore did
not have the time to rectify all those matters.
Then he switched to how he had dutifully
taken care of the Potter fortune for the day
Harry would then be able to properly deal
with it, he kept Harry safe from remnants of
the Death Eaters in the days after Riddle's
disappearance, Harry's recalcitrant recent
behaviour in school, and how Sirius had yet
to put in an appearance and rightfully take
Harry's guardianship - and that meant the
guardianship should be returned to him.
During Dumbledore's testimony Ackerman
was writing away and was simultaneously
doing his best to keep Harry calm. Harry, for
his part, was also writing short notes to add
to the prodigious notes Stewart was taking,
and passing them over.
Once Dumbledore finished, his posture stood
as if to say there could be no doubt Harry's
emancipation should be overturned and
guardianship returned to him, before he
finally resumed his seat.
Once Dumbledore sat, Ogden turned to
Stewart and asked, "Mister Ackerman; your
response?"
Not rushing, Stewart rose to his feet almost
negligently holding his notes within his grasp.
He then started slow and kept the pace and
cadence of his words calm and composed as
he responded to each and every claim
Dumbledore made. On two occasions he
even agreed with Dumbledore's reasoning.
But, that pointed out how unreasonable
Dumbledore was being in other areas.
He then went into how Dumbledore, himself,
agreed with Harry having to compete in the
Tri-Wizard Tournament. And mentioned that,
by doing so, Dumbledore recognised Harry to
be of-age. He then covered how two
department Heads from the Ministry agreed,
as did the other two Heads of School.
Chapter 143
He covered how Harry was showing much
maturity by employing himself and the
goblins to positions of advisors, and that he
listened and didn't act rash. And how he was
in a three-way soul bond with both a
pureblood and muggleborn witch. Both of
whom were recognised as high achievers in
the same school for which Dumbledore was
Headmaster. He spoke of how it would be
magic which would soon see the three
married, and would automatically
emancipate them, anyway. That it had not,
as yet, done such showed the three were not
rushing matters regarding their bonds, and
was evidence the bonds were clearly not yet
finalised.
He then went directly into an attack of
Dumbledore, himself. He covered how
Dumbledore had already failed in his duties
as magical guardian to ensure Harry was not
mistreated while under the so-called care of
his muggle relatives; presented evidence
from the goblins that Dumbledore had not
been in to see the Potter Senior Account
Keeper concerning the Potter fortune, let
alone properly manage the gold and
investments, as he had claimed to have done;
already provided evidence before the
Wizengamot he did not have time to handle
all his responsibilities regarding magical
guardianship, to whit Dumbledore's own
testimony Harry was not ready to take up the
affairs of his House; argued how Dumbledore
could not possibly have time to handle the
current duties he had of Chief Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump and Headmaster of
Hogwarts, let alone tack on magical
guardianship again; and slickly and
effectively turned almost all of Dumbledore's
arguments back upon him.
"In conclusion, Acting Chief Warlock Ogden,"
he wrapped up, "Questions are already being
raised within the media and among the
populace as to how the Wizengamot could
possibly have erred so badly as to hand
magical guardianship to Mister Dumbledore,
in the first place. Please, do not add to that
by giving Dumbledore guardianship, once
more. Especially when Mister Potter has
done nothing to show he is incapable of
taking care of himself, his ladies and their
needs." And sat down.
After a few moments of muttering among
the assembled, Ogden said, "Yes, well." He
raised his gavel and banged it once. "We'll
retire to make our deliberations."
The Wizengamot rose, almost as one, and
filed out of the room.
As soon as they left, Stewart turned to Harry
and said, "Depending on how much
Dumbledore bribed the members, you've
won this."
"Bribed?" asked Harry, a little shocked.
"Yes, Harry; bribed," replied his solicitor. He
looked over to Dumbledore and could see
the old man sitting as relaxed as could be.
That, more than Ackerman's words, worried
him.
The members returned more than half an
hour later. To Harry, it felt as if they were
gone for hours.
Once everyone was seated again, Ogden
called for both parties to rise.
Looking at them both, he said, "We have
deliberated long and hard to reach a decision
that is best for Mister Potter's best interests.
To that end, it is the decision of this body to...
allow Mister Potter to retain his
emancipation."
That brought forth a number of muttering
voices from behind. Some shocked by the
outcome; others clearly believing no other
choice was expected. Harry turned and
grinned at his two bondmates before quickly
turning back again. A quick glance at
Dumbledore showed the man to be both
quite surprised and angry at the declaration.
Looking directly at him, the Acting Chief
Warlock asked, "Mister Potter, only to sate
an old man's curiosity, if the decision had
fallen against you, how soon would you have
finalised your bonds?"
Harry frowned at the question but answered
as honestly as he could. "It would have made
no difference. I, personally, would not have
re-sought emancipation using the bonds.
That would have been grossly unfair to my
two ladies; and to myself."
Nodding, Ogden said, "Well said. And yet
further evidence Mister Potter is worthy to
be emancipated."
Banging his gavel once, the Acting Chief
Warlock said, "We are adjourned."
Harry rose and was about to go directly to his
bondmates' sides when, instead, he hurried
to the benches and offered his hand to
Ogden.
Surprised, Ogden rose, leaned over and took
the offered hand, before they shook. "Thank
you, Sir," Harry said with emotion.
"You're quite welcome, Mister Potter,"
Ogden replied with a smile. Neither noticed
the flash of a wizarding camera as both stood
there with their hands clasped.
As the three, with Deece, made their way out
of the courtroom, standing just outside the
door was Sirius with a huge grin on his face.
"Sirius!" cried Harry, dashing the couple of
feet forward to wrap his godfather in a hug.
"When did you get back?"
"Yesterday evening," replied Sirius. "This
morning, I was in discussions with Amelia
Bones, going over memories and what not."
"It's done then?" asked Harry, full of hope.
"You're officially free?"
"Yep," his godfather beamed back with a
huge grin. "I came down here and hid in the
back just in case the case went against you. If
Dumbledore had been successful in getting
your emancipation overturned, I was all set
to claim guardianship of you myself. You had
nothing to fear, but I couldn't let you know
that."
"Don't worry about it," Harry gushed. "I'm
just glad you're back and free."
"That I am, pup!" his godfather
enthusiastically said. "And, I hear, it's all
thanks to you."
"Oh! No, Sirius," replied Harry, startled. He
turned to his two bondmates and ushered
them forward. "It's all thanks to these two
lovely ladies."
"Daphne, mainly," corrected Hermione.
"She's the one who brought her father in.
And he's the one who organised the solicitors
for us."
Chapter 144
Harry indicated Stewart and introduced him.
"Sirius," he said. "This is Stewart Ackerman,
solicitor par excellence. He and his partner,
Margaret Pentridge, are the ones who
planned it all out to get you free."
Sirius stepped forward and shook Stewart's
hand. "Thank you," he gushed.
"Think nothing of it, Mister Black," replied
Stewart, smiling. "It's all part of the service
Mister Potter, here, has retained us to
accomplish." Turning to Harry, he said, "Until
next time, Mister Potter." And, with a nod
and smile to all, he departed.
Sirius turned to Deece and said, "Madam
Greengrass; you have my thanks. The House
of Black is in your debt."
"No, Mister Black, it's not," disagreed Deece.
"My husband, Matthias, was just the
go-between for Harry and Ackerman. Harry,
my daughter, and Miss Granger are the
heroes, here."
"Stewart... Mister Ackerman and I came up
with a cunning plan to use the hearing from a
couple of weeks ago to make it public you
were innocent. We just enacted that plan,"
explained Harry. "You've actually been
considered exonerated of all charges and
deemed free since then. It's just that no one
could get in touch with you, what with the
owl block wards or whatever."
"I was in the Tahitian Islands," explained
Sirius. "The Blacks have a private holiday
home, there. I'd forgotten about the mail
blocks. They were put in by a previous Head
of House to stop mail turning up while he
was on holiday. He liked his isolation."
"Well, I have to get these three back to
Hogwarts," interrupted Deece. "Besides,
we're making a bit of a spectacle of ourselves
standing here."
Sirius nodded and looked back at Harry
before he said, "I've got something to send
you. It's a way for us to better keep in touch.
I'll send it as soon as I settle back in London."
Harry and Hermione both knew he was
referring to the communication mirror.
"Sounds good," said Harry.
"In the meantime, I've got to get to Gringotts
to sort out the Black finances," explained
Sirius. "Look for my owl."
"Will do," replied Harry, as Deece led them
back upstairs to the atrium to Floo back to
Hogsmeade.
The plan for facing the dragon in the first task
was polished, with Harry practicing the
charms and curses he needed for the various
plans and alternates, in the Room of
Requirement.
Sirius's mirror arrived via owl a couple of
days later, as he'd promised.
The three were in Charms when young Colin
Creevey came in with a note for Professor
Flitwick.
Accepting the note and glancing over at
Harry, the diminutive Professor said, "It
seems you're needed for the wand-weighing
ceremony, Mister Potter. You're excused for
the rest of the class."
Harry nodded back and packed up his school
work. Young Colin stood by, excited, and
almost hopping from foot to foot as Harry
packed up.
Once ready, Harry gave his girls a quick hug
while they whispered words of being careful
about Rita Skeeter, and he followed young
Mister Creevey to the same abandoned
classroom he remembered from the previous
time.
When he walked in the three champions
were standing together off to one side,
quietly chatting. Ludo Bagman was, as
expected, sitting with Skeeter on one of the
chairs that were set up for a photo shoot.
The photographer, Harry couldn't remember
his name - Bozo, or something - was standing
apart, fiddling with his camera.
"Ah! Mister Potter," gushed Bagman. "Our
fourth champion!"
"I'm not a bloody champion, Useless! You
know that!" Harry growled back. "I'm an
unwilling competitor, only."
As he was growling back at Bagman, Skeeter
had sidled forward and said, "Mister Potter.
It's nice to finally meet you." She grabbed his
arm and started to drag him aside. "Perhaps
we can..."
That was as far as she got before Harry's
hand snapped across and, none gently,
ripped Skeeter's fingers off her grip on his
arm. "Get your hands off me, woman," he
snarled.
"Oh! Errr... of course, Mister Potter," she
stuttered. "I was just wondering if I might
have a quiet word before we began the...
official interviews. I'm sure you understand,"
she gushed, getting her equilibrium back.
Harry gave a short sharp nod and walked into
the corner of the room. Skeeter quickly
caught up.
Once she'd rejoined him, and before she
could begin to even pull out her
'Quik-quotes' quill, Harry quietly but firmly
said, "Listen up, Skeeter. I know what sort of
shit masquerading as news you write. As
you're now no doubt aware, I have retained
legal counsel specialising in slander and libel.
They'll be very interested in what you want
to write as I've given them carte blanche to
go for the jugular of any reporter who writes
bullshit about me."
Skeeter had frozen in place when Harry
began to talk. She was looking a little afraid,
but it clearly wasn't enough. Then Harry
leaned closer, right into her comfort zone,
and growled, "And when they're done with
you, I'm going to take great pleasure
in crushing you like a little bug. Something
like a water beetle, perhaps?"
As he spoke, Skeeter went white and looked
a little faint. She didn't utter a word.
"If you write the truth about me, Skeeter," he
said leaning back again. "No matter how
embarrassing it is, you and I won't have a
problem. But you write one word of a lie...
Well, I believe the Daily Prophet will be
looking for a new gossipmonger. Am I clear?"
Skeeter gaped at him like a fish, for a few
moments.
Glaring back, Harry growled, "Am... I... Clear...
Miss Skeeter?"
The witch quickly nodded back and stuttered,
"Y-yes, Mister Potter."
Relaxing his face from its glare, Harry then
added the carrot from the stick. He said,
"Good. Now, if you prove you can behave
yourself, then I'll give you the odd exclusive
interview, now and then."
That roused the witch-reporter, whose eyes
suddenly gleamed.
Recognising the expression, Harry nodded
back and said, "Finally, do you have any
questions for me?"
Skeeter quickly reached into her oversized
pursed and drew out the Quik-quotes quill.
"Miss Skeeter..." he growled.
Almost jumping in fright, Skeeter quickly
jammed the lime green quill back in her bag
and withdrew a normal dicta-quill, and set it
going. Harry waited for her.
Once she was ready, she hesitantly asked,
"Now, Mister Potter. How did you feel the
night your name... mysteriously... came out
of the Goblet of Fire."
"At first, shock. I, of course, had not entered
my name, so it coming out of the Goblet was
completely unexpected.
"Next, anger. I had warned Dumbledore that
I feared my name would come out of the
Goblet. Clearly, he's so full of his own
self-importance he thought he knew better
than me, a simple fourth year student. He
was wrong. A situation in which he is often
found.
"Third, fear. I'm a fourth year student in a
competition designed with seventh year
students, in mind. I simply do not have the
education obviously planned for when
whatever the tasks are were designed.
Chapter 145
Clearly, someone wants me to fail and,
probably, die in one of these tasks. Or, at the
very least, see me stripped of my magic.
"I see my unwilling entrance into the
Tri-Wizard Tournament as nothing less than
yet another attempt to do me harm.
"Yes," replied Skeeter, though no reply was
required. Harry knew she was just using the
break to think of her next question.
"How do you feel of your chances?" she
asked.
"In what way?" Harry asked right back. "In
winning? Zero. I don't even care what scores
I receive, so I'm certainly not trying to win.
My only goal is to survive this accursed event.
And, my chances of accomplishing that, I just
don't know."
"I see," she said, watching the dicta-quill
finish writing it's last few lines. "How do your
bondmates feel about you being a
champion?"
"Your question is a nonsense, Miss Skeeter,"
he replied. "I am not a champion; ergo, they
don't think anything of it."
"Sorry. As a competitor, I mean," she
corrected.
"They want me to live, of course," he replied.
"Just as I, they hope for me to survive this
stupidity masked as a spectator event. We
are united in this."
"And how is life as someone bonded to two
witches?" she asked.
"That is irrelevant to the Tri-Wizard
Tournament, Miss Skeeter," he snapped back.
"Keep your questions relevant to that event."
With a quick moue of frustration, Skeeter
was about to ask her next question when
Dumbledore entered with Barty Crouch
Senior, the other two Heads and Garrick
Ollivander in tow.
Dumbledore, spotting him talking to Skeeter,
quickly hurried over and gripped Harry by
the elbow, intent in tugging him away.
Harry, already expecting the move, quickly
grasped Dumbledore by his wrist, broke the
hold on his elbow and, pivoting, used his grip
to flip Dumbledore over onto his back,
pinning him to the floor with an arm lock and
his foot on his neck pinning the old man's
head down.
"Bloody hell, Dumbledore!" Harry barked out,
releasing his grip and stepping away. "I
bloody warned you not to suddenly grab
hold of me like that! You're damned lucky I
didn't dislocate your shoulder!
Don't ever attack me like that, again!"
There was a flash of wizarding camera flash,
as Harry stepped away.
'That'll be front page tomorrow,' thought
Harry, hiding his grin.
Madam Maxime, while staring in shock at
Harry, helped the old man to his feet while
he rubbed his neck where Harry's shoe was
pressed down.
"Monsieur Potier," she gasped. "Was zat
completely necessary?"
"Yes, Headmistress," he replied. "I
react badly to being physically assaulted. It
comes from being raised in an abusive
household, where I was
continuously beaten and whipped just for
being the son of my aunt's sister. I thought I
was being attacked."
"I was not attacking you, Harry," Dumbledore
firmly spoke out. "I was simply trying to get
you away from the... influences of Miss
Skeeter."
"Ah!" said Harry. "Well, as I'm an
emancipated minor, you again overstepped
the bounds of your authority. As such, you
getting yourself tossed to the floor when I
defended myself from your physical assault,
was your own fault."
In the very uncomfortable silence, Bagman
interjected with a falsely cheerful voice.
"Well, now that the excitement has passed,
shall we get on with it?"
After that, the 'Weighing of the Wands' went
as in the previous timeline; except Harry
refused having an individual photo taken, nor
being placed in the middle of the shot. When
the photographer asked for a shot of 'the
champions on their own', Harry stepped out
of the shot and stood behind Madam
Maxime... though Dumbledore kept trying to
shepherd him back... frustrating the
photographer, no end.
Finally, the day of the first task dawned
bright and clear. Harry had advised Diggory
three days earlier that they'd be facing
dragons in the first task, as he had done in
the previous timeline. He also mentioned
how transfiguring multiple rocks into
'creatures' that would distract the dragon
would be a better idea than just one creature
the dragon could devour or fry in an instant.
Instead of heading directly to the Ravenclaw
table for breakfast, Harry headed to the head
table. There, he stopped just off the dais and
clearly spoke. "So, Headmaster," he called.
"You still feel I have to participate in this
farce?"
With a frown, Dumbledore said, "Perhaps we
should take this to my office, Harry."
"Perhaps not," replied Harry. "This is, after
all, a public spectacle. It's not all that much
different to the lions and Christians in the
Colosseum of Rome, is it not?" Without
waiting for a response he continued, "Now,
so everyone knows, do you still demand I
participate in this farce?"
With his near-patented grandfatherly sigh,
Dumbledore said, "Yes, Harry; I'm afraid you
must."
"And if I don't?" he asked.
"Then you would lose your magic," replied
Dumbledore.
With a slow nod, Harry said, "It is my
understanding the first task usually involves
the competitor facing a very dangerous
magical creature. That anyone who cared to
look could see four dragons poorly hidden
within the Forbidden Forest from the
Astronomy Tower, last night, means it's not
hard to figure out each champion will be
facing one of the beasts, each.
"So, Headmaster, I believe it is prudent for
me to advise you in advance; any and all
beasts set before me in one of these tasks,
you can consider forfeit. If you put it in my
way; I'm quite likely to kill it. That also
includes sentient creatures. You have been
warned."
Before Dumbledore could respond, Harry
spun about and walked down the Hall to sit
with his bondmates at the Ravenclaw table.
Dumbledore quickly rose and stormed from
the Hall through the staff entrance; Snape
following in his wake.
Immediately before lunch, Harry returned to
the apartment to change into his competitor
robes that Dobby had brought him. Looking
at them, he saw they were in Gryffindor
colours and had the Hogwarts and Gryffindor
crests on the breast.
Indicating them to his bondmates, he asked,
"Are you seeing this?"
"We are," replied Daphne. "But, why are
they there?"
Chapter 146
"It's Dumbledore's work," sighed Hermione.
"He still wants everyone to believe that
Harry is a champion for Hogwarts, and that
he's a Gryffindor."
"Not going to happen," muttered Daphne.
She stepped forward and waved her wand a
couple times over the robes. At first, they
altered to plain black without the crests.
However, after a few moments, they
reverted back.
"They're heavily charmed," she said. "I
cannot force the change."
"Then I don't wear them, at all," Harry firmly
stated. "We'll reconfigure a different set of
robes and I'll wear those, instead."
He turned and walked to his wardrobe,
pulling out a set of plain work robes and
laying them on the bed next to the set left by
Dumbledore. Concentrating, he forced them
into a near copy of the robes that had been
left for him. However, this set was dark
green.
"Diggory will wear black robes trimmed with
yellow, Delacour will wear light blue robes
and Krum will wear grey with red trim," he
explained. "Therefore, I chose something
with a green base."
Daphne then stepped forward and
configured a Potter crest to appear over the
breast. Pleased with what he was seeing,
Harry smirked and configured twinned
Greengrass and Granger crests to appear
side-by-side directly below the Potter crest,
so the three formed a bit of a triangle.
"I have a crest?" asked Hermione looking at
the Granger crest in surprise.
Harry snickered and replied, "Almost every
family, whether magical or muggle, does. It
wasn't hard to find a Granger crest. The
difficulty was in discovering which of the
various ones was yours. Your father helped
me with that."
"What're those tiny things on the white
inverted 'V' on yours?" she asked.
Trying not to laugh, Harry replied, "The white
inverted 'V' is actually referred to as a
chevron. And 'those things', as you described
them, are actually sable tails. It's to signify
that the white is actually sable, rather
than just white."
While Harry was describing the crests
Daphne was looking at the front of the robes
and frowning a little. Suddenly, she grinned
and created a fourth crest. This one appeared
on the left sleeve, about four inches below
the point of the shoulder. It was the Black
family crest. A further wave of her wand and
a 'blank' crest appeared on the other breast
across from the first three. The banner
directly under it read 'Unaligned'.
Picking the robes up and flipping them over,
she then created a banner across the back of
them. The banner would be perfectly aligned
to appear across the back of Harry's
shoulders.
I'm Looking for a New School
Owl Me!
Harry laughed and gleefully stated, "That's
perfect!"
"Hang on a bit," muttered Daphne. She then
worked a small set of runes into the border
and into the edging of each crest.
"What's that for?" he asked.
"It stops someone changing it to something
else, or simply removing it. I just pinched the
idea from Dumbledore's attempt on those
other competitor's robes," she said with a
moue of distaste and a gesture at the ones
Dobby had brought.
Chuckling, Harry hurriedly donned the new
robes and the three made their way down to
the Great Hall for lunch.
Walking in to the Great Hall, there was little
change until some of the older students,
sitting at the back of the Hall could see what
was written across the back of Harry's
shoulders. Then there was stunned silence.
Within moments, there was a lot of hurried
whispering among the students. Some even
rose from their seats to come over and have
a better look. Many were clearly in disbelief
at what was written.
Professor McGonagall, curious herself, came
down to take a look. With an almost
horrified expression on her face, she turned
about and hurried back to the head table. A
few moments of whispered conversation
with the Headmaster, and Dumbledore came
down to look for himself. The three
bondmates chose to ignore it all, and just
partook of their lunch.
"Mister Potter, what is the meaning of this?"
asked the Headmaster to Harry's back.
Setting down his cutlery, Harry turned about
and asked, "What is the meaning of what,
Headmaster Dumbledore?"
"What you have written on your back?"
asked Dumbledore. Harry saw Dumbledore
then see the front of the robes and frown.
"Those are not the robes you were sent to
wear."
"Ah," said Harry, pretending to understand.
"You sent those robes?"
"I did," replied the old man.
"Well, sir; I refused to wear them as they
represented a lie. I am not the Hogwarts'
Champion, so to wear the Hogwarts crest
was wrong. I am not a member of Gryffindor,
so wearing the Gryffindor crest was wrong,
as was wearing Gryffindor colours.
"Further, I had no idea where they came
from. And, as they were heavily charmed, I
could not trust them. So, I and my ladies
prepared a new set." Looking down he
indicated, "I chose green because the ladies
like me wearing that colour. According to
them, it enhances my eyes. As I'm not
representing any particular school I see no
reason to wear a school crest. The blank crest
represents that I'm unaligned to a school.
Instead, we came up with the idea of
wearing the Potter, Greengrass and Granger
crests with the Black crest on the sleeve as
an aligned House.
"And the banner across the back is a bit of
advertising showing that I'm looking for
offers from other schools to attend the rest
of my schooling there. This sort of thing
occurs all the time in the muggle world, and
we decided to adopt the idea. Ingenious,
wouldn't you say?"
"No, Mister Potter, I would not," scowled
Dumbledore. He quickly drew his wand from
his belt and gave it a quick swish over Harry.
For only a bare moment, almost missed,
Harry's robes changed to what was in the
apartment. However, that bare short
moment was all. They immediately reverted
back to what Harry wore as he walked into
the Hall.
Harry and both girls drew their own wands
and pointed them back at the Headmaster.
"Cast a spell over me again, Headmaster
Dumbledore... without first explaining it, in
detail, and gaining my permission... I shall
consider it an attack and retaliate. You may
expect lethal force to be used. Back down!"
Those close by who heard Harry's
proclamation gasped in shock.
Dumbledore scowled and forcefully shoved
his wand back into his belt. "Get rid of it!" he
demanded.
Chapter 147
"You have no right to make such a demand,
Headmaster Dumbledore," retorted Harry. "I
have already informed you I'll be seeking to
complete my schooling at another education
institution. I remain only due to my unwilling
participation in the farce you call a Tri-Wizard
Tournament. And, you are bound by that
same contract to provide me houseroom for
the duration.
"In other words, I no longer consider you my
Headmaster. You are the Headmaster of a
school for which I no longer consider myself
a student."
"You cannot just walk out on magical Britain,
Mister Potter," ground out Dumbledore, as
Professor McGonagall stood there looking
horrified.
"I can't?" smirked Harry. Still standing, he
looked around the Great Hall at all the
students sitting there, watching the drama
play out before them. "In my second year,
many of you idiots... well, except for the
current crop of first and second years... spent
almost the whole year calling me the Heir of
Slytherin, and claiming I was a dark lord who
had released Slytherin's monster upon you
all. You behaved most appallingly. It was,
without any doubt, bullying. That the staff
here did nothing to stop it when they knew
damned well it was occurring is, quite
frankly, disgusting.
"I assure you, in the muggle world, they
have laws against this sort of thing. The
muggleborn and raised can confirm that for
you. Those laws would have been
immediately enacted, and the entirety of the
staff would have been, up to and including,
arrested and charged for it.
"Many of you refused to believe it was me.
You even raised the logical points that I
could not be the Heir as I was the victim of
the one who laid claim to that title, Tom
Marvolo Riddle. However, you too found
yourselves shunned. For that, I thank you.
"However," he continued, as he began
walking around the tables, "There were some
of you who did far more harm than your
school mates." He looked to Susan Bones and
said, "Miss Bones, for instance, completely
forgot that there existed an alliance between
House Potter and House Bones. I wonder
what her aunt would say if I was to tell her
that I declare the alliance terminated due to
the behaviour of her niece, the next Head of
her House, towards me."
The fourth Year Hufflepuff, Susan Bones,
suddenly turned white in fear and shock.
"No!" she squeaked.
Harry smirked at her, "I have sufficient cause,
Miss Bones. Your behaviour saw to that. Plus,
even after you knew the truth,
you never apologised for your disgusting
behaviour. Even when you witnessed others
doing it, as a reminder to you."
Turning to face others, he indicated them and
said, "The same goes for Mister Corner and
House Corner; Mister McMillan and House
McMillan; Miss Brocklehurst and House
Brocklehurst; and others.
"But, what many of you should know... and
probably don't... is that I am also Heir Black.
That means, all those who have alliances
with House Black, are in the same leaky boat.
The current Head of House Black, Sirius Black,
has just taken up his Headship. He's also my
godfather.
"That means... right now... I can ask him to
call all debts due because of the actions of
those who are Heirs of Houses owing Houses
Potter and/or Black. I can terminate those
alliances for cause.
"But, you didn't just slander me in my second
year, did you? Did any of you not consider I
would very likely hear of your words and
behaviour concerning me, this year?
I'm well aware what will happen if I decide to
call those debts due. I'm well aware many of
your families will instantly become paupers.
Are you? I will, almost literally, own you."
Turning back to Dumbledore, he smirked and
said, "As for you, Headmaster Dumbledore,
there are so many families that, once I tell
them how their heirs behaved towards me in
my second year and so far this year, they're
going to bend over backwards to give me
what I want. Many of them you probably
consider your allies.
"However, if I was to make demands of them
because of those debts, how many of them
will side with you against me? How hard
would it really be for me to demand of them
a vote of no confidence in you as both Chief
Warlock and Supreme Mucketymuck?"
Allowing his face to morph into a glare, he
said, "Annoy me any further and
we'll both find out. And, just think, you could
have stopped it all from happening right
from the start. All you had to do was stand
up at one of the meals, said a few words
about how you knew I wasn't the heir of
Slytherin, and that someone else was
responsible for the attacks, and you'd have
stopped their bullying of me. That you didn't
means I can now use it against you."
Dumbledore stood there in shock and not a
little fear. Professor McGonagall was likewise
stunned.
"But, of course, you were arguing that I
couldn't just walk out on magical Britain, as
you put it," continued Harry. "The way this
student body has behaved towards me... the
way I was continually verbally abused by
someone on your staff you claim has your
complete trust and whatever... the way
blood bigots were freely allowed, even
encouraged, to spew their vitriol and
denigrate and abuse others... the way I have,
at times, been slandered in the Daily
Prophet and on the WWN... have all, as
examples, more than adequately shown me
that there'll be no great loss to the wizarding
world if the Dork Lard, Mouldysnot or
whatever silly name he chooses to
use, does return and burns the bloody lot to
the ground.
"I know you and Tom Riddle both happen to
believe, somehow, I have some important
role yet to play in the destruction of old
Voles-In-His-Shorts. But, when you look at it
from my point of view, why the Hell should
I care? No one has given me reason to do so;
and, as aforementioned, every reason to feel
the opposite. With the exception of my
godfather, Miss Granger, the Greengrass
family, Miss Lovegood here, Mister
Longbottom, Miss Davies, Mister Zabini,
Mister Urqhart, and some of the Weasley
family, I couldn't care any less about
everyone else than I do now.
"That's why I have no hesitation in leaving,
Headmaster. You've made it easy for me."
Harry turned to his two bondmates and said,
"I suppose it's time for me to go and slay a
dragon. Coming?"
The two girls stood with matching grins, and
joined Harry as he strode from the Hall on
the way down to the new enclosure erected
for the task. As they walked out they left
behind uproar. There were quite a few crying,
quite a few ranting at their House and school
mates, others were ranting at the teaching
staff; a few immediately left the Great Hall to
run as fast as they could to the owlery to
send off urgent missives. The bondmates just
laughed about it all.
Dumbledore hadn't moved from his spot,
wondering how all his plans had collapsed
around him; and not being able to do a
damned thing to get them back, again. The
worst part for him was Harry had quite
clearly shown him exactly the places where
he erred; exactly how it was his
own damned fault.
Chapter 148
The draw occurred no different than the first
time around; which surprised Harry.
Considering the various permutations in how
the draw could have happened he was
starting to believe there were certain events
that would occur no matter how much he
tried to change things. Yet again, Harry had
the meanest dragon of all and was the fourth
competitor to enter the enclosure.
Walking in once his name was called he
looked down the arena at the Hungarian
Horntail and smirked at it. Sizing it up, he
reached into one of the pockets of his robes
and drew out a roll of cloth. The cloth was
charmed to be impermeable and
unbreakable. Walking closer to the dragon,
he allowed the cloth to open right out within
his hand.
When he reached a spot as close as he was
willing to go from watching how the dragon
was now watching him, he flung the cloth
into the air before him and levitated it up
and over the dragon's head. He cast a
quick Engorgio charm on it and, with a
double flick and a swish, caused it to wind
tight around the snout of the dragon, making
sure it's nostrils were also covered. As the
dragon immediately tried to shake it off,
Harry cast a reducing charm on the cloth,
causing it to pull very tight.
It didn't take long. The dragon began to
stagger, so Harry hit its legs with an
overpowered Incarcerous, causing its rear
legs to bind tight to one another in heavy
ropes. A few moments later, the dragon
toppled over onto its side and lay there,
weakly struggling.
Harry then calmly walked over to the
dragon's nest and removed from it the
golden egg he was tasked with 'recovering',
before walking back to his previous spot.
From there, he then vanished the ropes from
the beast's legs before then vanishing the
impervious cloth from around its snout.
He waited a few moments to see if the
dragon would move, especially around its
chest area, but it lay perfectly still.
Moving his wand tip to his throat, he cast
the Sonorus charm. "As the slayer of this
dragon... and, as it is not currently on a
registered and acknowledged dragon
reserve... I hereby claim the carcass as is my
right as the slayer of the beast. No one is to
touch it without my express permission, in
advance. Quietus!"
Without awaiting either acknowledgement
or denial, he turned and calmly walked out of
the enclosure. He walked past five
gob-smacked dragon handlers waiting to
come in to remove the beast. Of course, their
efforts were no longer required. "It looks like
you'll only be taking back three dragons,
boys," he said as he walked past. "This one is
mine."
Two of the dragon handlers took off to look
at the dragon. After waving his wand over its
head, one of the handlers looked back at
Harry in shock and anger. "You killed it!" he
exclaimed.
"Yes. Yes, I did," smirked Harry. "And, as you
heard me claim, it's mine. Now, leave it
alone!" And he left the arena, returning to
the champions' tent.
As soon as he stepped through Madam
Pomfrey was trying to order him onto a bed.
"Madam Pomfrey, I'm fine," sighed Harry. "It
didn't come anywhere near me."
After she frowned and scanned him a few
times, she huffed and said, "It appears
you can avoid getting injured when you want
to, Mister Potter. I'm actually a little amazed
to say that."
Harry impishly grinned back.
Just as he was looking across to see the other
three competitors, in rushed Hermione and
Daphne. Both girls grapple-hugged him.
"Gods, Harry!" exclaimed Daphne. "You
made that look easy!"
"Yes. It's supposed to be quite the feat for a
single wizard to defeat a full adult dragon;
and you just took it down with only a few
spells!" gushed Hermione.
"That's because most wizards are idiots!"
Harry calmly replied. "They try and attack
the beast through its magic-resistant hide.
And that's just stupid."
Next in through the flap of the tent were
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall.
"Harry, there was really no need to kill that
beast," Dumbledore glared at him. "Your task
was to get past the dragon; not kill it!"
"And I made it quite clear to you,
Headmaster Dumbledore," Harry shot back
while cuddling a witch in each arm, "If you
put a creature in front of me at any time
during these tasks, I'm probably going to kill
it. There's nothing in the rules that
specifically state I have to leave the beast
alive. Plus, this way, I've picked myself up a
nice bit of pocket change for the Potter
vaults.
"Please do thank the dragon handlers for
bringing me one from off the protected
reserves though, won't you, Headmaster?"
he snarked. "This way, I get to claim the
carcass with all the profits I get to make from
the ingredients I'll get from it when it's
rendered down. I'll have a renderer here by
morning."
"I'm already here, Mister Potter," called an
eastern European voice Harry recognised.
Turning to the voice he saw Gregor Ianovich
standing just inside the tent flap. Sirius was
also standing just inside, just behind him. He
was grinning his head off.
"Ah! Mister Ianovich! Nu vstretilis'! Well
met" Harry happily exclaimed. "I take it
you're ready to set to work?"
"I am," smirked the renderer.
"Excellent!" smirked Harry right back. "Then,
don't let me stop you. Oh, and don't let
anyone else stop you, either."
"Never fear, Mister Potter," Ianovich calmly
replied. "I haff been at this game for long
time. I recognise you as rightful owner of
carcass. I, after all, did see you personally kill
dragon."
Harry nodded back and turned back to
Dumbledore. "Well, it seems Mister Ianovich
anticipated my needs and is ready to start
immediately. Please make sure no one
hinders him in his work. He's very protective
of it."
Harry had just turned away from an angrily
steaming Headmaster to join his godfather
and leave when Professor McGonagall called
to him. "Mister Potter, you need to re-enter
the enclosure to receive your points!"
Turning back slightly, Harry said, "No, I really
don't, Professor. I'm apparently contractually
required to participate in the tasks. I'm not
required to wait for points. I'm not
even interested in the points. I'm not
interested in winning this accursed
competition. My only goal is to survive it.
They can score me zero points, for all I care."
Turning back to his godfather, who was now
holding the tent flap open, Harry and his
bondmates quickly left leaving behind an
angry and upset Headmaster and a stunned
Deputy Headmistress.
As soon as the three teens stepped outside,
Sirius followed them, letting the tent flap
reclose behind him. He immediately wrapped
his godson in a bear hug while laughing his
head off.
"Well done, Pup!" he crowed, as he released
his hold and began to herd the three back to
the castle. "You've just single-handedly
shown every witch and wizard, out there,
how easy it is to take down a full grown
dragon. That's put paid to the fallacy it takes
a team of at least five working in concert."
"As I explained to Hermione, Sirius, that's
because most witches and wizards are
idiots," explained Harry. "Attacking the beast
through its magically-resistant hide is
just asking for trouble. If you can't get it
through its hide, get it through its
weaknesses. And, one of those weaknesses,
as with almost every other air-breather out
there, is cutting off its air supply suffocates it
in short order."
With a large gaggle of students trailing
behind, the four of them returned to the
castle. Shooing the students away, once
inside, the three led Sirius back to their
apartment and gave him the short tour.
Chapter 149
After Sirius left, Hermione - a little
disappointed in Harry actually killing the
dragon - asked, "Was there a reason you
specifically wanted to kill the dragon, Harry?"
"Yes," he replied. "And, I thought I made that
clear the other night."
With a sigh, Hermione replied, "You did. But,
I didn't want to believe you'd actually go
through with it." She hesitated a few
moments before she asked, "You do realise it
means the merpeople are next, don't you?"
"Of course," replied Harry. "It was the
primary reason I killed the dragon, after all.
The dragon was the warning. I just hope
Dumbledore tells the merpeople I'll kill them
if they get in my way. Last time through, I
had to kill about three of them, and
grievously injure about a further five, just to
get little Miss Delacour out of there. I'm
hoping, this way, to save lives."
With a sigh of his own he said, "I don't know
who Dumbles is going to pick as my hostage.
It could be either of you, or it could even be
someone else." With a snort, he said, "It
could even be Weasley again."
With her face morphing into a returned smirk,
Hermione asked, "And what are you going to
do if it is?"
"Rescue Gabrielle and leave the red-headed
wanker down there, of course!" he brightly
returned. "Imagine Fumblebutt's face if I do
that."
Both girls snickered.
Harry adopted a pretty impressive imitation
of Dumbledore's mannerisms and said, "Ah,
Harry, my boy; I'm afraid you've rescued the
wrong hostage."
Switching back to himself, he continued,
trying to look puzzled. "No, I don't think so,
Headmaster. I put a lot of thought into this.
Out of the hostages down there, I figured
Miss Chang is Cedric's hostage, Weasley is
Victor's hostage as Victor is so bloody
arrogant he couldn't live without his little
fanboys, and considering how much I want
the little fuck dead or in Azkaban I knew
Weasley couldn't be mine. I don't know that
other person from a bar of soap; so, that left
this gorgeous little munchkin as mine. I
figured I cannot do without beauty in the
world, and this little moppet represents
that."
Switching back, he said, "But, Harry; Ronald
is your friend. Surely, you can see your way
to... forgive... him."
"Friend?" he switched back. "Forgive?
Ha! Friends don't try and potion you with
something we consider akin to
the Imperius curse in a bottle. Friends don't
try to find ways to help their sister rape you,
or himself try to rape your other friend using
potions. No, Headmaster; you're lucky I
couldn't figure out a way to kill the little shit
while we were down there. Right now I'm
hoping, once the hour's up, the little shit
drowns. Please tell me that's what
happens. Please?"
If it wasn't the words Harry was using, or the
pretty good imitation of the Headmaster, the
puppydog expression when he said the last
two sentences definitely sent both girls into
howling laughter before Hermione sobered
and said, "You should rescue her again,
anyway. You know what'll happen. And you
know what the merpeople will do to her if
she's left there."
With a sigh after the cold shower of memory
Hermione put on their hilarity, he replied,
"Yeah, I won't allow them to harm her, this
time."
During the Tournament of the first go around,
and though Harry rescued her, young
Gabrielle was seriously injured during the
second task. She never fully recovered from
her injuries. And the bright, bubbly, eleven
year old was forever gone; replaced by,
according to her sister, a skittish child who
grew into a teen who suffered debilitating
nightmares and a drug dependency on
certain sleep and calming potions.
"At least, this time, you know where you
need to go and can get there a lot faster,"
Daphne soothed him. "This time, at least,
you can rescue your hostage and young Miss
Delacour and should come out without much
of a scratch."
"Can both of you swim?" asked Harry. "Fully
clothed?"
Both nodded.
"In that case, if necessary and it's one of you
two, I can get you to the surface before
returning and rescuing young Miss Delacour,"
he explained. "That way, I'm only struggling
with one dead weight getting back to the
surface, rather than two."
"Dead weight?" asked Daphne with a cocked
eyebrow.
With a little sigh, Harry tried to explain.
"Until such time as the hostage is returned to
the surface and the open air, they remain in
the enchanted sleep, unable to assist with
either the ascent or to fight off the merfolk.
The hostages have just a smidgen of positive
buoyancy, but that's all."
With a sudden look as if he'd just discovered
an answer, he said, "Wait a min." And looked
away with a frown, thinking hard.
"Harry's on to something," muttered
Hermione to Daphne.
"That's it, I think," he muttered.
"What's 'it'?" asked Daphne.
"If necessary, I can attach... or use some
other way... air bladders to whichever
hostage Dumbledore sticks in the bottom of
the lake for me," he slowly explained.
"Heavens; even the application of a
bubblehead charm on the hostage will lift
them to the surface pretty quickly. It may
even wake them up so they can help me with
little Miss Delacour."
Both girls grinned back until Hermione's face
fell again. "The problem is," she explained.
"We don't have our wands with us. We get
them handed back to us in the medical tent,
later."
"Yes, but you can still aid yourself by
swimming to the surface and getting out of it
to safety," he replied. "That will then allow
me to... wait. I'll take your wands down with
me. We'll conjure up a couple of fake ones
for the night before. If you're still with me in
the morning, then I simply hand you your
wands back."
"Oh, yes," said Hermione. "Last time,
Professor McGonagall summoned me to her
office, the night before. If neither of us has
been summoned by the time we retire for
the evening, I'm warding the shit out of our
apartment, especially your room, Harry."
It was so rare for Hermione to swear, Harry
gaped back to her in shock while Daphne just
cocked an eyebrow and smirked at her.
"I don't want anyone to come sneaking in
during the middle of the night," she
sheepishly explained. "They can find
themselves another hostage, if they leave it
too late."
Nodding his head in agreement, Harry said, "I
completely agree. As for the task, I'm going
to practice some incantless charms and
curses. I'll start with the bubblehead charm
and severing curse. Then I'll work on a few I
think will work really well underwater."
"Add the banishing charm to your repertoire,
Harry," suggested Hermione.
"Why?" he asked.
Chapter 150
"You can use it to propel yourself rapidly
through the water by holding on to your
wand, very tightly," she explained. "No. The
Aquamenti charm. That'd be better. The
banishing charm will give you a mighty jolt.
The water charm, however..."
"Can issue a continuous stream that will
work as a water jet underwater providing
you continuous propulsion," finished Daphne.
"Clever. You'd have to hold tightly onto your
wand, though."
"Something I'm used to," mused Harry. "It'll
stand me in good practice for the Priori
Incantatem effect in the graveyard.
"Which reminds me; we still need to see
about our second wands. I'm going to need it
for the graveyard. I intend to use it to wound
Riddle while holding the effect with my
primary wand."
"Next time we can get to Diagon with Father,
we'll organise them then," promised Daphne.
"Father knows the place we need to visit."
"In the meantime," Harry said, rising from
the couch. "Dinner."
During the early afternoon of the very next
day, Harry received a summons to attend a
meeting with Madam Bones in the Entrance
Hall. It was delivered by a house elf.
Looking at the note, written in Professor
McGonagall's hand, Harry then looked at his
bondmates and said, "Well, it appears that
little speech I gave as a response to
Dumbledore about how I was most unhappy
with the Heirs of allied Houses has started to
bear fruit. Madam Bones and party await me
for an urgent meeting in the Entrance Hall."
Both girls looked back from where they sat
on the couch opposite with almost matching
grins. "Well," began Daphne. "We'd best not
keep them waiting."
The three made their way down to the
Entrance Hall where they were met with a
veritable who's who of the Wizengamot and
leading members of the Ministry. Front and
centre stood Madam Bones. A look at all
their faces showed consternation,
trepidation, confusion and not a little
amount of fear. Dumbledore and McGonagall
also stood with them.
As the three made their way down the final
steps Dumbledore was about to say
something when he was cut off by Matthias
as he and Candice Greengrass stepped to the
front, around Madam Bones, to welcome
them.
"Hi kids," he said, by way of informal
greeting.
Harry stepped forward and shook the man's
hand as one man to another. "Matthias, good
to see you," he said, before turning to Deece
and lightly kissing the back of her hand.
"Deece, always a pleasure."
Getting Harry's attention, Matthias called,
"Harry?" When Harry looked over, he
continued, "These people are here because
they heard something that quite disturbs
them regarding the status of the alliances of
House Potter. They wonder if they may have
a few words with you."
"Of course," replied Harry, straightening up.
"Shall we go to the conference room on the
second floor?"
He turned to Dumbledore and asked,
"Headmaster? May we borrow the
conference room on the second floor? I
believe these people will want to speak with
me in private."
"Of course, Harry," replied the Headmaster,
twinkling. "I'll lead the way, shall I?"
"That's alright, Headmaster," Harry quickly
replied. "As you well remember, I know the
way."
Knowing he was just effectively told his
presence was not wanted, Dumbledore tried,
"Now, Harry; as your magical guardian..."
"Stop right there, Headmaster Dumbledore,"
Harry firmly cut in. "As you well know, I am
both emancipated and you were never,
rightfully, my magical guardian. You will
cease and desist perpetuating that nonsense
immediately; alright?"
Instead of arguing, an expression of great
anger flitted across the old man's face before
his expression switched back to his usual
kindly grandfather mien. "Of course, Harry,"
he calmly said. "I'll escort you to the room
and ensure it is ready for your party."
As soon as everyone filed in, Harry turned to
Dumbledore and firmly asked, "This is a
meeting between allied Houses, Headmaster.
Is there an existing formal alliance between
the Houses of Potter and Dumbledore?"
With a frown, Dumbledore replied, "Not as
such, Mister Potter. However, the House of
Dumbledore and House of Potter have both
been strongly for the Light for many, many
years..."
"With no existing alliance between House
Potter and House Dumbledore, Headmaster,"
Harry interrupted, "I'll have to ask you to
step outside. This is House business; I'm sure
you understand."
With another micro-expression of great
anger flitting across his face, Dumbledore
puffed himself up and said, "Come now,
Harry..."
Madam Bones then interrupted and almost
barked at Dumbledore, "He's right,
Dumbledore. Get out."
"Now, Amelia..." he tried, turning to the
stern witch.
"Don't 'now, Amelia' me, Albus. Get out,"
she said.
With as much dignity as he could muster, and
without a word, Dumbledore turned about
and left the room.
Harry made sure the door was firmly closed.
As Madam Bones was about to open her
mouth to begin to speak, Harry held up his
hand in a stop gesture. He drew his wand and
began to cast about.
Recognising the detection spells Harry was
using, the stern witch's unmonocled eye
widened before she drew her own wand and
began to cast about.
"What're you doing?" one of the others
irritably asked.
"They're casting detection spells..." began
Matthias before Madam Bones suddenly said,
"Got one!" Her wand was pointing at the
wall next to the door. "A listening charm." A
moment later, she said, "Nice try,
Dumbledore."
Outside, Dumbledore stood looking a little
distracted for a few moments before his face
took on an expression of consternation and
frustration. He stalked away.
Inside, after a few moments Harry said, "I
think that was the only one."
Madam Bones cast about for a little longer
before she said, "Agreed."
Harry asked, "Wards?"
"Wards," she replied, and began casting
again.
Harry turned to the door and cast a
Colloportus door-sealing charm on it before
then casting an Impervious charm on it and
the surrounding walls.