Contrary to expectations, the day of the Third Task dawned cold, dull, and dreary. Harry and Fleur ignored it as they trudged into the Great Hall, both feeling that the weather reflected their mood almost perfectly. As prepared as they were for the Task, they still wanted nothing to do with it — even Fleur, who had entered by choice, Maxime's manipulations notwithstanding.
But alas, they had to participate.
The first annoyance of the day arrived partway through breakfast in the form of the Daily Prophet. Skeeter had been quiet of late, seeming to have been supplanted by writers who were actually competent rather than mere muckrakers — which Harry figured was Sebastian's doing — but now she was back, and in fine form. His mood darkened ominously as he read the article:
TOURNAMENT FINALE TONIGHT!
Will Potter Cheat Again?
by Rita Skeeter
The world-famous Triwizard Tournament, being held at Hogwarts Castle, will conclude tonight with the final Task of the competition. But as the big finish approaches, one cannot help but wonder: will the legitimate Hogwarts Champion even have a chance? Cheating has run rampant, and an honorable young man like Cedric Diggory would clearly never stoop to that level, which creates an extremely uneven playing field.
While recent events have diverted our attention, we must not forget that the fix has been in right from the start, beginning with the illegal entry of Harry Potter. Our one time hero, seeking attention due to his fading fame, forced his way into the tournament, and he certainly succeeded in making more headlines as a result. It makes one wonder what else the child has done, and the lengths he might go to in order to win this most prestigious of contests.
Even the mysterious events of the now infamous Second Task are suspect. Nobody saw what went on in the lake, so how do we know what really happened? His unfortunate wife is, as a Veela, rather beautiful. What young boy would not want her?
We also saw his questionable performance in the First Task. He may have succeeded, but his methods went against the very spirit of the competition. If world famous Seeker Viktor Krum did not fly, then was it really acceptable for Harry Potter to do so? Or perhaps he thought he could show Krum up by cheating the Task with his broom?
And what will his appearance at the Third Task portend?
Given how lethal previous competitions have been, one can only hope that Potter is not as bloody minded as his recent actions have made him appear. Could one or more of our brave competitors come to harm at Potter's hand as he tries to steal the show? Only time will tell.
This reporter will be solidly rooting for Cedric Diggory, the legitimate Hogwarts Champion. He, at least, can be counted on to compete fairly, and to produce a respectable win for Hogwarts. Unless Potter cheats again, of course.
Harry stared at the article in a curious mixture of anger and astonishment. Her implications regarding the second task were particularly vile (not to mention absolutely ridiculous), and that she practically accused him of wanting to hurt his fellow competitors? He didn't even have the words to express his feelings on that!
But did she really think she was going to get away with this? Anyone with a brain had realized by now that Harry Potter was no longer the defenseless orphan with nobody to protect him. He had protectors now, and they were likely to go after her with both barrels, as the Muggles said.
And Fleur clearly agreed. "Papa will 'ave seen zis," she growled, obviously on the same wavelength as he was. "She can say goodbye to 'er career. She forgot zat people are looking after you now."
"I don't understand how she's been getting away with it in the first place," frowned Hermione from across the table. "There should be laws against this sort of thing!"
"There are," Neville put in. "But you have to press charges to make anything happen, and you know how biased our government is."
"Of course, if Dumbledore actually did his job, it would never have happened anyway," grumbled Harry. "He could easily have neutered Skeeter. He just doesn't care about his students."
"Only zat zey do 'is bidding," agreed Fleur.
Hermione nodded thoughtfully, but elected not to pursue it further. She was learning to cut her losses when something was pointless.
"Papa will deal wiz 'er, mon amour," repeated Fleur. "Zat will do 'er career in. She 'as made a living from ensuring zat she cannot be blamed for 'er lies, and she 'as overstepped 'ere. Badly."
Harry nodded his agreement, but his attention was already wandering. He was too busy noticing that there had been no comment from the Slytherins. It seemed that they were much less interested in bothering him without Snape and Malfoy there to egg them on. It was a pleasant surprise really.
Looking back, things had been much less tense in the castle since Snape's departure, and even more so since Malfoy's. To Harry, it was just another indication that Dumbledore was an abject failure as a Headmaster. Had he reigned them in from the get go, the school would have been a much more pleasant place.
And had he reigned them in from the get go, Draco Malfoy might not be serving ten years in Azkaban Prison for attempted murder.
The more he thought about it, the more he laid the blame for the more obvious of their society's ills right at Dumbledore's feet. He had even taught Voldemort, for Merlin's sake! His attitude had not done anyone any favors.
Harry could not wait to haul him up on charges and get him out of his positions of power.
===[~]===
As the breakfast hour wound down, Professor McGonagall informed the Champions that their families were congregating to spend the day with them. And for the first time in his life, Harry Potter was actually happy about such an arrangement. He had never had family to care about him before.
The surprise was clear on his face, however, when he entered the room with Fleur — his attention centered on where he had spotted the Delacours standing with Sirius — only to be blindsided by a stifling hug from someone he didn't expect.
He knew who it was without even thinking about it, but could not for the life him imagine why Molly Weasley would even be in the room.
Where he'd been merely unsettled by her overbearing hugs before, now it was deeply uncomfortable — especially given the incident with the Howler before the wedding. He allowed it out of shock for only the briefest of moments, but then came back to his senses and pushed her away. From the corner of his eye he could see his wife's narrowed gaze. She was not happy with the intrusion.
"Mrs. Weasley?" he asked, a little more faintly than he would have liked. "What are you doing here?"
The woman herself looked startled that he'd pushed away from her. Harry also noted that Bill was present, standing behind her with his hands in his pockets and a deep frown on his face, looking very uncomfortable with being there at all. The whole situation was rather confusing.
"We're here to support you, of course, Harry dear," she replied. "You need your family, so of course-"
"But you are not family, Madame Weasley," interrupted a frowning Fleur. "Zat would be my Maman and Papa, and 'is own Godfazzer."
Harry struggled to keep his thoughts off his face. He had never truly considered how the Weasleys behaved before, but he suddenly saw with crystal clarity how they had tried to usurp the title of Family upon meeting him. He doubted it was in any way malicious on their part — they weren't that kind of people near as he could tell — but it was still fairly offensive.
He only hadn't noticed before because he hadn't any living family for them to usurp the title from, but however well intentioned, it was truly disrespectful — not least to his late parents.
Fleur's family, at least, had earned the title properly through his marriage to their daughter.
And suddenly he found himself having to think quickly before the situation devolved into something ugly. He had no doubt that Fleur was thinking similar thoughts, and so likely were the Delacours and Sirius. But as wary as he was of Molly Weasley, he truly didn't think her actions malicious. Naïve and unintentionally offensive, perhaps, but not malicious.
Nevertheless, he had to set the record straight; there was simply no other option here. And also—
"Dumbledore invited you, didn't he?" he finally sighed, drawing everyone's attention once more.
"Of course," she frowned. "He said you didn't have any family to support you, and that you thought of us as family."
"And now eet ees clear," grumbled Fleur.
"Easy, love," he told her in nearly fluent French, hoping that the Weasleys didn't speak it. "This is the Headmaster playing his games again, and they're as much victims of that as we are."
Fleur tilted her head slightly, and he met her gaze, impressing upon her that he truly believed that. He could see it when she accepted the truth of it only an instant later, and deflated back to a more relaxed stance even as she nodded at him.
Turning back to Molly, he switched back to English. "The Headmaster likes to stick his nose in where it doesn't belong, Mrs. Weasley," he told her bluntly. "While he might want you to believe that I saw you that way, and I mean no offense when I say this, but it just isn't the case. Fleur's family is my family now, and my Godfather is my family. Those are the only family I've ever recognized beyond my late parents. I appreciate your care over the years, but you're my good friends, not my family."
The conversation had, of course, drawn the Delacours and Sirius over to them. In the background he could see the Diggory family and the Krums trying to look like they weren't listening in. Harry didn't care about the latter two; it wasn't his reputation that would suffer.
"Albus 'as a truly un'ealthy and 'ighly inappropriate interest in my son-in-law, Molly," noted Sebastian, finally joining in the conversation. "I do not know what 'is purpose was with this, but mark my words, 'e 'ad one. And it was certainly not for 'arry's benefit, nor for yours."
It was clear that Molly Weasley didn't know what to say, and was far too shocked to even bother being offended. Her mouth was opening and closing without any sound coming out, and she was staring, almost horrified, at Sebastian as she processed the implications of what he was saying.
Only Harry and his family knew the probable reason for Dumbledore's interest; the rest were clueless of the existence of the Prophecy, and that made it look that much worse from an outside perspective.
"On behalf of House Weasley," Bill suddenly intoned, "you have our sincere apologies for any offense we may have caused. It was not intentional, and as Heir of the House, I will inform our Head of House and ensure that it does not happen again."
Molly paled at this declaration. Harry had barely scratched the surface of true Wizarding culture, but he recognized that this was serious.
"As Head of House Potter, your apology is accepted," he replied as formally as he could. He didn't know the proper forms yet, but would do his best. "But really, it's unnecessary, Bill. This is Dumbledore's doing, not your family's."
"Thanks, Harry, but they should have known better anyway," he smiled. "I'll take care of it and make sure it doesn't happen again. Let me get Mum back home, but I'd like to speak with you on an unrelated matter if you have a few minutes before the Task tonight."
"Of course," nodded Harry.
They all watched as Bill herded a lost and confused Molly Weasley out of the room. Harry felt a pang of sadness at that — she truly had meant well, he thought — but he also agreed with Bill that she should have known better. It was one thing before he was married, but now? She should have been far more suspicious of Dumbledore.
"Remind me to bring you up to speed on the proper forms for things like that, Harry," Sirius finally said, "but that was very well handled, especially given that Dumbledore didn't see to your training as Heir or Head of House like he should have."
Harry saw this statement as the theatre that it was — Amos Diggory would likely have it all over the ministry by tomorrow that Dumbledore had failed the Heir of the Potter family. Frankly, however, he had other concerns, like the fact that his Godfather was here in person, and in public, without dementors swarming around.
He couldn't help the grin that came over him.
"Sirius!" he burst, grabbing his Godfather in an uncharacteristic hug. "I'm so glad you're free!"
Sirius chuckled. "So am I," he grinned. "And that's all thanks to you, Harry. So thank you!"
===[~]===
The rest of the afternoon proceeded splendidly. There was no real need to show the Delacours or Sirius around the campus, so they simply found a convenient location where they could enjoy the beauty of the day. It was an almost surreal experience for Harry: he had never simply spent time with his family before.
That simple first was one he would truly never forget.
They were all spread out on a blanket at the edge of the Black Lake, and Harry was leaning back into Fleur's warm embrace. He still couldn't believe that he was married to her, but he wouldn't trade it for anything. Her mere presence made everything seem lighter and happier.
And it wasn't her allure, of that he was certain.
The conversation meandered aimlessly over the course of the afternoon. Little of real substance was discussed by some strange unspoken agreement. The closest it got was a question from Sirius about what Fleur would be doing with herself after graduation.
Since Harry and Fleur had discussed that, it was easy enough to answer.
Both of them categorically refused, however, to share their strategy for the Task — or even that it was a shared one in the first place. They were looking forward to seeing their family's reaction to what they saw as a major prank on the Tournament and its organizers. In their mind, it was definitely going to be one for the record books!
Finally, though, they were brought back down to Earth by the return of Bill Weasley. They hadn't discussed that situation at all either, but really, what was there to discuss? Dumbledore's motives were generally unclear even when he was being transparent about things; in this case, they would probably never know why he had bothered with such a scheme.
"Sorry to bother you," said Bill when he finally found them. "But do you have a minute, Harry?"
Harry looked up at him and smiled. "Have a seat, Bill," he offered. "If it's about what I think it is, then everyone here is in the know."
Bill nodded and joined them on the blanket. The elder Delacours had left Gabrielle at home with Caterine; they weren't letting her anywhere near Hogwarts after she was literally kidnapped for use in the Second Task. That meant that only Sebastian was unknown to Bill, and it was relatively obvious that he was trusted.
"I just wanted to give you a quick update," he offered. "The Goblins hate these things, and they've been tracking them down as their highest priority. They actually found one in the Bank, if you can believe that."
"Someone was foolish enough to place a 'orcrux within Gringotts?" gasped Sebastian. "That is a death sentence for that person, wizard or not! It is in the treaties!"
Bill smirked. "Unfortunately for us, the vault belonged to Bellatrix Lestrange," he informed them. "So she probably won't die by Goblin steel since she's in Azkaban. Her vault is another story, though. They confiscated it, and Harry and Fleur will get a significant chunk since they reported it to Gringotts through me."
Harry figured that the satisfaction that shone in Bill's expression was probably mirrored in his own. He couldn't care less about the money, but anything bad that befell a Death Eater was music to his ears.
"Zis is excellent news," noted Fleur. "But what of ze ozzers? You said zere were five or six."
"And at least half of them have been collected and destroyed. There was a locket in the Black home in London," he continued. Clearly, Sirius knew of this, as he wasn't surprised in the slightest. "Then there was the one at Gringotts, and an object they found here at Hogwarts. How they found it and got it out, I don't know, but it was also destroyed."
Harry nodded in satisfaction. To see so much progress made in such a short time was a revelation. Why hadn't Dumbledore done this a decade ago? Surely Voldemort would be naught but a memory had he done so. It was disturbing, really. What was Dumbledore playing at?
"And ze ozzers?" asked Arienne.
"Those will be more difficult," sighed Bill. "We know they're at or near the ancestral Riddle estate, but we're going to have to be careful. We're fairly certain that's where Voldemort himself is right now."
Everyone present groaned in annoyance. It was one thing to dig something up that wasn't being watched, but quite another if the madman himself was sitting right on top of it. Say what you would about Voldemort, he was known to be exceptionally dangerous. It was easy to understand the Goblins' caution.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Harry after a moment.
"Not that I know of," Bill denied. "Just get through the Tournament and we'll worry about it this summer. Worst case we can lure him out and see about it then."
"Two or three more," sighed Fleur, giving him a squeeze, "and zen it will be over for good."
Harry couldn't wait.
===[~]===
Bill excused himself shortly after bringing them up to speed — and after delivering another heartfelt apology for what Molly had tried to do. Her actions had been highly offensive by Wizarding standards, and while Harry wasn't going to hold it against her due to her good intentions, the Weasley Heir was another matter entirely.
Bill said he expected that his father would be equally disturbed by it once he understood the magnitude of the transgression.
As the afternoon gave way to evening, they all trooped back up to the castle for dinner. That was where Hermione finally rejoined their party. While she no more had exams than Harry did — an advantage of having transferred to Beauxbatons — she, unlike Molly Weasley, had recognized his need for time with his true family.
Harry was deeply grateful to her for being such a good friend.
As dinner started to wind down, she just couldn't keep it in any longer, though. "Are you two ready for the Task?" she asked worriedly.
Harry and Fleur chuckled at her though. "Relax," he told her calmly. "This Task will be easier than the first two. We've both got it covered."
Next to him, Fleur nodded her beautiful head. "'E is right, 'ermione," she smiled. "Zere is no need to worry."
"Well I, for one, hope you win," grinned Sirius, to Harry's amusement. "Imagine the look on their faces when a fourth year student beats Hogwarts' supposed Champion!"
It had to be said that Sirius was not impressed with Diggory — or rather, with Diggory's father. The man had, to Cedric's obvious embarrassment, made a nuisance of himself earlier, effectively trying to proclaim that his son was better than Harry Potter. It was a rather appalling display that was likely to have earned him a rollicking from his wife when he got home.
"Just be careful," said Sebastian, with not a trace of humor. "I would rather you lose than win at cost of a permanent injury."
"True, that," agreed Sirius.
Harry exchanged a smile with his wife. If only they knew! "It'll be fine," he offered. "Like I said, we've got it covered."
Besides, he thought to himself, it's not like we don't already know that the consequences this Tournament inflicts can be permanent…