Chapter 21 - Suspicions
***** A/N: LOL so my days are all messed up since I arrived back on a monday, and missed a day of work. Totally thought today was Wednesday and it was my regular release day. Anyways.... Its NFT NYC, so gonna be busy with events and things this weekend, since I work in web3. No Promises, but I'll try to find some time to post a bonus chapter xD. Anyways..... Hope you all enjoy! *****
"HOW DARE YOU?"
*BOOOOOM*
Thunder and lightning reflected Khan's anger, booming out loudly overhead.
Silence followed, as a stand off occurred between Khan, with Harry and friends behind him, and Crouch, Arthur and the remainder of the weary aurors/ministry officials.
Everyone was in shock, and not just from the riot, or Khan's outburst just now.
No, they were shocked by the combat ability and magical power displayed by the young head of house.
The remaining aurors stood stunned at the display, so much so, that they were not even guarding against Khan, instead standing in disbelief, wands at their side.
Arthur stood by awkwardly, watching the display put on by his family ally. To say that he was surprised, would be an understatement. Knowing about the Khans from his Grandparents, Arthur was aware of the magical and political power their family wielded. And while he did take the Young man's Vow for alliance seriously, he just didn't expect this level of magical ability from Khan. He was still a student after all.
This display he just witnessed however, proved just how much he underestimated Khan.
This young head of house appeared to be quite competent both in magical and combat prowess, in addition to political prowess, if this outburst is taken into consideration. While Khan was quite angry, as the Head of an Ancient and Noble House, he was well within his rights to take offence. Noble Houses were different in the sense that they are recognized as nobility by the Queen Herself for contributions to the realm. They are similar to Knights of old; sworn to protect Her Country and Her People.
It seemed he really needed to talk to Khan about this Alliance in an official capacity.
Hermione meanwhile, stood by in disbelief. She had learned all about Khan, both for History of Magic, as well as over the summer, as she was tutoring him. Thus, she had always known that he was powerful and talented enough to make a significant impact during the last Goblin uprising. But she had expected something similar to how Harry and her saved Sirius last year; careful planning, magical execution and a bit of dumb luck. At appears, that she couldn't have been more wrong.
Ron was quite stunned beside her. Ron's mouth was wide open, wide enough that a few mosquitos actually flew inside as it hung down in awe at the display before him. He had never really made an effort to get to know Khan, lumping him into the same 'nerd' category as Hermione, as they studied happily together during their stay. But how could a nerd take down 2 squads of trained aurors, in less than a few seconds? And that same nerd was the same person he mistook for a badass auror, fighting all the death eaters by himself?
Harry in the mean time, was having an internal struggle. 'Is he really a student like me?' Harry wondered to himself in awe.
Getting to know Khan a bit during their stay together, Harry naturally knew from Hermione, of Khan's heroic background for his actions during the last Goblin Rebellion.
And while Harry was excited to get to know Khan and learn about his adventures, he had always assumed that his own adventures trumped Khan's experiences. How could battling smaller goblins compare to battling a 50 foot basilisk, or fighting against Voldemort after all?
Standing behind him now however, and witnessing all the action, Harry could see that he was wrong with his initial assumption.
Harry by chance, was standing almost directly behind Khan during the confrontation, feeling the magical power coming off him in waves.
He himself, had never felt that much magical power coming from any single one individual. Not that he had much experience from which to draw a comparison, Harry was still impressed with the raw magical power displayed.
And that was just raw magical power; to say nothing about his magical prowess, agility and creativity.
His magical prowess was displayed simply from his spellcasting. His spells were cast almost instantly, wand never going through the typical casting motions, serving more as a tool to direct the direction of the spell, rather than as a necessity used to harness and cast magic.
His agility and creativity was on display fighting large groups of enemies. Rarely casting protegeo, he instead chose to dodge and magically flash around hostile spells, saving his magic to cast offensive spell combinations rather than defensive spells.
Needless to say, this was a very effective strategy as Harry glanced around at the bodies lying around the clearing.
One group, lay groaning in pain, limbs twisted in awkward angles, as their bones were all shattered from the ruthless descendo.
Another group stood frozen, like ice sculptures.
Remembering the gory scene from earlier in the night, Harry was grateful that Khan was interrupted from casting Diffindo as a follow up on the aurors. He shuddered to think what the gory result would be up close.
They were both technically 'Student heroes', but could he really do something like this? And Khan was only a year or two older than he was biologically. Why was there such a difference between the two of them?
"We at the Ministry are terribly sorry Jor- Lord Khan." Arthur interrupted Harry's thoughts with a sincere apology towards Khan, stepping in between the 2 parties. "This is all a big misunderstanding..... The reappearance of Death Eaters followed by the Dark Mark being cast high in the sky originating from this area..... everyone is just on edge..... Can the group of you show us where the mark came from?"
"Over there....." Pointed Hermione shakily, point towards the general area behind them where they heard the spell being cast. "There was someone behind the trees over that way.... He shouted some kind of incantation..."
Glancing at the group in front of him, Harry noted that while Mr. Weasley was attempting to diffuse the situation, Mr. Crouch still had his wand point at them, his face reminding him of how his uncle Vernon often looked when speaking about wizards.
"Do not lie to me, girl!" Crouch blustered about in response. "You were discovered at the scene of the crime!"
"Barty - "
"Out of the way, Arthur!" Crouch continued, addressing the remaining aurors and ministry workers. "You 3! Go investigate where the girl indicated and report back here immediately when you find nothing."
"I had better not discover that you are lying to us, girl!" Finished Crouch unhappily. "Or-"
"Or what exactly? You seem to enjoy throwing around accusations without investigating first. Is this what I can expect when dealing with Ministry officials?" Khan interrupted Crouch once again, as he was feeling quite suspicious of Crouch's actions after venting his anger and thinking a bit more logically. Without even doing a proper investigation, Crouch seemed dead set on ensuring their guilt and blaming them for the 'Dark mark'.
'Was he perhaps trying to cover up his dark magic use? Or maybe he knew more than he was letting on about who specifically caused the riot?' Khan mused to himself in deep thought.
"Yes! We got them!" A voice called out from the distance. "There's someone here! Unconscious!"
"You've got someone?" Shouted out Crouch, sounding highly in disbelief. "Who? Who is it?"
An auror walked back into view, carrying a stunned smaller looking body, Khan soon recognized to be Winky, the house-elf they all met at the Top-Box.
Crouch did not move or speak as the auror deposited his elf at his feet, the other ministry officers all staring dumbfoundedly at him.
For a few seconds, Crouch remained transfixed, face pale, a clear contrast from his enraged face earlier, as he stared down at Winky.
"This - No!" He mumbled. "This cannot be-"
He quickly left the clearing, heading in the direction where the auror had found his unconscious elf. Soon, the rustling of leaves and shrubs were heard, as they all heard Crouch moving around, apparently searching for something.
Khan meanwhile, looked on suspiciously. Crouch's elf being found unconscious where Hermione indicated the Dark Mark Spell came from only heightened his suspicions of Crouch, especially as he appeared to be searching for something else other than his elf.
"Come off it Amos." Arthur interrupted Khan's thoughts, as he argued quietly with another ministry official. "You don't seriously think it was Barty's elf, do you? The dark mark is a wizard's sign. It requires a wand to cast in the first place."
"She had a wand!" The newly identified ministry official named Amos, replied heatedly, holding up a wand to show Arthur. "Had it in her hand, she did. That's clause 3 of the 'Code of Wand Use' broken already, without even proving she cast the dark mark."
Khan of course, knew that specific clause of the 'Code of Wand Use'. It was, after all, also the reason that Ranrok was beaten, eventually leading to the Goblin rebellion. It was quite sad to think, that this clause specifically is responsible for the rifts between wizard-kind and the rest of the intelligent magical beings.
Eventually Crouch returned, hands empty, apparently having found nothing. His face, even whiter and paler than before, was twisted in shock, looking as though he had aged a few decades.
As he came closer, Khan noticed that the dark magic aura around him had strengthened once again, although both his hands, as well as his moustache were twitching in nervousness.
'Did he just cast dark magic?' Khan wondered to himself.
*CRACK*
Bagman apparated in quite suddenly, looking quite disheveled.
"Barty! Where have you been?" He asked in slight panic. "The Dark Mark, Barty! Good heavens! Who did it? Did you get them?"
"And why weren't you at the match? Your elf was saving a seat for you too - Gulping Gargoyles!" Bagman had just noticed Winky lying unconscious on the ground. "What happened to her?"
"I have been busy, Ludo." Crouch, talking in a jerky broken fashion, was barely moving his face as he responded glumly. "And my elf has been stunned."
Putting 2 and 2 together, a look of realization and comprehension suddenly dawned on Bagman's face, as he looked between the stunned elf, Crouch, and the Dark Mark still in the sky.
"No!" He argued. "Winky? An elf? Conjure the Dark Mark? She wouldn't even know how! And she would need a wand!"
"She had a wand Ludo!" Amos interrupted. "I found her stunned holding one! I think we should hear what she has to say for herself. Enervate!"
Winky stirred feebly, before she opened her large brown eyes, glancing around wearily in confusion. Recognizing Crouch, she looked up towards his pale face, before turning to stare at the dark mark high in the sky, looking at it in fright.
"Elf! The dark mark was conjured here a short while ago." Amos barked out rudely. "And you were discovered right beneath it. An explanation, if you please!"
"Winky is not casting it sirs!" Winky squeaked out fearfully. "Winky is not knowing how!"
"Don't lie to us elf!" Amos shouted holding up a wand. "You were found holding this wand in your hand!"
"Hey!" Harry recognized the familiar wand. "That's my wand!"
"So you admit to this being your wand, and casting the dark mark?!? You confess to throwing it aside after you were finished?!?" Amos accused Harry angrily.
"Amos!" Arthur interrupted quite angrily. "Think about who exactly you are accusing! Is Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, really likely to cast the Dark Mark?"
"You ministry officials seem to enjoy throwing out accusations at anyone and everyone without conducting a proper investigation. Perhaps someone from the ministry is responsible, and you are covering up for him!" Khan followed up, getting quite annoyed with this ministry official, especially for his behavior towards Winky.
'You only need to look at how someone treats those under them, to understand their character.' Words his father had previously taught him, and something that Khan took to heart. It seemed that most of the ministry were quite condescending and arrogant, if his recent interactions with them was any indication. Fitting that Percy works for them.
"Errrr - Of course not!" Amos mumbled out, realizing his mistake. "Sorry about that, got carried away."
"This is the 2nd time now, the British Ministry has disrespected my Khan family and their allies." Khan warned, eyes flashing red in annoyance. "There will not be a 3rd."