Chapter 201: Courtly Sphere

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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19 March 1994, Hogwarts, Scotland

Gemma Farley walked, with a fierce expression on her face, towards the Black Lake, while doing her best not to show how nervous she was about the coming confrontation. She had forgotten just how impressive the school grounds were during springtime. 

As she strode forward, her eyes took in the vibrant hues that blanketed the landscape, a stark contrast to the monochromatic whites and greys that were there during winter. The usually stark, imposing trees now swayed gently with leaves of emerald green, making the forbidden forest look slightly less menacing than it was during winter.

The grass, once a dull, frostbitten brown, was now a lush carpet of green, peppered with daisies and buttercups that danced merrily in the sun. Gemma recalled the crunch of snow under her feet in the cold months, a sound now replaced by the soft rustle of grass and the occasional chirp of birds. It seemed as if the whole world had awakened from a deep slumber, shedding the icy stillness for a cloak of lively colours and sounds. No wonder Potter liked spending time outside.

Because that was her target, Harry Potter. It took more time than she would admit to anyone to track the younger boy down. Any tracking charm was dispelled minutes later at the most, people who tried to follow him ended up losing him every single time, and any method of discretion or stealth didn't help in any way.

Gemma ended up biting the bullet and just asked Tracy Davis, one of his closest friends, where she could find him. Apparently, the younger boy woke up early every morning and hung out near the Black Lake.

As she neared the lake in question, the air grew moist and fresh, a far cry from the crisp, dry coldness of winter. The lake itself, which had been a frozen mirror reflecting the grey skies above months ago, was now a fluid expanse of deep blue, its surface rippling with the activities of the Giant Squid and other magical creatures that dwelled within. Sunlight sparkled off the water, creating a dazzling display of light that danced in Gemma's eyes.

As she moved closer to the edge of the Black Lake, a figure caught the corner of her eye, but her mind took a moment to register it. It was Potter, lying in the shade of a large oak tree, seemingly at peace with the world around him.

Not for the first time, the young woman wondered why she never really took the time to appreciate how beautiful Hogwarts really was. She had always been absorbed in the political web that was Slytherin House, and she never really appreciated just enjoying herself.

That had to be her greatest regret, not taking the time to enjoy herself. She had turned her school life into a battlefield. She didn't regret fighting for her position in the house, just how much she had sacrificed for it. She had no friends, only allies. She had no real close relationship with anyone. She turned herself into the best politician she could have managed, and she rose to the top. She didn't have a powerful family backing her – the Farleys were just a couple of centuries old, and the creation of new crests slowly fell out of favour after standardized magical education took off. Gemma did technically have a crest, but it's barely more than a casting aid than anything else. None of her ancestors invested their time or effort into researching magic, so it helped her when learning magic in school, nothing more. Over the last century or so, political advancement has been getting a lot more popular than magical research, probably because it's easier.

Additionally, without any new research taking place, there just wasn't enough reason to pass down magical knowledge to descendants. In the past century, people only did it if they developed a new branch of magic, and even then, they needed permission from the Ministry to perform the ritual, and of course, that came with the usual bribes and political strings. It was mostly for political control, more than anything, but registering as a 'crest family' came with a lot of perks and tax breaks. Still, the ritual took decades of dedication to slowly grind down the essence of a magical creature and bind it to the magical circuits of someone. After decades of acclimation, it slowly turned into an adequate repository to store magical knowledge, and it would be passed down to their children. This process was dangerous, unpredictable, expensive, and lengthy.

However, the easier way of doing so, is using a very small fragment of an already existing crest to act as a basis, similar to adoption but without the repository of magical knowledge that came with it. Old families did that to their most loyal vassals but that stopped being commonplace after the statute of secrecy was put in place, formal nobility was abolished, and their sacred vows to fealty rendered useless. Nowadays, the ministry offered to provide a crest fragment to create a new one, but that did come with a very hefty price and a lot of conditions, and people just thought it wouldn't pay off for centuries, especially when it came to new families without a ridiculous amount of gold in Gringotts.

Lost in her thoughts, Gemma didn't realize how close she had gotten until Potter spoke up, his voice slicing through her reverie like a sharp knife, "You're not usually up this early, Farley."

"Well, you don't make it easy to speak with you. I'd very much rather stay in bed at this ungodly hour."

The young boy snorted, his eyes still closed, "You're not the first to say that to me. You could have just sent me an owl or something. You didn't need to have people following me, or even using tracking charms on my things… Really creepy, Farley."

The older girl suppressed the urge to grit her teeth. That boy was really infuriating, "I'll keep that in mind."

"You're here to convince me to join the Court of Slytherin," the last Potter remarked without any sort of prompting.

How in Merlin's name did he figure it out so quickly? Potter did make an impression the previous year when he was summoned to the court, but it was completely different to speak to him face-to-face.

Hiding her discomfort, Gemma plastered a fake smile on her face and spoke up, "What gave you this idea?"

The boy still hadn't opened his eyes, "You're obviously a member of the Court, probably a high member. King or Queens would be my guess, but King would be more likely. Whether you like it or not, people have always steered clear of you. Your fellow members probably do it out of respect, but the rest of the house follows their lead easily since they're often the loudest and the most influential in their year. People tend to be idiots like that, following directions without thinking. I thought it was because you were a prefect when I first came here. But after learning about the Court, it was far more likely."

Gemma stood there, frozen, as she tried to formulate a response. The Potter boy had seemingly decided to continue in her stead, "Now, what would a high member of the Court of Slytherin want with me, especially after winning the duelling tournament? You practically guaranteed a spot in most Guilds, and even in the ministry. You should be extremely busy. It's definitely not a social call, not after three years of not talking to each other. So, the more likely choice is that you want me to join the Court, a soft sell since I loudly said in the common room that I wasn't interested in doing so. Am I wrong, Farley?"

"Yes, you are," she simply admitted, "I'm here because no matter what you say, I'll be graduating in a few months. I have nothing to win or lose by any choice you make. So, I'll just tell you why I think you're making a horrible mistake, and I'll leave you to your choice…"

"Well, go ahead. Convince me, then…"

"Before I start. Why are you so uninterested in joining? Every Slytherin dreams of this offer ever since their first year…"

Potter chuckled, "The Court is an easy way to network with future influential people, but the truth of the matter is it's a school club. Oh, it has a lot of perks and gives every member a taste of power, but it's not a real thing. It won't mean much after graduation. I have no interest in building a power base. I definitely have no interest in lording any perks over people. There's nothing you could give me that would make my life better, so why should I do it."

"Nothing at all?"

"For all people like to label things, I'm not a future Dark Lord like Dumbledore said, and I'm not a future Light Lord. I'm just a scholar with a passion for learning magic, and this school holds one of the biggest magical libraries in the world. The only thing I would consider buying is knowledge, and there is more than enough of that here for many lifetimes over."

Well, that was nice and everything, but how would he handle with a little pressure, "That's a shame. Greengrass will likely accept our invitation…"

For the first time since the conversation began, the young boy opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows, "Daphne is joining you…"

"Yes. She realized that the connections she could make in the Court might help her with her quest to save her sister."

"Those eavesdropping enchantments in the common room are annoying. I'm guessing Astoria complained to someone about it and you heard. I told my friends all about it after the whole Basilisk fiasco."

Gemma winced at the memory, "You didn't make any friends with your attitude, especially when there wasn't even a Basilisk in the school."

"Are you sure about that?"

"What do you mean by that?"

The boy's smile turned predatory, "When you think about it, why would anyone say that there was a Basilisk in the castle? Even if it was dealt with, somehow, it's very unlikely that anyone would admit it…"

"So, Longbottom really killed a Basilisk?"

"Who knows? Maybe he did. Maybe he didn't."

She wasn't getting anywhere with this, "So, about Greengrass…"

"Ah, yes. If Daphne wants to join, then that's more reason for me to not do so. You see, Tracy is the only one who's taking the Court thing seriously. Daphne wouldn't really care for empty promises and hypothetical help with her sister. And well, considering that Nott being invited is a given thing… The only way I would join would be if I took Tracy's place, and that would just be cruel."

"You care about your friends so much. Even after what Davis told me to curry favour with the Court."

Potter's response was a shrug, "The fact that you came to see me on your own means that she didn't say anything of substance to you. I make it very clear what they have to keep secret and as long as they keep them, then I'm good."

"That's a shame, you would have made a good King, eventually."

"Oh, I showed that much promise, did I?"

Gemma tried her best to hide her smile, "Yes you did. Who would have thought that the tiny pint I showed to our common room three years ago would grow into… well, you."

"I was always me, Farley. I just needed a little push. Hogwarts has a way of doing that, doesn't it?"

Wasn't that an understatement? Without making any overt move, somehow Harry Potter grew into one of the most mysterious yet respected figures in their house. And he didn't even have to fight someone, outside of the few spats with Malfoy a couple of years back. And all it took was for him to win a school task without any effort or display of magical might and end up in the Quarterfinals of the duelling tournament without casting more than two spells per duel and even then, he lost because he forfeited for Greengrass' sake. Even his friends, especially the girls, had some very impressive showings in both tasks… It made people wonder about Potter, who happened to be the unofficial leader of the group.

"Still, the offer to join the court is valid until the final task. After that, your chance will be over, and we'll send out the formal offers. I guess, I'll see you then," Gemma said.

"It's in a few days, isn't it? Beltane is such an odd time to hold a task. It has such a ritualistic meaning. I wonder why Dumbledore chose it…"

Gemma could hear the implied warning the boy implied, "You think something will happen in the final task?"

"I have no idea. I'm just pointing things out I suppose. Now, let us not think about such sordid affairs and plots, and just enjoy the moment. It's such a wonderful morning, isn't it?"

Gemma couldn't help but relax slightly, "It is. It really is." 

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AN: I'm not sure about this chapter tbh since it feels like a filler. The final task was taking a bit more time than expected to fine-tune every detail. Still, this chapter does have important information that will be very critical in the future, and I'm hoping to make Gemma Farley more than a simple background character. As usual, please let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.