61: The Summer Ball .IV

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, found himself in a dilemma. 

You see, a few weeks ago, he placed an order in the Emporium for five protective cloaks. However, these were no ordinary cloaks. They were the best one could find in Britain.  Hexcloaks. 

The only problem was that they weren't exactly cheap. The materials were expensive, the enchantments complicated, and the labour was arduous. It took at least a week of almost constant work to craft one. One misstep could render the cloak in the making useless. 

He had taken gold from his vault to fund this little endeavour behind the rest of the Ministry's back, not to mention the money he had to spend to block any information about the true nature of Peter Pettigrew's escape from leaking. In other words, Fudge was currently  piss-poor.

Because of that, Percival Graves's offer was too tempting.

"We don't have all night, Minister," Percival joked, but the trained eye could see the traces of indifference in his gaze when he looked at Fudge. 

Should he accept or not? On one hand, if Fudge gave the man what he wanted, he could earn back some of the gold he spent on the cloaks. On the other hand, he would continue to be broke for the following months, but the Ministry's integrity would still be the same. 

"If he doesn't accept, here's my contact," François, the French Minister of Magic, spoke to Percival in French as he gave him a slip of paper with his Owl address. 

Walking away, François left the two men in silence. Alaric, when transfigured as Percival, towered over Cornelius. It wasn't as if Alaric's persona was exceedingly tall. The Minister was just short. 

"Think about all the benefits," Alaric placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "All I need in return is the information I asked for,"

From the thoughts Alaric got without breaking into Fudge's mind, the Minister only needed a little push...

"If you give me what I want, we could be looking at a long and lasting relationship, Cornelius," Alaric assured him. But a second later, his voice turned sad... or at least it seemed so. "If not, well, we'll have to part ways," 

It's just the Ministry's personnel's background. How bad could it be? That was what Cornelius thought. Just imagining all the gold he would receive back made him giddy with relief. He and his wife would eat like proper purebloods for the first time in weeks!

"I'll h-have it sent to you first thing in the morning tomorrow," he said, receiving a tap on the shoulder.

"Perfect," Alaric said. "Now, if you excuse me, I have other matters to take care of,"

Alaric walked away, leaving the fiddling Minister to his thoughts. 

"François!" He called, approaching the Frenchman. "About those artefacts, I was telling you about..."

__________

As the night progressed, the ball's atmosphere grew electric. The orchestra was perched on the stage, surrounded by cascading flowers. A low mist covered the musicians' feet, making them appear as if they were floating. 

Couples glided gracefully across the marbled floor to the music, their movements in sync and practised. In wizarding high society, not knowing how to dance in a ballroom could cause significant damage to one's reputation. And reputation was essential for a business. 

The wide circular buffet table had long disappeared along with most cutlery, leaving only the occasional floating tray carrying drinks and dessert. 

The music came in various styles, allowing for different dances, such as a graceful waltz or a lively foxtrot. Some dance cards were distributed to the adult guests, allowing them the pleasure of arranging dances with one another — a chance for connections to be forged or even old 'friendships' to be rekindled. In a way, the body's movement could be used to convey sentiments too complicated to express through words. 

Amid the whirl of dancing, there were always those either too young, too old, too tired, or even too shy to participate. Luckily for them, between dances, a talented troupe of performers would occupy the stage, displaying magic stunts average wizards wouldn't even know where to start. Furthermore, a renowned Spanish opera singer gave a surprise performance that left the audience in awe with her vocals. 

"The Ministry has truly gone all out this year," remarked Lily Potter. She couldn't help but draw comparisons between the present events and those of the past. Had there even been an orchestra the last time? "Where on earth did they find the funds for this?"

"Everyone seems to be vying for a piece of the Basilisk," James, her husband, commented. "Can't blame them,"

"It's rather weird how the Ministry claimed to the Basilisk like this," Sirius said with a touch of indignation. He held a glass of firewhisky in his hand, taking occasional sips. "If it met its end at Hogwarts, it ought to belong to Hogwarts. Furthermore, instead of auctioning it off, why not use it to better equip the witches and wizards on the line of duty?"

Sirius continued his passionate discourse about Fudge until he was breathless. Then, in a single gulp, he emptied the remaining contents of his whisky glass and let out a contented sigh.

"Sounds to me you just want a Basilisk vest for yourself," James joked, drawing a chuckle from his friend.  "Some of the junior Aurors have been gossiping that it was Snivellus who killed it," James added absentmindedly.

"James!" Lily exclaimed, giving him a swat on the shoulder.

"Your children told me a different story," Sirius retorted. James and Lily exchanged puzzled glances, wondering what he meant. "They mentioned it was a student who did it,"

"Which student?" Lily inquired.

"Wouldn't tell me," Sirius continued. "They simply said Dumbledore announced the defeat of Salazar's Slytherin monster pet,"

"I find that hard to believe," James said. "It's probably just another Hogwarts rumour. You know how those are,"

"Or maybe it isn't," Sirius said.

  __________

After doing everything he wanted to, Alaric retreated to a bathroom to transfigure himself back into his normal appearance. He entered the room as a middle-aged man but exited it as the usual good-looking boy. 

After a small walk back and stopping for a refreshment, Alaric re-entered the main room in time to witness the closing ceremony. The circus troupe had joined the orchestra on stage for a last performance, and he had to admit they were extraordinary. 

No doubt the money came from investors interested in a portion of the Basilisk. Otherwise, the Ministry wouldn't have barely enough money to host something like this. And their governing body wasn't poor quite the contrary, so one would find it hard to imagine what it would take for other countries to organize something as extravagant as this. But unless another invaluable creature showed up, there won't be another Ball like this in the years to come. 

He had, of course, secured a piece of the beast for him. And in a legal way, to boot! Or at least, he didn't consider coercion a crime. It wasn't his fault the Minister was so gullible when it came to money. Perhaps that was why the Malfoy family was so influential. Money truly moved the world.

"Al!" A familiar voice reached his ears. Alaric turned around and saw two girls walking towards him. One was Daphne Greengrass, one of his best friends, dressed in a lovely silver gown, loose enough for her to move comfortably. 

Peeking from behind her golden locks, was a younger girl he didn't recognize but could guess who she was. She had long and fluffy dark brown hair, just like her father, but her electric blue eyes were almost a copy of her mother's. 

Daphe gave him a tight hug before turning to the other girl. 

"Alaric, Astoria, my sister," she said, pointing at the two. "Astoria, Alaric, a best friend of mine," 

The young girl shot a sly look at her sister before leaving the protection of her back. She gave Alaric a courteous bow while holding her skirt. 

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr Grindelwald," She said in a practised tone. 

"I'm your sister's friend, not a pompous grandfather age wizard that's going to badmouth your family if you're informal with me," Alaric chuckled, amused by the exaggerated movements Astoria did with her hands as she presented herself. 

"No? Thank Merlin," Her attitude instantly changed, and her posture and voice became more relaxed. She then turned to Daphne. "Daphne, I've met your pretty friend, so can we leave? My feet want to murder these heels," She dramatically threw herself into her sister's embrace, as if she had fainted. 

"Astoria, behave!" Daphne reprimanded her younger sister, but Astoria just rolled her eyes. "Sorry about her Al. She hates formal gatherings even more than I do," 

"Of course I do!" The little girl chimed in. "It should be a crime to walk around in these shoes. Who invented them anyway!" 

While the two were bickering, Alaric couldn't help but let out a laugh. And Daphne couldn't exactly handle those without becoming a blushing mess. 

"I've heard a lot about you," Alaric said, still mildly laughing. "But I never expected you to be this funny," 

"And I've heard a lot about you," Astoria said, crossing her arms. "I expected a Grindelwald to be more of a git than to share my sense of humour," 

"I don't like those types of comments, but I'll let this one slide, little princess," Alaric said as he ruffled Astoria's carefully styled hair. 

"What? S-Stop!" she said in a fluster. 

Just then, a loud applause ensued. Alaric looked at the stage, and seeing the orchestra bowing along with the troupe made him realize the ball was about to end. 

"I have to go, Daphne," Alaric stopped messing with Astoria and turned to her sister. "My mother should be looking for me, and she can be quite unpleasant if kept waiting,"

"Don't worry," Daphne said. "You're going to Tracey's farm next week, right?"

"Of course," Alaric chuckled. "Wouldn't miss her mother's stew for nothing,"

"Great," she said with a happy expression. "See you next week, then!" 

Alaric only left after she saw the two girls join their parents. He weaved through the immense crowd that had formed along the large hallway that led outside, using his ring as a means to locate his sister, who by now should be with their mother. 

The host, Cornelius Fudge, and his undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge, stood by the exit with gracious smiles that didn't go along well with their faces, nodding goodbye to the more influential guests.

Alaric had to admit that the night had been incredibly profiting. Numerous connections were formed, not to mention the handful of rich investors he had picked the interest for. A few dances with members of the fairer sex were common courtesy if one wanted to express interest in whatever those women dealt with. With the amount of gold this event could move, it was a shame the next year's wouldn't be as extravagant. 

But those were annoyances for future Alaric. At the moment, he was more preoccupied with the cold expression adorning his lovely mother's face and the look of pity on Lysandra's. 

"Mother," He said as soon as he was within hearing distance. 

"Where were you?" she asked in a tone of worry mixed with anger. 

"I was appreciating the beauty of the gardens, but they're so big I lost myself in them," Alaric said with a straight face. 

"Then why did you come from inside the mansion?" Isadora narrowed her eyes. 

"I had to go to the loo," He shrugged. "My bowels couldn't handle that dragon tartar they were serving," 

Isadora looked straight into her son's eyes and didn't break contact for at least a minute. Eventually, she sighed in defeat. 

"Let's go," she said while pinching Alaric's cheek. 

The twins followed her to the chauffeured carriages that stood ready to transport the guests home, marking the ending of a magical and profitable night.

**********

A/N: I've been messing around with a pretty decent AI and got some really realistic and good images for the main characters. I'll post them in tomorrow's chapter, as well as some more character illustrations in the auxiliary chapter. (The illustrations will be according to the book).

Fun fact! Hermione's Patronus is an otter, and Ron's is a Jack Russell Terrier, which is known for chasing otters. Also, otters are J.K. Rowling's favourite animals. 

Hope you enjoyed the chapter!