19 Chapter 19

Chapter 19

HARRY POTTER

"That was one hell of a performance. Still, I wonder how the kid got his hands on such a spell," Sirius spoke from the side.

"Do you know what that was? I have never read about anything like that. Will we learn about it in Hogwarts in later years?" Hermione immediately asked the questions that probably had been running through her mind.

Sirius snickered slightly at Hermione's enthusiasm before his smile stopped suddenly as his face attained a forlorn look.

"Nah, I believe that many of your teachers won't even know any spells like those. Such spells are extremely difficult to find and even more difficult to perform. However, if the kid was able to perform them to an acceptable level as a seventh year, it speaks volumes of his skill." Hermione nodded at that.

"Then how do you know about them?" the words escaped Harry's mouth as he stared at the judge while they gave out the marks. The bias of the Drumstrang's headmaster was visible as a shining seven appeared on the screen.

'He gave Krum a ten, and this was way better than Krum's performance.' Harry thought.

"Well, let's just say it is one of the perks of being a Black. Our family is more than four centuries old, and let's just say such a long history and pedigree has led to the Blacks having amongst the best repositories of magical knowledge." He spoke up with a smirk, and though it was just a small moment, Harry was sure that he had noticed a hint of pride in his tone.

"You have your own library!" Hermione spoke with sparkling eyes, making Sirius chuckle, and for a moment, Harry found himself just staring at her face. At the moment, it was like he was seeing her for the first time.

"Yes, we do have a library. Perhaps you can have a look when you visit," Sirius replied mirthfully.

"Thank you," Hermione spoke up.

"Forty-four," Harry spoke up as all the judges concluded, giving Edward his marks. Harry frowned as he tried to recall the marks given to the Beauxbaton's champion.

"It is one less than the French girl," Hermione added from the side.

"Yeah, though I believe that is probably due to the struggle of the Dragon keepers. They are still melting the ice off of the arena and the dragon." Sirius speculated, and it was true.

The Hungarian Horntail was screeching as frost still covered a part of its body, and the arena still had a layer of frost over it.

'What power,' Harry thought.

"Well, I believe that I must leave now." Sirius suddenly spoke up from behind. And Harry's head snapped towards his Godfather.

"But why? There is so much I want to talk to you about?" Harry pleaded though a part of him knew that it was futile.

Sirius smiled ruefully and ruffled his hair. Then, crouching down, he gave Harry a small hug.

"Soon, I will be done with that accursed trial, and I will be free. Then, I won't have to meet you in secret. Hopefully, it will be concluded before the summer. And perhaps you would like to spend the summer with me?"

And the words took Harry by surprise, and for a moment, he was stunned, tongue-tied, and bamboozled as he found himself unable to reply. But his arms around Sirius tightened as the implications behind those words finally registered.

"Yes! Yes, that will be great," Harry muttered.

And as they separated, both of them had huge smiles on their faces.

"And perhaps you would like to visit as well, Hermione. Perhaps take a look at our library." Sirius spoke to his friend.

And Harry saw a small flush cover Hermione's cheeks as she nodded her head.

"Thank you for the invitation," she replied with a nod.

Sirius then closed his eyes and took a deep gulp of air.

"All right, kiddos, I will be going now. Take care of yourself." And with that, the man morphed into a dog right in front of their eyes. A spectacle that was quite reminiscent of his first Transfiguration class.

And with a small bark, the grim-like dog began to run towards the other side. Harry watched it vanish behind an erected tent. A part of him was sad that it had been such a short meeting, but there was a ray of hope now. Hope that Sirius will get exonerated.

0000

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

"Congratulations! Congratulations! Such magnificent performances. Such magnificent performances. It kind of reminds me of some of my own games as a bea…."

"AKHM! AKHM! " and Dumbledore was thankful to the young Mr.Weasley for cutting Ludo's reminiscence short. This was not the time for him to begin one of his tirades. They had tolerated enough of them back in the judges' box.

Mr. Weasley stepped up, acting in place of his boss Bartemious Crouch.

"That was an exceptional display of courage from each of you. I know each of you is eager to rest and relax, so I will be quick about this." The young redhead spoke up, though Dumbledore was no longer focusing on his words.

His eyes were focused on the young man standing in front of him. Edward stood straight in front of him with one of his arms wrapped around the Beauxbaton's champion. The seventh-year student had a small smile on his face and seemed completely oblivious to the storm he had just caused.

Dumbledore had thought of his casting technique as a mere coincidence. But this, this spoke of much more than a simple inspiration.

Nifelheim was not a simple spell. It was an elemental spell. And a very obscure one at that. Years ago, Dumbledore had removed all of Gellert's notes and remnants from Drumstrang. He had brought them to Hogwarts for safekeeping.

And from what he could recall, this spell was only ever mentioned in those notes apart from a couple of other ancient texts, but those would be in possession of pureblood families.

'Where had he found this spell? Should I question him about it? Who was Edward Wright, and why did he only now see the similarities between him and his old friend?' and many more questions loomed in his head.

Gellert Grindelwald had been hailed as a genius, much like Edward. And Dumbledore couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper connection between the two.

'Perhaps I must give an old friend a visit?' he thought.

"The clue for your second task is hidden in the golden egg. The second task will take place in February, so you will have plenty of time to prepare. But before it, I must inform you about another tradition."

At this, Dumbledore stepped forward.

"The yule bald has been held as a part of the tri-wizard tournament since its inception." He spoke up as the three champions looked at him, yet he found a look of slight surprise on only two of those faces.

"The ball will take place on Christmas Day. It is a tradition for the champions to open the ball, so I believe that each of you must prepare accordingly. And I believe if you have any questions, you can ask."

And when they did not speak up, Dumbledore smiled as he ended the discussion.

"Then I believe that this is it. Good day to you all."

"Thank you," the three champions chorused together, and with that, Dumbledore left the tent, planning a visit to a very old friend.

0000

FLEUR DELACOUR

Just as Fleur walked out of the tent, she immediately heard her name getting called out by a very familiar voice.

"FLEURR!" and she was barely able to catch the blonde bundle. Though Gabrielle still knocked the air out of her. Besides her, she heard Edward stifle a laugh at her sister's antics.

"Ooof," she uttered as Gabrielle hugged her, and Fleur wrapped her arms around her sister as their mother walked towards them while shaking her head.

"Gabrielle, how many times have I told you to stop being so careless," their mother repeated the words that Fleur had heard for over five years, yet had still not taken any effect on her sister and from the way she was mocking Edward, they weren't going to take any effect now.

"You lost. I told you, didn't I? My sister is better than you," Gabrielle teased Edward, who had a huge smile on his face.

"Aha, but this was just the first task. The tournament is still left, and we will have to wait to see who wins it in the end." And she gave Edward a small glare. Gabrielle narrowed her eyes at Edward.

"We will see. But still, she did beat you today, so she is better than you till the next task." Gabrielle said haughtily.

"We shall see, little one. We shall see."

And just as Gabrielle was about to respond, their mother intervened with a little heat.

"That is enough, Gabrielle," and Gabrielle did not speak though she was still looking at Edward with narrowed eyes.

"Congratulations on your performance, Edward. It was truly marvelous." Her mother complimented Edward.

"Thank you for your kind words, but it is true, today's event was won over by Fleur here," and Fleur flushed slightly at his words. The only reason she had a higher mark than him was because of Igor Karkaroff. Otherwise, even Madam Maxime had given him a score higher than her.

Fleur wanted to ask him about his spell, but there had not been any opportunity for that kind of conversation yet.

"Ahh, Fleur's performance was magnificent as well. But yours was quite a spectacle in itself," her mother spoke up. Edward just smiled at that. And then Fleur finally spoke up.

"What are you doing here, mother?" she asked. She knew that they were watching the performance, and Fleur did plan on joining them, but why had her mother approached her?

"Oh dear, I just thought that after such a showing, we could have a nice little celebration." Her mother said with a smile.

"Yippee! mother even promised to buy me that chocolate cake from the other day," Fleur smiled at the reaction from Gabrielle. Though, after such an excursion, she believed that a celebration was in order.

"Sure, let me just change my clothes." She replied. Besides her, Edward spoke up, handing her golden egg back to her.

"OK, I hope you enjoy your outing." And Fleur's mood dropped slightly as he gave her a small smile and started walking away. From the corner of her eye, Fleur spotted an elderly couple hugging and laughing with the third champion.

And she was once more reminded of the fact that he had no one there to congratulate him. However, before she could speak up, her mother had called him out.

"Edward!" She saw him stop in his tracks as he turned to face her mother.

"Why don't you join us for the celebration?" She saw his eyes widen at her words. Fleur felt her lips form a smile at those words.

"It's a family occasion. I wouldn't want to impose…" but she cut him off.

"Nonsense. It will be delightful if you join us, plus you can show us around London. It will be quite fun."

Fleur ignored her little sisters' minuscule protest at their words.

"Fleur is right, dear. You should join us."

Edward looked toward her, and she gave him a slight nod, and then he smiled as he looked towards her mother and nodded his head.

"Then I will be there. Thanks for the invite, Mrs. Delacour." And with that, he began walking towards the castle.

"He is a mysterious kid. Mysterious and smart." Her mother said though she then looked her straight in the eye and added conspiratorially.

"And charming."

Fleur's cheeks heated up at that. And she slightly coughed at that.

"Let's go to the carriage. I need to change out of these robes." And they began to walk towards the carriage. If Gabrielle was grumbling about inviting Fleur's rival, what could they do about that?

0000

BOOOM. Another chapter is done. Sirius is getting a trial, and Edward is getting a small party.

Dumbledore is planning a visit to an old friend. An old friend who brought Europe to its knees. An old friend whose shadow looms over his particular student.

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