Chapter 0025 - Better than some, Worse than most

Monday, November 21, 1994

Conference Room 177D

19:47 PM

Percival Ebonwood's POV

"How are you feeling, Mr. Ebonwood?" asked Rita Skeeter as she sat comfortably in her chair.

"I'm fine," I said as Maddie touched up my make up.

"I will be asking tougher questions than the other two will be asked. Some of these questions may make your skin crawl. If you ever feel uncomfortable, your safe word is pineapple. Will you be alright with that?" she asked.

"Can I ask why?"

"We are fighting for viewership against the other two champions. One of them is arguably one of the best looking witches in the world, while the other is a quidditch sensation. And you're you. You aren't exactly what people would choose to tune into normally, so we're spicing it up here."

"I think I'm as good as them," I said.

"You're not a camera baby. You weren't born for the camera like the other two," Rita Skeeter said as she gestured for Maddie to come over. "Would you be a dear and fill up our glasses? Also, could we start soon? I'm getting antsy waiting."

"We'll start as soon as the clock strikes eight. And I'll have your glasses filled. Would water be okay?"

"That'll be fine, darling."

~~~~

"Good evening, and welcome back to Channel Three. I'm Rita Skeeter, and I'm here with one of the Hogwarts champions, Percival Ebonwood. Welcome, Mr. Ebonwood. How are you feeling?"

"I'm doing quite well. How are you doing?"

"I could be better, but we're here to focus on you and only you. Tell me what thoughts were going through your mind when you were chosen?"

"It was surreal. I didn't think that it would be me. There are a handful of people that I believe could do a good job."

"You were initially chosen because the Goblet of Fire objectively believed you were the best for Hogwarts. We'll be going off script for the next bit, if that's okay with you?" She asked as I nodded. "Good, we are going to go through your life, and I'm going to ask questions where I think it will be best. Viewers, none of these are scripted, so this is going to be one of your only chances of delving into the mind of one of Britain's rising stars. Percy, are you ready?"

"Not really, but you're going to ask the questions anyway."

"That's the spirit. Okay, let's get started. Your full name is Percival Laurentis Gustavus Ebonwood. You were born on Friday, March 11, 1977. Your family motto is 'Dom Omnibus Custodit, Terra Obumbrat Regnum'. What does it mean, and what do you think it means?"

"The literal translation from Latin is 'While the world keeps watch, the kingdom is shaded'. What do I think it means? Well, I think 'While the world keeps watch' is literal, while 'kingdom' either refers to our fiefdom in Italy or our family. It's about letting nobody know our full capabilities, especially when my family was operating at its peak. We had a lot of enemies, whether it was from a political or economical standpoint, and it was a warning to the younger generation to not flaunt everything and take things for granted."

"Quite insightful for someone your age. You grew up in Diagon Alley with your Squib father and Muggle mother. Your father worked at the ministry, while your mother was a nurse. On your fourth birthday, your father was attacked by an unknown masked assailant, and two years later, your mother passed from natural causes. How do you think that affected you?"

"I'm still finding out how it's affecting me. Such a traumatic event has lifelong implications, and I'm still learning about them. I don't know how to put into words the effect it has on a child. After their deaths, I shunned society. I didn't socialise, and all I wanted was to see the world hurt. Oh, I hated the world for what it had done to me. But as time passed, so did my hate. And I was left with an understanding. Humans don't live for centuries; we live in the here and now," I said as I took a sip of water. "Losing my father was hard. There was nothing I could do to stop the Death Eater attack, but with my mother, I felt like I could have done more."

"That's a good way to drive yourself crazy; however, the perpetrator of your father's disappearance was never found. The official reports mention nothing of Death Eaters."

"When they came to deliver the news, they gave us the regular bureaucratic bullshit about how they would catch the perpetrator. On the day when we buried what was left of my father, Alice Longbottom came to tell us what happened."

"Do you hate the ministry for not apprehending the perpetrator? Or do you hate the alleged Death Eaters?"

"A little bit. Everybody has their fault. Some people are more susceptible to the Imperious Curse, while others are vocal about their political ideology. They fought for a cause. My father died for a cause. That's better than some."

"But worse than most. After your parents passed away, you went to live with your grandparents. They had no relation to the magical world, and as a result, you were kept away from magic. You were forced through muggle education, and did not have the opportunity to explore magic in your childhood. Do you resent your grandparents? Do you think they took you in because they wanted to or because it was their daughter's last wish? Did you like living with muggles?"

"Does it matter? What matters is that they raised me and did a pretty good job at it. It doesn't matter whether they did it for me or for my mother. They did it, and I can't do wrong by that. I may have a little resentment towards them, but we worked them out. And they didn't keep me away from magic. They kept me away from the thing that caused me pain, magical Britain," I said as I took another sip of water. "I did enjoy living with them. They taught me everything I knew. The only reason I have accomplished what I have accomplished is because of them. They are immunology and pathology experts, respectively, and that is what inspired me to create what I created. As for muggle education, I wanted it. I am currently doing my A Levels alongside my N.E.W.T.'s. I think that tells you enough about that topic."

"It seems you prefer muggle education over our education, but why did you choose Hogwarts over Eton College? For the viewers who do not know who or what Eton College is, it is the premier site of secondary education for muggle children in England."

"I need a way to control my magic, don't I? I don't want to kill anybody just because I'm in a bad mood."

"Interesting. Now, onto your life at Hogwarts. Our preliminary report suggests that you were isolated and lonely. Is that true?"

"Loneliness is often the by-product of a gifted mind. I was lonely, but I found kindred spirits. We're now loners together," I chuckled as I said it while Rita Skeeter looked confused. "We're still isolated from a large majority of the student population, just like any other student; however, we are now friends."

"Your 'friends' are gifted and share the same view?"

"I believe so."

"In your second year, you asked your head of house to bring back an old Ravenclaw tradition: the Extended Project Qualification. You were successful in bringing it back. Why did you want it back? Also, in your third year, you created the pregnancy potion. For those of you who live under a troll's cave, the pregnancy potion can be used by both witches and wizards. It exponentially increases the chance of successfully bearing a child. How did you create it?"

"Some traditions are good and need to make a comeback. I believed that the EPQ was one of them, and I was right. As for the pregnancy potion, it wasn't that hard. Muggles are developing similar products; however, wizards have a different physiology. I used Stregobor's research as the basis, and it was simple science after that."

"You became a really rich wizard because of that. Can you tell us how much you made? And why Stregobor's research?"

"I made enough. Enough to repay almost all of my family's debt and annul a few marriage contracts," I said. "Stregobor may be a mad man, but he was a smart mad man."

"In your fourth year, you claimed to find a cure for Blood Maleductus, and you went to the press to fund your trials. Nobody believed you. You then went to the Greengrass family and swore an oath. If my informants are corrected, you will forfeit your life if you are unsuccessful in healing the youngest Greengrass, correct?"

"Correct. Not many know I swore an oath, and even fewer know the details of the oath. Could I know the name of your informant?"

"A magician never reveals their secret. I will not be releasing the name of my informant," she said with a smirk. "After news came out that you managed to receive patronage from the Greengrass family, there was a detailed background check on you. It was discovered that you were the heir to the Ebonwood family. How did you react once you heard the news? It is scandalous that a scion of one of the oldest magical families is under the control of another family. Have you tried to undo the oath?" 

"No, I haven't tried to undo the oath. I believed my cure would work, and it did. I do not need to fear the consequences of failure," I said. "I reacted as anyone would react to finding out they were inheriting a large amount of money. I was ecstatic, until I found the crippling debt we were in. I paid it off, and the Ebonwood Enterprise is resurfacing slowly."

"Could we talk about your cure for a moment?" She asked as I nodded. "How is your cure for Miss Astoria Greengrass different from the cure for others? From what I understand from my informant's report, you have used it on 21 subjects. You split the subjects into four phases. Phase one were those who were in their animal form for a prolonged duration of time. You had four subjects, and all four survived. Phase two were those we transformed recently. You had five subjects, but only three survived. Phase three was for those with prolonged symptoms who were showing signs of a transformation. All five subjects survived. Phase four is for those who have just started to show symptoms. You have one subject you're waiting for. One subject lived, while the other died. So, 21 subjects, 17 successes, 3 failures, and you're waiting for the last result."

"Again, how did you get that information? That shouldn't be public until July. But yes, those figures are correct. I had an 85% success rate. And of the three failures, two were preventable. One was allergic to one of the ingredients, and the other died shortly after due to dragon pox. Both were preventable, if proper precaution was taken. We followed the clinical trial procedures to the tee, but we could have been stricter. Most people in my situation would consider them a success as they were cured, but they did not live through the treatment period, so I counted them as failures," I said. "As for how is it different? Very different. The cure for Astoria contains elements from previous attempts, but due to recent breakthroughs, we can significantly increase the chance for success and use a safer-ish method."

"Can you tell us what the breakthrough is? And was it worth the deaths?"

"It's under a Fidelus Charm, and I'm not the secret keeper. Furthermore, it's not mine, so it's not mine to tell. I would say it was worth it. Their deaths helped us progress and further refine our methods. If I went back in time, and would make the same exact decisions I made." 

"Onto more recent events, we heard you came to a major disagreement with a guild representative. Is that true?"

"Once again, that is information you should not be privy to, but yes. We were at a crossroads as to what to do if I somehow met my untimely demise during the tournament. I wanted it to continue on its original trajectory; however, the Guild had different plans. They wanted to hold back the treatment to the latest possible point in the timeline. I see the merit in that idea, but the research is reaching the point of diminishing returns. We then came to a compromise where both parties are now content."

"Thank you for leading us into the next topic: the Triwizard Tournament. What are your thoughts on the additional champions and the other schools participating?"

"I think it's great. We now have a worldwide reach, and you have access to seeing some of the most talented wizards and witches of my generation in action. I am really looking forward to the display put up by the champion from the Australian school. Just imagine summoning a demon randomly. I would love to do that."

"What do you think about the betting house's predicted table?"

"I haven't seen it yet."

"It's going to be published in tomorrow's paper. To summarise, Viktor Krum wins with Florentina Abramovich in second. Hinata Nakamura is third, with Fleur Delacour in fourth. You are fifth with slightly better odds than Harriet Potter."

"The top five sounds about right, but I would put myself higher. Miss Potter is too high, in my opinion. She's against some of the best witches and wizards of this generation. She has potential, but I don't think she'll reach the level necessary to put up a good fight."

"The table is more of a popularity contest than an actual table. If you want a real table, you'll have to wait until a week before the first task. Mr. Ebonwood, thank you for your time. If I ask you any more questions, I'm afraid we'll go over our allotted slot."

"It's been a pleasure."

"Well, folks, that's it from me, Rita Skeeter, signing off."

~~~~~

"And cut! That was off script, but a very good showing. You managed to get a better showing than the other two, so well done," said the director as he came and shook both our hands.