Tournament End, Fight, and Ms. Weasley's request

Friday, 2nd January 1987

Diagon Alley

The third day of the New Year Grand Fair began with light snow.

Darcie and Daphne sat opposite each other, eying their magical chess pieces. Both girls had traces of tiredness squirming under their eyes. It was clear that they weren't used to such little sleep.

Even though the top 3 places had all but grabbed, the children were still giving their all to the matches planned today.

The Ministry of Magic would release Chess Rating for all the registered players in the Tournament tomorrow. The players with top 10 ratings wouldn't need to go through the preliminary knockout round the next time, giving a tremendous advantage. None wanted to let go of this chance.

The morning grew into a cloudy afternoon, and the Chess Tournament finally ended.

"Splendid!" Dolores Umbridge squeaked, her toad-like smile unnerving the children and adults alike. "Certificates and rewards will be handed after lunch," she instructed them. "Latecomers will lose their Ranks and Ratings automatically. A group photo will be published in the Daily Prophet's evening issue as well. I recommend some of you dress accordingly."

Her eyes paused on Ron, and his shabby clothes, for just a moment as she said the last sentence.

Darcie and Daphne shared a secretive glance, realizing that.

After a few more instructions, the Head of the Chess Tournament let the players go. The ministry had arranged a combined lunch at Brews and Stews for all U-11 players at noon. So all found themselves in the restaurant's parlor just after leaving Flourish and Blotts.

As the ministry did this to let the children interact with each other, family members were made to stay out of this small gathering.

Even then, most of the players kept a distance between the undisputed champion and themselves.

It was worth to be mentioned that among the 20 players, only four children were less than 9 years old. And yet, somehow it was these four players who had out-shined many in this tournament.

Darcie was at the top with a spotless record. Second on the points list was Ron, with only one loss. Third was Daphne, with one loss as well. If she hadn't lost her match with Darcie, then she would have grabbed the 2nd position easily.

Then there was Astoria, the youngest and most unexpected player. Wild as she was, none could have remotely thought that she possessed some talent in chess. The little Greengrass had won 8 matches and lost 4, the rest's outcome being a draw.

Food magically popped out of nowhere, lining itself on the tables.

As the children saw the dishes, they threw themselves on them. Some children had already formed groups. Some joined tables to sit together. One could even hear the giggles and laughter outside in the alley.

On one table, Ron sat alone, with his face downcast.

Many children hadn't stopped laughing at him since his several rounds in the bathroom yesterday.

Darcie, Daphne, and Astoria helped themselves to a seat at his table.

Ron looked at them, his face red.

Suddenly, Astoria flung a piece of cake on his face and burst out in a feat of laughter. And the tension melted away like a dying ghost.

Ron was quite talkative, like his little sister, Darcie noticed. Throughout the lunch, he kept telling them about his favorite International Quidditch team, and how his brother, Charlie, was the Seeker of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

Darcie and Daphne talked less and kept nodding from time to time.

"I will be in Gryffindor, I know," Ron barked, loudly chewing a large piece of the pie. "What about you?"

Astoria seemed to have not heard Ron's question. And the other two girls ignored it.

As expected, Ron didn't wait for an answer. "I heard Slytherin's the worst," he casually said. "No good wizard has ever come out of that House."

To that, neither Darcie nor Daphne had anything to add.

When the lunch ended, Darcie and the other three rushed out of the restaurant. Parents were already waiting out there, receiving and consoling their children.

To Darcie's surprise, both her father and mother were waiting for her. She hopped towards them.

Lucius smiled at her. "Good," he nodded. "But this much I'd already expected."

Narcissa said nothing but only patted her head. From the other direction, Madam Villanelle approached them and shared some congratulatory words with the Malfoys. Then she winked at Darcie secretively before entering the bookshop.

The 20 players and their family members gathered within Flourish and Blotts.

A Daily Prophet reporter was taking Ms. Umbridge's interview, and from time to time, the toad-like witch kept making the cameraman take several shots of her and her ID card.

Another official then walked to the center with a parchment in his hand. "As I call your name, please come here in an orderly manner," he instructed. "Ms. Umbridge will…"

"Hem-Hem!" Dolores cleared her throat, cutting in. "Ms. Umbridge, Head of the Chess Tournament and Head of the Improper Use of Magic Office."

The official was gobsmacked. However, to not attract her ire, he added the two styles and continued. "… will award the Certificates. The top 3 ranks will be dealt with in the end."

Despite 20 players in the U-11 tournament, not all had gained a distinct rank. Many of the children shared the same points, and only the top 7 ranks belonged to an individual player.

The official kept calling the players one by one, and the roar of claps attracted quite a lot of attention from the alley.

Darcie noticed the Weasleys propped together a few feet away from her. She recognized Ron, Ginny, the twins, Fred and George, Percy, and their mother and father. One more boy was standing next to Mr. Weasley, taller than all. He must be Charlie, Darcie guessed.

"And now, at the 3rd position," the official's clear voice resounded after a pause, "Daphne Greengrass."

Darcie applauded along with everyone as Daphne walked up to Ms. Umbridge. Her steps were little, and her gaze was reserved. Unknown to everyone, Darcie could sense the annoyance in Daphne's blue eyes, even from afar. However, her face showed no hint of it.

Dolores Umbridge awarded Daphne the Certificate and a pouch of Galleons.

When Daphne returned to where her parents and Astoria were standing, the official waited for the clamor to die and said, "At the 2nd position… Ron Weasley."

All the Weasleys burst out with thunderous applauses.

As the little boy walked to the center, Darcie looked up at her parents. Her mother's face was still fine, but there was a nasty scowl lingering on her father's face.

Darcie sighed inwardly.

Weasleys weren't looked at with favor in her house, she knew. Blood-Traitors, muggle lovers, and red-headed country bumpkins were some of the most frequent words used by her father for them.

Darcie found the three Weasleys she had interacted with quite OK. She didn't dislike any of them. Ginny was talkative, but she wasn't as wild as Astoria. And Ms. Weasley was one of the nicest witch she had come across.

But Darcie knew if her parents were to know her thoughts, it wouldn't bode any good for her.

"… Darcie Malfoy."

The name rang in the ears, and instead of the expected applauses, the crowd became silent.

Many had seen Darcie since the beginning of the fair two days ago. But none had dared to approach her or even tried to strike up a conversation.

Her name carried too much weight. Even if one were to ignore her family name, Darcie had already created an image of herself in wizardkind's hearts. She was almost like a sacred being, incapable of doing anything wrong.

When Darcie walked towards Ms. Umbridge, eyes followed her with ten thousand emotions.

Clap! Clap!! Clap!!!

Suddenly, three people clapped. Daphne was one, Astoria, and surprisingly, Ms. Molly Weasley.

The petrification spell cast on the crowd got broken and thunderous applause drowned the bookshop.

Ms. Umbridge handed her Certificate and the winning amount, as the cameraman took several shots successively. Dolores Umbridge noticed the shots were only directed toward the little girl, so she made him retake all of them.

"You dare!"

The sudden explosive shout shocked Darcie, for she recognized the voice. It was her father's.

Darcie blinked away the lingering colors of the photo shoot, and her gaze fell on the people beyond the smoking camera.

Lucius Malfoy and Arthur Weasley were involved in a fistfight, and her father's lip was bleeding. From a corner, Mr. Hillam, the manager of the bookshop, rushed to separate the two gentlemen along with the others.

Darcie was calm, but the faintest hint of anger flashed across her face unknowingly.

All the Weasleys stormed off after another round of a verbal spat, the camera flashing in their direction with a thundering rhythm.

None had expected that the Chess Tournament would end with something like this.

One by one, everyone disappeared after that, not wanting to associate themselves with the vanished feud.

Darcie approached her parents and observed the cut on her father's lips. There was only a little smudge of red. "Are you OK, father?" she asked. "What happened?"

Lucius' eyes were fuming with anger. But the moment he heard Darcie's voice, he seemed to calm down. "Don't worry," he forced out a smile. "I will deal with it. Go have fun with your friends."

Lucius snorted and walked out of the bookshop with Narcissa glued to his heels.

Daphne neared Darcie and stood by her side. "Let's go," she whispered. "We have many shops to cover."

Darcie reluctantly nodded as she saw her father disappearing through the windows. Finding any clue related to the mysterious object was paramount to them.

As the girls were about to leave the bookshop, they found Mrs. Weasley stomping her way in, her face red and blue. "No shame!" she was hissing. "What was he even thinking?"

The witch's eyes fell on the two girls, then.

An odd silence persisted between them before Molly Weasley suddenly smiled at Darcie and Daphne. "Forgot my purse," she pointed to a desk. "We are going back home now. Ginny's screaming bloody murder, asking me to leave her with you two. Haha! She is the only girl among her siblings, and I think she's gotten much attached to you all."

Mrs. Weasley's words truly took aback Darcie. She had met no one until now who could put aside the differences instantly and talk as if nothing had happened.

"We will visit her on weekends," Darcie promised. "Ginny told us you cook delicious treats, Mrs. Weasley. I hope we will get to taste them, too."

On her side, Daphne smiled and nodded. Only she could understand how big a deal was it for Darcie to promise a visit to another's home, especially where her mere presence could cause controversy among the top figures in the Malfoy family's circle.

Molly Weasley's eyes moistened at hearing that. She picked up her purse and rushed back in Leaky Cauldron's direction.

"Come on," Daphne said, pulling Darcie towards Horizont Alley. "We must know what's so strange about this object today. I am getting a funny feeling whenever I recall your encounter with the seller."

At the Horizont Alley's entrance, Dobby was waiting for them, fidgeting and pulling his large ears.

As it was the last day of the fair, the throng of buyers was at its prime.

When the three grouped in a dark corner, Daphne asked, "Which one first?"

Darcie took out the palm-sized object and took a deep breath. "Let's start with Garluk's Metallurgy."

'I must get to the bottom of this object's origin today,' she reminded herself, her eyes narrowing.

For the funny feeling that Daphne had mentioned, Darcie had been experiencing the same since the very first day.