Chapter 287: Azure Tantrum
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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.
I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
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22 November 1994, Rome, Italy
Fleur Delacour sat as Arthur paced around, complaining, "It's not fair… It was obviously him."
Aurelie Dupont, her best friend, asked brightly, "Who?"
The Veela suppressed the urge to giggle; Aurelie always liked to mess with people with obvious questions, and Arthur was getting pretty annoying with his constant rants. As expected, the boy's face turned a very funny shade of red, "Potter, of course. Were you not listening to me or something?"
"It all just keeps blending around and you know how I get horribly confused about this stuff. However, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure Potter wasn't in the task. Are you sure you're talking about the right person?" Aurelie replied with barely hidden sarcasm.
"Of course, I am and don't be so daft, what happened had Potter written all over it. He obviously cheated somehow. The whole thing stinks of Potter. It was just like him to trick anyone and make everything into a joke. Did you see how he beat the first task in his school's tournament last year?"
Aurelie pretended to be fascinated and nodded, "How?"
"He conjured a white piece of clothes and hid under the snow until he took out the last person standing to win. And remember what he did to the Durmstrang and Nebelheim champions back in Beauxbatons? He didn't even cast the spells that took them out, just redirected it. And that's not to mention the runes when he took out the Spanish… I bet he put runes on us before the fight and activated them…"
Fleur rolled her eyes, "We were checked for Runes and Enchantments before stepping foot into the arena. None of us had any suspicious magic on us that we didn't personally approve to the officials. No one had any foreign magic on them…"
"Then fucking how did he do it? Why is no one talking about this? We all know that there's a reason Madame Maxime is appealing the decision. Everyone knows that Potter did something, and we should have won. I don't understand why no one is caring about it…"
What he said seemed to have grated on Fontaine's nerves, "Arthur, just stop ranting like an idiot and sit down. We did win… Just because we tied doesn't mean that we lost. Yes, we all know that Potter did something, but we also don't have any proof, and from the looks of it, neither do the judges. Madame Maxime appealed the decision so that she could find out what he did, which would stop him from doing it again."
"But he cheated…" the boy whined.
"How exactly did he do that? That's the entire point… Plus, believe me, or not, a lot more people than just us will want him dead. I heard a lot of people lost money betting on the outcome. No one expected a tie. Honestly, I'm just happy that he only activated this at the end, meaning that we tied. If you think about it, the trap could have been activated before we almost eliminated the last Hogwarts Champion, and then we would have lost… My guess is that he was aiming for a tie for some reason."
Arthur started to pout, "It's just not fair…"
"Nothing is ever fair," Fleur retorted, "And we did sort of screw up the last few duels in the task too. Even if we had a sizable number's advantage, we should have been a lot more careful. We were lucky at the end with the Nemean Lion. I could have easily not reacted in time, and we would have lost, and that's without Harry Potter being involved at all."
Madame Maxime entered the room and spoke up, "Quite right, Ms. Delacour. An advantage is only one if you are not reckless with it. I have come here to update you on the investigation of Mr. Potter's involvement."
"So, did they catch him?" Arthur returned looking excited.
"Unfortunately, no. The decision is final, you have tied with Hogwarts for first place."
"That's absolute nonsense," he tried to continue only to be interrupted by his headmistress, "Please let me finish, Mr. Laurant. It's very rude to speak over me… As I was saying, the decision is final because, to make things simple, Harry Potter was not the cause of your defeat, Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory were."
That froze the entire room, "What?"
"I suppose I could understand your surprise, but the spell that took you out was cast by both of them, some weird hidden enchantments in certain spells. The officials did interrogate the two of them and apparently, Mr. Potter taught them both spells when they trained under him for a few days. They did not know of their secondary use in any way."
"So, he did cheat!" Arthur yelled out.
Aurelie rolled her eyes, "No, he didn't. Teaching someone a spell and lying about all their effects isn't cheating. At the end of the day, Diggory and Chang cast the spells themselves without knowing their full effects and that's not cheating. Harry Potter didn't use any piece of magic to impact the match, he just got the Hogwarts Champions to do it… That's actually a lot more impressive. Which spells were the ones that had the trap in them…"
"The fog illusion spell that the Chang girl cast at the start, I believe. It was some kind of marking spell that tracked everyone in the arena, and that earth wave spell that had an enchantment to attack the targets if its castor was being eliminated. As Ms. Dupont here said, there were no grounds to disqualify Hogwarts since there was no outside interference in any way and it was the competitors that cast the spells. The good news is that knowing the marking spell meant that we could counter them easily at a later date. I would recommend that you do a few marking detection spells to check if you would have been under one. The bad news is that the decision is final, we have tied with Hogwarts for first place, and as far as the judges are concerned, they earned this fair and square."
Arthur looked perplexed, "He tricked them into winning?"
Was that boy an idiot or something? Fleur honestly thought him to be reasonably intelligent, even if she didn't really know him. And Madame Maxime did personally ask him to compete… From the glint in the headmistress' eyes, she was not going to make that mistake again.
"Yes, Mr. Laurant, I suppose he did and unfortunately, this wasn't against the rules. Nevertheless, even with that small incident, I wanted to tell you how proud I am of your work during the task. You have done a great job at representing Beauxbatons. As of now, our prestigious school is in second place, just after Hogwarts, and given the circumstances, I couldn't have been happier with your performance. Now, as you probably know, there was a small caveat in the previous task about getting a key from the magical creatures in the arena. As you probably know, Ms. Delacour and Ms. Fontaine have gotten one each. Can you show them to me?"
Fleur had almost forgotten all about this part of the task; she was confused about what happened in the end and hadn't really thought about the magical creatures. She supposed that Madame Maxime cleared a lot up, all things considered. Still, she took out the key from her pocket and gave it to her headmistress. Eloise also handed hers.
With a wave of her wand, two large chests materialized. They looked rugged and definitely well-built. The wood from which they were crafted appeared ancient, its surface etched with intricate carvings that seemed to tell stories of old. The iron bands that reinforced their corners were adorned with symbols, each linked to different beasts that they had beaten.
Eloise was the first to step up upon the chest with the carved Griffin roaring around the chest. She used her key, which opened up to reveal sandals. They didn't really look remarkable, other than the white wings that kept flapping around them and the fact that it was floating in the air. Eloise grabbed it with an awed look on her face and Madame Maxime explained, "Mercury's sandals. They're not the real thing, of course, but it's a very well-made replica from one of the country's best enchanters… It's worth a fortune, alone."
The entire room was staring at the artefact with awe and Fleur looked excitedly at her own key before stepping up to claim her own prize. The Dark Elder Mongrel was staring at her, snarling, as if it wanted to attack. She opened the chest and retrieved a glowing dagger…
No, the dagger itself wasn't glowing, but the weird runes on it were. The moment she grabbed it, she felt its savagery trying to influence her. She felt strong… very strong… as if nothing would ever hurt her again, as if her father would never be able to influence her again. That was until Madame Maxime took the weapon from her, "Hmm, Lupus' dagger. Quite a history with those. They were quite popular with centurions back in Ancient Rome. Those who held the dagger had their physical strength and speed enhanced massively, but that came at the cost of the blade's bloodlust. I didn't think there were many of them left… They must have really thought that their school would have won the task handily to give artefacts like these away."
That made sense. Without the dagger's influence, she was able to think clearly once more. An imitation of Mercury's sandals and something like Lupus' dagger, being given away was a bit of a foolish move, especially if it was done behind closed doors. These legendary artefacts should have been displayed in public… It would have been a great way to show their school's superiority with the gifts. They probably would have if the Italians had won… Show off their heritage while bragging to the other Champions about what they could have won.
Unfortunately, even if the Italians took out two beasts, they had lost handily to Beauxbatons. Eloise's trick with the Griffin had cost them a lot, and they had finished them off without too many issues. It was embarrassing, to lose to their own event, especially one that they practiced regularly for years…
No wonder they didn't want to announce the prizes publicly; all it would have done was show what they had given away due to their confidence in winning. To be honest, the only people who had benefitted from the tournament so far were the Hogwarts Champions, and Britain in general.
"Quite right, Ms. Delacour…"
Oh, she said that out loud, didn't she? Fleur steeled herself and continued, "Well, to be frank, everyone other than Hogwarts was a loser in the previous task. Our school faced a lot of criticism because of how low the stakes were after Harry Potter finished. This one would have been good, and honestly, even without that last trick, the British did pretty well, but that's all overshadowed by how the task ended… Everyone ended up losing, except for Britain."
"Well, you're not wrong about that… Thankfully, with that task out of the way, I have it under good authority that Mr. Potter's involvement in the tournament will be minimal," the headmistress commented.
"You said the same thing about the last one too," Arthur said.
"Yes, but from what we could gather from our investigations, a local influencing figure tried to have him secure their desired outcome. From what I could discover, Mr. Potter made them pay very dearly. I do not believe that anyone is going to attempt to do the same again…"
"Who was it?" Fleur asked.
"No one important. But this did shake the local underworld, and no one is going to risk an event like this happening on their own territory, especially not the next task since it will be at Durmstrang. Now, I suggest that you get some sleep and prepare yourselves. There will be a feast tomorrow to celebrate the end of the task. As for now, I suggest that you make the most of your stay here as we will be leaving in a week."
With that said the giantess turned and left. Fleur didn't focus on the other's conversation, choosing to just go to her room instead and put her new weapon somewhere safe…
Unfortunately for her, the moment she entered the room, she heard someone cough behind her. She turned and pointed her wand towards the intruder, her hand to freeze in mid-air. She heard a snort from behind her, revealing an unfamiliar woman in business clothes, "Don't be alarmed, Ms. Delacour. I am not here to harm you."
"So, you snuck into my room and attacked me without causing me harm?" the Veela returned sarcastically.
"You're the one who attacked me first. Don't worry, I'm just here to give you this."
The woman put a piece of parchment on her dresser, "And what is that?"
"An invitation. My employer has an offer for you."
"And who is this employer?" she snarled back.
"Oh, how silly of me, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Gemma Farley and I work for Arcturus Black… I believe he and your father are friends. The details of your invitation are on your dresser. Oh, and the spell should deactivate in a couple of minutes. Goodbye, Ms. Delacour."
Right as she was going to protest, the woman walked behind her and vanished, leaving her alone in her room with half her body petrified. Who the fuck was this bitch?
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AN: Not sure about this chapter tbh. I kinda wrote this in a hurry. I'm on a work trip and things have been really hectic. I've been trying to do my best to write regularly during this period, but it's been kind of hard and I've been very exhausted since this trip started. I sort of hate travelling. Well, I hate taking aeroplanes and end up with a killer headache for at least a day during them. Anyway, I might revisit these chapters and redo them depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and 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.