Chapter 264: The Disbanded Knot
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I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
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7 November 1994, Beauxbatons, France
Harry Potter walked towards the finish line, feeling a mixture of confidence and smugness. It hadn't even been close… Even with the tournament organizers using that Chimera against him, he had essentially speed-run the entire task.
It had taken him less than ten minutes to get the French medallion. It wasn't really that hard; the champions were pretty spaced out, probably hoping to cover more ground. It was child's play to just sneak behind one of them, hit him with a compulsion charm, take the medallion and replace it with a fake. He didn't even bother cursing the medallion out of sympathy more than anything. Plus, he didn't really need to… He had already won.
He had combined seven medallions, one from each school, which morphed into a sphere. Using his Arcane Hearing, Harry was able to see that it moved a few meters in a certain direction that it was attracted to, like a modified point-me charm but with only three tries. Choosing to be efficient, he simply charmed the sphere to move in two opposite directions, and to activate each time. The direction of each movement was quickly calculated, and he created a modified point-me charm to lead him to the intersection of the two lines.
He found himself in a clearing, where a large stone pillar had risen from the ground with a spherical hole exactly the shape of the locator sphere. The rest was pretty evident. However, before he put it in, Harry debated himself on whether to help the other Hogwarts champions or not.
To be perfectly honest, he didn't care about school spirit, just the diary. With that task done, he wouldn't even be required to participate in another one. He would be essentially done with the tournament, outside of whatever task Daphne would participate in.
It was a shame that the Greengrass scion hadn't participated in this one. Her family crest was built for combat in this environment. To be fair, they hadn't known what the task would be, and Daphne hadn't wanted to take that risk. That's not to mention the fact that she was slightly miffed with him about her Blood Magic lessons being postponed.
Harry suppressed a sigh… With the excitement of the task done, he had to go back to his life and face his problems. Well, most of the problems spanned from Lily Potter's return. He still didn't know how to feel about that.
At least he'd have Flamel's diary to keep him company. He was excited to see what the man had written, especially considering the way he had enchanted it specifically for the tournament… Had he faked his own death and wanted to share some information? There was only one way to find out.
Back to the issue at hand, he decided to just transfigure a rock into a bird and command it to fly towards his fellow Hogwarts Champions whom he had tagged with a tracking charm. After all, he had technically abandoned them, putting them at a disadvantage. Well, not really, he had taken out half the competition on his own, so he did help them, in a way. To be fair, without the medallions, no one was going to reach the finish line, and he had taken all of the ones belonging to the Nebelheim, Durmstrang, and Roman Champions. Yes, he was going to get some backlash if he didn't give them back since he would have ruined the task…
He didn't entirely ruin things though. Harry expected that there had to be a scavenger hunt of some sort, with clues spread around the forest, leading to a sphere. The medallions were probably there to motivate students to fight each other… They probably never expected a team to take out every single competitor. No wonder they sent that Chimera at him…
Sucks to be them, huh.
To be fair, the task wouldn't be over. Harry had only stunned or knocked out most of his opponents, and they could wake up later and finish the task with the scavenger hunt. However, the task wouldn't be as exciting…
Well, whatever, he had already sent the medallions their way. It would be up to the organizers to figure things out later. He was almost going to finish the task when he remembered the curse he had put on the Spanish medallion. It was a tricky bit of magic that could spread to the other Spanish medallions, which would also knock out the users with a command from Harry.
He had almost forgotten about them… That task really was eventful. With a snort, he simply activated the curses. After all, it wouldn't be fair for every other champion to be knocked out. The only ones that would probably be up would be the Beauxbatons, Hogwarts, and maybe three of the Olympus Champions…
With that out of the way, he simply put the location sphere into the rock, which activated a portkey, placing him in front of the stands.
The crowd stayed silent for several seconds… and then went absolutely, utterly mad. Tens of thousands of spectators went crazily wild, and the ruckus was liable to wake up the dead… The judges were staring at him while gaping, their eyes wide in surprise… He didn't really blame them. That kind of display was not something that they'd ever expected.
And the sad thing was that Harry hadn't really taken things seriously. Well, that's not true, it was more like Harry had made sure not to go overboard. He had barely used any of his real skill outside of a bit of ice magic, and the discreet application of space manipulation to walk faster around the forest.
Other than that, everything could have been accomplished by a skilled NEWT student. Even the runes themselves could easily be replicated by a student who had taken runes as an elective. Maybe coming up with the matrix on the spot was a bit out there, but while it was slightly tricky, it wasn't something impossible for someone who had mastered the subject.
However, something else happened. Something more. It was as if a large bomb had gone off in the distance and yet no one else could hear it. Harry turned around in slight panic and saw nothing different. No, something had definitely happened.
Did he hear it with his Arcane Hearing?
A large noise like this, a large release of magic, just wasn't something that happened naturally. Someone had triggered something, and Harry had no idea what it was. He wouldn't even have a chance of finding out because of how loud everything was…
And now people were looking at him weirdly as he looked around him in a panic. Choosing to reassure them, he raised his hand and waved, making the crowd roar even louder.
Absentmindedly, he was guided by some random wizards and witches and walked slowly towards the area where the judges and organisers stood, applauding.
With a wave, the crowd stopped yelling and Madam Maxime stood up. She looked as regal as ever, but Harry could sense the displeasure from her and her fellow organizers. The woman spoke up with a magically enhanced voice, "I am proud to announce the winner of this task, Harry Potter of Hogwarts. As promised, I entrust you with the last piece of Nicholas Flamel's legacy."
A marble pillar rose from the ground, and on it, Nicholas Flamel's diary laid. Harry slowly walked forward and grabbed it, only to smile slightly as its magic accepted him as its new owner. He wouldn't open it in public. After all, people didn't need to know that he could do so.
The headmistress made a long speech about magical cooperation and the role of Beauxbatons, but Harry wasn't paying attention. He was looking for the source of the sound. Small remnants remained everywhere, but it was constant… There was no source he could trace. What the fuck was going on?
Harry was led towards the judges to shake their hands. Harry did so without really focusing, too distracted by theories on the origins of the magical noise. Most of the officials definitely didn't like him, even if a few of the judges looked more amused and impressed.
When he shook hands with Dumbledore, he looked up and saw his smile break slightly into a grimace. The guy definitely hadn't wanted Harry to win. Was he the one who put a bounty on Harry's head? He wasn't exactly sure. It was sort of unsubtle for Dumbledore. Harry had dealt with the man, and it would have been easier to use a small curse, or a compulsion to take Harry off-guard. Public forms of cheating like a bounty were simply below him. He would have found them distasteful.
This wasn't Dumbledore's doing. Someone else had tried to sabotage his task. To be perfectly fair, the attacks had barely even done anything to hinder him. Nevertheless, it was always a good idea to know if he had any more enemies. Really, things were getting ridiculous at this point.
Still, having finished with the useless ceremonies, he sat next to the rest of the Hogwarts delegation and shared a smile with Daphne. He noticed the masked form of Lily Potter looking at him and decided to just give her an acknowledging nod before looking at the giant illusion.
Instead, he absent-mindedly watched as the other Hogwarts Champions walked towards the finish line, with the French Champions on their heels. Fleur Delacour had managed to trick them into thinking that she was unconscious before waking up her fellow champions and following them, securing Beauxbatons an easy second place. It was admittedly clever of her.
Harry would have voiced it, but most of his concentration was taken up by focusing on processing the task's events. Even with it effectively being over he had ended up with even more questions than answers. He looked at the closed form of Flamel's diary, hoping that it would somehow give him the answers he was looking for.
It didn't…
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In the bleak shadows of the towering Nurmengard fortress, a place steeped in a history of dark deeds and bitter incarcerations, Albus Dumbledore appeared with a faint pop of displaced air, the silence of the ancient stones greeting him like a forgotten whisper. The fortress itself loomed imposingly against a backdrop of dark, swirling clouds; its walls, thick and constructed from cold, grey stone, rose ominously, casting a pall of foreboding over the barren landscape that surrounded it.
Dumbledore's footsteps echoed through the vast, empty corridors as he navigated the labyrinthine passageways toward the tower his former friend resided in. Each step resonated against the stone, a sombre drumbeat in the heart of this fortress of despair.
As he entered the sparsely furnished room, Grindelwald was standing by the window, "The first seal is broken," Grindelwald said without turning, his voice carrying a trace of dark amusement. "I sensed it, Albus."
Dumbledore's expression was one of weary frustration as he responded, "Yet I wasn't able to secure Flamel's diary. The Potter boy won, despite my efforts." He confessed to employing subtle compulsion charms on the officials, hoping to tilt the scales against the young champion. "But the organizers lacked subtlety," he continued, shaking his head in dismay. "A Leviathan, of all things, to attack the boy."
Grindelwald turned, his face breaking into a mocking smile. "It seems young Potter has bested you again, Albus. You should have known better than to trust others with delicate tasks. You did say that it was a long shot at best." His tone was scornful yet tinged with a hint of camaraderie as if recalling a shared past full of similar miscalculations.
He moved closer, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "But let's not dwell on distractions. The removal of the seal was a crucial step. Everything proceeds according to our plan. Ragnarök will happen on our terms, and our dreams will become reality."
"One of our dreams, Gellert," the former headmaster corrected, "The victor of our battle will shape the world."
"Oh, Albus… You and I already know that things are never that easy."
"Don't forget that our alliance is temporary. The Light and Dark are always destined to be enemies. We're both here to make sure that the damage is not so great that there wouldn't be a world left for the victor to build."
The Dark Lord burst into laughter, "Sure, Albus. Whatever makes you sleep at night."
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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.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.