Chapter 265: Of Bloody Words
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.
I would like to thank my beta, Awdyr, for his help in this chapter.
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7 November 1994, Beauxbatons, France
The sun had fallen, and the spectators decided to go enjoy their dinner and go to sleep before coming back the day after. Harry was surprised to hear that the task wasn't actually over… The organisers hadn't really put in any time limit, but they probably had a few clues spread around the forest that they could activate to get the Champions to move forward a bit.
The rules of the task were clear. The only way to leave was to reach the finish line, forfeit, be disqualified, or just be too injured to continue. It was strangely reminiscent of Quidditch matches in the way they handled the duration of the task, but then again, for some ungodly reason, people seemed to like this about the sport.
Currently, the Hogwarts and Beauxbatons champions had finished, while the Durmstrang and Nebelheim Champions were too injured to continue. Apparently, the chimaera's last lightning attack was a bit stronger than they were able to handle, and the damage might have been severe. Their headmasters, Igor Karkaroff and Magnus Svensson, did try to argue this fact, but the sad truth was that if left alone, there was a chance of permanent injury, and that's not to mention the dangers in the forest. Then, they tried to get Harry disqualified for violating the rule on dark magic, and McGonagall protested saying that all he did was cast a harmless shield. He hadn't been the one to cast the attack spell…
That left the Olympus Champions, the Roman Champions, and the Spanish Champions, who had woken up hours later, confused as to what had happened, and frantic for their lack of medallions. The Romans could have been out of it for longer if it wasn't for the fact that Diggory had broken the ward that Harry had modified to keep them asleep. Not that Harry cared, he got what he came for.
The organisers must have pitied them, since the remaining competitors found small clues in the form of a riddle carved on a tree, giving them subtle directions to their next clues. Truth be told, it hadn't taken Harry too long to be bored out of his mind…
At least the squabbling headmasters were entertaining.
Harry decided that he'd stayed more than long enough to be polite and made up his mind to leave. He wouldn't come the following day. The whole thing got rather tedious, all things considered. He expected that many of the spectators wouldn't return as well… Well, perhaps the organizer's fears were founded after all.
As he made his way back to the castle, he was finally able to see Arcturus, who gave him a proud smile, "You were always good at scaring the shit out of people, kid. Have I ever told you that?"
Harry couldn't help but snort, "Seriously? I know that I stopped holding back a bit, but I haven't really used any outrageous pieces of magic. Was it really that terrifying?"
"You're joking, right? You beat one of the ICW's weapons in minutes, and even used its attacks to defeat it, and the idiots who tried to attack you from the back… Sure, your whole stealth attacks at the start were good, but what you did with the Leviathan just took the cake."
Harry hummed, "So, that's what it's called, a Leviathan. What are they?"
"Some Chimera that the ICW created and managed to weaponize somehow. I remember people saying that it did some very good work against some terrorists in Northern Africa a few years back."
"They would be pretty effective near the shore, I'll give them that. I can see one of them taking out a small stronghold if it could obey orders."
The Black Patriarch snorted, "More like a dozen strongholds each. You made a lot of enemies just taking it out like that, especially with the way you did it."
Harry simply shrugged, "I hadn't really used that much magic against it. In a fight against something with more raw power than you, your best bet is to use their own power against them. If it had been a dragon, I would have used the fire to power a runic array, and found a way to counter the magic it used to fly… Nothing is truly invincible, and all it takes is to find that small vulnerability to bring even the mightiest of opponents down."
"And you couldn't have hit it with the modified stunner from the start?"
"It was too quick… And that kind of spell takes me a lot of time to cast even once. It barely even qualifies as a spell, since I end up doing a lot of calculations in my head to specifically get it to bypass different forms of magical protection. It's better on an immobile opponent so that I can analyse the protections and modify the spell to work around them."
A familiar voice from behind him spoke up, "I was wondering what that was…"
Harry turned with a surprised look on his face, "Gemma?"
He didn't really expect to see her anytime soon. Ever since her graduation, Harry hadn't heard anything from the young woman. To be perfectly fair, they weren't that close, but he did admire her slightly. She had taken over the house of snakes without a strong family name to lean on, and no one had risked trying to take her position.
Harry expected her to have started working in the ministry or to have accepted an apprenticeship, especially considering her good showing in the Hogwarts tournament.
The former Hogwarts student gave him a small smirk, and just gave Arcturus a small pile of parchment, "The Sultan has agreed to your terms, Mr. Black. He gave me this broad contract to give to your solicitor to review."
"Good job, Farley. Keep up the great work."
The girl preened at the compliment, turned, and left without saying another word. Harry turned towards his guardian and raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"
"She impressed me in the last year, and I snatched her up before anyone else could. She's acting as my assistant while I teach her the ropes of navigating the politics of Magical Britain. Don't worry, when you graduate, I'm making you suffer the same as her…"
Harry gulped, "I'd really rather not."
He really didn't want to do that. Harry always preferred to work on his magic rather than to spend hours on boring parties with people who barely spoke a word of truth. He hadn't even crafted something good for almost a year because he was so busy trying to deal with Dumbledore's machinations and rebuilding his family fortune.
Arcturus must have noticed his horrified look because he burst into loud laughter, "That look on your face was the exact one your grandfather had when my sister forced him to attend the Wizengamot meetings."
They both remained in a comfortable silence until the Black Patriarch broke it, "So, did you open Flamel's diary?"
"I can, but not yet. It's fascinating that he turned this frankly normal book into an artefact which would also recognize an owner. I'm planning on going over it tonight."
"Wise of you. It wouldn't have been a good idea to publicize the fact that you can open the book… Now, don't let me keep you. I'm sure that your fellow champions want to celebrate with you."
Harry simply nodded and walked towards the metallic dragon, where McGonagall and the other members of the Hogwarts delegation were waiting and started to applaud when they saw him. Sure enough, when he entered through the dragon's maw, the entire place exploded with cheers and yells again. The Weasley twins were lighting up fireworks and had somehow snuck in barrels of Firewhiskey that McGonagall obviously pretended not to see.
He decided to help himself with some food. He hadn't realized just how hungry he was until his stomach growled at the sight of a miniature feast…
The other Hogwarts Champions were busy regaling the other students with their tales about what had happened in the forest. Harry kept getting stopped every few minutes to answer some stupid question. He was quickly getting irritated every time that happened…
To be perfectly fair, Harry did technically hand Hogwarts the win in the first task of one of the biggest events of the year. He had even made sure that two of the strongest opposing schools, Durmstrang and Nebelheim, wouldn't get any points. Hogwarts was the school least favoured to win and everyone knew that, especially the students and staff.
Harry had shown the world that Britain wasn't as weak as they thought it was.
Feeling very close to just hexing whoever came to him next, Harry felt himself being pulled away by a blonde figure. Ah, finally, he hadn't seen Daphne since they left the stands, and even then, they hadn't really said anything to each other.
Daphne gave him a small smile, "You looked like you needed help."
"Yeah, thanks for that. I was tempted to curse the lot of them just so they would leave me alone."
"I'm glad you didn't. After all, we wouldn't have wanted to sully your new reputation as Britain's golden boy."
Harry groaned, "That's not funny."
"It is from where I'm standing. Still, you did very well, Harry."
"I think you would have done better. Your family crest would have been a major advantage in a forest."
The blonde snorted, "And you could have been a lot quicker too. Remember, I regularly spar against you. I know what you're capable of, and you were pretty casual with the way you handled things. I think I never properly appreciated just how bullshit you are…"
Harry smirked, "I am good, aren't I?"
The girl returned his smile before straightening out, "Look, Harry. I know things haven't been good since our fight. But, I missed you…"
He nodded back, "I missed you too."
The blonde jumped and hugged him tightly, a hug that he quickly returned. Ever since he confronted Lily and asked her to stay away from him and Daphne, the blonde knew that he must have been the one who had ruined her chances of learning proper Blood Magic.
Harry didn't even get to tell her about Lily's identity. And of course, Daphne had to ruin the moment by saying, "But Harry, you were being unreasonable… You are my friend, not my father. You can't forbid me from doing anything…"
"She's dangerous, Daphne. And Blood Magic is no joke. You could easily get yourself killed."
"But that's still my decision. I don't care if she's some monster. I told you years ago that healing my sister was my first priority. I would make a deal with the devil without hesitation if it meant that she would be cured. I have respected your ambitions for years. I'm only asking you to do the same for me."
Harry hesitated for a moment but resigned himself. There was really nothing he could do to stop her, "Fine. But before you have any lessons, there are a few things you need to know about our dear Unspeakable…"
"Let's just do it tomorrow. This day has been stressful enough on its own and I'm getting tired."
She gave him a blinding smile before turning away and leaving. There was really nothing he could do here. Even if Lily was planning on hurting her, she had already sunk her claws into Daphne with her offer. He was going to tell her who she was later, but he didn't think it would change anything…
Speaking of the redhead, Harry decided to speak up, "You can come out now."
The fake Unspeakable walked out from the shadows and spoke with a smooth voice, "So you're finally letting me teach the girl then… She really doesn't know the hold she has over you."
Harry nodded, "She doesn't but that also means that if you do anything to hurt her… Mother or not, I'll burn you. I'll burn your heart out of you… As for now, you said that you would do something for me."
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I need to know who put the bounty on me."
The redhead's obscured voice turned amused, "Oh, that's easy. It was me. I'm the one who put the bounty on you. After all, it was a lot easier for you to win when every other competitor willingly went out of their way to come to you, hoping for a quick payday. After all, I had faith you would beat them easily enough."
Harry shook his head in disappointment and went to his room, "You really are a horrible person, Lily Potter."
He decided not to think about it much. There was already a lot on his mind. He would deal with that little revelation the following day. Instead, he took out the diary from his magically expanded bag and opened the first page.
The words they held seemed to shock him, 'Hello young Peverell. You seem to have found my diary just as I arranged for you to do. You have a lot to learn and not enough time to do so. So, let's just get started.
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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.