Chapter 309: To the Quidditch Finals

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

 "Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 309: To the Quidditch Finals

"I do…" Dumbledore could only think of one possibility.

Things like Polyjuice Potion were ruled out since they require the target to be alive. Hair from a dead person would be useless.

Human transfiguration is a more distant posibility , but that one requires great mastery over that type of magic. And it would have no effect on the soul whatsoever.

As far as he was aware...necromancy was the only thing that could accomplish such a feat, and Dumbledore knew well that Voldemort had been delving into that dark path for a very long time.

"Any spell in particular?" Harry asked, trying to gather more information about necromancy, as his own knowledge in that branch was very limited.

However, there were no books about it in his family library, and you couldn't just walk into a bookstore and ask about them since that type of magic was highly illegal.

'I'll have to ask Lord Greengrass about this…' Harry thought.

"Of course not…" Dumbledore denied immediately.

"I am an advocate for the freedom of knowledge… but some knowledge should remain untouched. That is not a branch of magic that I wish to touch...you won't find much information about that in Hogwarts either."

"Sure, but it would be useful to know what he's doing… this also raises some questions," Harry said.

If Voldemort could make the dead act like the living…

"Are you suspecting someone in particular?" Dumbledore asked.

"A few…" The only good thing about this was that Harry had a reliable way to check if someone was dead or alive.

He was unable to interact with the souls of the living, so if he called for someone's spirit and it answered, that person was dead for sure.

"Oh, it's time to go. If we miss the portkey, there will be no more chances," Dumbledore said, pulling an object from his tunic as he moved around the table to the other side.

"Here, hold on to it."

Harry gave him a serious glare.

"Is that a dirty sock?..."

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The crowd was massive. Perhaps even bigger than what he remembered.

"Our seats are that way," Dumbledore told him.

Harry glanced over at the VIP area.

"You got a private box?"

"Of course. I still have some reliable contacts," Dumbledore said with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Albus?"

Someone turned around when he heard Dumbledore speak.

"It really is you! I wasn't expecting to see you at a Quidditch game of all places."

'He looks very familiar…' Harry thought as he stared at the middle-aged white man with a mustache and a top hat.

He was sure he had seen him before.

"Bartemius… I also wasn't expecting to see you here," Dumbledore responded.

"Harry, this is Bartemius Crouch, the head of the Department of International Magical Co-operation."

'Right…' Harry now recalled him, though he was more familiar with his son.

'Would Barty Junior still be alive?' he wondered.

"Harry." Dumbledore tapped him on the shoulder.

Harry realized that Crouch was staring at him.

"Nice to meet you, sir. I'm Harry Potter."

"Potter?... Ah, yes. You must be the son of James Potter."

As Crouch looked at him, Harry got the impression the man didn't like him for some reason.

"I heard your father quit the Auror Division… how shameful," Crouch huffed.

"Bartemius…" Dumbledore said in a warning tone.

"Don't mind me." Crouch chuckled.

"I'm just talking… oh," he turned to look at his side.

"This is my new assistant… Wither… Weatherboy?... Wather?..."

"Wesley, sir…" Percy looked a bit embarrassed and tried to avoid making eye contact with Crouch.

"Right… that…" Crouch glanced again at Dumbledore.

"So you brought a student to watch a game? That's a bit unusual."

"Yes, well… Mister Potter here got excellent marks last year. I had some extra seats, so I brought him along as a reward for his outstanding performance," Dumbledore explained, saying the first thing that occurred to him.

"Mmm…" Crouch seemed to be losing interest quickly.

"Anyway… I'll be visiting the school soon. We need to discuss… you know what…" He said the last part almost in a whisper.

"Of course, visit any time you want, Bartemius."

The man soon left, with Percy and his house elf following him.

Harry paid close attention but couldn't detect any other sources of magic around them.

'If his son was hiding, I should have felt something…' This didnt really mean much. He could have been left at home, or maybe he has already escaped...or maybe he is dead.

"Harry?" Dumbledore called when he saw Harry staring intently at the back of Crouch.

"Everything okay?"

"Nothing to worry about for now. So… the Triwizard Tournament?" Harry asked.

"I didn't have the chance to tell you yet. But yes… it wasn't my idea. But Bartemius and a few other influential wizards were very insistent on using Hogwarts as the host location." Dumbledore was especially wary of this tournament after hearing what had happened in Harry's timeline, of course. But he had been powerless to stop it.

"This is fine… I don't want you to stop it… it gives us a good chance…" Harry appeared to be considering something.

"A chance for what?" Dumbledore asked.

"To put things in our favor. But it's still too soon to tell…" There were still many unknown factors, and Harry didn't want to rely too heavily on his old knowledge.

"Harry? Is that Harry?"

Before they could step onto the stairs leading to their box, they were spotted by someone else.

"Ginny." Harry glanced at the girl. He had only seen her briefly at the beginning of the summer before she went to visit some family members.

In this short amount of time, she seemed to have grown even more. With every day that passed, she became closer and closer to the Ginny from his memory.

"Did you get taller?" Harry asked when she was in front of him.

She offered a sweet grin.

"You noticed! I actu-"

"Hey! Are you going to one of the upper boxes?!" Ron almost pushed his sister out of the way to get in front of Harry.

"Can I go with you?!" he said excitedly.

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