hpml261-270

Chapter 261

"We'll start now, thank you," Harry said with ice in his voice and fire in his eyes.

"You don't even know what's involved," the Ministry official said frowning and holding up

his hands slowly backing away from Fleur.

"Get to the Merpeople village. Unlock whatever is holding our hostage down. Rescue the

hostage. Get back. All in under an hour," Fred said almost as coldly as Harry. "Not

complicated. Start the stupid thing so we can get our people."

"Yes, well, you see we need to wait for all the audience members. The Task isn't supposed

to officially start for another few minutes and – "

Viktor sneered at the man and lifted his wand to his throat to cast a quick sonorous.

"Attention guests. This Task vill be starting early as these…people have abducted ones ve

care for and ve vill not leave them beneath the vaves longer than necessary. Thank you for

your understanding." Cancelling the charm he turned back to Bagman. "Start the Task."

Bagman swallowed and looked behind him. Umbridge smiled and stepped forward. "I'm

sorry, but we must wait for the start. It is only fair to – " she abruptly cut off as five wands

pointed towards her with glowing tips. Fleur had shifted almost entirely to her harpy form

adding further to the threat.

Harry spoke very firmly and very slowly. "We will start immediately, Madame Umbridge.

You are preventing us from rescuing hostages. We would all be perfectly justified in cutting

you down and since this is an official Task we wouldn't even be prosecuted for it. Move

aside."

Umbridge scowled and stepped back. Bagman quickly followed her as the three

Headmasters finally came forward. "What is the meaning of this?" Dumbledore asked

frowning at the Champions.

Tonks stepped in front of the group. "Get ready guys. I'll handle this. Headmasters, you

have 30 seconds to start the Task because that's when the Champions are jumping in. One

Veela in the water is bad enough, but having two down there…I question all of your

sanity."

Maxime frowned. "What do you mean by zis?"

Tonks snarled. "What do I mean? You stupid, neglectful bitch! You – "

"Tonks, we're ready! Have them start the damn thing!" Harry shouted over his shoulder

and tossing her his rune clusters and clothes. He was dressed in a simple wetsuit while

Viktor and Fred only had swim trunks on. Fleur was in a one piece swim suit and all were

standing near the edge of the dock.

Tonks nodded and turned to Bagman. "Start it."

The man gulped again and raised his wand before the Headmasters could say anything

further. A cannon blast sounded and three of the Champions jumped into the water after

casting their spells and – in Viktor's case – eating their gillyweed. Harry immediately

summoned his rune stones back from Tonks. He looped the Breathkeeper around his neck

and pulled out his extra version from the harness to put it in the knapsack around his waist.

He fastened an activated Slow Burn onto his shoulder with a sticking charm to light the

way, stuck an Extravagance Rune Show into another slot on his other shoulder and finally

put a Fishing Line on the back of his hand. Finally summoning the fins he'd asked Sirius to

buy the other day and strapping them on, Harry jumped into the lake.

Harry immediately started swimming down, following the directions Myrtle had helped

them with. The first few minutes were easy since he just had to follow the rocky

outcroppings along the bottom which were pretty distinctive. Once he passed those

however he ran into the hardest part: a large sea bed of kelp that was more or less devoid

of any markings whatsoever. If he lost his way at this part it would take a while to get back

on track.

Harry was almost past the kelp bed when he saw several strands thrashing viciously. There

was a Merman hovering over the violent segment of kelp with a hippocampus next to him.

The Merman had a predatory grin on his face and was lovingly petting the sea horse. A

feeling of dread crept up Harry's spine and he twisted to head into the kelp.

Fleur had been overjoyed when her family had managed to get time off to come and see

the Fourth Task. It was the last one prior to the finale and while it might be a bit boring to

the audience, knowing that her family was there to provide moral support was an

incredible buoying sensation. Of course Harry's continual reassurances in the weeks

leading up to it and been most wonderful as well. The young man was slowly opening up

to her and was seeking more opportunities to be alone with her whether they were simply

studying, training or relaxing. It gave her hope that maybe – by the end of the year – Harry

would be willing to allow her into his growing family unit.

And then Gabrielle had come up missing the morning of.

Her parents hadn't noticed at first, merely assuming that Gabi had run off to pester Fleur

like she usually did while visiting. Her absence had only been found as Fleur came to greet

them both shortly before the Task was to begin and they inquired where Gabi was. It had

only taken a moment before Fleur realized the organizers had decided to use her little

sister as her hostage.

She had frantically rushed to find her fellow Champions, hoping that perhaps – just

perhaps – she was wrong and Gabi was hanging off of her childhood hero. But no. One

look at the small group walking towards the lake had dashed that false hope.

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Chapter 262

By the time she had entered the water she could barely think, sick with worry and fear that

she had managed to draw her sister into this nightmare. She hadn't remembered to wait

the five minutes Harry would need to get prepared and she had instead taken off

immediately. Viktor and Fred had quickly outpaced her since swimming wasn't exactly

something she did often, but that wasn't important. Getting to Gabrielle was important. If

she was alone for the first part until Harry caught up then so be it.

That was when the grindylows struck. Fleur had been swimming above the kelp bed

relatively low to try and save some time when she felt a small fist grab her ankle and drag

her into the undersea forest. Fleur screamed in surprise letting loose a stream of bubbles

through her Bubble-Head charm. Sweeping her wand down at the unseen assailant, Fleur

let out a silent cutting curse. A low grunt of pain carried through the water as the hand let

her go. Swimming up, Fleur tried to get back into clear water, but was immediately

dragged back down by not one but five sets of hands on her this time. Fleur screamed

again as several sets of teeth bit into her arms and legs.

She thrashed violently managing to throw off one of the attackers. That was when she saw

the Merman watching her with a large grin from just above the kelp. He gestured and Fleur

felt her limbs be pulled tight to either side. Her eyes widened as the Merman pulled the

head of a hippocampus slightly to the side. Desperately she tried to cast several wide area

spells but all fizzled – she had yet to practice any of them silently or wandless…

The Merman nodded in satisfaction and slapped the hippocampus on the rear. The beast

surged and passed close enough to Fleur for her to be pulled slightly in its wake. Thinking

for a moment that perhaps she had gotten lucky and the Merman had miss-aimed his

mount she tried to draw a breath and come up with a plan on how to get herself out of this

and save her sister.

That was when she noticed her Bubble-Head charm had been pierced.

Harry kicked past the Merman and his mount and into the thrashing kelp. His eyes

widened as he saw Fleur held down by several grindylows, bleeding from multiple cuts and

slashes. He had barely raised his hand when she suddenly gulped in a final shuddering

breath and stilled before starting to drift freely in her assailants' arms with her eyes

drooping closed. Harry snarled and stopped raising his wand. Instead he channeled as

much magic the Boomstone tattoo on the back of his right hand as it would take.

As the localized silencing charm snapped into life around him, Harry saw the grindylows

flee and caught a quick glimpse of the Merman holding his hands over his ears and falling

into the kelp bed with the hippocampus motoring away as fast as its tail would take it.

Letting the magic lapse, he grabbed Fleur and pulled out his spare Breathkeeper. Pressing it

into her hand and wrapping her delicate fist around it he willed her to breathe. The stone

wouldn't work unless she started breathing again.

Not seeing any movement Harry wrapped an arm around her waist and swam desperately

for the surface. They were still close enough to the shore of the lake that they weren't too

deep…but it still took far too long to reach the surface. Once their heads broke the water's

surface, Harry twisted to face the dock and prayed his half-baked idea would work.

Reaching out with the Fishing Line he latched onto the edge of the top and pulled.

Amazingly, his hasty plan actually did just what he'd hoped: he and Fleur shot towards the

dock since it was anchored and he wasn't. His arm felt like it was going to be pulled out its

socket, but he held on and he and his charge were against the dock edge in only a few

seconds. Letting the rune fade back to inactivity, Harry hauled Fleur up onto the flat

surface.

"Breathe, Fleur! Breathe!" Harry leaned down and started doing CPR. It was one of the

things Tonks had started teaching them in the morning workout sessions and he prayed it

would actually do something now. All he needed was one reflexive gasp and…Fleur

coughed violently and a few meters above them, a shower of water rained onto their

heads from thin air. "Yes!"

Fleur took another gasping breath causing a very small amount of water to again rain on

them before her eyes fluttered open. Harry heard shouts coming closer, but he ignored

them. "Fleur? Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

" 'arry?" she muttered weakly squinting up at him. "Ze Merman…Gabrielle! I have to – "

"You are not going back in there! You can barely move, you almost drowned and you don't

have your wand!" Harry shouted. "Give me your key!" Fleur hesitated for a moment before

weakly reaching over to pat a pouch on her leg. Harry immediately thrust his hand forward

and pulled out the key she had received from the Third Task. He turned back to her and

looked straight into her eyes saying, "I swear to you, Fleur, I will get your sister out."

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Chapter 263

The judges and Pomfrey reached them just Harry twisted and dove back into the water.

Harry kicked into the Merpeople village as his watch clicked over to show 50 minutes had

gone by. He kept going at a frantic pace to make it to the platform in the center square

before the time limit expired. As Harry swam up, he saw Hermione and the little girl he

assumed to be Fleur's sister tied to the two rightmost pillars. Both girls' hair was drifting

around their faces, the young Veela's golden hue making her look like an angel. The light

stream of bubbles coming from their mouths let Harry know they were just enchanted

asleep and not dying like Fleur had been. Arranged around the platform were nearly two

dozen Mermen all bearing large, wicked looking tridents. The man directly in the center of

the grouping glanced at a makeshift clock on the back of the stand and turned to glare

hungrily at Gabrielle.

Harry scowled, but slowed as he saw the group hadn't yet done anything. He still had time.

Fighting against everything telling him to get the little girl now, he turned away and swum

up to Hermione. He wouldn't be able to free her and fight the Mermen off but if they

didn't realize he was trying to save Gabrielle and Hermione he might be able to pull it off.

He came up next to the elegant chain holding Hermione to the rock pillar and stretched out

with his left hand pressing the Lockpick tattoo to the padlock across her waist. He could

feel the magic pull harder and start to shift the tumblers inside the large lock. A quick

glance down at his watch had Harry's eyes widening. There was less than a minute left.

Not enough time to let his rune do its work and get to Gabrielle before the Mermen moved

in.

Scowling Harry threw caution to the wind and shifted behind Hermione. He took a deep

breath, lined up on the chains and brought his arms together. The Lava Bomb roared to life

as the rune clusters on each arm touched and a gout of lava spewed forth directly ahead of

him. Yelling in pain as the water around his forearms flashed to steam, Harry twisted and

the lava flow died. Hissing at the water rushing over the burns along his arms, he pulled

Hermione free from the now destroyed chains and moved over to Gabrielle.

A dull chime sounded behind him as he slotted Fleur's key into the lock and twisted it off.

Sounds of delight and frustration in equal measure shouted out from the circle of Mermen.

Gabrielle's eyes fluttered open and she drew in a breath before coughing and clamping her

mouth shut, her hands fluttering to her throat. Harry growled again. Of course the charm

would wear off on her at exactly an hour! Thankfully he could feel Hermione still

completely asleep in his arms. Harry reached for his spare Breathkeeper to give it to the

little Veela only to close on an empty pouch.

His eyes widened in horror as he realized that he had already given it to Fleur and

forgotten to grab it as he jumped back into the lake.

Gabrielle had been awake for only a few seconds and looked ready to panic. Harry was

about to panic as well. The Breathkeeper wasn't designed to work with two people. With

two sets of lungs each would only have half their volume replaced with air while the other

half filled with whatever fluid they breathed in normally. He knew enough basic biology to

know that having that much fluid in one's lungs might as well be a death sentence.

Gritting his teeth, Harry did the only thing he could do – he took one large final breath and

tore the Breathkeeper from around his own neck and put it on Gabrielle's. Her eyes

widened but she breathed in and then looked at him in shock, her mouth falling open.

Harry tried to smile reassuringly though the lead Merman letting out a deep thundering

call wiped the smile off his face. The Mermen surged forward with tridents held point first.

Harry wrapped Gabrielle into his free arm and activated his Boomstone again. Most of the

Mermen fell back, holding their ears and shaking.

Harry took the opportunity and started to kick towards the surface. Gabrielle clutching the

rune stone around her neck with one hand and Harry around his waist with the other.

Harry had his wand clenched in his right hand, but with Hermione held under his arm it

was mostly useless. Gabrielle being awake and holding on at least gave him some limited

range of movement with his left hand.

He was going to try and reach for the Breathkeeper to take a short gulp of air when

another battle cry sounding from below him and he saw a Merman riding the back of a

charging hippocampus lunge towards the group. He kept kicking towards the surface and

twisted enough to be able to send a bludgeoner in the man's way through the Knockback

runic tattoo on his left palm. The hippocampus shrieked and pulled away with the Merman

hanging limply on its back.

Before Harry could try reaching for the breathing rune stone again more Mermen swept up

from the depths. Harry's vision was starting to narrow as black bands cut off the edges of

his vision. Still he ignored it and kept kicking to the surface and tossing bludgeoner after

bludgeoner at the attackers. He felt Gabrielle holding tightly onto his waist and bury her

head into his neck. His lungs burning, Harry tried a final burst from the Boomstone causing

a few of the last attackers to peel off. He saw more coming but he could barely focus on

them.

Just as he was felt he couldn't resist the urge to breathe in anymore, the small group broke

through into clear air. Harry gasped for breath and felt Hermione stir from under his him.

"Harry? Are we done?" Her voice took on a puzzled tone. "Hello. Who are you?"

"Je m'appelle Gabrielle. Je crois que Harry Potter vient de me sauver la vie. Peut-être aussi

la votre," Gabrielle started to chatter in French while moving her grip to clutch Harry's

neck and not shifting her head from its spot pressed into the crook of his neck and

shoulder. (2)

"No time to chat," Harry wheezed out between desperate gasps for air. "Hermione hold on

and hold your breath. Gabrielle, if you can understand me, make sure that rune stone is

touching your skin until we stop moving. There's going to be a lot of water spraying into

the air."

"What? What do you mean – aahh!" Hermione screamed as Harry reached out and pulled

on the dock again with his Fishing Line. It wasn't a moment too soon as just when they

started to speed away, three different tridents thrust through where they had just been

floating.

Thankfully this time acting like a human water ski – while longer than the first time with

Fleur – was a far shorter trip than back to the surface from the village. He only had to hold

his breath for about thirty seconds before they reached the dock and he let the spell go.

Fleur, Apolline and Sébastien were already on the side and reached down to help Gabrielle

onto the platform while Harry and Hermione both gave the girl a boost from below. As

soon as the younger girl was up, Viktor, Fred and George reached down and helped

Hermione and Harry up.

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Chapter 264

"Gabrielle! Est-ce que tu es blessée? Est-ce que ça va? Pardonnes-moi, j'ai suis tombée

dans une embuscade et je n'ai pas pu venir jusqu'à toi," Fleur exclaimed wrapping her

arms around her sister and burying her head in the girl's wet hair. (3)

Gabrielle grinned broadly and gestured wildly around Fleur's death grip. "Je vais bien, Fleur,

maman, papa. Harry Potter m'a sauvée! Il a combattu les hommes-poissons et les a

repoussés avant de me donner ceci pour que puisse respirer sous l'eau! C'était incroyable!

J'ai eu la peur de ma vie mais c'était incroyable! Il est aussi génial que tu l'avais dis, Fleur,

et même encore plus que dans les histoires!" (4)

Hermione's eyes narrowed as she caught most of what the young Veela said. She peered

first at Gabrielle then Fleur then Harry before turning to the approaching judges and

snarling. If looks could kill there would likely be five piles of ashes.

Harry for his part had merely collapsed lying down on the dock and breathing heavily.

Pomfrey was hovering over him and casting diagnostic charms. "Sorry, mate," Fred said

softly. Viktor nodded his head. Both men were looking anywhere but at Harry. "We

thought that you were hanging back with Fleur because she was a slower swimmer. We

didn't realize there was a problem until we were already back and we didn't think we

could make it down again in time to help…"

"Don't worry about it, Fred, Viktor. It's not your fault the Merpeople decided today was a

perfect day for murder." His eyes widened and he sat bolt upright almost clocking Pomfrey

on the head. "Shite I forgot!"

"Sit down, Mr. Potter!" the mediwitch huffed.

"One moment, Madame Pomfrey! Accio Fleur's wand!" he said channeled a large burst

into his runic tattoo and focusing on the last spot he had seen it while it drifted into the

kelp bed. Sure enough only a few seconds passed before the wand flew out of the water

and into his hand. "Fleur, here. I think you dropped – "

Harry was abruptly cut off by a sobbing Veela jumping into his arms and kissing his cheeks.

"Tu l'a sauvée! Je n'arrive pas à y croire mais tu l'as sauvée! Merci, Harry, du fond du cœur.

Je te suis redevable à jamais!" Fleur clutched at him while Harry wrapped his arms around

her and rubbed her back. (5)

"You're welcome, Fleur. I have pretty much no idea what you said, but I get the gist and

you're welcome. Mr. and Mrs. Delacour," Harry said turning his head towards the French

parents still holding onto their youngest daughter. "I think Gabrielle is fine. I gave her the

Breathkeeper before she took anything more than a gasp so she shouldn't have breathed

in much water at all. I kept the Merpeople away too so I don't think any of them got close

enough to scratch or stab her. Fleur, are you okay?"

"Oui. Oui, I will be fine, 'arry. Zanks to you," she said quietly, her crying starting to slow.

"Honestly, Miss Delacour, I can't finish checking the boy over if you keep staying wrapped

around him like that," Pomfrey said glaring at the Champion. "Move or I will make you

move. I will not have this young man spend another night in my wing because I couldn't

finish the charms."

Tonks chuckled from where she was leaning against of the wooden poles at the edge of the

lake. "You should just engrave his name over that bed. He certainly winds up there often

enough."

"Hey! It's not always my fault! I just have the worst good luck ever," Harry mumbled

scowling.

"Eh, hem, I believe we need to distribute the scores still for this event," the Umbitch said

with a wide smile. "Mr. Potter you might as well remain here. Again you did not manage to

complete the Task so again you will be receiving – "

"I advise you to stop talking immediately, Madame," Sébastien Delacour said very quietly

and very calmly. With extreme deliberateness he got to his feet and paced towards

Umbridge who hastened to back up a step. Sébastien stopped and stared down at the toad

woman. "I know that it was you who suggested this event. I also know that the entirety of

this judging body," he swept a calm hand to encompass all five, "signed off on the hostages.

While I would never expect Fleur to be excluded from a Task due to inherent racial

tension…including my youngest in this without my or my wife's consent was very poor

judgment. Rest assured I will be investigating this matter to the fullest. And if I find that

any of you had any inkling about the continued tensions between Veela and

Merpeople…you will find French prisons quite unaccommodating I'm sure. If you make it

to them that is."

Umbridge sneered at the man and held her nose high. "Is that a threat?"

"Oh good, perhaps you aren't as stupid as you look," Apolline commented with a snort

from her position on the dock.

Sébastien on the other hand simply inclined his head in a small nod. "It is certainly a threat.

The Treaty of Athens is commonly taught in all major institutions. Having a Veela as a

contestant should have ensured that appropriate safety measures were in place on this

Task. That you not only ignored that but also included a second underage Veela without

parental consent…Make no mistake, Madame Umbridge, I am making a threat." He

scowled and his control slipped momentarily before he regained his poise. "Had Harry

Potter not saved both of my daughters' lives I very much doubt you would be breathing

right now either. As it is, I will see you and as many of the rest of you behind bars as is

appropriate. If you have any sense at all you would be already running to your Minister

and begging for his protection."

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Chapter 265

He turned back to Gabrielle and Fleur and sat beside his wife.

Bagman visibly gulped and tried for a smile that came across looking very faked and very

forced. "Yes, well, shall we get to the scoring?"

The four Champions trooped into the grassy field near the docks several minutes later.

Gabrielle refused to move too far away from Harry so she walked between him and Fleur

and held both their hands grinning like a loon. If he hadn't seen her terrified in the water

he'd think the younger girl was having the best day of her life.

Tonks and Hermione had moved to the side of the field and stood with the rest of his

friends along with Apolline and Sébastien. Amusingly, The Umbitch had actually taken the

elder Delacour's 'advice' and gone to speak with Fudge rather than participate in the

judging. Percy was again taking her slot.

Krum and Fred both received 45 points for near perfect execution of the Task. Krum got an

extra nod for thinking outside the box by using gillyweed though he also lost some points

for having to wait an extra few minutes for it to wear off before he could climb out of the

lake.

Fleur was called forward and Gabrielle rather reluctantly let go of Harry to stick with her

sister. "Mlle Delacour," Dumbledore said standing. "The judges have discussed the

situation after receiving a briefing on the events taking place during the Task. As you did

not retrieve your hostage the Task was not adequately completed. However, we feel that

the tension between your people and the Merpeople was severely underestimated

resulting in a skewed level of prejudice and difficulty towards yourself. In light of this, we

have agreed to award you 25 points."

Gabrielle snorted as she stepped back into line with Fleur. "Sévèrement sous-estimée,

hmph. Sévèrement sous-estimée mon joli petit cul, oui." (6)

Fleur rolled her eyes good naturedly at her sister while Harry stepped forward. "Harry

Potter," Dumbledore intoned, the twinkle in his eye nonexistent. "You returned outside

the time limit for this Task which should again result in 0 points. However taking into

account your…noble actions regarding the Beauxbatons Champion and her hostage we

have agreed that such a score would be grossly unfair. Taking into account your obvious

preparation, skill and quick thinking we have decided to award you a full 50 points."

A loud cheer rose from nearly everyone in attendance drowning out anything else

Dumbledore had to say. Harry's eyes were huge as he stepped back into line. Gabrielle

quickly hugged him and smiled up at him saying in English, "Congratulations, 'arry. Zat was

a great score!"

"Thanks, Gabrielle," Harry replied.

"Gabi! It's Gabi, to you Monsieur Potter!" Gabrielle said with a laugh and let him go. Fleur

simply raised her eyebrows at the two.

"Well, this concludes the Fourth Task in the Triwizard Tournament," Bagman said as the

crowd finally the crowd calmed down enough for him to be heard. "Again we do apologize

for the lack of visual aids as the early start prevented us from getting them into place. Rest

assured, the Final Task will be quite the spectacle!" All four Champions and several of the

audience members shivered at that. "The final event in this Tournament has the theme

'Face The World' and will be held at the end of June. I look forward to seeing everyone

there and wish the Champions the best of luck!"

Newton and Paracela were already sitting in the chairs in front of her desk when Olympe

returned to her office. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she sat down. She didn't even

have a chance to start speaking before Newton held up a hand. After a moment he slowly

lowered it and spoke in a very soft, exceedingly calm voice with no attempt made to hide

the steel present. "Olympe. Please explain to us just how two Veela wound up in a lake full

of Merpeople. One of them as a hostage, while underage and without parental consent."

Olympe considered lying for a moment. It might have worked too. She'd been told before

that her giant heritage helped to mask some of the more characteristic tells if she was

careful…Sighing she deflated. It wasn't worth trying to keep her job. The founders were

only here to help and to protect the students. Something she had obviously failed at. "It

happened because I did nothing to verify the circumstances or details."

"Explain."

"Each Headmaster gave their recommendations for suitable hostages to the group and

Dumbledore assured us all that he would personally speak with them and ask for their

assistance. My recommendation for Fleur was Hermione Granger as Harry Potter was

already a contestant. It is blaringly obvious the girl cares for both of them far more than

anyone she has ever met in this school. I had no idea he was going to ask little Gabrielle."

Newton and Paracela turned to look at each other. Paracela raised her eyebrows and

cocked her head in an 'I told you so' expression while Newton just scowled and nodded.

"Unfortunately we assumed that might be case," Paracela said. "Sébastien is on a warpath.

He knows that as one of the Ministry leads on this, Umbridge had to personally sign off on

it. Whether she's just an idiot or actively malicious doesn't much matter. By the time this

term ends, she'll be destroyed politically and in one of our prisons. Bagman has been hit in

the head by too many Bludgers to bother pursuing. And his name is never on any of the

signature lines. Apparently someone drilled that into his head during his career."

"Dumbledore though…" Newton sighed. "As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I have a

hard time imagining he didn't know about the Treaty of Athens."

Olympe let out a deep sigh and nodded. "I as well find that hard to believe. I ensured that

the Giant Squid was to be close to the village in order to hopefully keep the Merpeople

from getting bold prior to the end of the hour and it would have shadowed Fleur back to

keep her from being attacked if she was late." The Headmistress laid her hands on the

table and shook her head. "I never expected them to be so bold as to attack the girl prior

to the time expiration."

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Chapter 266

"Technically they didn't," Paracela said scowling. "The grindylows attacked the Champion

and the hippocampus was meant to scare her. He of course failed to recognize that his

mount was just a little too close and that a spine punctured her breathing bubble." She

snorted and swatted the air. "This is why I hate politics."

"I did speak with Sébastien, Apolline and Gabrielle shortly prior to returning here,"

Olympe ventured. "Gabrielle was approached and asked if she was willing to help her

sister. No details were given. Sébastien and Apolline had not been approached since

Fleur's initial selection. At that point they made a statement to the organizers that could

loosely be considered blanket permission for anything involving their family. If one were to

squint and twist their head just right.

"That would likely be why Sébastien is so confident he can nail Umbridge to the wall,"

Paracela nodded smiling. "The toad will be tossed to the wolves. It will save the others in

Fudge's administration as well as the judges and organizers so he won't even try to protect

her beyond a token protest."

Newton leaned back with a sigh and stared at the ceiling. "None of this solves the issue

surrounding Dumbledore though. I've known the man for so many years…to willing put a

13 year old girl into such a potentially deadly situation…What could he have been

thinking?"

"I warned you he was going to end up being the chessmaster here," Paracela snorted.

"He's careful and willing to play the long game. I doubt we'll be able to find much of

anything concrete."

"There must be a reason," Newton argued.

"His vaunted 'Greater Good' is the reason! He's lost his marbles, Nick, and I for one will not

stand idly by while he drives more lives into the ground."

Olympe blinked between the two attempting to remain quiet and invisible as they glared

at each other. Finally Newton sighed heavily and nodded. "A compromise then. We

continue to investigate the finer points and should the root cause prove to be foolhardy we

will pass the information along. If the main players neuter him, then we will jail him. I

won't consign my old friend to the wolves just without knowing why he has faltered. He

deserves better than that."

Paracela narrowed her eyes and lapsed into silence. After nearly a minute she gave a slow

nod. "Agreed. We haven't survived this long by getting personally involved. However, your

refusal to admit the man is losing grip isn't tenable. I propose we approach Fleur and

Potter at minimum and inform them of our suspicions."

"The rune teacher as well, Bathsheda Babbling," Newton said. "She's the boy's guardian

and is by all accounts a stable, well-reasoned individual. He may be emancipated, but he's

not an adult yet so she deserves to know."

Olympe raised her hand to interject. "They may already suspect Dumbledore of being

involved. From what I understand, he has crossed them in the past."

Paracela nodded. "All the same, we have learned to avoid assumptions regarding allies."

Her visage hardened and she glared pointedly at the Headmistress. "I would hope that

after today's events you have learned that lesson as well, Olympe." The Headmistress

quickly nodded in agreement.

Harry ran a hand through his hair as he paced in front of the couch in the Room of

Requirement. Fleur, Hermione and Tonks were all sitting on said couch looking on at him in

various shades of amusement and exasperation. Harry had asked them all to meet him

here as he snuck out of the party in the Gryffindor Common Room. He'd given it a good go,

staying for almost an hour before giving up and asking Daphne, Luna and Tracey to provide

a decent distraction.

"You really don't need to be so dramatic, Wonder Boy," Tonks commented with a light grin.

She was leaning against the armrest with feet pulled up and crossed under her obviously

trying not to laugh while following his pacing.

"Stop teasing him, Nym," Hermione scolded. Sighing, she turned to look at Harry and said

softer, "Harry, I think we have a good idea why you asked us to come and talk. You can

relax a little."

"At least sit down, 'arry," Fleur commented gesturing to an armchair behind him.

Harry stopped his pacing and shook his head. Flopping down on the chair he held his head

in his hands. "You almost died, Fleur," he said quietly.

"But I didn't. Because you saved me, 'arry. Again," she said smiling.

"I watched you drown. I was right there next to you! If Nym hadn't taught us that CPR

thing…" Fleur moved to get up and go to him but Hermione laid a hand on her arm and

shook her head. "Being around me is dangerous," Harry suddenly said lifting his head up

and staring hard at all three of them. "Every single year I or someone I care about has

almost died. If you three stay with me, you're going to be a target."

Hermione smiled sadly. "Harry, we've known that for a while. And I want to be perfectly

clear on several things. You don't have a monopoly on danger." Everyone turned to look at

her with expressions of disbelief. She held up a finger. "Troll. There is no possible way you

can claim credit for that thing walking into the same bathroom I was in. Voldemort would

have been in the castle regardless and he would have used the same distraction regardless

and you had no control over Ron saying what he said.

"Basilisk," she continued holding up a second finger. "If you think I wouldn't have been

researching that monster without you around you're barmy. Again, not your fault I was

hurt. Also not your fault that Lucius decided to give Tracey the diary. You didn't even know

her or Daphne at that point.

"Luna," a third finger joined the others. "I love the former Ravenclaw, but you have been

literally nothing but a godsend to her. Her life was miserable before you and I can't think of

a single bad thing that has happened to her since you met her. The near rape would've

happened with or without the push from the article in the Quibbler; those girls would've

found some other reason to pick on her.

"Dementors. Yes, you helped shine the light that Sirius might be innocent. Yes, Nym used

that light to start investigating. But, don't you dare try to take the blame for the Dementor

attack at the end of the year. We had five adult witches and wizards with us that night.

"World Cup," Hermione grimaced as she said that one but quickly regained her stride.

"Those…people would've tried to go after Fleur whether you had been there or not. They

did go after Fleur before we got there.

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Chapter 267

"Finally, the Tournament. Harry, the Goblet also would've chosen her even if you had not

been entered," Hermione sighed and leaned back. "While I will admit your involvement

has likely ramped up the danger of each individual Task I would again point to the horrid

history of death and permanent injury surrounding this. Today…today's issues were

completely unrelated to you, Harry. What happened this afternoon was a remnant of an

old war whose reason no one even remembers."

Harry gaped at his girlfriend. To hear it all laid out so logically rather took the wind out his

sails and threw most of his arguments into the meat grinder. Closing his mouth and

frowning, Harry considered what Hermione had said. After a few minutes he looked back

up at the girls. "It's still dangerous to be with me. Especially if Voldemort comes back," he

said sounding slightly confused.

Tonks took over. "Wonder Boy, life is dangerous. You're good luck. Weird good luck, but

good luck."

"And I would like to see if zis Voldemort is fireproof," Fleur said with a small grin. "His

name is quite amusing to ze French. I'd love to test how accurate it is."

Harry's confusion deepened. "You all really are still interested in dating me?"

"Harry, you have half the female population of the country interested in dating you," Tonks

said rolling her eyes. "Hermione and I have won and we have no intention of letting you go.

Considering Fleur is sitting here too I think she's got a shoe in for a spot as well and this girl

is not one to give up."

Harry sighed and leaned back bonelessly into his seat. "I hate when people use logic on me.

I can't claim to be a normal wizard when you use logic because things actually make sense

and wizards don't seem to like that."

"Amen to that," Hermione muttered.

Harry squared his shoulders and turned to Fleur. "Fleur, are you still hoping for a Consort

agreement with House Potter?"

Fleur quite nearly jumped up and pumped her hand in the air though somehow she

managed to restrain herself to a very emphatic, "Oui."

"Hermione, are you still accepting of Fleur as a potential Consort to House Potter?" Harry

asked turning to the brunette.

"I am," she said nodding.

"Nymphadora," neither Harry nor Tonks faltered at the dreaded name, "are you still

accepting of Fleur as a potential Consort to House Potter?"

"I am," Tonks agreed her hair flashing through a quick rainbow before settling back into

pink.

Harry stood and moved in front of Fleur taking her hand. "Okay," he muttered nodding to

himself and taking a deep breath. "Okay. Fleur, I would very much like for you to join my

growing family."

Grinning from ear to ear, Fleur nodded and pulled Harry down into a kiss.

A few weeks after the Fourth Task, Fleur caught up with Harry while he was outside

practicing spell chains with Flitwick. The diminutive professor had been gradually pushing

Harry towards doing some of the simpler chains silently and while he could get most of

them down they weren't very powerful yet. "Excuse me, Professor," said Fleur. " 'arry,

Madame Maxime has requested to speak with you and Professor Babbling as soon as

possible."

Flitwick shrugged good-naturedly and holstered his wand. "That's quite alright, Miss

Delacour. Harry, continue to practice strengthening those. You're improving quite nicely."

Harry, breathing hard, nodded and put his hands on his knees as he doubled over.

"Sure…thing…Professor." Flitwick chuckled and headed back inside. After a minute Harry

finally regained his breath and stood straight. "Shiva's on break at the moment. We can go

grab her now and head over. What did Madame Maxime want?"

"I do not know," Fleur shrugged. "She simply said zat it was quite urgent and zat both of us

and your guardian should be zere. Ze phrasing was worrying but she did not seem flustered

so whatever ze discussion is I don't zink ze zreat is anyzing immediate."

"So it might just be something about the final Task?" Harry asked. Fleur nodded and

threaded her arm through his.

They walked through several corridors only passing by a few people – for which Harry was

rather thankful. Even after almost three weeks of officially dating Fleur he was still getting

quite a few nasty looks and whispered comments. While he couldn't entirely blame them

the real issue was that everyone seemed to think of Fleur as simply a piece of meat. They

weren't so much complaining that Harry had multiple partners, they were complaining

that he 'nabbed the Veela'. It wasn't everyone in the castle, but it was enough to get his

blood boiling every time he saw someone whisper to their friend as he walked by with

Fleur. Hermione had been required to physically restrain him the first few times.

By now all three girls had found a far better motivator to ensure Harry behaved.

Knocking on Shiva's office door, Harry stepped inside only to find her standing at the

chalkboard with her wand stuck in her hair and a determined expression plastered on her

face while she tapped her foot staring at the diagram displayed in front of her. Harry

couldn't resist laughing at that picture and Fleur started giggling a little as well. "Bit of an

issue, Shiva?"

"Hey, kid," she said waving her hand but not looking towards him. "Oh! Here it is!" She

reached out and crossed off a rune in the scheme and added a slightly modified one in its

place. "Gotcha. Now that will work. What's up, Harry? Oh hey, Fleur," Shiva said nodding

to them both as she took her wand out of her hair and cast a quick copying spell on the

board, transferring the diagram to a nearby sheet of parchment.

"We need to head over and talk with Madame Maxime about something. We think it has

to do with the Final Task, but we aren't completely sure," Harry said.

Shiva raised her eyebrows. "Ooookkkkaaay…you don't need my permission to walk across

the grounds, kid."

Harry snorted. "No, I meant Fleur, me and you. Not just Fleur and me."

"Oh, well you should have said that to begin with. Give me a second." The professor cast a

quick cleaning charm on her robes, straightened her hair and waved them out of the office.

Falling into line with the two Champions Shiva looked at them both critically. "So what

does she want me for too?"

Both students shrugged. "No idea," Harry said. "Fleur was saying that she didn't seem

frightened, just a little worried." Shiva frowned and lapsed into silence.

The trio made it to the Beauxbatons carriage without incident and Fleur showed them into

the Headmistress' office. The large woman quickly stood as they entered and nodded to

each. "Hello. Zank you for coming so quickly. I have two guests who wished to speak wiz

you all."

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Chapter 268

Harry and Shiva frowned at that while Fleur just looked puzzled. "Headmistress, zis seems

most irregular," the blonde said.

"It is," Maxime said sighing. She took her wand and sent a quick spell towards the door

and leaned back. "I assure you zough. No one here wishes to harm any of you. Zis is simply

a secure location for ze meeting."

Shiva narrowed her eyes at the other woman, but before she could say anything the door

opened again and two more people stepped into the room. Her gaze shifted to the

newcomers. Both were dressed conservatively in something that could pass as either

demure robes or fashionable Muggle clothes and carried themselves with a sense of

authority. The woman smirked in amusement at the three people sitting across from the

Headmistress while the man nodded happily at them all.

"Hello, hello! So good of you three to come and agree to speak with us. I apologize for the

bit of cloak and dagger but sometimes it's necessary," the man said. He stepped up and

offered his hand. Shiva let out a breath and shook her head. She stood to accept the

handshake from both the man and the woman as did Harry and Fleur before all five sat

down again with the chairs twisted to face each other in a loose arc.

"Newton, you're forgetting your manners," the woman said with a lightly scolding tone.

"This is my husband, Newton Fulcanelli and I am Paracela."

"Pleasure," Shiva murmured. "I assume you already know us, but just in case, I'm

Bathsheda Babbling, this is Harry Potter and Fleur Delacour."

Paracela nodded. "We do know of you. We've been taking stock of your ward for some

time now actually. Manners are always appreciated though."

Harry's eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. Fleur stiffened beside him and Shiva subtly

fingered her wand. "Taking stock of me how?"

Paracela smiled and shrugged casually. "Nothing dangerous or invasive, young one. Simply

keeping our eyes and ears open. We like to determine one's character before we agree to

meet with them. The Quibbler was quite useful for once instead of simply being amusing. I

must congratulate you by the way. I never would've thought that Xeno would be able to

resist printing his conspiracy theories!"

Harry relaxed slightly and snorted. If they knew Luna's father personally then they

probably were okay. The man may be not be entirely stable, but he seemed to have a

decent head for people from what Luna had said. "Don't thank me for that. That was all

Luna. You can't refuse that girl anything and her father is even more wrapped around her

finger than the rest of us."

Newton chuckled as well. "Well I for one rather miss some of the wilder stories. We went

on several hunts with him in the past to try and track some of the critters he talks about.

Paracela and I actually found a few on our own solo excursions some years ago. It's a good

way to pass the time."

"I can imagine…" Shiva said trailing off and furrowing her brow. She stared at the two

visitors muttering softly, "Why do those names sound so familiar?" Newton sat up a bit

straighter while Paracela's mouth thinned into a line.

Harry's eyes narrowed as he stared back and forth between the couple. "Fulcanelli was a

pretty famous alchemist…"

Newton deflated slightly and Paracela's grin widened considerably. "Go on," she said

winking at him.

"Newton and Paracela…I don't suppose you're named after Paracelsus by any chance?

Another famous alchemist?" Harry asked. At her nod, Shiva gasped and stared between

the couple.

Fleur just looked between the other four people and grimaced. "I feel I am missing

something extremely important in zis conversation."

Harry ignored her for the moment, focused fully on Newton and Paracela. "So then

Newton would be for Isaac Newton…Merlin…" He suddenly shot to his feet and pumped

his fist in the air. "Ha! I knew it! Hermione and I were right!" He turned back to the two

and smiled wide before bowing a bit. "It's an honor to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Flamel." As

he said that, Fleur gaped staring goggle-eyed at them.

Paracela chuckled and patted Newton's leg while he sat there looking dejected. "She was

sooo close," he moaned. "She would've had it in another minute or two!"

"And yet I still win," Paracela said. "We haven't been back to San Diego in a while. I think

this time we'll go to the International Comic Con."

"It's so boring!" Newton whined.

"It's getting better! They have a new logo and location this year!"

Harry stared between the two and laughed. "Why are you deciding on a vacation?"

Paracela saluted him. "Because you won me our bet, Mr. Potter. Every time we switch to a

new identity, Newton and I have a bit of an ongoing wager over whether a

Muggle-born/raised or a Pureblood will figure out who we are first."

"Well naming yourselves after famous alchemists and keeping the N, P, and F initials really

doesn't make it that complicated," Harry snorted.

Newton groaned and held a hand over his eyes. "See that's what I said! But noooo,

apparently it's still too subtle for most magically raised. I haven't won the darn bet since

the 11th century!"

Shiva gurgled and struggled for words. "11th century…but…you're…"

"Far older than 600 something," Paracela laughed. "I'll grant you, the Nicolas and Perenelle

names lasted a lot longer than we had expected. Plus the manner of killing them off was

annoying to the extreme, but don't make the mistake of assuming that was the first time

we had to do it."

Newton sighed dramatically and lowered his hand looking at Harry, most of the joking

expression gone from his face. "You said you and your girlfriend assumed we were alive?

When was this?"

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Chapter 269

"My first year," Harry shrugged. "We weren't sure whether Dumbledore actually believed

you would let yourselves fade away or if he just wanted us to believe it, but we didn't think

you'd just give up because of one guy trying to steal your stuff even if that guy was

possessed by Voldemort."

Paracela smirked. "I don't know what Albus was smoking that year, but it must have been

strong. Even just as Perenelle and Nic, we were around for over six centuries. Seriously, to

think we'd just roll over and die between a single upstart tried to steal our fake

things…idiots. I swear the world is getting stupider every century."

Fleur finally managed to restart her brain and rejoin the conversation. "You are ze

alchemist pair?! Ze founders of ze school?! And you are speaking wiz us?!"

"That we are," Newton laughed. "Peace, little Veela, we're just two extremely old senior

citizens who like looking after our legacy when we have the chance."

"This conversation isn't just a social visit though, is it?" Shiva said leaning back and

crossing her arms. Her comment wasn't a question.

Paracela slowly shook her head and mirrored the other woman's posture. "No, it isn't. We

have some information for you that we felt should be passed along."

"Why us?" Shiva asked.

"Well to be perfectly honest, we like you. We keep tabs on the big things and young Harry

has impressed us," Newton said. "We were going to consider offering to let you do some

research with us in a decade or two. We've come forward a bit earlier as events have

started becoming increasingly charged each year. Ms. Babbling, you're a rare one. You'd be

amazed at how many educators would've simply looked the other way upon discovering a

bit of child neglect. That you not only took control of the situation, but actively worked to

assist was extremely impressive. Had you spoken French we would've tried to recruit you

to our school."

Paracela took up the narrative as she smiled at Fleur. "And you, Mademoiselle, have been

consistently exceptional throughout this year. Your previous school performance was

noteworthy as well though not quite as flashy." Fleur blushed and mumbled something

unintelligible.

"So, to be blunt," Newton said shrugging, "we would prefer you and your friends survive

and flourish. In the interest of assisting in that endeavor we're willing to pass along

some…interesting bits of info every now and then. Such as who we believe to be behind

the mockery of fair play that this Tournament has become."

"Well the Umbitch is obviously involved," Harry said narrowing his eyes. "From what

Fleur's said though, her father should be taking care of her soon enough."

"Oui, he has most of ze necessary documentation and Fudge is starting to back off from

shielding her. She will be gone by ze time ze Final Task is complete," Fleur said fire flashing

in her eyes.

"Ah, but do you suspect who pulls her strings?" Paracela asked.

"There's a couple of possibilities," Shiva said nodding thoughtfully. "All equally worrying

and with potentially multiple players involved. The worst options I think are Voldemort,

Fudge or Dumbledore. I would've originally thought attempted assassinations wouldn't be

Dumbledore's style, but I'm starting to change my opinion on that."

Harry frowned, "I'd still prefer to think that he's simply a manipulative arse, but not evil. It

is getting harder and harder to entertain that possibility as this year goes on."

Fleur shook her head. " 'arry, no sane individual would place a zirteen year old Veela in zat

lake. I do not care how manipulative you zink he is, he is as bad as ze Toad in my mind."

"Yeah, that was where I hit on him to," Shiva nodded as did Paracela.

"Agreed," Paracela said. "We worked with him for quite a few years in the past. Albus was

always well educated and did his homework. He'd have known about the Treaty of Athens

and the danger involved. He has a hand in recent events and while it might be subtle it is

not idle."

Newton grimaced. "He was a good man once…"

Harry sighed and leaned back into his seat. "Well he certainly hasn't shown that side

concerning pretty much anything dealing with my life. Do you have any proof? That's

always the problem when dealing with Dumbledore. He's good at working behind the

scenes and doing legal gymnastics to avoid being punished for anything."

"Unfortunately, we still lack that proof," Paracela said shrugging. "As you just said, he's

good and has been playing this game for a long time. We're continuing to keep our eyes

open and investigating a bit here and there, but we mostly just wanted to pass along our

suspicions and warn you to keep your eyes on the man. Forewarned is forearmed and all."

Shiva nodded and leaned forwards to fix each with a considering look. "Can you help us at

all?"

"Can we? Certainly. Will we? Well…that is an entirely different animal," Paracela sighed.

"You aren't willing to do anything beyond give us a heads up?" Harry asked incredulously.

Fleur also looked rather affronted as she reached over to take Harry's hand and squeezed

softly.

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Chapter 270

Newton grimaced. "I wouldn't say that exactly. The thing is though, we made it a policy not

to interfere to any large extent. If we stepped in every time things started going to hell

we'd quickly become a crutch for humanity. People would stop trying to fix things for

themselves and just wait for us to do something. Eventually we'd tire of it, stop helping

and then the world would self-destruct when the next self-important idiot stepped

forward to cause trouble."

"This country stopped standing up for itself a long time ago," Harry muttered.

Paracela shrugged. "True. But it doesn't change our policy. And besides, we might be

unaging, supernaturally healthy and regenerative but we are not immortal. We haven't

survived this long by getting involved in every wannabe Dark Lord or master fool that

sprang up."

"We are however," Newton said holding up a hand, "willing to help a little. We won't fight

your battles and we won't publically reveal ourselves. However…I cannot condone what

Albus appears to be doing. If you neuter him we will take care of him."

"Take care of him, how?" Fleur asked shrewdly.

"Leave that to us," Newton said firmly. "Albus is an old friend. Even if I find his recent

actions to be repugnant, I have no wish to see him die in prison or be summarily

executed."

Paracela's smile had an evil little set to it. "I think you will find his fate rather karmic."

"Please," Harry entreated quietly. He stared at the floor scowling and continued, "That

man made me live with the Dursleys and has kept everything he possibly could from me

since I was a baby. Shiva and I have been trying to get something on him for almost four

years now. Please. I need to know what you're planning before I can agree to let you deal

with it."

Paracela looked to Newton with raised eyebrows. He sighed heavily but waved her to go

ahead. Turning back to the trio, she smirked. "Well…Albus is quite old. We were thinking

he might be more comfortable in a…group setting. Perhaps a…new home. With his magic

properly bound up by a nice little potion we invented a few centuries back of course."

Shiva's eyes widened before she started laughing hysterically. "A Muggle nursing home?

Seriously? Okay, I vote we let them have the geezer! Imagine how frustrated he'd be trying

to tell everyone 'No, you don't understand! I'm the leader of the Light! I must return to my

fellow wizards!' It may not be Azkaban but it's certainly prison."

Harry considered that, looking to both Fleur and Shiva before finally turning to the

Fulcanellis and nodding. "Okay."

"Excellent!" Paracela said smiling. "You neuter him, either politically or personally and we

will take care of the rest."

"We'll contact you if we find anything concrete," Newton said. "I do hope this all turns out

well enough. This has been some of the most fun I've had in decades!"

Fudge was sitting in his office with his head in his hands. How had things progressed to this

point? All he had wanted was to humiliate the Potter boy a bit. Take him down a peg or

two and teach him some respect. Now though…now Fudge was facing political and

economic censure from nearly the entirety of the ICW unless he acted soon.

He had given Dolores free rein in crafting the Tournament Tasks and that had been such a

foolhardy mistake. Even after he realized the damage she could be doing he'd still trusted

the woman to take care of it. Now the French were out for blood, the Scandinavians

scented weakness and the rest of the ICW were peering at his administration far too

closely. If they actually followed through on their threat to examine his practices for

compliance…they'd likely find his special vault. From there it wouldn't be simple disgrace;

it would be Azkaban.

Fudge whimpered. He wouldn't let that happen.

"You called for me, Minister Fudge?" Sébastien Delacour asked with a smirk as he stepped

into the office and took the seat across from Fudge.

"Yes, yes I did. I've gotten the recent request from your superiors."

"Oh, good. I was hoping that'd come in before the Task started. I am rather displeased that

the attempted murder of my daughters has gone unanswered for nearly two months," the

steel in the man's voice was frightening.

Fudge shifted several papers around to try and cover his hesitation. "Yes, well it took some

time to complete the internal investigation and agree to some of the stipulations…"

Delacour had the audacity to snort. "And your conclusions?"

"Dolores Umbridge is the individual culpable for the continuous safety oversights involving

the Triwizard Tournament. She is currently on a leave of absence and left no forwarding

address." Which was actually true. He had hoped to be able to contact her and tell her to

run. Or at least tip off Lucius so that her memory could be taken care of prior to any

interrogations…Fudge sighed. "I can however, say with some certainty that she will be at

the Final Task of the Triwizard Tournament. I can arrange for Aurors to be there to conduct

the arrest and transfer her to you."

Delacour just smiled and shook his head. "Thank you for the generous offer, but I do

believe the French officers will handle the arrest ourselves." Fudge sweated a bit at that.

He knew that Lucius had one or two contacts among the foreign Ministry, but their

influence was minimal. He'd just have to hope his Undersecretary would be able to resist

antagonizing them enough to render truth serum a viable option…or maybe Lucius would

know what to do to get around this…

"Yes, of course," Fudge said nodding hurriedly. Better to keep the man happy for the

moment. Even if Dolores did spill some secrets she didn't know enough that would see him

following in her wake and any goodwill he could engender with the damnable French

should be sufficient to at least see him allowed to retire with grace. "Perhaps a peace

offering as well?"

"Oh? Such as?"

Fudge pushed several sheets of papers to Delacour. "The Final Task is to be a floating

labyrinth. There will be magical creatures and enchantments inside the confines to

challenge the Champions, but there should be minimal risk as outside personnel will be

immediately on hand to assist if needed. The walls will be transparent to observers as well

so everyone should be able to watch what is going on inside. I trust these safety

precautions are to your liking?"

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