Disclair: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and so other high falutin' companies. , I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.
Chapter Sixty Three - Investigating
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
In the other room and quietly waiting, wondering what was taking so long, Viktor Krum, Cedric Diggory, and Fleur Delacour were grouped around the fire. They looked strangely impressive, silhouetted against the flas. Krum, hunched up and brooding, was leaning against the mantelpiece, slightly apart from the other two. Cedric was standing with his hands behind his back, staring into the fire. Fleur Delacour looked around when the door finally opened and threw back her locks of long, silvery hair.
Ludo Bagman entered the room. "Extraordinary!" he muttered, pacing the floor. "Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlen - lady," he added, approaching the fireside and addressing the other three. "There is a fourth champion!"
The door behind them opened again, and a large group of people ca in: Professor Dumbledore, followed closely by Mister Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Mada Maxi, Professor McGonagall, and Professor Snape. The champions heard the buzzing of the hundreds of students on the other side of the wall, before Professor McGonagall closed the door.
"Mada Maxi!" said Fleur at once, striding over to her headmistress. "He iz saying zat zere is anuzzer champion!"
Mada Maxi had drawn herself up to her full, and considerable, height. The top of her handso head brushed the candle-filled chandelier, and her gigantic black-satin bosom swelled.
"What is ze aning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?" she said imperiously.
"I'd rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore," said Professor Karkaroff. He was wearing a steely smile, and his blue eyes were like chips of ice. "Two Hogwarts champions? Or, rather, two competitors? I don't rember anyone telling the host school is allowed two - or have I not read the rules carefully enough?"
He gave a short and nasty laugh.
"C'est impossible," said Mada Maxi, whose enormous hand with its many superb opals was resting upon Fleur's shoulder. "Ogwarts cannot 'ave two champions - two competitors. It is most injust."
"We were under the impression that your Age Line and other safeguards would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore," said Karkaroff, his steely smile still in place; though, his eyes were colder than ever. "Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our own schools."
"It's no one's fault but Potter's, Karkaroff," said Snape softly. His black eyes were alight with malice. "Don't go blaming Dumbledore for Potter's determination to break rules. He has been crossing lines ever since he arrived here..."
"Thank you, Severus. That will be enough," said Dumbledore firmly, and Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair. "The oath young Harry made is quite clear. He did not choose to enter this competition."
"Ah, but of course 'e is lying!" cried Mada Maxi. Snape was now shaking his head, his lip curling.
"It was an oath on his magic and his life, Madam!" said Professor McGonagall sharply. "He could not have crossed the Age Line, or bypassed the other protections. I am sure we are all agreed on that..."
"Dumbly-dorr must 'ave made a mistake wiz hiz protections," said Mada Maxi, shrugging.
"It is possible, of course," said Dumbledore politely.
"Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!" said Professor McGonagall angrily. "Really, what nonsense! Harry could not have bypassed the protections and his oath confirms it!" She shot a very angry look at Professor Snape.
"Mister Crouch - Mister Bagman," said Karkaroff, his voice unctuous once more, "you are our - er - objective judges. Surely you will agree that this is most irregular?"
Bagman wiped his round, boyish face with his handkerchief and looked at Crouch, who was standing outside the circle of the firelight, his face half hidden in shadow. He looked slightly eerie, the half darkness making him look much older, giving him an almost skull-like appearance. When he spoke, however, it was in his usual curt voice.
"We must follow the rules, and the rules state clearly that, those people whose nas' co out of the Goblet of Fire, are bound to compete in the tournant. However, as Mister Potter intimated, it does not an he is a champion."
"Well, Barty knows the rule book back to front," said Bagman, beaming and turning back to Karkaroff and Mada Maxi, as though the matter was now closed.
"I insist upon resubmitting the nas of the rest of my students," said Karkaroff.
He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now. His face wore a very ugly look indeed. "You will set up the Goblet of Fire, once more, and we will continue adding nas until each school have two - competitors. It's only fair, Dumbledore."
"But, Karkaroff, it doesn't work like that," said Bagman. "The Goblet of Fire's just gone out - it won't reignite until the start of the next tournant..."
"... In which Durmstrang will most certainly not be competing!" exploded Karkaroff. "After all our etings and negotiations and compromises, I little expected sothing of this nature to occur! I have half a mind to leave now!"
"Empty threat, Karkaroff," growled a voice from near the door. "You can't leave with your champion now. He's got to compete. They've all got to compete. Binding magical contract, like Dumbledore said. Convenient, eh?"
Moody had just entered the room. He limped toward the fire, and with every right step he took, there was that loud clunk.
"Convenient?" said Karkaroff. "I'm afraid I don't understand you, Moody."
Karkaroff was trying to sound disdainful, as though what Moody was saying was barely worth his notice, but his hands gave him away; they had balled themselves into fists.
"Don't you?" Moody quietly asked. "It's very simple, Karkaroff. Soone put Potter's na in that Goblet knowing he'd have to compete if it ca out."
"Evidently, soone 'oo wished to give 'Ogwarts two bites at ze apple!" said Mada Maxi.
"I quite agree, Mada Maxi," said Karkaroff, bowing to her. "I shall be lodging complaints with the Ministry of Magic and the International Confederation of Wizards..."
"If anyone's got reason to complain, it's Potter," growled Moody, "But - funny thing - I don't hear anyone, other than Professor McGonagall, acknowledging that."
"Why should 'e complain?" burst out Fleur Delacour, stamping her foot. "E 'as ze chance to compete, 'asn't 'e? We 'ave all been 'oping to be chosen for weeks and weeks! Ze honour for our schools! A thousand Galleons in prize money - zis is a chance many would die for!"
"Potter neither needs the money nor the fa. He clearly knows that," said Moody, with the rest trace of a growl. "Maybe soone's hoping Potter is going to die in it."
An extrely tense silence followed these words. Ludo Bagman, who was looking very anxious indeed, bounced nervously up and down on his feet and said, "Moody, old man - what a thing to say!"
"We all know Professor Moody considers the morning wasted if he hasn't discovered at least six plots to murder him before lunchti," said Karkaroff loudly. "Apparently he is now teaching his students to fear assassination too. An odd quality in a Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Dumbledore; but, no doubt, you had your reasons."
"Imagining things, am I?" growled Moody. "Seeing things, eh? It was a skilled witch or wizard who put the boy's na in that Goblet..."
"Ah, what evidence is zere of zat?" said Mada Maxi, throwing up her huge hands.
"Because they hoodwinked a very powerful magical object!" roared Moody. "It would have needed an exceptionally strong Confundus Charm to bamboozle that Goblet into forgetting that only three schools compete in the tournant - I'm guessing they submitted Potter's na under a fourth school, to make sure he was the only one in his category."
"You seem to have given this a great deal of thought, Moody," said Karkaroff coldly, "and a very ingenious theory it is - though, of course, I heard you recently got it into your head that one of your birthday presents contained a cunningly disguised basilisk egg, and smashed it to pieces before realizing it was a carriage clock. So you'll understand if we don't take you entirely seriously..."
"There are those who'll turn innocent occasions to their advantage," Moody retorted in a nacing voice. "It's my job to think the way dark wizards do, Karkaroff - as you ought to rember..."
"Alastor!" said Dumbledore warningly. Moody fell silent, though still surveying Karkaroff with satisfaction - Karkaroff's face was burning.
"How this situation arose, we do not know," said Dumbledore, speaking to everyone gathered in the room. "It seems to , however, that we have no choice but to accept it. Both Cedric and Harry have been chosen to compete in the Tournant. This, therefore, they will do..."
"Ah, but Dumbly-dorr..."
"My dear Mada Maxi, if you have an alternative, I would be delighted to hear it."
Dumbledore waited, but Mada Maxi did not speak, she rely glared. She wasn't the only one either. Snape looked furious; Karkaroff livid; Bagman, however, looked rather excited.
"Well, shall we crack on, then?" he said, rubbing his hands together and smiling around the room. "Got to give our champions their instructions, haven't we? Barty, want to do the honours?"
Crouch seed to co out of a deep reverie. "Yes," he said, "instructions. Yes - the first task."
He moved forward into the firelight. There were dark shadows beneath his eyes and a thin, papery look about his wrinkled skin. "Soone will need to pass this information on to Potter," he said.
"The first task is designed to test your daring," he told Cedric, Fleur, and Viktor, "so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard - very important.
"The first task will take place on the 24th of November, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.
"The champions - competitors - are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournant. The champions will face the first challenge ard only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and ti-consuming nature of the tournant, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests."
Crouch turned to look at Dumbledore. "I think that's all, is it, Albus?"
"I think so," said Dumbledore, who was looking at Crouch with mild concern. "Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?"
"No, Dumbledore; I must get back to the Ministry," replied Crouch. "It is a very busy, very difficult ti at the mont - I've left young Weatherby in charge. Very enthusiastic - a little overenthusiastic, if truth be told..."
"You'll co and have a drink before you go, at least?" asked Dumbledore.
"Co on, Barry, I'm staying!" said Bagman brightly. "It's all happening at Hogwarts now, you know, much more exciting here than at the office!"
"I think not, Ludo," said Crouch with a touch of his old impatience.
"Professor Karkaroff - Mada Maxi - a nightcap?" said Dumbledore.
But Mada Maxi had already put her arm around Fleur's shoulders and was leading her swiftly out of the room. They were both talking very fast in French as they went off into the Great Hall. Karkaroff beckoned to Krum, and they, too, exited, though in silence.
"Cedric, I suggest you go up to bed," said Dumbledore, smiling at him. "I am sure Hufflepuff are waiting to celebrate with you, and it would be a sha to deprive them of this excellent excuse to make a great deal of ss and noise."
Cedric nodded and left.
The Great Hall was deserted now; the candles had burned low, giving the jagged smiles of the pumpkins an eerie, flickering quality.
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
Harry paced the floor in 'their' room. Daphne sat propped against one of the couches with her arms crossed under her breasts, watching him. She knew not to say anything when Harry was thinking aloud. The others were quietly discussing this latest developnt and pretending to ignore Harry while he paced.
"Alright," he said. "My na's been entered into a magically binding contract. I didn't enter it, I didn't have anyone else do it for , and I don't know who did it. Contracts must be willingly entered by all parties. You cannot legally be the unwilling party of a contract. So why am I still bound by it?
"Clearly, the Goblet negates the need for a party to be willingly involved. Or, does it? I need to find out how contracts stood when the Goblet was first created. Maybe they didn't have the condition those involved in the contract had to be willingly involved. It won't then recognise I'm unwilling as it's irrelevant. In which case, I won't know one way or the other until I would otherwise lose my magic. Damn!
"Maybe the Goblet recognises changes to magical law and, because I was unwillingly entered, it now won't force to compete. No, if that was the case, it wouldn't have spat my na out in the first place. Therefore, the Goblet recognises I'm held to the contract. Double damn!
"Hang on, what was the na on the slip of parchnt that ca out of the Goblet? Was it 'Harry Potter' or 'Harry Jas Potter'? Perhaps, that ans there's a Harry Potter out there without a middle na who's required to compete in the tournant. Plus, there seed to be no school written on the slip of paper, as Dumbledore didn't call one out. Everyone who wanted to submit their na was required to write both their na and school on the slip. If Harry Potter, whoever he is, doesn't attend a school, he cannot very well write the na of a school upon it.
"But, did Diggory, Krum or that French bint include their middle nas when they submitted their slips? I need to ask them. If they didn't, then it's not really going to matter if my middle na was on the slip or not.
"And the school? Invisible ink, perhaps? Or a concealing spell? I'll have to give the slip a careful once over. That ans I'm going to need to get it off Dumbledore, or get him to check.
"I'm also going to need to read the rules of the tournant, and the wording of the contract if the two are separate docunts. Their behaviour, last night, tells they will be.
"Okay, that ans I need to: One - ask for a copy of both the contract and rules and read over them. Two - ask the other three if they submitted their slips with their middle nas on them; if they have middle nas. Three - get the slip off Dumbledore and, between us, check to see if the na of the school is written on the slip. And, four - check if there are other Harry Potters out there that may be bound by the contract."
"Then it sounds as if you have a course of action to proceed," said Daphne, finally speaking up. "Perhaps we should leave it at that until you've gone through those points."
Harry sighed and said, "Yeah, I suppose. I still wonder why soone would go to all the effort, though."
"I think it's obvious," replied Daphne, wryly and unhappily. "Soone wants you to be killed."
Harry snorted and said, "Yeah, but it sounds like a lot of hard work just to get dead. Hell, anyone stepping out from behind a tree, firing the Killing Curse at , and running away, would accomplish the sa thing for a great deal less effort."
"First thing, though, is to contact Uncle Cygnus, Aunt Isabel, Sirius, Aunt Alia and Gran," said Hermione, from where she was sitting at one of the study tables. "I've started writing down what we're going to need them to get for us.
"One," said Hermione, getting things back on track. "Notifying Harry's guardians is our first priority.
"Two - Legal representation to go over the contract and rules that bind you to participating in the tournant. And if there's anything else you need to do besides compete in the tasks..."
"What do you an, 'anything else'?" asked Harry.
"Well, Dumbledore tried to get you to go into the champions room with the other - I an, the three champions," she replied. "What if the contract states you had to do that? Plus, there could be other things you have to do besides compete. In the muggle world, there are often publicity functions you're required to attend that are included in such contracts. We need to find out what you're actually required to do."
"And what does it an by 'compete'?" asked Daphne. "If he steps in to the ring - or, whatever - and forfeits; could that be considered competing? Or, does he have to make a good old 'go' of it, in the spirit of the tournant? Can he also drop out at any ti after he begins?"
"And what if he's injured and unable to continue, or even start?" asked Susan. "Surely, they wouldn't be that stupid as to leave sothing like that out."
Everyone just looked back at her.
"Then again, maybe they are," she said.
Hermione gave a little throat cough and said, "Three - besides legal representation looking over the contract and rules, we need to do it, too."
"Four - As this could turn into a nightmare, publicity-wise, can we hire a public relations expert or dia advisor? Is one even allowed?"
"I could do that," said Luna wistfully.
Harry stared back at the girl for a few monts before he grinned. "Luna, how would you like to buy the exclusive rights to Harry Jas Potter, otherwise known by the appellation The-Boy-Who-Lived?"
Everyone but Luna looked back at Harry in shock. Daphne did for a few monts before she suddenly started to grin. Then Tracey followed suit.
Luna thought a mont and said, "That depends on what you an by 'exclusive rights', Harry. Are we just talking as in regards to the Tri-Wizard Tournant, or beyond that? And, just the story, or are we including pictures and other images? Are we talking wizarding Britain only, or world-wide? And, finally, what about rchandise?"
Harry grinned, while Daphne and Tracey laughed. The others just looked stunned that sothing that serious could ever be uttered by dreamy little Luna.
"Well," replied Harry. "I see I'm dealing with a wise negotiator."
Musing, he said, "How about exclusive rights to use my na in any form - including, but not limited to - Harry Potter, Harry Jas Potter, Harry J Potter, and H J Potter; any appellations that would identify specifically, including but not limited to The-Boy-Who-Lived, The-Man-Who-Lived, the Potter Boy, Heir Potter, the Potter Heir and the betrothed of Daphne Greengrass; my image or likeness in any form, including but not limited to photographic, portraiture, caricature, artistic rendering, toy and model.
"The exclusive rights will cover all dia, including but not limited to the printed word such as newspapers and magazines, radio such as wizarding radio, posters, books, gas, toys and morabilia.
"Coverage will be world-wide. And ti scale will be - for the 1994-95 school year, inclusive. We can revisit it, after then, to see if we are both happy with the arrangent."
"Further conditions are: Everything you print or publish about will be the truth. You may not embellish with unconfird or unsubstantiated claims. Further, it must not lead to your readership being misled as to the truth.
"To sweeten the pot, I'll also allow you to on sell these exclusive rights so long as the aforentioned conditions are kept, verbatim. However, you may only ask for no more than one Galleon for the rights. And, furthermore, I shall make myself available to you, at a minimum, of three one-on-one interviews for the duration of the contract.
"As for how much this will cost you; I believe I'm being fair in asking in return - five Knuts. What say you, Miss Lovegood?"
Harry heard soone, he thought Hermione, give a strangled cough.
Luna seed to think about it for a while before she replied, "I think our readers may be more interested in reading how the search for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks is faring, and about our ongoing investigation into the Minister's secret army of Heliopaths, rather than read much about you, Harry. I think a fairer price would be - two Knuts."
"Harsh, woman," retorted Harry, having a ball. "However, you may be right. Four Knuts."
"Let us not - quibble, Harry," she replied with a smirk of her own. "Three Knuts is a fair price for a friend."
Harry mock-sighed and said, "You drive a hard bargain, Miss Lovegood. Three Knuts, it is. However, I must insist it be my own legal representation who draws up the contract."
"I suppose I can allow that," she said. "But, I - or another representative of Lovegood Publishing - may seek to make minor andnts before agreeing in writing. Be that as it may, we have an agreent in principle."
Then they both just grinned at each other.
"What the bloody hell just happened?" asked Neville, stunned, as they stopped talking for a few monts.
Daphne just burst into laughter before she said, "Harry just figured out a way to stop people in the dia writing about him for the rest of the school year."
"Alright," said Harry calming down from his own laughter. "Hermione's been most patient with us. But, I've so work to do tonight before I can think of heading for bed." Looking over at Hermione, who had a pleased smile on her face, he asked, "Hermione? What do I need to do?"
"It's 'we', Harry; what do we need to do," she corrected. "We need to write to Uncle Cygnus, Aunty Isabel, Sirius, Madam Longbottom and Aunt Alia. In one of those letters, we need one of them to organise legal representation for you ready to go over the contract and rules. That's all for tonight.
"Tomorrow, however, we need to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore to get a copy of both the rules of the tournant, and the contract that states you must compete; and the slip of paper on which your na was written. Or, at least get him to see if it provides any clue as to how it ended up in the Goblet. What cos after that will be, what will be. Agreed?"
"Agreed," they all said one way or another.
"Then, you'd better co over here and get writing, Harry," she said, indicating the study area next to her own.
Harry rose and made his way over.
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
On entering the Great Hall in the morning, Harry made his way directly to the head table. Dumbledore was already there.
"Headmaster," said Harry.
"Ah; Harry, my..." the old man started, before seeing the glare Harry was directing at him with his aura flaring and his eyes glowing.
"Oh - erm - of course," he tried again, clearing his throat. "What can I do for you, Mister Potter?"
Harry imdiately returned his face to calmness and his aura to fade before asking, "The slip of parchnt ejected by the Goblet last night, Headmaster."
"Erm - What about it, Mister Potter?" asked Dumbledore, politely.
"I am interested to know if you have perford any scans, or other tests, upon the slip in investigating how it is it - A - ca to be in the Goblet in the first place, and - B - ca to be ejected as a fourth competitor in what is supposed to be a three competitor only competition?"
"Erm - perhaps this is sothing we should discuss in my office..." he tried while starting to rise.
"No!" interrupted Harry with another glare and another flare. "You know that is not possible, Headmaster. However, I do believe my guardians - all of them - will be along soon enough. I dare say within an hour or three. If you wish us all to then take this discussion to your office, with the approval and accompanint of my guardians, I will be happy to do so.
"However, I am hoping to - derail - what will surely be a heated exchange of words by gathering intelligence in advance of that happening. If you do not wish to aid in this, then I shall simply let things play out as they surely will. I am offering you my hand in solving this matter before it escalates too far. Please, do not make regret it."
Dumbledore sighed and said, "I would accept your offer, Mister Potter; however, I do not believe we would be able to solve this - dilemma before they would arrive."
"Perhaps not," said Harry. "However, clear and open signs that investigative actions are taking place would go a long way towards mollifying tempers before they have a chance to fully erupt. Would you not agree, Headmaster?"
"I would," replied the Headmaster with a sigh. "Then, in the interests of being open, I'm letting you know the following facts. The na on the slip appears to be written in your hand. There is no school ntioned on the slip, as was required - we checked all magical thods of hiding the na. The slip also appears to have been torn from the bottom left hand corner of a larger slip of parchnt. The ink is the sa brand and quality you've used for your assignnts, and on close inspection, does not appear to have been written using a quill."
Frowning, Harry thought about that for a few monts before he said, "The bottom left - that it was written in my hand - that it was not written using a quill - and you do not know the manufacture of the ink - imdiately tells it was torn off the bottom of an assignnt.
"Now, how did I write my na, and was there any other ink marks or symbols at the end of the na?" asked Harry, frowning and thinking hard.
"By hand, Mister Potter," replied Dumbledore. "And, I do not recall any other ink marks, smudges or anything else?"
Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with the fingers of his right hand. "My apologies for not being clearer. I ant; did I supposedly write 'Harry Jas Potter', 'Harry J Potter', 'Harry Potter', 'H J Potter', 'Mister Harry Jas Potter', et cetera?"
"Ah!" said Dumbledore. "It's just 'Harry Potter'; nothing else."
"Then it was definitely torn off the bottom of an assignnt," said Harry. "I was advised years ago never to use my full na or title on any docunt unless I knew I was signing a contract. Any correspondence I send ho will only ever have 'Harry', or just HP, on it. And any official correspondence will always have 'Mister Harry J Potter' on it. So, I shall be going through my returned assignnts to see what, if anything, is missing. I hope you will be investigating the teaching staff for copies of my assignnts they may still have."
Surprised, the old man nodded.
"Now, I assu from what you have said that there was no school na written on the parchnt as was required for my na to be submitted?"
"No; no na of the school was detected. Even after checking for a magically hidden na."
"How about if they used muggle ans to hide it?"
"Pardon, Ha - Mister Potter?" asked the old man, clearly surprised by the question.
"Muggle ans," said Harry. "For instance; could it have been written in water, or other liquid substance that faded away? Muggles have been doing that sort of thing for decades. Have you looked to see if there is an impression on the parchnt of a quill pressing down as it was used to write on it? Other than my na, of course."
"Errr - no," replied Dumbledore. "I shall check that as soon as I return to my office."
Harry nodded and said, "Thank you. Further, as I've now been unwillingly roped into this thing, I will need a copy of both the contract and the rules. Verified copies, of course. And, my guardians will also want one for my legal counsel. May I trust they will be made available before my guardians co storming in through the doors?"
"I shall make them available to you in my office imdiately after breakfast, Mister Potter," replied the old man.
"Thank you," said Harry. "I shall see them collected from you then."
He thought, 'Nice try in getting into your office alone, old man. Won't work, though.'
"I shall need the password for the gargoyle, sir."
"Ah," said the Headmaster, erroneously happy. "It's 'gummy bears' today, Mister Potter."
"Thank you, Sir," said Harry with a tiny bow. "Then I shall leave you to completing the breaking of your fast while I begin my own." And he walked off to the Slytherin table where his friends were sitting, that morning.
As he was sitting down, Daphne quietly asked, "Is everything alright?"
He nodded and said, "Yeah, just trying to dig up more information on what happened. Whoever it was, tore my na off the bottom of one of my school assignnts and submitted that. Dumbledore needs to make more checks on the piece of parchnt before he's completed it; but, he's not found any evidence yet."
Turning to Neville, he asked, "Nev, can you go up to the headmaster's office after you've finished your breakfast - and the old man has already left - to collect at least one, preferably two, copies of the contract and the rules? He's expecting to go up but, of course, I cannot."
"Yeah, mate," said Neville. "I can do that. eting in the Co and Go Room straight after that?"
"Yeah, I think so," replied Harry. "The password to get past the gargoyle at the bottom of the headmaster's stairs is 'gummy bears'."
Neville nodded and said, "Got it. I'll be as quick as I can."
"Don't forget your Occluncy shields, Nev," Harry warned.
"I won't," grinned the other boy, a little evilly. "I'll be setting them to 'pain' before I go up."
Harry grinned back.
When Dumbledore left about five minutes later, and Neville about five minutes after that, Hermione asked, "Harry, what did Neville an by setting his Occluncy shields to 'pain'?"
"Well," he replied. "Our so-called Leader of the Light and Headmaster, has the very bad and illegal habit of scanning the minds of his students - minors - without even asking permission first. If he tries it on Neville, he is in for a very rude shock."
Hermione frowned and plaintively asked, "He wouldn't really do that, would he? It would be a horrendous breach of both privacy and trust. Plus, it's illegal."
"Well, the whole thing about Occluncy shields is, if Neville sets his shields to hurt an intruder, no one would know they're there until they actually try to intrude," explained Harry. "If the Headmaster does not make the attempt, he will never know. However, if he does, both he and Neville will know it instantly.
"Neville will feel the attempt and, depending on how severe Neville ans by 'pain', the Headmaster will end up with a very bad headache at minimum. If I was Neville, I'd then scream and shout at the man and, at my first opportunity, let Gran know what he did.
"Now, with my guardians soon to be here, I have no doubt there will be further shouting directed at our dear Headmaster. He will not be having a pleasant day, today; no matter how many pain relieving potions he chugs down."
"But is that fair on him?" she asked.
"Hermione," replied Harry. "You saw stand two nights ago and warn him, in front of the entire school population, that he needed to beef security around the Goblet. I even gave examples of how to submit soone else's na. He clearly did not take my warnings to heart. Hell, putting a couple of people on guard would have stopped it. Or, only have it available for people to submit their nas for the last hour before the draw, even.
"And, now, I'm the poor schmuck who gets to pay for his failure; possibly with my very life. I'm not in a forgiving mood when it cos to the old fart. And, whatever difficulties are about to befall him, I'll be on the sidelines cheering for more to be piled on."
Hermione sighed in apparent sorrow for the man. Harry didn't care.
"If everyone's finished," interrupted Hannah, "Shall we go upstairs?"
With nods all round, the group rose and made their way out of the Hall.
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
Just after the group, minus Neville, entered the Co and Go Room, Harry's mirror buzzed and turned warm in his pocket.
"Wait, guys," he said, drawing the mirror out of his pocket. "Sirius is mirror calling ."
Flipping it open and whispering 'Padfoot' to the surface, the grey mist cleared and ford into the face of his godfather. "Hey, pup. We got your owls."
"I take it steps are currently being taken?" asked Harry.
"Yep. Cygnus is contacting a suitable lawyer with expertise in magical contracts," replied Sirius. "Once we have soone, we'll be hurrying with all due haste to the school. I don't know how long it's going to take, but it'll definitely be today."
"Thanks, Sirius," said a more relieved Harry. "I'm also in the process of getting a copy of both the contract that binds this thing, together with the rules of the tournant. We'll be going over those while we wait."
"Good idea," replied Sirius. "But, leave it to the legalist to actually argue the specifics of the contract and rules; alright, Harry?"
"We'll be talking about them between us, here," replied Harry. "I have no intention of arguing with the staff or Ministry personnel about them, though. I'm more than happy to leave that up to the experts."
"Good," said his godfather. "I'll contact you again when we're ready to floo over. Until then, keep your head down and try not to lose your temper, alright? It could do more harm than good."
"I'll give it my best," replied Harry. "Talk to you later."
"You, too, pup," replied the image before it faded back to grey.
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
Neville arrived about ten minutes later with a copy of the contract and rules. He told them the old man did not try to read his mind but he did feel a slight tickle of passive Legilincy, which was very quickly withdrawn.
"He also had the piece of parchnt that had Harry's na written on it," said Neville. "And he said to say there was an indentation directly below Harry's na. Dumbledore then used so of Fawkes's old ash and lightly brushed it over the surface to make it show up. The na of the school was 'A Silly Na School'. Oh, and he said he's also going to see if he can find the person who's hand the na of the school is written in."
"Clearly, a fake," snorted Harry. "Anything else?"
"Only that he was disappointed you sent to collect the docunts," said Neville with a grin. "He asked why you had so little faith him."
"And?" grinned Harry.
"I replied that part of it could be how he can't resist trying to illegally probe people's minds," laughed the other boy. "That gave him a bit of a shock."
Harry laughed as Neville sat down and laid the contract and rules on the table before them. Daphne imdiately picked up the contract, while Hermione grabbed the rules. Both avidly read the docunts in their hands.
"Alright, then. There was a na of a school written on the slip. However, the school does not even exist. So, there's no need to check if they have a student nad Harry Potter. Therefore, that's out. Dumbledore is going to see if he can track down in whose hand the na of the school is written, but that does no good."
_‗_
-==(oIo)==-
\\""/
Reviews
All reviews (0)