Great Hall - March 27, 2005
Hermione Granger was pleased as she went into the great hall for breakfast. Sure, she was still technically in trouble, but it wasn't going to last long.
After Professor Black had finished punishing her, she had written to her parents. She had gotten a letter back only a few hours later from her parents telling her that they were going to deal with it and would be filing a criminal complaint. Hermione couldn't wait to see those disgusting pure bloods get what they deserved.
Then she got two different messages. The first, was to inform her that she was to meet with Professor Black when she finished breakfast. Hermione was pleased, she was sure the man was going to apologize to her.
The second letter was just a short message from her parents that they had made arrangements with Professor Black for her and that they would discuss everything with her when she got home. She was a little confused by that, but sure that things were going to work out for her.
After she finished her breakfast, Hermione made a decision and went up to the head table to get Professor McGonagall. It would probably be best to bring the other woman in. Professor McGonagall would be able to ensure that Professor Black was kept from lashing out at her again since he was clearly wrong. The more people to witness this the better.
Professor Moody, who was sitting next to Professor McGonagall, decided to come with her. She wasn't really sure how she felt about that, she wasn't particularly fond of him. She hated being forced to sit down and do the stupid assignments he gave her.
Then, as the three of them were making their way out of the hall the headmaster had stopped them. When professor McGonagall told him where they were going the headmaster decided to join them as well. Hermione was thrilled that she had such powerful people backing her.
Leading the way, Hermione marched into Professor Black's office.
Sirius looked up from the assignments that he was marking when his door was opened. He had only come in this morning to do a little marking and have his meeting with Hermione. After this meeting he was going to be heading home, taking the marking with him so that he could still do his work but be with his family.
Sighing, he summoned more chairs as he saw who was following the girl. But, this might actually be a good thing. Get it all done in one shot and limit the blow back, hopefully.
"You wanted to see me Professor Black?" Hermione said in a sweet voice.
"Yes Ms. Granger." Sirius said to the girl and looked to his colleagues. "Minerva, it's nice of you to get involved with our Gryffindor's. Albus, Alastor."
Minerva seethed silently at the less than subtle jab. Only staying silent because of the look Albus was sending her.
"My parents said they had spoken to you about my punishment." Hermione wanted him to admit that he had been wrong.
"Yes. I attended a meeting with your parents yesterday. They have requested that I arrange for weekly mind healer appointments for you. I have spoken with Healer Savoy, and she has said that she will be expecting you from 1-2pm Saturday afternoons." Sirius smiled at the shocked girl.
"What do you mean? You are supposed to be cancelling that stupid punishment you gave me." Hermione demanded.
"No. Your punishment stands." Sirius kept his face blank.
"Now my dear boy…" Albus started.
"Now nothing Albus. Ms. Granger will be doing the punishment she earned, and her parents have fully agreed to it." Sirius interrupted.
"My parents would never let you get away with doing this to me." Hermione was furious. She had her parents wrapped around her little finger and she knew it.
"That is where you are wrong Ms. Granger. After you wrote them lying about what happened, myself, and two of the school governors, paid them a visit yesterday and explained what has been happening here. Upon learning the truth they gave me their full support in grounding you and signed off on getting you a mind healer." Sirius gave the girl a sharp smile.
"You can't be serious Sirius." Minerva huffed.
"Oh, I am serious, twice over." Sirius chuckled. He had always loved to use his name in jokes like that.
"And what is this punishment?" Albus questioned, he hadn't been paying attention to the kids since he had been dealing with the ICW issues lately.
"Ms. Granger and Ms. Weasley have been grounded for the rest of the year. They are aloud to go to meals, classes, and the library, under supervision, but other than that they will be restricted to the Gryffindor dorms and common room. They are going to be writing a series of essays on bullying for me. And, they are barred from any extracurricular activities. That includes, Hogsmeade, and the final triwizard challenge." Sirius explained.
"There is no need for that. The girls will serve a detention for whatever it was, it surely wasn't that bad. There is no need to be so cruel." Albus said as soon as Sirius finished. Hermione sent the headmaster a grateful look, she didn't want to suffer that punishment.
"No, Albus. They will be serving the punishment I assigned." Sirius relaxed back in his seat.
"Sirius… That is enough. The girls made a mistake, that is all." Albus started.
"Oh, it was more than a mistake Albus. Since you clearly don't know what this is about, even though you involved yourself by stopping their suspension, let me inform you what really happened. Ms. Granger and Ms. Weasley attacked Ms. Lovegood when she was on her way back from the library and shoved her down a flight of stairs. The only reason Ms. Lovegood didn't suffer serious injury was because she was caught by two prefects that were on their way up the stairs to the girls."
All the other teachers glanced at Hermione at that.
"We weren't trying to push her down the stairs. We didn't even realize how close we were to them. Besides, she started it. You have no idea how mean she is. She hides behind that crazy behaviour, but she's been bullying Ginny since they were kids." Hermione whined.
"If the other girl started it then she should be the one that is punished. I will have words with Filius." Minerva started planning on how to force the other professor to deal with his student.
"Well then, that's that. The girls will serve the detention I assign, along with ms. Lovegood and then we will carry on." Albus smiled.
"Again, no." Sirius gave them a cold look. "Is this the story you are planning to stick with Ms. Granger?"
Hermione just gave him a blank look. She had no intention of breaking.
"You should know that Ms. Lovegood's parents arranged for the girls memories to be retrieved. I have seen them, in full." Sirius warned the girl, seeing the spark of worry in her eyes, but she didn't break. "Ms. Lovegood didn't start anything. She actually didn't say a single word. I do not believe it was the girls intention to push Ms. Lovegood down the stairs, but the reason they were at the top of the stairs was because Ms. Lovegood decided to simply walk away and was followed to the top of the stairs.
Now, I have already spoken with the Lovegood's and they have agreed to allow this to stay a school matter, so long as both girls serve the full punishment I assigned. If the punishment is changed, or the girls do not follow the rules, then they will take this to the DMLE and file charges of aggravated assault."
Everyone in the room just stared at him when he said that.
"What?" Minerva sputtered.
"This latest attack is only one in a long line of incidents. The Lovegood's are done with allowing their daughter to be bullied by attacks like this, along with Ms. Weasley and ms. Granger calling their daughter 'Loony'. If this harassment doesn't end, then they will be filing charges.
And, given the repeated instances of physical attacks, as well as the girls history of bullying other students, I have no doubt that they will be found guilty. Either you can let the girls serve the punishment they earned, or risk the girls facing criminal charges and probable arrest." Sirius said blandly. He really didn't take any joy in this, he honestly felt the adults in the girls life were the reason she was as bad as she was.
"The memories would have to be certified." Alastor said. His mind going to the legalities of the case.
"They are. And, so are the memories of many of the other victims. The Lovegood's reached out to multiple families whose children have suffered the bullying." Sirius looked back at a man he had once respected.
Alastor just nodded. He had known Sirius when he was an auror. He might have his issues with what the man became, but his skills were always top notch.
"They can't do that." Hermione whined.
"Yes, they can. And, Ms. Granger, I will now also be adding an essay on lying. Now, I think you should be getting back to the common room. Your study group for ancient runes should be starting soon." Sirius gave the girl a small smile. "I will send you a reminder about your mind healers appointment next week."
Hermione growled slightly before she stormed from the office. She had a letter to write. How dare her parents allow him to do this to her?
"Is all this really necessary Sirius?" Minerva growled now that their student was gone.
"Yes. You didn't bother to do your job and rain the bullying in, and now it needs to be addressed. Can you imagine what would have happened if those prefects hadn't been there? They could have killed that girl." Sirius said in exasperation.
"And you think that you're the best one to deal with issues like this?" Minerva questioned, remembering just the kind of terror that Sirius had been when he had been a student.
"Yes, I think I am since, clearly, no one else is doing it. I was horrible when I was a student here. I am man enough to admit that. And I regret my actions every day.
But the thing is, since no one ever bothered to hold me accountable for my actions it took a war and being falsely imprisoned for me to grow up. I don't want that for this generation. I want to let them grow up slowly as they go to school. Because trust me, being forced to grow up the way I did is like flying your broom directly into the ground. It hurts, and makes you forget who you are for a time." Sirius explained.
"I have heard that before. Many in your generation were forced to grow up in the harshest ways possible." Alastor nodded along, understanding. He too had been on the front line of that war.
"But Hermione and Ginny are still kids, they made a mistake." Minerva started again.
"Yes, they did. And now they are dealing with the consequences of that mistake. And no one will be changing that. I have already spoken with the Grangers and Arthur. All have agreed that the girls will be serving their punishment."
"Surely we can talk about this?" Albus suggested.
"No Albus. I already told you. If you, or any one else, tries to stop or change their punishment the Lovegood's will take this directly to Amelia, and I will back them. It is time for those children to meet reality. You shove a student down a flight of stairs, you get punished." Sirius snapped.
"I agree. It could have been much worse." Alastor said thoughtfully. "Given the girls history of bullying, and the fact that they followed her after she had chosen to walk away, it could even be taken to attempted manslaughter, if not attempted murder."
Albus froze. He couldn't have that. The last thing he needed was his pawns being accused of attempted murder. The press would eat him alive. Not to mention what it would do to his plans.
"Do we know what caused this latest attack?" Alastor questioned, not really understanding why any of this had happened.
"Yes, apparently the girls got it into their heads that Luna was dating Hadrian and Ginevra was jealous." Sirius shook his head.
"But she's dating the Longbottom heir." Alastor said in confusion. Was this all caused because the girls were to foolish to see what was right in front of them.
"Exactly." Sirius agreed.
Hogwarts - April 1, 2005
The day of the twins 17th birthday was plenty of fun. Like had become common, Hadrian and all of their friends spent the night before setting up all kinds of different pranks.
Fred and George always loved their birthday when they saw the chaos their soulmate and friends created. This year, every stone in the castle was a different colour, students words were coming out in multi coloured bubbles, there were also students that were now floating along near the ceilings as they hiccuped, and many of the teachers were singing their lessons.
While many of the teachers were annoyed, some just laughed it off. Sirius had even taken great joy in dramatically singing nearly non stop that day just to make everyone laugh. These were the kinds of jokes he liked, everyone had fun, and no one was hurt or humiliated.
The Burrow
After a day full of fun and jokes the four Weasley children at Hogwarts returned to The Burrow. Coming of age was a very important event in the wizarding world, and now that Molly was out of the house, Arthur intended to properly celebrate the twins birthday.
He had called all the children home for the weekend, including Bill and Charlie. He had had to make special arrangements with Sirius in order to get approval for Ginny to come home and had only done so after speaking with the Lovegoods. Pandora and Xeno had agreed to allow the girl to get out of her punishment for the weekend because of how much they cared for the twins and didn't want to disrupt their birthday.
As it was Ginny would not be leaving the house. The girl would be aloud to take part in the traditional birthday events, but other than that she was grounded to her room. Arthur had been horrified when Sirius had contacted him about Ginny pushing Luna down the stairs. He had no intention of allowing the girl to get away with it. He had even arranged for her mind healer appointments to be every week since she would not be going to Hogsmeade on weekends for the rest of the year.
With the twins coming of age they would gain full access to their core as well as family magics. Both boys planned on spending most of the weekend going through the family grimoires. They were finally old enough to learn the more advanced spells and rituals.
During the weekend Arthur made sure to make time to just go and sit and talk with both Ron and Ginny, Ginny in particular. He didn't want them to feel that just because there were new babies in the house they weren't loved.
He also wanted to talk to them about their issues with bullying. Talking it through, making the children put themselves in the role of the victims, was one of the things their mind healers had recommended. It had been something they had started to do over the summer, and Arthur thought they were actually making a little progress, though, not nearly as much as he might have liked.
Arthur just wanted to give them the chance to grow up a little more. He had no intention of giving up on them, but he was getting frustrated. If they didn't start to improve their attitudes and behaviours soon he worried about what was going to happen, Ginny could have ended up in prison for what she had done to Luna.
Arthur had gone back to the children's mind healers to ask a few questions. He had thought the children would start to get better faster. Both healers had been more than willing to sit down and explain things to him more.
They reminded Arthur that every child was unique. There was no one size fits all when it came to the treatment of mental illness. Each child needed something different.
They were still fine-tuning the potions and spells. Once they managed to get that right, they would also need the children to work with them. You can't help someone if they are not willing to accept help. From what they had learned during their discussions with Healer Savoy, Ron was starting to accept some basic treatment, but Ginny was still just using the sessions to vent but was unwilling to do any self reflection.
The only way to change a childs behaviour immediately would be to use compulsion spells and potions or to use mind magics to completely wipe out the childs personality and rebuild a new one. And no qualified mind healer would be willing to do that because it would be considered on the same level as murder. It would be the destruction of a human being, even if their body survived.
Arthur had to agree. He wanted his children to recover, but he didn't want to hurt them to do so. All he could do was give them time and hope that they would accept the help he was offering.
Earlier he had had to deal with Molly. When Ginny had written to her mum and told her that she was being punished Molly had been furious. And, when she had learned that Arthur had aloud the punishment she had sent him dozens of howlers.
Finally, Arthur had gone to meet with her at the restaurant just to ensure they weren't alone. He had explained what had happened but Molly still hadn't been willing to listen. She didn't care what Arthur said, Ginny had written to her lying about what had happened so Molly wasn't going to believe anyone else.
Ultimately he had had Sirius come down with a copy of the memories so that Molly could see that Ginny had once again been lying to her. Even after seeing that Luna hadn't done anything Molly hadn't cared. She didn't want her daughter punished regardless of what she did.
Sirius had said that he would be willing to cancel Ginny's punishment, making Molly very happy. That was until he explained that if he did so then Ginny would be facing arrest and prison. Then he went on to explain that an agreement had been made that Ginny had to serve her punishment, without interference or reduction, or charges would be filed.
Molly hadn't thought Ginny would be convicted since she was a light witch, but she still hadn't wanted her daughter being arrested. That would, of course, make the papers because of all the attention on the tournament, and she hadn't wanted the public to believe that her baby girl was a criminal.
She had been forced to accept the punishment that had already been decided if only to keep her daughter out of the legal system.
Hogwarts - April 20, 2005
Lily smirked to herself as she made her way down the hallway. She finally had a plan that was going to work.
For months now she had been slipping Sebastian love, submission, and compulsion potions. But none of them seemed to be taking effect. When she had talked about it with the headmaster he had theorized that the Prince ring that he wore might weaken or destroy the lower level potions that she had been giving him. Although Lily had passed potions, she still wasn't the best brewer so she hadn't been able to brew the higher level, stronger, potions.
But now she had the strongest potions available. The headmaster had had to arrange getting the potion from China since they couldn't risk asking Severus to brew them and he was the only one that they knew that had the skill to brew them.
There was no way the Prince ring or anything else would be able to block these potions. There actually was nothing that could. Not only that, but the potions cause a near permanent effect. It would take a full system ritual purge to remove them from his system. But the compulsion potion would make him refuse to accept a purge.
Soon enough she was going to get everything she deserved.
James was once again watching the map as he did some paperwork. He was planning on convincing the rest of the board to demand a detailed scan of the wards. There was no doubt in his mind that Dumbledore hadn't been maintaining and updating the wards like he was supposed to.
But before he could do that he needed a detailed list of the schools rules regarding the wards. Luckily, since Dumbledore had previously mentioned the wards may have been what aloud Hadrian to be entered into the tournament, he was able to go over things while at the school doing his monitoring. He had a copy of one of the original regulation books out so that he could note down the expectations.
He had seen Lily on her way towards the room they were using to monitor the school and had called both Kingsley and Auror Proudfoot as well. Kings had opened a file on the possible love potion use and alerted Proudfoot to it. Over the past months they had both been watching and making note of everything they had seen. Now, they were ready to catch her in the act.
They were sure she was going to try again since James had found his drink and food spiked every time she came anywhere near him.
Kings got him a fresh cup of tea, that he took a sample of so that they had evidence that it wasn't tampered with before she had been near them. Then, both he and Proudfoot hid themselves using masking and invisibility spells. Both making sure that they had a clear, but different, view of the tea.
"Hello Sebastian darling." Lily smiled and fluttered her eyelashes as she flounced into the room in a cloud of sickeningly sweet perfume.
"Ms. Mathews." James said in a cold voice. "Is there something I can do for you? It is the middle of the day, I'm sure you have some work to do, I know that I do."
"The headmaster sent me to get you. He said he needed to have a word with you." Lily kept her smile plastered on her face even as her eyes narrowed at his dismissal of her.
"Fine." James wrote down one last thing before he moved anything sensitive into one of the desk drawers and locked it.
Getting up and walking past her, making sure not to get anywhere near her, he left the room.
Lily let the smile slide off her face as soon as she was alone in the room. She hated just how much that man disrespected her.
A little grin worked its way back onto her face as she pulled out the vials of potions. Soon enough he was going to learn his place.
Albus had told her just to start with the submission potion since that would make him defer to her which would make it easier to make him take the other potions. But, she didn't want to wait any more. Albus wanted her to wait a week in-between each potion, but she didn't want to.
Opening each potion, she dropped a few drops of each into the tea. Smiling as she saw the tea swirl a different colour after each drop before returning to its original brown. Once she was done, she slipped the vials back into her pocket.
Just as Lily was going to turn and leave the room, she was hit with a stunning spell from behind.
Kings and Proudfoot stared down at the stunned woman. They really hadn't thought it would be that simple, or that she would be that obvious.
Whenever most people were going to drug a drink they surreptitiously spelled the potion into the cup. Maybe she had just figured she didn't need to since she thought she was alone in the room. Either way, it made their job easier.
Kings went back to the tea and took another sample before collecting the rest for evidence. Proudfoot recovered the potions from the woman's robes.
Once they had collected everything, they activated the floo and levitated the stunned woman through before they followed. They would lay the formal charges and then get a warrant to search the woman's quarters.
Headmasters Office
James sighed as he walked towards the headmasters office. Reaching the guardian he realized that Lily hadn't given him the password so he started listing off candies. It took him less than a dozen tries before the guardian jumped aside when he said snickers.
Walking up the stairs, he entered the office after he knocked and was aloud entrance. Once he was in the office he leaned against the back wall. He knew that this was just a way to get him away from his drink so he didn't bother to sit down since this wouldn't take long.
"You wanted to see me Albus?"
"Yes yes my boy, lemon drop?"
"No, thank you Albus." James raised an eyebrow, waiting for the man to say whatever it was he wanted to say.
"I just wanted to check in on how things have been going."
"The same as they were when you asked me last week. Unless you allow us access to the ward stone, we can not complete a proper examination of the wards to verify they had no part in the events of this year.
However, I still don't understand your logic in blaming the wards for a flaw in the age line you drew."
"I'm sure you'll figure it out." Albus gave him a small, brittle, grin. He hated being questioned like this.
"If that is all, I have work to do. I'm sure you do as well." Without waiting for an answer, James strode out of the room.
James smiled when he arrived back at his office and found the note Kings had left for him.
Headmasters Office - April 21, 2005
Albus was pacing his office. He had given Lily the potions she needed to get control over Sebastian, but she hadn't contacted him yet. She knew she was supposed to let him know what happened. So, why hadn't she come to see him yet.
He had even gone to her quarters to speak with her, but she hadn't been there.
Albus sighed, she most likely didn't listen to him. He had told her to give him the submission one first, but he would bet that she had used the love potion instead. Stupid selfish woman that she was.
Just as he was about to go back to his desk, his floo alarm went off. Checking the connection he saw that it was from the DMLE. He just assumed that it was Amelia coming to give him an update on her aurors in his school so he aloud entrance.
Amelia did come in, but she wasn't alone. Four other aurors followed, including Kingsley and Proudfoot.
"What is the meaning of this Amelia?" Albus was more than a little concerned about his school being invaded.
Amelia handed over the warrant. "This is a warrant allowing for the search of Rose Mathews quarters and the seizure of anything found that is deemed of value to our case."
"Your case?" Albus stuttered slightly as he sunk down in to his chair in shock.
"Yes, Rose Mathews has been arrested for the use of a love potion, amongst others, on a Lord. As you know the use of any potion like that on a member of the Wizengamot is taken very seriously given that it can be seen as an attempt to control our government." Amelia started to head towards the door when she noticed that Albus hadn't moved. She turned back. "If you don't feel like showing us her quarters then please inform us which one is hers and we will find our own way."
Albus just kept looking at her blankly. This wasn't possible. That woman couldn't have been stupid enough to get caught. He was so caught in his own spiralling thoughts he didn't even notice the others.
"I know which room is hers Madam Bones." Kings said when it became obvious that Albus wasn't going to give them the information they needed.
"Then lead the way." Amelia and the other aurors followed the man out of the office.
Albus didn't even notice. What was he supposed to do now?
If they questioned Lily under truth serum, which they would due to what she was being charged with, then the first question they asked was going to destroy everything.
The first question was always the persons name. As soon as Lily said her name his entire story about the life of Harry Potter would be destroyed. He had spent years talking up the love that had existed between James and Lily. The moment they started questioning that woman it would bring up all sorts of questions that he really didn't want to have asked.
How had she gotten caught? Hadn't she bothered to check the room before she did anything?
Even more than that, they would have needed to catch her in the act. That might be the avenue to getting her free. If all they had was suspicion then he could have the warrant thrown out meaning they wouldn't be able to gather any evidence and the case wouldn't make it to trial.
But if they had gotten a warrant then they had to have something. He needed to figure out what they had before he could make any plans. And that would mean getting in contact with one of the aurors that was loyal to him. There were still plenty of them, they just weren't in the higher level positions like he would have liked.
He needed to think.
Lion's Den - May 16, 2005
Molly was furious as she sat at one of the tables in the restaurant after closing. Nothing was working out how she wanted. She had had such plans for her life, but now they had been stolen from her.
Arthur was with her stupid brothers. They even had more children that she hadn't been able to meet. All she knew of them was what she managed to get from Ron and Ginny. And neither of her babies really knew all that much about the new little ones since they didn't really like them.
Then there was this stupid job. She was proud of what she had created, but it was just so hard. Managing a restaurant was extremely difficult, especially since she didn't trust the staff Albus had hired. The cooks just weren't up to her standards and neither were the servers. She ended up having to do most of their work since they just wouldn't listen to her and do their jobs properly.
She was also annoyed that she was being denied the money she earned to fix up the few little issues in the restaurant. While walking through Hogsmeade the other day she saw the most darling figurine of a lion cub. The sign in the window had said it came from something called Lion King, whatever that was. But no, she wasn't aloud to buy anything new. Not to mention just how little she was being paid to do all the work she did. It wasn't even enough for a decent living. She was going to have to talk to Albus about paying her better.
Ginny was another problem. Molly couldn't believe how cruelly her baby girl was being treated. She had never thought the Lovegoods would be so terrible, oh, she had known that Sirius would be, but not the Lovegoods. Ginny hadn't meant for the brat to get injured, although, it did sort of serve the girl right for trying to steal Ginny's boyfriend.
Molly had been receiving letters almost daily about how cruel the teachers were being to her poor baby. Plus, she wasn't being aloud to see her since Ginny was basically imprisoned in that school. And Arthur had aloud it all. Molly was sure that Fabian and Gideon were behind it. They were most likely trying to force a separation between Ginny and Arthur so that their daughter would get all his attention.
And finally, there were her letters to the DCW. It had been over a year now since she had started filing abuse reports and nothing had been done. There was just no excuse for that. She wrote letters almost every day, and nothing.
Maybe she was going to need to arrange a meeting with Albus. He needed to get everyone back in line. She was not going to put up with this for much longer.
Hogwarts Grounds - May 27, 2005
Hadrian and the others were walking back towards the school after having the third task explained to them. He was going to warn the others about what Remus had found.
"Can we talk?" Hadrian motioned the others to follow him further away from the school so they wouldn't be overheard.
The others just silently followed him. Trusting that whatever it was he wanted to speak about would most likely be important.
Hadrian was concerned. He knew they all needed to take the cup, but then they would all be portkeyed away. What would he do if any of them got hurt because of him? He just couldn't handle someone else getting hurt because of him.
"What is it Hadrian?" Cedric asked once they were decently hidden from the path. He could see the worried look on the younger boys face.
Hadrian handed over the ICW bill that forced his competing in the tournament and tapped at the hi-lighted section.
"All students whose names are given by the Goblet of Fire are required to compete in every task." Cedric quickly read aloud.
"Try again. Go slower and read every word as it is written." Hadrian said.
"All students whose names are given by the Goblet of Fire are required to… Oh Merlin… This can't be possible." Cedric went pale as he saw the mistake. "All students whose names are given by the Goblet of Fire are required to… Complete… every task."
"My Uncle Remus has been going over what the ICW passed and found this a few months ago. He thinks it may have just been a mistake, but the problem is that by passing it with the mistake in the wording makes it binding.
I figured that it wouldn't be too much of a big deal, until we learned what the final task is." Hadrian told the others. Once again lying a bit, but everyone has their secrets.
"That's why you wouldn't let me give up and return to the surface during the second task." Fleur said in shock.
She had been a little confused why Hadrian hadn't let her give up and instead had her keep going. But now she did. If she had turned back she would have been stripped of her magic. Hadrian nodded at her.
"The final task is a maze. The only way to complete this task is to reach the centre and take the cup." Viktor said slowly, fear in his eyes. "That means that as soon as one of us takes the cup, the others will all have failed to complete the task and will be stripped of our magic."
They all just stayed silent, thinking, for a few minutes. Each imagining having their magic ripped from them. There was almost nothing worse in the eyes of a witch or wizard than to lose their connection to their core.
"It will be fine." Fleur shook her hair behind her shoulders and straightened her back. "We have made it this far together, we will finish it together.
We find each other in the maze, or we wait for each other in the centre. We take the cup as a group only. If all four of us take the cup at the same time, we will have all completed the task. And, we will all receive the same amount of points so our positions will stay as they are.
Hadrian and Cedric will tie for first, Viktor, you will get second, and I will be third."
"That should work." Cedric smiled.
"I agree, we stand together, and we will all be fine." Viktor grinned.
"I agree. But, there is also another issue." Hadrian gave the others a shy smile. "My Uncle Sirius pointed out that the DMLE thinks my name was added as an attempt to kill me, but nothing out of the ordinary has happened during the other tasks. They think that whatever the plan is, it will happen during the final task."
"Then we will handle it together." Viktor said like it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Like Fleur said, we finish this together. If someone comes after you, they are going to have to deal with all of us." Cedric told him as Fleur hugged Hadrian close.
"I just don't want any of you getting hurt because of me." Hadrian said, pain in his voice as he remembered Cedrics death.
"Hadrian, you aren't responsible for any of this. It's that stupid headmaster of yours and whoever put your name in the cup. If anything happens to any of us, it is their fault not yours. I can tell you right now, I would never blame you if something happened to me. In fact, if something did happen and you started to blame yourself I would be furious with you. None of this is your fault, and I won't let you blame yourself for the danger others have put us all in." Fleur held him at arms length in front of her as she lectured him.
Hadrian gave a small smile. Fleur was just such a naturally caring woman.
"I agree." Viktor said once again.
"Me too." Cedric added. "This is not your fault. I don't care what happens to me, or if anything happens to me, I would never blame you and wouldn't want you to blame yourself."
Hadrian smiled at Cedric. It made him feel a little better. He wondered if the Cedric in the other timeline would have felt the same way.
The four agreed that they would keep this to themselves, or at least, keep it to their little group of trusted friends until after the task was done. They didn't want to have to listen to everyone telling them what they should, or shouldn't, do.
Hogwarts, School Board Meeting Room - June 1, 2005
About half an hour after the board meeting had started and they had dealt with a few minor issues James caught everyones attention.
"I think there has been something we have been overlooking. The wards."
"There is nothing wrong with the wards my boy." Albus huffed.
"Really, because you came to me earlier this year saying that you thought the wards might have been the cause of Hadrian's being forced into the tournament. You clearly believed that there was flaws in the wards.
But that got me thinking. I have not been able to find any information on the updates to the wards. According to the schools charter, the Headmaster is required to update the wards before the start of every new year. And the wards are to be goblin tested every decade. I spoke with the warding guild at Gringotts and they informed me that you have denied them access for the past 40 years.
This might be why so many accidents and dangerous things have been able to gain access to the grounds. If the wards have not been properly maintained then every student at this school is in danger." James gave the old fool a slight smile.
"The headmaster said the wards are fine, so the wards are fine." Molly growled. She hated when others questioned the headmaster.
"Then how was a possessed teacher able to teach here? How did trolls manage to get into the school?" Alice questioned. "Clearly, there is a problem with the wards. And, as Sebastian said, the schools charter dictates that they are tested every ten years. You have no right to deny those tests."
"Now my dear…" Albus started again.
"Enough Albus. Given everything that has happened in the past few years it is clear there is a problem. We can blame it on the wards, or you… You decide. The wards are required to be checked, so they will be checked.
I don't want anyone else's child to be placed in the danger that my son has been in over the past few years. This is my last board meeting since Cedric is graduating this year, I want to know that I left this school a better place than it was when I started." Amos Diggory argued.
"I agree." Helen Davis smiled. She looked over and smiled at her elder son who was set to graduate who was once again selected to represent Ravenclaw. "I hate the amount of danger that my boys have been in. The wards should have been checked years ago after that troll and possessed teacher incident.
Sebastian, you are on the best terms with the goblins, would you be able to schedule the ward checks?"
"Easily enough." James nodded to the woman. "When I spoke with them they informed me that since they haven't been able to do the checks they would recommend a full examination to make sure that everything is up to the standards required for a magical school. The checks would only take about a day, but the full examination will take a full week.
Albus, you will have to make arrangements to ensure that everyone is out of the castle for a week so that the goblins can come in and do their job. If you would let me know when is the best time I will speak with the goblins warding department."
"I'm afraid that isn't possible my boy." Albus twinkled.
"It is going to be done Albus. Whether you like it or not." Narcissa said in a cold voice. "You can willingly arrange a time with Sebastian or we will have the goblins remove you. This is about the safety of the children. You might not take that seriously, but we do."
Albus narrowed his eyes at the woman. He had always hated having to have those on the dark side as governors, but having Narcissa Malfoy made it even worse.
"Don't you speak to the headmaster like that." Hestia Jones demanded.
"Auror Jones, the headmaster is standing in the way of securing this school. As you are an auror you must know about the recent arrest." James sat back to examine his old colleague.
"Arrest?" Jaanvi Patil questioned.
"Yes. The charms assistant, who the headmaster personally selected, Rose Mathews was arrested for attempting to use love potion, amongst others, on me just a few months ago.
Madame Bones is in the process of bringing her to trial, but somebody in the Wizengamot seems to be attempting to secretly get the charges dismissed." James told the room, making sure that everyone knew who he blamed.
"So along with all the other issues, this school is also harbouring criminals." Pandora Lovegood gave the headmaster a calculating look.
"If you refuse to give me a date, I will just say the warding will be done starting on the first Monday in August. You, and everyone else will be out of this school at that time headmaster, or, like Narcissa said, the goblins will remove you." James chose a random date, while still giving the staff time to do any last minute things after the end of the year.
"You can't just do that." Molly screeched.
"Then let's put it to a vote. All in favour… All opposed." Alice announced, counting each result. "Well, it appears he can. By a clear majority vote the goblins will be doing the warding in August. Anyone still on the premises will be removed."
"Next, there is the problems of former auror Alastor Moody, and junior auror Nymphadora Tonks." James announced.
"There are no problems my boy." Albus twinkled hiding his anger. "They are both exemplary in their positions."
"And, once again, I must disagree with you Albus." James gave the man a cold smile. "Like happened 2 years ago, a great many students have chosen self study."
"Yes, I was actually wondering about that." Helen Davis said. "Theo was one of those who chose to self study, but he didn't give me any specifics. He just told me that he felt that he would be better off without those two teaching him."
"Same here." Said a few of the others there. If anyone bothered to consider things they would realize that the parents that all said the same thing all had their children in Slytherin other than Helen.
"I think I can explain. Draco had absolutely no problem with telling me what was going on when he came home during spring break. He had tried to stay in the class, but eventually gave up and left after Yule." Narcissa's glare was practically glacial as she looked to the headmaster. "It would seem that both Alastor and Nymphadora are prejudice agains those from my own former house."
"I'm sure it's just a slight misunderstanding." Albus tried.
"There is no misunderstanding." Narcissa snapped back. "Draco allowed me to see his memories of what was going on in that classroom.
Two adults should know better than to behave the way those two do. I had thought we had already addressed this issue, but apparently not.
Both Alastor and Nymphadora seem to be going out of their way to make class time miserable for all Slytherins from what I saw in the memories. I was also informed that they have done the same for any student who had a Death Eater in the family. That might be Theo's issue Helen. While they can't downgrade them because of the policies we have put in place that doesn't stop either of them from going on rants every lesson and repeatedly insulting the students.
I feel that I must remind you headmaster that the students of this school are not to blame for the actions of their parents or family members took over a decade ago. A lesson that you seem not to have learned yet, and neither have certain members of your staff. It is completely unacceptable to take out what ever issues one may have on children."
"Now surely it isn't that bad." Albus said with a brittle smile. He knew it was true. Both Alastor and Nymphadora had gone out of their way to make sure all the Slytherins and children of dark families learned their place. Albus hated having so many dark children in his school, they were just too dangerous. Look at what Tom had done. No, it was better off if those students were kept restricted and informed of the results of being dark in a respectable world.
Helen was furious. Had those fools actually tried to blame her son for the actions of his biological father, the same father that had tortured the boy. No wonder Theo had been so out of sorts lately. "Are you out of your mind old man. Are you telling me that those… those… people have been using Thaddeus's actions to hurt my son.
You were there for that trial Albus, you should know very well what something like that would do to him."
Albus actually flinched at that. He had been at the trial and he knew that the boy had been tortured. Young Theodor Nott was one of the students he kept a close eye on. The boy was powerful and dark, but he also knew just how bad dark wizards were from his own experiences. Albus had attempted to form a mentorship bond with the boy over the first few years he was at the school but had given up last year. Although the boy knew the true danger of the dark he still followed their lead.
It was a bit of an annoyance as he could have used the boy. Not only was he the new Lord Nott, he was also Harry's roommate. It would have been very beneficial for Albus to get the brat's roommate on his side. He could have used the boy not only for information but also to push the brat towards Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. But no, the boy was just as stubborn as Harry was himself.
Ultimately he had chosen to hit the boy with a secrecy spell. He couldn't have the boy telling his family about what had been going on in the class. Albus knew that Helen and her husband were more than capable of causing problems for him, and being from a well known neutral house he couldn't just brush them off as being dark supporters. He had cast the spell at the boys back only a few weeks after the first term had started, it would stop the boy from being capable of telling his family anything about the classes other than the material.
He could still talk to the other students, but just not his family because if he had completely blocked the boy from speaking about it to anyone everyone would become extremely suspicious. Albus had ended up having to do that to a great many students. If they were from Slytherin he hadn't bothered because those were people he could just brush off as being dark. It would be easy to say the reason they didn't like Alastor or Nymphadora was because they were aurors, and, Alastor had more than likely put a member of their family in Azkaban and that was why they were complaining.
"I think we are going to have to get even more involved in the teaching at this school." Sophia Zabini sighed. "This is honestly getting ridiculous. If you aren't hiring incompetent teachers, or criminals, now you are hiring teachers that verbally abuse the students. I am putting forward a motion to have those two removed from their positions. I do understand that the year is almost done and some students may need them to help them prepare for exams, but I do not think that they should be rehired for next year."
Most of the other board members agreed. Molly, of course, went off on another rant against Slytherin's and dark wizards, but most had just learned to tune the woman out.
"I'm sure it's just a slight misunderstanding. Alastor and Nymphadora both signed contracts for the next two years. It's for the greater good that they retain their position." Albus smiled.
"No. Their contracts will be cancelled." Alice snapped. "When Neville brought this to my attention I looked into their contracts. There is a morals clause that they have clearly broken by emotionally abusing the students. We can use that to remove them from the school."
"Then that is that. Alastor and Nymphadora will finish out the year and then they will be gone. We can't have those sorts of people working here." James smiled.
"Those sorts of people?!" Molly shrieked. "Just because Nymphadora is a half blood does not give you the right to treat her like this."
"He didn't say anything about their blood status." Roger Davis said in a confused voice. All the other student representatives agreed. Roger was furious that his little brother was being treated the way he was. He just wished that Theo had come to him, but he did understand that Theo still did everything he could to avoid talking about his birth father and the abuse.
"Like the students said, I didn't say anything about blood status. What I was referring to was the fact that they seem to think that it is fine to emotionally abuse children for things that happened when they were extremely young, or in the cases of the second years and some of the third years, before they were even born. As we have already covered, multiple times, in multiple different ways, it is never ok to abuse a child, wether it is physical, emotional, or mental, it is never ok."
After that, the meeting carried on in typical fashion. Everyone talked and discussed little things, all making sure to touch on the final task. Most kept trying to get information about the task in a hopes of trying to increase security.
Even with all the power they had managed to wrestle away from the headmaster, the man still had too much control for their comfort.
St. Mungo's - June 7, 2005
Dedalus Diggle sighed as he made his way to the long term care ward in St. Mungo's. The time had finally come for him to die. And, after decades of fighting it, he had accepted his fate.
When Dedalus had been a young man he had worked in the transportation department. It hadn't been glamorous, but he had been happy. Until the accident.
He had been working on a faulty floo when there had been a massive surge. The amount of power that had forced its way into his body had cracked his core. There was nothing that the healers could do. His magic would slowly bleed out of him until he died. The healers had only given him a few months to live, but Albus had offered him a chance to survive. And all he had to do was give him his unwavering loyalty.
It hadn't seemed like much, after all, he was the great Albus Dumbledore, there was nothing too bad the man could do. Now he knew how wrong he had been. Dedalus had no doubt that the power Albus had arranged for him to get that kept him alive had come from those prisoners that had been found. As soon as the prison had been found the power he had been getting started to decrease, only increasing slightly whenever another one of Albus's loyal older followers died.
But even then, Dedalus had been too afraid to die to do anything. But it all came to nothing in the end. Since Albus no longer had access to those poor souls, the power had been fading. Over the past year Dedalus had been growing weaker and weaker. Until now, he knew the end was near.
Dedalus was dying. And he wasn't afraid.
No, he was ready. He was done living his life by stealing it from another.
He wished that he could let the world know just what kind of man Albus Dumbledore was, but a part of the loyalty vow he had taken so long ago was that he could never let anyone know anything negative he learned about the man. But he could still make the man suffer in his own way, but only after he died.
Since he had known what was going to happen Dedalus had been making plans. He had already arranged for Mundungus 'Dung' Fletcher to take over running his bar. He wished that he would be able to see Molly's face when she learned that she was going to be working with a confessed criminal. If she thought the clientele he had was bad, just wait until she met Dung's friends.
There was also the Diggle money. Since his injury was work related, and the ministry had thought he was going to die quickly, he had been given compensation. He had been receiving almost 1000 galleons a month ever since the accident. He had lived primarily off that, but he also had old family money. He had never been an overly materialistic man, so he didn't tend to buy lots of things. He also hadn't really seen the need for fixing up the manor, it had been just fine for him since he was almost never home.
But, there was no way he was going to allow Albus or Molly to touch a single knut of his families money. It was the legacy from his ancestors that they had absolutely no respect for. He knew them, they would waste everything it had taken generations to build in less than a year he was sure. No, they weren't getting it.
Dedalus had come up with a plan. He had gone to the DCW. He had explained that he was the last of his bloodline, and that he didn't want it to end with him. He had requested to be aloud to blood adopt a young orphan so that when he died, his blood would live on. It would also serve to give the child a prominent family name and a decent inheritance.
They had been a little weary at first, but had ultimately agreed. Dedalus had been introduced to a young 8 year old boy named Deven, and his 5 year old sister named Daisy. The children had been discovered after their mother's car had hit an ice patch and gone off a bridge. In his fear, Deven, who had been holding on to his little sister, had apperated by accidental magic back onto the bridge.
The burst of accidental magic had been enough to get the attention of the accidental magic reversal squad who had gone to see what had happened only to find two terrified children. When they had at first approached the children Daisy had accidentally pushed them back using accidental magic of her own. Their mother had been a single parent, and they didn't have any other family that they knew of so the children were going to be sent to the Sea Cliff Home. After talking it out with the DCW as well as the staff at the Sea Cliff Home and the children the kids had agreed to being blood adopted. It wouldn't change anything for them, they would still be going to the orphanage. But, when they came of age they would inherit the Diggle estate.
Dedalus had made arrangements with the goblins that after he died the manor would be closed down and repaired before being put into stasis for the children when they grew up. He had also made sure to give the kids copies of the family history so that they could learn what they were going to inherit as they grew up. The goblins would hold the Diggle grimoire in trust for them to ensure that Dumbledore never got his hands on it.
Now, all he had to do was wait for his time. The healer that had examined him had said that he had a few months left, but he was too weak to manage on his own.
When they asked if they should contact his wife, Dedalus had told them they could if they wanted, but that he didn't expect the woman to care. This had shocked the healers slightly as many believed Molly to be a good and caring woman. It gave Dedalus a little joy to damage the harpys reputation.
Hey, he was dying, he figured that entitled him to be a little mean.
Third Task - June 24, 2005
By the time the third task arrived Hadrian was nearly in a constant state of panic. He was barely sleeping or eating. Fleur had taken to practically force feeding him at meals.
The only thing that was really serving to distract him was studying for both the task and the exams in his self study classes. Since it was some of the only time he was able to relax even slightly, Hadrian threw himself into studying. There was no doubt that he was going to do amazing on the few exams he had.
And he wasn't the only one. All of the other champions joined him in using studying to relax.
But, now it was the day. All four of them were nervous as they went to breakfast. They weren't even going to pretend that they weren't allies like many wanted, so they all sat together at Ravenclaw table.
Over the past few weeks Hadrian had had to deal with Dumbledore and his pawns all telling him he needed to win for the glory of Hogwarts. They all kept cornering him every chance they got to tell him he needed to start treating this as a competition and stop being so friendly with the others. He had even been lectured about how they were a danger to him. Hadrian had just ignored them since he knew the truth.
After breakfast, all four of the champions were guided to the side room where they met their families. Hadrian smiled as he saw his dad and Uncle Remus along with his little sisters. Both his papa and Sirius had exam review classes.
The day ended up being a lot of fun as everyone got to know each other. Both of Fleur's parents, and Gabrielle, were happy to see him. Gabrielle ended up being instantly accepted by his sisters. Hadrian grinned as he saw the shock on the older Delacour's faces as they saw how quickly the girls drew Gabrielle out of her shell. If anyone could make someone feel comfortable and talkative, it was his sisters.
Viktor's mother was actually an activist for the rights of those with creature blood, so she was thrilled when she learned that Remus was a werewolf. She peppered him with all sorts of questions about his views on the treatment of those like him from a British perspective. Britain had been one of the most regressive countries when it came to protections for creatures so she wanted to get a first hand account.
Amos bonded quickly with Viktor's dad. Both men had a similar personality and were soon enough talking like they were old friends. A similar friendship was forming between Fleur's mum and Cedrics.
That left James with Marius Delacour, much to his joy. By now everyone knew that it had been Marius who had had Dumbledore stripped of his position on the ICW and James loved the opportunity to get a first hand account of the look on the mans face.
But, all good things must come to an end. Soon enough it was time to head down to the quidditch pitch. The third task was about to begin.
Since Cedric and Hadrian would be going in together, they decided to just stay together and wait for the others around the first corner. But it didn't seem things were going to be that easy.
As soon as both boys walked into the maze, the entrance they had just walked through closed up behind them. As they were trying to figure out where the others were going to come in from, a hedge shot out between them, separating them. It would seem they would just have to meet in the middle.
Hadrian set off. This time his trip through the maze wasn't as easy as he remembered. Over the hour he walked, he didn't just meet up with a sphinx, a boggart, and a mist that turned the world upside down, but also an occamy, quicksand, tangle vine, and almost had flubberworm mucus dumped on his head, thankfully his quick reflexes saved him.
Eventually, he saw a light ahead and walked out into the centre of the maze. The cup was on a pedestal in the centre of the clearing. Looking around, Hadrian saw that no one else was there so he just sat down to wait. Making sure he wasn't near the hedges since he didn't trust them not to attack.
About five minutes after he sat down Fleur made her way into the clearing. She looked a little worse for the wear, but in much better condition than she had been after the first two tasks.
Hadrian waved her over and she joined him on the ground. They had just started to discuss what each of them had faced when Viktor skidded into the area, glancing over his shoulder. He had had an unfortunate run in with a very persistent ghoul that apparently wanted a friend to hug, or strangle, Viktor hadn't waited to figure out which.
Shortly after that, Cedric walked in, his eyes slightly glazed. At first Hadrian had started to panic thinking that it was the imperious, but then Cedric started talking about beautiful women that wanted him to come swimming with them but he had had to tell them no for some reason. Fleur laughed before she called up her veela side to break the sirens spell.
"Are we all ready?" Fleur asked in excitement.
"Just remember to be on guard, this just doesn't feel right." Hadrian reminded the others.
"I agree with Hadrian, something is off." Cedric said as he glanced over his shoulder. He had been having cold chills running down his spine almost constantly since he first walked into the maze. He felt like something really bad was about to happen.
"Wands out. And, be ready for anything." Viktor told the others.
Once they were all ready, they counted down from three. Viktor and Fleur grabbed the left handle at the same time Hadrian and Cedric took the right.
They all felt the hooking feeling in their stomachs as they were portkeyed away.
Up in the stands, all the parents nervously watched the maze. The hedges were so high, and it was already so dark out that the path was completely covered in shadow. They could only see the vague outline of the maze and the glowing cup in the middle.
Albus clearly hadn't been thinking about the view the spectators would have when these tasks were designed. Severus thought this was just as much fun as watching the surface of the lake during the last task.
James, Severus, Remus, and Sirius were all wound as tight as was possible, but they were trying to play it off. The girls were noticing how nervous they were and that was putting them on edge. Sometimes it sucked to have observant children.
There was a collective gasp in the stadium as Hadrian made his way into the clearing in the centre of the maze. Everyone started to cheer as Hadrian made his way towards the cup, but then he sat down. Then there were all manner of sounds. Some remained excited, others were confused, and some were angrily demanding he take the cup.
But, it would seem Hadrian couldn't see or hear them as he just sat and waited. They all watched as each champion made their way into the clearing, but none took the cup.
It was only after all four were there that they got up and surrounded the cup. When it became clear that they intended to take the cup together the crowd once again got both angry and excited. Some thought it was nice that they were sharing, but others were furious and said that it was cheating, not that they said how it was cheating.
James felt his heart stop as he watched the four champions take the cup and disappear.
Albus was annoyed as he saw the stupid Potter boy sit down in the centre of the maze. What was that fool doing? He was supposed to take the cup and be sent to Voldemort.
He knew that there was a good chance that he would die in this encounter, but Albus didn't care. If the brat survived then many would look to him to save them, and that wasn't what he needed. Albus needed the public to look to him, not the brat.
This might actually help him to regain his power. With the Potter brat dead, and Voldemort back, everyone would look to him to save them. He could easily use that to force the Wizengamot to declare him Chief Warlock for life.
Maybe, with a few well placed compulsions, Albus could get Voldemort to take his rein of destruction global. That would teach those fools on the ICW to question him. If he played this right, Albus knew he could regain all the power he had lost in the past years.
All he needed now was for the brat to take the cup. Honestly, what was he waiting for?
Finally, after all the others arrived, they took the cup together. Albus didn't like the friendships that had been forming between the champions, but now that problem was solved. They would all die together now.
It might even help get attention from the international community as two of the soon to be dead students were from other countries. Plus, this was going to make Marius suffer for what he had done to him.
So, all in all, this had worked out pretty well for him.
Graveyard, Little Hangleton
The four champions arrived in the graveyard in a crouched defensive position. Cedric had the strongest shields, so as soon as his feet hit the ground he threw up his strongest shield.
It was lucky he did as less than a second later a series of stunners hit the shield. The shield held.
Hadrian quickly looked around to figure out how things had changed. It would seem that Barty hadn't kept Voldemort's return to himself. There were five people in Death Eater robes in the graveyard with them. Then he looked for the cup, it seemed to have been thrown away from them and Hadrian couldn't see where it was.
"We need to get somewhere with cover." Hadrian whispered to the others as he threw a blasting hex to the ground in front of the death eaters causing large chunks of dirt to block their view. That was the problem with wearing masks into battle, it severely limited their field of vision.
With Hadrians distraction the others all quickly moved to hide behind some of the head stones. Hadrian and Cedric stayed together and went left, while Fleur and Viktor went right. Crouching down they looked to each other.
Hadrian was a little frustrated, he had wanted them to be hidden, but closer together. Viktor and Fleur were at least 4 feet away and that was too far. Cora and Ragnock had given him an emergency portkey at the beginning of the year and he was wearing it. He needed them all together before he activated it.
But that was driven momentarily from his mind as the Death Eaters refocused and started firing spells. Hadrian and the others might all be amongst the strongest in their schools, but they still weren't a match for full grown wizards that had previously fought in a war and also been skilled enough to escape getting caught.
They all kept shooting spells from behind their shelter, and it was slowing the Death Eaters down, but they were still advancing. Hadrian was starting to panic as they got nearer.
"Bring me the boy, kill the rest." A voice hissed.
Hadrian felt the fear as he heard that voice. He couldn't let the others die for him. Not again. Never again. No one would ever die for him again.
Then he felt a tugging in his chest and Nemesis popped up in front of him with a flash of light. Hadrian had left her with his sisters to protect them.
Nem quickly looked around and summed up the situation. 'Well you've gotten your self in quite the mess haven't you." Nem huffed in his mind.
Nem walked out in between the head stones. She was furious. Not only were they attacking her human, these were full grown adults attacking students. She was not going to let them get away with this.
Drawing on the well of magic within her. Nem walked forward as she summoned her lightning.
Hadrian could feel Nem calling on her power and then watched the flashes of lightning. He waved the others over to him.
"Hadrian?" Fleur whispered once she was next to him.
"I have an emergency portkey. Grab on." Hadrian slid the pendent and chain over his head and held it out.
Each grabbed on. Hadrian called Nem back and once he had her in his free arm he triggered the portkey.
Gringotts
Hadrian and the others all arrived huddled together in the bank. Both Ragnock and Cora were there waiting for them.
"Are you all well?" Ragnock questioned.
"It doesn't matter. They are not leaving here without a full check up anyways." Cora huffed at her husband as she bustled forward.
"I think we're all fine." Hadrian smiled. "There is no need to get worked up Cora."
"Don't you tell me what to do youngling. You know very well that charming smile of yours won't work on any healer worth their licence. Besides, I'm just fine." Cora ran her hand over her growing stomach, she was almost half way through her 18 month pregnancy. "Give Ragnock your portkey and he will take some of our warriors to go and deal with those foolish trouble makers that thought they could attack one of ours."
Hadrian only smiled at the over protective goblin as he handed over his portkey. "Come on guys, we aren't getting out of a full check up."
The others all just grinned. Goblins were always such a gruff race, it was amusing to see them fuss over Hadrian like he was a disobedient child.
The four champions followed the clearly annoyed goblin healer to the medical ward. Once they were there, Cora gave Hadrian one of the contact mirrors so that he could let his family know that he was safe.
"Dad." Hadrian said as he activated the mirror and saw his dad's face.
"Hadrian, are you ok? Are you safe? Have you been hurt? What about the others? What's happening?" His dad started.
"Give me that." The mirror shook and Hadrian saw his papa's face. "Are you safely at the bank? Is Nemesis with you? She just disappeared from your sisters arms."
"We're at the bank. We're all doing fine." Hadrian smiled at his papa. "I have Nem. Ragnock took some of their warriors to the graveyard and Cora has trapped us all in the healing ward. You might have to come save us, I think she's gone crazy." Hadrian stage whispered the last bit and got a cloth thrown at his head for it.
"Can you tell our parents we're ok?" Fleur called out.
"I'll let them know and we will all come to the bank to meet you." Severus said before he ended the call. He was in a hurry, talking to his son was fine, but he wanted to have him in his arms and the only way that was going to happen was getting to the bank.
Hadrian and the others had convinced Cora to let them push a few of the beds together so they could sit together and talk. Cora had forbidden them from getting out of the beds, so this was their compromise. They didn't really need to be in the beds, there had only been a few minor injuries from the maze and other than that they were in perfect health, but Cora was being over protective.
They were just eating the last of the biscuits Cora had given them when the door opened and their families were led in by a guard. Hadrian's sisters, and Fleur's little sister all ran in and joined them on the beds, attacking them with tears and hugs. Their parents quickly followed, all expressing both fear and relief.
There were so many questions coming from all different directions. Seeing her patients getting overwhelmed trying to answer all the different questions, Cora stopped them and forced them to all sit and start asking their questions in an orderly fashion.
Each of the adults took turns asking their questions under the watchful eye of the goblin. The children all worked together to explain everything they knew.
When they explained why they had waited and took the cup together all the other parents just stared. It was amazing to them. If even one of the four had gotten greedy then the rest could have lost everything. That level of trust in each other was astounding. It also once again infuriated them about what Dumbledore had done to their children.
They were going to make that man suffer for everything he had done. They were also going to be demanding answers on just how the Triwizard Cup was turned into a portkey. That shouldn't have been possible.
Amos was glad that they were forcing the old fool to fix the wards. He knew that there was supposedly a ward that would stop any portkeyes from working on the grounds.
Hogwarts
Fred and George watched everyone as they tried to figure out what was going on. James had stopped by to let them know that Hadrian was safely at the bank and that they were going to get him. They would have wanted to go with them, but Severus had requested that they keep an eye on how everyone reacted. They still didn't know who it was that added Hadrian's name.
Most of the student body was panicking. While they had heard that everything that happened may have been an attempt on Hadrian's life, it just hadn't seemed real to them.
Right now, the ones they were watching the closest was Headmaster Dumbledore and Headmaster Karkaroff. If anything, Dumbledore looked… Smug. Karkaroff kept shooting the man odd looks. It was like he couldn't decide if he was proud, afraid, or suspicious.
If they were betting men, which they were, they would say Karkaroff was the one who put Hadrian's name in the goblet and had spelled it to be a portkey, but he hadn't done it alone. Dumbledore had to be involved some how.
He had been the one to pass the law forcing anyone who's name came out of the goblet to compete. He was the one who drew the age line. He was the one that planned the challenges. And the Triwizard Cup had been stored in his office.
Everything connected back to the old man.
Glancing at each other they grinned. These fools were going to regret conspiring against their soul mate.
Albus was pleased as he surveyed his panicking students. Finally, a plan was working. Soon, the brat would be dead and Voldemort would be back. The public would be bowing at his feet again in no time.
As he was looking around he saw the looks Igor was shooting him. That man was going to have to go. He knew too much. It looked like it was time for an accident. He did consider letting Voldemort kill the man for his betrayal, but he just couldn't trust that Igor wouldn't be able to worm his way out of it. Given that he was the one that put the Potter boys name in the goblet Voldemort might actually believe the man.
Albus started looking around, wanting to see the look on Marius's face with the loss of his eldest daughter. Now all he had left was the little one he had yelled at him for 'endangering'.
But Marius wasn't there. Starting to turn in circles he noticed the parents of all the champions appeared to be missing. Where had they gone? There was no way they could know where their kids were, it hadn't even been ten minutes since the task ended.
He really should have guessed something was wrong. The fact that Amos and Marius weren't there crying their fool heads off was proof enough of that. How could they have just disappeared? Weren't they concerned about where their children were?
Surely if they needed help they would turn to him.
Gryffindor Common Room
Hermione and Ginny were angrily sitting in the common room. Because of Professor Black they were barred from attending the task. They had tried to convince Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall to let them go, but had been denied.
Hermione hadn't really wanted to go, she really didn't care about any of this stupid competition, but she had wanted the option. She thought that studying was more important right now. Right now she was more concerned with maintaining her position in her grade than attending some stupid competition.
Ginny, however, had really wanted to attend. She had wanted to see Harry win. She was sure he would, the others just weren't as great.
Ginny just stared into the fire in her anger. Why didn't Harry love her? Healer Savoy kept telling her that she needed to step back and look at what was going on. She had told Ginny so many times that maybe Ginny should turn her attention on someone who would give her the attention and love she desired. But, Harry would do that, eventually. She just needed to make him see that she was perfect for him.
The two girls could hear all the noise from the task, but didn't know what was going on. One thing they could figure was that what ever it was, people weren't happy. There was the roar of the crowd, but it didn't sound positive.
Then they heard screams of shock. Both went over to the windows to see if they could see anything, but they couldn't.
Both of the girls were getting annoyed for not knowing what was going on when the portrait hole opened and the other students started streaming in.
"What happened?" Ginny demanded as soon as Ron sat down.
"I don't really know." Ron was confused by everything. "The task was a maze. The Triwizard Cup was in the center and the first to the cup won."
"So… Who got to the cup first?" Ginny pushed.
"Harry."
"Yay." Ginny cheered with a huge grin.
"What happened? You don't look like that's all." Hermione had looked up from her law book to see the confused look on Ron's face.
"He didn't take the cup. He just sat there and waited for all the others to get there." Ron really didn't understand. Harry had been so close to the glory of winning, and he hadn't taken it. "When all four of them were there they took the cup together and disappeared. No one knows where they are. I heard some of the others saying that they thought Harry had been kidnapped by Death Eaters."
"WHAT?" Ginny shrieked. Her Harry had been kidnapped by Death Eaters. "What is the headmaster doing?"
"I don't know, we were all just sent back to our dorms. He said that they would figure out what was going on and let us know in the morning." Ron shrugged.
"Well what are we supposed to do?" Ginny questioned, annoyed at her brothers disregard for her fiancee's safety.
"We study." Hermione said as she put books into the two Weasley's hands. "Ron, you and I have our runes and alchemy exams tomorrow, plus I have my law exam, and Ginny, you have arithmancy and charms. You've both been putting it off, but I have had enough. The exams are tomorrow, you need to study, unless you want to do summer school, again."
"And what about Harry?" Ginny whined to the other girl. "He could be in danger."
"The headmaster is dealing with it. If anyone can figure out what is going on and save Harry it's him." Hermione said in a superior voice before she forced them to study.